What you need to know to open an account as an individual entrepreneur. How to open a bank account for an individual entrepreneur. Why does an individual entrepreneur need a current account?

Open a current account for an individual entrepreneur not a necessity. The legislation does not insist on the mandatory opening of a bank account if the small business is an individual entrepreneur. At the same time, situations arise in which an individual entrepreneur really needs a bank account...

An entrepreneur starting his own business for the first time may not take into account all the pros and cons and make the wrong decision, which will be expensive. Banks are vying with each other to offer their services, luring customers with unique free offers, and all this takes place. The main thing for a businessman is to make an informed decision based on an accurate analysis.

When is opening a current account for an individual entrepreneur a prerequisite?

When a settlement is required by an individual entrepreneur:

Calculations from 100,000 rub. An individual entrepreneur works under a contract with a client and receives payment in excess of 100 thousand rubles for goods or services provided to him. Such payment is possible only in non-cash form to the individual entrepreneur’s bank account. Or the entrepreneur will have to enter into a new agreement each time for smaller amounts, which may attract the attention of the tax authorities.
Cashless payments are a priority. Cash transactions are not disadvantageous for clients. This is a common situation: when it is much more convenient to “throw off” money by bank transfer than to waste time traveling to the office and depositing cash into the cash register. Sometimes an offer to transfer a payment to an individual’s personal card is accepted, however, from the point of view of tax legislation, this is a clear violation: transactions related to business activities must “take place” only through a bank account.
Conducting import-export operations. In this case, the individual entrepreneur must open an account account.
Salaries are transferred to employees' cards. If you need to transfer employee salaries to cards, you will also have to open a bank account.
Support of operations with company funds. In addition, an individual entrepreneur’s current account is needed for Internet acquiring, when receiving payments through agents, when fulfilling loan obligations, etc.
For business development. For a developing business, it is important to use all possible channels of financial communications; this is a significant component of productive work, so opening a bank account will definitely not be superfluous. We have described 10 useful cases of spending money from an individual entrepreneur's current account.

▼ Calculate the most favorable tariff for an individual entrepreneur's current account
V bank tariff calculator: ▼

Move the “sliders”, expand and select “Additional conditions” so that the Calculator will select for you the optimal offer for opening a current account. Leave a request and the bank manager will call you back: he will advise you on the tariff and reserve a current account.

How can an individual entrepreneur open a current account?

Instructions for creating an account in 4 steps:

Carefully analyze the offers of banks in the region. Many financial institutions offer special packages (for beginning entrepreneurs, with options for the number of payments per month, with a limit on deposits and withdrawals of funds, etc.). Among the variety of offers, find something that suits your business needs. Our article will help you with this
Not all bonuses are equally useful. Don't look at options that you won't need in the near future: pay for what you need at the moment. A good and profitable bank is one that objectively assesses the company’s needs and, based on them, offers flexible service conditions. Pay attention to banks that implement special affiliate programs. For example, in Moscow, a similar practice has been established at Otkritie Bank, Alfa Bank, and Tochka. By becoming a participant in such a program, a businessman receives bonuses and special offers, including free account opening and Internet banking.
Prepare all necessary papers. Having decided on a bank, call it and clarify the list of papers required to open a current account: each bank provides a list of specific documents, but at any branch the following documents are required to be submitted: a tax registration certificate, TIN, a letter from Rosstat about statistics codes, copies of a passport entrepreneur and documents for authorized persons, as well as licenses and patents accompanying the type of activity.
Completion of the opening procedure at a bank branch. Having collected a complete package of documents, arrange a meeting at the bank, take a stamp with you: fill out an application and a bank card on the spot, after which you will be notified in a couple of days about the opening of an account and sent the details.

As you can see, becoming an account owner is not difficult. In conclusion, we note that a bank account for individual entrepreneurs also contains a positive image component. Clients, partners, and counterparties will trust your company if your financial transactions are non-cash in nature and your current account is opened in a reliable bank.

If anything in the opening procedure remains unclear, write your questions in the comments: we will be happy to answer them. Read our new articles

How to choose a bank to open an account for an individual entrepreneur

The first step to opening a bank account is choosing the bank that is most suitable for the individual entrepreneur.

Before visiting the nearest banking organization, an entrepreneur is recommended to conduct an analysis of the banks located in the city. It is worth familiarizing yourself with information about:

Possible tariffs for settlement and cash services offered by various banking organizations.
The price for opening an account for an individual entrepreneur.
The cost of maintaining a current account for an entrepreneur.
Tariff rates for receiving and issuing cash.
The cost of the payment order.
Possibility of using the Internet banking option.
The procedure for issuing plastic cards.

In addition to the above information, an entrepreneur should familiarize himself with the basic conditions for maintaining and servicing a bank account. He must know when payment orders are sent; what is the mode of accepting payments by a banking organization.

It is reasonable to assume that many entrepreneurs prefer the largest and most well-known banking organizations that have proven themselves to be positive.

The largest financial organizations are considered to be the most reliable partners, who have a large number of bonus programs for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs who cooperate with the bank on an ongoing basis.

How to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur

Before visiting a banking organization to open an account, an entrepreneur will need to complete state registration of his status with the tax office. Only after receiving documentation confirming the registration of the individual entrepreneur with the state will he be able to open the necessary bank account.

Documents required to open a bank account

Among the main documents that bank employees will require from a client wishing to open an account for an individual entrepreneur, the following should be noted:

Application for opening a current account. The application must contain the personal signature of the individual entrepreneur and also have an imprint of the entrepreneur’s seal.
Citizen's passport.
Registration certificate.
Power of attorney from the entrepreneur's representative.
Licenses or patents confirming the right of an individual entrepreneur to carry out certain types of activities on a commercial basis.

In addition to the main package of documents, a banking organization has the right to require additional title documentation from a client registered as an individual entrepreneur.

It is recommended to check the list of documents required to open a current account with bank employees in advance by phone or view it on the official website of the banking organization.

Account opening procedure

Having received the established package of documentation from the individual entrepreneur, an employee of the banking organization carries out a preliminary check of the papers. He makes copies of the original copies of documents. Copies of individual entrepreneur documents are certified in accordance with the procedure established by Russian legislation.

After additional verification of the submitted documentation, the bank opens an account in the name of the applicant. The individual entrepreneur receives a notification about opening a current account with a banking organization. After receiving such an official notification, the entrepreneur has the right to issue a bank card and transfer funds to a current account.

How to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs online

Today, almost all banks practice opening accounts for individual entrepreneurs and other forms of business online. But this is implemented in different ways. Most credit institutions offer entrepreneurs to fill out a form (for example, Avangard Bank):

The procedure for filling out the questionnaire is intuitive, so there is no need for explanations here. After filling out the form, the system will register the application, after which a bank employee will call the applicant back within a certain time and schedule a time to appear at the bank to provide original documents. The list of documents is given above; it is similar to what is required to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur in person.

However, most banks offer entrepreneurs to simply leave a phone number for contact:

Don't know your rights?

After this, a bank employee will call you back and tell you in detail about all the steps that will need to be performed to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur.

Attention! In any case, you will have to provide documents in person, which means a visit to the bank cannot be avoided!

Account opening notification

Notification about opening accounts within the Russian Federation

Previously, entrepreneurs reported to the tax authorities and the Pension Fund about opening bank accounts.

After the Federal Law No. 59-FZ of April 2, 2014 came into force, they are not required to send notifications about opening accounts to these government bodies.

Notification about opening accounts outside the Russian Federation

According to the norms of Part 2 of Art. 12 and part 10 art. 28 of Federal Law No. 173-FZ of December 10, 2003, residents have the obligation to notify the tax authorities about the opening or closing of accounts, as well as changes in the details of accounts that are opened outside of Russia.

Can an individual run a business without having a bank account? The law does not oblige an individual entrepreneur to make non-cash payments, but there are situations when a current account for an individual entrepreneur is really necessary.

When you can’t do without an individual entrepreneur’s current account

You enter into business agreements with other businessmen, and the total amount of payments under the agreement exceeds the cash payment limit. The limit is set by the Central Bank, and for several years it has been 100 thousand rubles. Given the current inflation, this is not such a large amount. Let’s assume you rent retail space from a commercial entity for 27 thousand rubles per month. At these prices, the limit will be exceeded after the first four months of rent (27,000 * 4 = 108,000).
Another example is that you purchase goods from the same supplier, who has offered to conclude a framework supply agreement for convenience, i.e. one for several shipments of goods. If the cost of one shipment is less than 100,000 rubles, but the total amount under the contract exceeds the specified limit, payments must be made by bank transfer.
You want to give customers and clients the opportunity to pay by card, electronic money, through a terminal, cash on delivery under an agreement with Russian Post, payment order, etc. All these methods relate to non-cash payments.
Now every second person has a plastic card, because it is convenient for employers to pay salaries in this way. But there are also credit cards that are used by buyers who do not have available cash at the time of purchase. Legal entities and entrepreneurs also prefer non-cash payments, even if the payment amount falls within the limit of 100,000 rubles. If you only accept cash, then you yourself are turning away such customers and reducing sales volumes.
You need to carry out calculations at any time and from anywhere. Complete freedom of payments can only be ensured by non-cash payment. But in any case, making a payment from a computer or smartphone is more convenient and faster than taking cash to the counter party’s cash desk or accounting department.

In other cases, opening a current account by an entrepreneur is voluntary. You just need to remember to comply and resolve the issue of cash safety.

How to open an individual entrepreneur account

Opening a current account in a modern bank is a simple and convenient procedure. We'll tell you how to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur and become a bank client without leaving your home.

You will need a few documents:

passport;
individual entrepreneur registration certificate;
tax registration certificate;
sheet with statistics codes;
IP seal, if available;
a copy of the license (if your activity is licensed).

The bank manager will additionally prepare a client application, a card with sample signatures, an agreement for account servicing and remote servicing, and a USB key for access to online banking.

Now many banking institutions offer to open an account for individual entrepreneurs through the pre-booking function. To do this, fill out a special form on the website of the selected bank, the details will be sent to your email. Next, you need to approach the operator accompanying the application with the documents within the agreed period and complete the registration.

Are you planning to open your own business? Don't forget to reserve your current account. To select a current account, try our bank tariff calculator:

The calculator will select the most advantageous bank offer for settlement and cash services for your business. Enter the volume of transactions you plan to make per month, and the calculator will show the tariffs of banks with suitable conditions.

How to choose a bank for an individual entrepreneur

We have already figured out how to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs. The next question is which bank to open an account in, and what to look for when choosing? In our opinion, there are three mandatory criteria that an ideal credit institution must meet:

reliability;
ease of use;
flexible tariff system.

If the bank where you want to open an account for an individual entrepreneur does not offer remote servicing via the Internet, then it can hardly be called convenient. Choose tariff offers with the possibility of electronic payments or online banking.

A flexible payment system for banking services should allow a beginning entrepreneur to choose only the services he needs at the moment, and as he grows, switch to other tariff plans. Everything matters here: the number of transactions per month, account turnover, the need to deposit and/or withdraw cash, the absence of commission when transferring money for the personal needs of an individual entrepreneur.

In this table we have collected prices for maintaining an account at the minimum rate in five well-known banks.

	Opening (rubles)	Maintenance per month (rubles)
Opening	For free	On the "First Step" tariff, account maintenance is free, transfers to individuals up to RUB 150,000. per month free of charge, depositing cash through the cash register - 1.3%
Alfa Bank	For free	Account maintenance at the "1%" tarifffree, but 1% is charged when funds are credited to the account. Transfers to individuals and legal entities are free. For our users
Promsvyazbank	For free	On the Business Start tariff, account maintenance is free, 3 free payments per month, then 100 rubles each. Transfers to individuals up to 150,000 rubles. per month for free. Depositing cash into your account through the cash desk is free.
	Card certification 200 rub.	On the “Start” tariff 1000 rub. Five payments per month are free, then 100 rubles. Depositing money into an account up to RUB 50,000. per month for free. There are special conditions for our users.
Tinkoff	For free	On the "Simple" tariff 490 rubles, transfer to an individual entrepreneur card up to 400,000 rubles. per month for free. Account replenishment - 0.3%, but not less than 290 rubles. Income on the account balance is up to 4% per annum. *

* For website users

We can offer 1C-Start users preferential conditions for maintaining an account in the most modern and fastest bank for business: Tinkoff Bank. Only for new entrepreneurs. You just need to leave your contact information in the form and the manager will immediately call you back, answer all questions and come to you to open an account

30 min. reading

Updated: 04/16/2019

The most detailed review on the Internet! Are you looking for a more profitable place to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur? We have prepared a review of the tariffs of the best banks for entrepreneurs, and we will tell you which bank is the most profitable. We will advise you where to open an account for free, find out which banks do not charge service fees. We calculated the cost of payments for you, conducted a detailed comparison of tariffs, studied the pitfalls, and prepared advice from personal experience. Make yourself comfortable and let's get started!

I have been an individual entrepreneur for 11 years. For a long time I was a client of one bank. They had favorable conditions for settlement and cash services for individual entrepreneurs (hereinafter referred to as individual entrepreneurs), but the turn came to change this organization. From today's review you will find out which bank is the most profitable to open an individual entrepreneur's current account. This article will be relevant both for beginners who are just thinking about their own business, and for experienced entrepreneurs who have been operating for several years and are now deciding which bank is best to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs. In this article you will find comparisons of tariffs of various banks, calculation scenarios for beginners and experienced entrepreneurs, and I will also share with you my own experience, from which you will learn about all the pitfalls when opening a bank account and its subsequent use.

I have been registered as an entrepreneur since 2007. During this time I had several business projects. The first is a small tanning studio. Within a year of work, I managed to double the invested money, after which I sold it. Then, I switched to Internet projects. I had an online store for water-saving equipment. I did this for 4 years. The invested money was returned many times over, I didn’t count how much, but I was always in the black and I managed to sell it at a good price. There were several other small online stores, more precisely, one-page sites, where we sold Chinese goods at a huge markup (sometimes up to 1000%). And now I am focused on a content site that generates profit through advertising (contextual, banner, newsletter advertising, etc.), CPA networks, and affiliate programs.

I registered an individual entrepreneur and a current account for him in Ermak Bank, Nizhnevartovsk, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. It was a bank with the most favorable, at that time, conditions for settlement and cash services (CSR) in the city. Over the past 8 years, I have already changed 3 cities of residence. From Nizhnevartovsk I moved to Moscow, and from there three years later to Gelendzhik.

The main problem that prompted me to look for another bank was working with a USB token. A USB Token is a special key on a flash drive that is used to carry out secure operations (payments, transfers, etc.). These tokens have a limited period of time and need to be re-registered periodically. To re-register it, you need to bring a printed application and acts to the bank. Since I am in a city where there are no Ermak branches, this is a problem for me. The problem, in general, can be solved, can be conveyed by mail or courier, but the last straw for me was that the operator did not accept the Act from the courier, since my signature was different there.

When I opened an account with this bank, I left sample signatures along with the Agreement. Over the years of work, my signature has undergone changes, and since I do not see what my signature was on the sample located in the bank, and the operator did not meet me halfway and could not find a solution to this issue other than to sign the documents again, I decided to go to another bank, especially since technology does not stand still and there are banks that operate without these tokens and their security is no worse, all transactions are confirmed via SMS.

All that remains is to formulate the requirements for the new bank:

The service is not more expensive, and even better, cheaper than in the previous bank;
Online banking with confirmation of transactions via SMS, not via USB token;
Mobile application for Android and iOS (preferred, but not required);
Presence of offices throughout the country (preferable, but not required).

How banks were selected for analysis

At the moment, the content site is at the development stage, which means that I have:

Low speed;
1-3 incoming payments;
Extremely rare outgoing transactions (1-3 times a month), transfer to one of your debit cards in another bank;
STS – 6%, without employees.

In this review you will find out the tariffs of 10 banks, 7 of which are in the TOP 10 banks in the country by assets. Three more banks were included in the review as the most advanced and technologically advanced. One of the criteria for technological effectiveness was the integration of the bank with an online accounting service, with which you can submit tax returns and interact with tax authorities without leaving your home.

To submit tax returns via the Internet, I use the service Kontur.Elba. There was a time when I had to submit reports directly to the tax office at my place of residence, when I lived in Nizhnevartovsk. I decided to find an alternative to queues even before I moved to the capital. You could spend a whole day at the tax office. Now it has become more civilized, they have introduced an electronic queue system, but before you had to arrive almost at 6 in the morning to get in line.

I want to warn you that banks may try to trick you into getting additional insurance for a corporate card, as happened to me at Sberbank. Moreover, managers do this quite brazenly, almost claiming that this is mandatory. Therefore, be more persistent in such cases, make it immediately clear to such a bank scoundrel that you are not going to take out any insurance even in the event of coercion.

In the case of Sberbank, I don’t see the point in a corporate card. Okay, the first year of service is free. But from the second year you have to pay 2,500 rubles. for a useless, in my case, service - I consider it a waste of money.

Accrual of % on balance

This is an interesting service that appeared on the cash settlement market not so long ago. Many banks actively use it in marketing campaigns and advertising. What's the reality?

Let's take Tinkoff Bank. They promise 6% on the balance (Simple tariff). If you look into the details, it turns out that a maximum of 3,000 rubles is credited per month. That is, if you had a million in your account, then at a rate of 6% per annum you should be credited approximately 4,600 rubles, but you will receive only 3,000 rubles.

But that's not the worst thing. Interest is calculated on the minimum balance for the month. Let’s say you have 600,000 rubles in your account for almost the entire month. At a rate of 6% per annum, you will be charged about 2,700 rubles. But if during this period the amount in the account drops lower by at least one day, then you will be credited for this very minimum amount. For example, you transferred 597,000 rubles to a wholesaler, and the next day this money was returned to your account as a result of the sale of goods. This means the minimum balance is RUR 3,000. 6% on this amount will be about 13 rubles.

When I developed an online store, there were always large amounts of funds in my checking account. Of course, it is interesting that they do not lie like a dead weight and at least some penny drips on them. But the entrepreneur constantly operates with this money, buying something, selling something. And charging interest on a minimum amount makes this tool practically useless, or, as I noted above, a marketing one. It allows Tinkov to stand out from his competitors; entrepreneurs are willing to fall for this trick, but it brings real benefits to few.

Among our candidates, a similar service is also available in Modulbank, which offers 3% per annum on the average daily account balance of 30 thousand rubles. This means the bank sums up all the days during the month when you had more than 30 thousand rubles in your account, then divides them by the number of days in the month and charges 3% per annum on the resulting amount.

Let's try to calculate which is more profitable. The table below shows 4 dates. On each of these dates, the status of the current account changed. On March 1, 300,000 rubles were received. Then, on March 12, 295,000 was gone and 5,000 rubles remained. On March 18, 495,000 rubles arrived. and the balance was 500,000 rubles. And finally, on March 24, another 120,000 rubles arrived. after which the balance became 620,000 rubles.

According to the terms of Tinkoff Bank, 6% is charged on the minimum balance, in our example it is 5,000 rubles. The income will be about 25 rubles.

Now let’s calculate the profit in Modulbank. Here you need to count receipts for which the balance was more than 30,000 rubles. It turns out 300,000 + 495,000 + 120,000 = 915,000 rubles. / 30 days = 30,500 rub. We calculate 3% for this amount and it turns out to be about 77 rubles.

As can be seen from the example, the percentage value is not always decisive. Sometimes the method of calculating it wins. In the case of Tinkov, the amount of accrual will depend on the minimum amount in the account. And in the case of Modulbank, everything will depend on the amount of amounts received into your current account.

Online accounting for individual entrepreneurs on the simplified tax system 6% and UTII

If you are unfamiliar with this service, let me explain, it allows you to report to the tax authorities without leaving your home. This is very convenient, as it saves you a lot of time. For me, as an Internet entrepreneur who constantly moves across regions and countries, this is an indispensable service.

As noted above, there are specialized services, for example, Kontur.Elba or My Business, which have wide functionality and allow you to submit declarations and other tax documents not only to simple individual entrepreneurs in a simplified manner without employees, but also to individual entrepreneurs with employees, as well as LLCs under special modes (USN, Patent) and OSNO.

Some banks have similar functions, only in a simplified version. To understand the difference between the functionality of online accounting in a bank and a specialized service, see the table below:

SERVICE	BANKS	CONTOUR.ELBA SERVICES AND MY BUSINESS
Calculation of taxes simplified tax system and UTII, as well as insurance premiums for individual entrepreneurs	Yes	Yes
Creating a payment order	Yes	Yes
Payment Reminder	Yes	Yes
Sending a declaration electronically	Yes	Yes
Calculate employee salaries, report for them to the tax, pension fund and Social Insurance Fund.	Yes	Yes
, vacation pay, bonuses, travel allowances	–	Yes
Accounting for goods, history of movement of goods in the warehouse, generation of warehouse documents, inventory	–	Yes
Issuing invoices, acts and invoices, invoices to counterparties using our own or ready-made templates	–	Yes

This is an incomplete list of differences; the table shows the most popular services. It is worth noting that most banks offer online accounting services only for individual entrepreneurs in a simplified manner without employees and a cash desk. This greatly reduces the number of potential clients and will be relevant for startups, but not for everyone.

Among the disadvantages of online banking accounting, it is worth noting the weak integration with the tax authorities and the lack of quality support. Let me give you an example from my experience:

Recently I received a letter from the inspectorate in which the tax authorities demanded to provide an explanation as to why I had not paid insurance premiums for one of the previous years. All calculations were made in Kontur.Elba, so the first thing I did was contact the support of this service for advice.

The support staff, completely free of charge, checked my declaration, suggested which reconciliations with the tax office should be ordered, and I did this in my personal account of the service and, further, advised me to print out payment documents about the insurance premiums paid and show all this to the tax authorities.

Through the taxpayer’s personal account on the website nalog.ruI created an appeal in which I indicated that I had paid for all the insurance and attached scans of payment slips as proof. Why did you do it through nalog.ru? Firstly, because I was geographically in another city and I considered it inappropriate to spend money on tickets to show these pieces of paper to the tax authorities. Secondly, when filling out an appeal, it is assigned an incoming number, which means that my appeal is processed in a manner that is appropriate for document flow and civil servants have no right not to respond to my message.

What is the conclusion from this story? Even though the Kontur.Elba service costs me more than free accounting through one of the banks, it gives me more advantages and assistance in matters in which I myself am incompetent.

If I were at the initial stage of my entrepreneurial activity, I would definitely consider the issue of opening a current account for an individual entrepreneur in one of those banks that make it possible to report to the tax authorities for free, because in the first years of business activity the likelihood of errors when submitting reports will be minimal , and the money required to pay for one of the online accounting services is better spent on business development.

Determining the most profitable bank

Now let's try to determine which bank is more profitable under different usage scenarios. In all scenarios, only the number of outgoing payments will change. Incoming payments are free everywhere, but the cost of outgoing payments differs. Well, let’s not forget to calculate maintenance, commissions for withdrawing profits and other payments.

Scenario #1: up to 5 outgoing transfers per month

This is a scenario for beginners who will have few payments. Since I am currently developing a new project, these calculations will be very relevant for me.

When calculating the cost of outgoing payments to legal entities, we will take the maximum figure for this scenario, 5. This means that in some months, when there will be fewer outgoing payments, for example, 1-2, the cost of service will be cheaper in some banks.
When calculating the cost of outgoing payments to individuals, we will start from the figure of 100,000 rubles. Here we mean that we will withdraw earned profits to debit cards opened either in the same bank or in other banks. It is clear that in each individual case different amounts will be withdrawn, but since we have agreed that this scenario is designed for beginners, we will assume that the beginner will have a small income. And we will split these 100 thousand rubles. for 4 outgoing payments of 25 thousand rubles, since we mean that money will be received on the account not in one large amount, but in different parts, and we seem to be withdrawing 25 thousand rubles each. every week for a living.

Bank	Alfa Bank	Tinkoff	Dot	Modulbank	Sberbank	VTB	Opening	Raiffeisen
Monthly service	490	408	750	490	0	900*	492	990
	100	98	0	95	200	0	158	125
	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	125
	0	0 + 99**	0	76 (4 x 19)	44 + 62,5***	0	0 + 99****	100
	590	0	0	0	500	0	0	500
	1180	605	750	661	806,5	0	749	1840
Total for the year	7670	7260	9000	7932	4.178	10800	8988	16580

* – I made calculations for VTB Bank taking into account the unlimited promotion, otherwise the bank’s tariffs are unprofitable. The first 3 months of service are free, then 1200 rubles. per month.

** – Since in Tinkov you can withdraw without commissions only to your debit cards, we will include in the expenses the fee for servicing the Tinkoff Black debit card (99 rubles per month)

*** – At Sberbank, servicing a classic debit card costs 750 rubles. first year or 62.5 rub. per month. From the second year, service is 450 rubles/year or 37.5 rubles/month. Do not forget about the unnamed Momentum card, the service of which is free, but I am not taking it into account here, since it is not easy to open and is not available in all service offices.

**** – In Otkritie Bank, as in Tinkovo, without commissions, profits can only be withdrawn to an individual’s debit card opened within the bank. The cost of servicing the cheapest debit card costs 99 rubles/month

So, as you can see from the table, Sberbank’s tariff is beyond competition. It is almost 2 times cheaper than its closest pursuer, Tinkoff Bank.

Scenario #2: up to 20 outgoing transfers per month

Now let's determine the most profitable current account for an individual entrepreneur who is more active than in the first scenario. To do this, I took the online store data for one of the past active periods. The store’s turnover for the year amounted to about 5.5 million rubles. My account received 338 incoming payments (they could not be counted) and there were 186 outgoing payments, of which:

44 were to the accounts of individuals, including to their debit cards for a total amount of 3,380,056 rubles;
12 payments to tax authorities and the Pension Fund;
130 payments to the accounts of legal entities.

Let's divide this data by 12 months of the year, rounding up, and get:

4 outgoing payments per month to individuals for a total amount of 281,671 rubles;
1 payment per month to the tax authorities and the Pension Fund;
11 payments per month to the accounts of legal entities.

Now let's calculate the tariffs:

Bank	Alfa Bank	Tinkoff *	Dot	Modulbank	Sberbank	VTB	Opening	Raiffeisen
Monthly service	490	990	750	490	0	900*	492	990
External payments in rubles via Internet banking to the accounts of legal entities and individual entrepreneurs	400	29	300	209	800	600	632	275
Tax and budget payments	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	25
Payments to individuals' accounts	820	99	500 + 2460	76 (4 x 19)	44 + 660 + 62,5***	1320	1320 + 99****	100 + 1820
Card with sample signatures	590	0	0	0	500	0	0	500
Total for the first month of service	2.300	1.118	4.010	775	2066,5	2.820	2.543	3.710
Total for the year	21.110	13.416	48.120	9.300	19.298	33.840	30.516	39.020

* – In the second scenario, the Advanced tariff is considered, while in other cases the Simple tariff was considered above. In this calculation, Advanced is more profitable than Simple.

From the table it becomes obvious that this time Modulbank is becoming the leader. However, this approach to determining the best bank is not entirely correct, because each bank in the line has several tariffs, the limits and commissions on each of which are different, so the correct conclusion that we can draw from the second scenario is this:

As your business grows, you need to review the tariffs of different banks and change them to the most favorable ones, otherwise you risk overpaying every year for servicing your current account.

I studied the tariffs of the analyzed banks and came to the conclusion that changing the tariff to a higher one in the tariff schedule of each bank will not change the situation much. Only in Tinkov, if you switch to the Advanced tariff, you can reduce the cost of annual service to 12 thousand rubles. In other cases, the cost of service increases.

What else should you pay attention to?

Card with sample signatures

In the comparison table above, I also noted a few more points, for example, the design of a card with sample signatures. Such a card is needed for a bank employee to verify any documents and identify your signature. This is necessary so that documents are not falsified for you. For example, you have been issued an invoice for payment. For some reason, you were unable to use online banking and printed the document on paper and then took it to the bank. A bank employee, when accepting this payment order, will check the signature on the document with a sample signature on the same card that you issued when opening a current account for an individual entrepreneur. If the signatures match, the banker will transfer the money according to the payment document; if not, he will return it back.

So, in many banks from the table above, such cards are not issued, or more precisely, they are not mandatory for registration, because, for example, the same Tinkoff bank does not have service offices and all payment documents can be issued only through your personal account online bank, where each payment is confirmed via SMS.

But when you come to open a current account at the same Sberbank, the employee with a calm face will say that you need to issue a card with sample signatures, the cost of which is 250 rubles in Gelendzhik, and 500 rubles in Moscow. The cost is small, but I am more outraged when unnecessary services are imposed on you. I agreed and only later learned that it was not necessary to issue this card.

There are banks where issuing a card with sample signatures is mandatory when opening an account, for example, at Alfa Bank the cost of the service is 590 rubles. Without this, an account will not be opened for you.

Cost of account closure

In my former Sovdepovsky Ermak they charged me 500 rubles for closing the account. Fortunately, in most modern banks this service is free.

Account statement cost

After the Central Bank of the Russian Federation began a massive purge of the banking sector, the surviving banks are afraid of any claims from the regulator and zealously comply with all its requirements and instructions, one of the most terrible, among which is 115 Federal Law “On combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime.” through, and financing of terrorism." As a result, many individual and LLC accounts have recently been closed, the activities of which seemed suspicious to financial monitoring services. In 2017 alone, according to the public organization Delovaya Rossiya, banks closed at least 500 thousand accounts of entrepreneurs.

What does this mean to you? Your account can be blocked at any time, even if you conduct business honestly and openly. Therefore, you must immediately imagine the consequences.

1 First, if you actively use the account, your current contracts may suffer, as happened with businesswoman Ksenia:

I work in the field of public procurement, the business is absolutely transparent, all Agreements can be checked on the public procurement website. We use the account every day; it came as a complete surprise to me when my transactions were suspended.

Because of this, I was unable to purchase goods for one of my customers. Now I will not be able to deliver the goods on time and will incur losses due to the terms of the Agreement. And yet, I was unable to pay another invoice for transport delivery with an order for another client, now the car is idle with my cargo.

Who will compensate me for the losses incurred and loss of reputation? How can you look your clients in the eye now?

2 Second, if your account is blocked, then you may need a statement from your current account, which you will then use to calculate taxes. The extract can also be uploaded to Kontur.Elba or My Business and the services will calculate the tax amount for you.

Some banks charge crazy amounts of money for statements like these:

Tinkoff – 2990 rub.
Modulbank – 2500 rub.
Alfa-Bank – 600 rub.

How to choose a bank to open a current account - recommendations and tips

Since in this review, when choosing a bank, I was based on my needs and wants, I will give you advice on what to look for when choosing a bank for cash settlement services.

1 Determine the list of required services. Before compiling your list of banks for rating, determine what you will need in the process of work. For me, this is, for example, an online bank that works without tokens. Maybe you need a salary project, a foreign currency account or.

2 Study the features of the bank and its services. The availability of the service you need does not determine its quality; it may vary from bank to bank. Read reviews on the Internet, call the bank's hotline to clarify the details. For example, not all online banks work on Macs (company products), and not all banks have a mobile version. If you make transfers abroad, you need to find out how much it will cost to maintain an account in foreign currency, as well as the cost of foreign currency transfers. If your line of work requires you to deposit cash, then it is better to choose a bank with a wide branch network, etc.

3 Integration with various services. In the review, I already mentioned the integration of online banks with services such as Kontur.Elba and Moe Delo. In addition to them, there are a lot of other services that can also integrate with your bank, for example, 1C, My Warehouse, Button, Finguru, etc.

4 Location of ATMs. Find out which banks have ATMs near your home or on your way to work. This will help save time on withdrawing cash from the card.

5 Find out where your counterparties are served. It may be worth opening an account in the same bank where the accounts of your main counterparties are opened. This will help you save on commissions, speed up the payment processing time, and partially minimize the questions you receive from the bank’s financial monitoring.

6 Look at payment processing times. For example, in my previous Ermak, payments were processed from 8:00 to 16:00, but there are banks where the payment processing time is from 4:00 to 21:00.

7 Interest on account balance. Sometimes the interest on the balance can cover the monthly checking account maintenance or at least reduce it.

9 Bonuses from partners. When opening an account, many banks offer bonuses from partners, for example, if you advertise your services in Yandex.Direct, Google Adwords or myTarget, you can receive special promotional codes up to 75,000 rubles.

Or you can get several months of free service in various cloud services, such as Kontur.Elba, My Business, 1C Entrepreneur, AmoCRM, or post a free vacancy on HH.ru

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Is it necessary to open a current account in a bank and is it possible to operate an individual entrepreneur without a current account?

By law, an individual entrepreneur can conduct his business without opening a current account, but with some restrictions. In particular, cash payments with legal entities and other individual entrepreneurs are limited to 100 thousand rubles. within the framework of one Agreement. For example, you rent an office for 10 thousand rubles. per month. Typically, an agreement is concluded for 11 months, which means that the amount of 110 thousand rubles will be specified in the Agreement, which is prohibited (points 5 and 6 of Bank of Russia Directive No. 3073-U dated October 7, 2013). In this case, you can conclude 2 agreements with the landlord, each valid for six months, which will allow you to meet the required limit within the framework of one Agreement, but for this you must have a good, close relationship with a partner who will agree to do this.

The main problem that you may encounter if you work without a cash account is interaction with other counterparty organizations, although a lot here depends on the type of your activity. If your activity involves working with other organizations, payments with which will be made by non-cash method, for example, purchasing or shipping any goods to legal entities, then you can’t go without an account, since not every organization will want to work with an individual entrepreneur, transferring money to him for services or goods in cash, which is fraught with additional costs for various types of commissions. If you are engaged in retail sales or services and accept cash payments, then you can easily work without a cash account. Where is it more profitable to open an individual entrepreneur current account?

The information presented in this review suggests that it is most profitable to open a current account in Sberbank, Tinkoff Bank, Modulbank and Alfa-Bank. These banks not only have the best rates, but also the most competitive functionality and online banking capabilities.

Which banks open a current account for free?

The following banks open a current account for free: Sberbank, Tinkoff, Alfa-Bank, Modulbank, Tochka, Otkritie, Raiffeisen, VTB (for promotions, check with managers). We are talking about the banks discussed in this review. Surely there are a lot of other banks in which you can open a checking account for free, the purpose of the article was different, namely, to analyze the most reliable and functional banks regarding which bank is most profitable to open a current account.

Reasons for refusal to open an account

If you were refused to open a current account, this could happen for one of the following reasons:

Unreliable reputation. Perhaps you are on the bank’s blacklist or the Rosfinmonitoring blacklist (terrorists and their accomplices), which banks check when analyzing a client. You can be included in the list of unreliable clients for delays or non-payment of a loan, including those issued to an individual, for opening too many accounts, as well as for blocking an account in any bank, for example, for non-payment of taxes, alimony, etc. fines.
Problems with documents. This is a small thing compared to an unreliable reputation, because problems with documents are easy to fix, but correcting your reputation is much more difficult. The bank may refuse if you made some mistake in the application or forgot to provide any document or a copy of it, etc.
Incorrect information. After filling out the application form and providing a set of documents, the bank’s security service will certainly conduct an inspection. If you provided false information, you may be refused to open a bank account.
Problems with tax or other government agencies. If you do not pay taxes, insurance premiums, duties and other important payments, this may cause the bank to refuse.
A victim of statistics, or an attempt to serve the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. This is a rare reason, but nevertheless it does occur. The fact is that due to the massive purge of the banking sector, all banks are trying to strictly follow all recommendations. Every year, each bank reports to the Central Bank, including the percentage of refusals to open a bank account. If the refusal rate is zero, this may cause unnecessary questions from the regulator to the bank, which top managers try to avoid. Therefore, you may well become a victim of statistics. There is no need to despair if you are refused by one bank - go to another; if they refuse there too, the reason is probably not in statistics, but in something else.

Can an individual entrepreneur have several current accounts in different banks?

The law does not limit an entrepreneur in any way in this regard; you can open any number of accounts in any bank and in any region. If you are active, this may even be useful. If suddenly the financial monitoring of the bank considers your transactions questionable and decides to block the account, then while the proceedings are ongoing, it will be very useful to have another account opened in another bank, which you can use for urgent settlements with counterparties.

What documents are needed to open a current account?

In most banks, to open a current account you will only need to present your passport and Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). However, the bank, at its discretion, may require any other documents from you, for example, a notarized card with sample signatures, a certificate of registration of an individual entrepreneur, an extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs, licenses necessary for carrying out the activities of an individual entrepreneur. It is always better to find out the exact list of documents on the website or by calling the bank you are interested in.

Which banks do not close accounts?

Such banks do not exist, because all banks are under the control of the Central Bank of Russia, and that, in turn, has laws and regulations. One of them is the Anti-Terrorism Financing and Money Laundering Law. There are entrepreneurs who conduct dishonest business and cash out, both through one-day individual entrepreneurs and through one-day LLCs. Therefore, if your transactions fall under the control of financial monitoring and seem suspicious, your account will be blocked.

7 Russian banks for opening a current account for individual entrepreneurs: Sberbank, Avangard, Vozrozhdenie Modulbank and others.

The Moneymaker Factory portal offers you an overview of “Where is the best place to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur.” It is based on the personal interest of the author, who studied the conditions of several banks in order to choose the most inexpensive and optimally functional option for himself. Next, the narration will be in the first person.

We set the conditions:

I need to open a current account for individual entrepreneurs with the cheapest level of service, since my income is still small;
I will receive transfers from legal entities and individuals;
I will pay taxes and contributions to the Pension Fund, as well as transfer funds to a personal card 5-6 times a month for payments in stores and other points of sale;
my individual entrepreneur is on the simplified tax system of 6%.

An additional advantage will be convenient services that will help you “not bother” with monthly accounting.

At the end, I will summarize the results with a comparative analysis of the costs of registering an account for an individual entrepreneur.

So, let's begin.

Sberbank

An account is opened in 5 minutes remotely. Once a reservation is made, payments can be received immediately. True, they will be carried out only at the moment of opening, but the fact itself is very captivating. Within a month, the client must provide the following documents:

passport;
registration certificate;
tax registration document;
extract from the Unified State Register of Individual Entrepreneurs;
card with sample signatures and seal imprint;
documents on the powers of the persons indicated in the card;
passports of authorized persons;
licenses, patents (if available).

The list of documents in other banks is not much different, so I will no longer indicate it. More accurate information can be found on the website of a specific credit institution.

If all documents are in order, an account is opened and you can use it. Before opening, you need to select a package within which the service will be provided. There are standard rates, but they are more expensive.

The “Minimum” package includes: account maintenance, use of remote banking and free 5 payments per month. Monthly cost - 1700 rubles. There is a separate fee for opening - 3,000 rubles and servicing the linked card. It’s cheaper than opening without a package, but when compared with other banks, it’s not cheap at all. The advantage of Sberbank is that it offers a huge selection of related services, but a beginner entrepreneur does not need them. They are not included in the package, which means they are paid separately.

Bank "Avangard"

This bank offers simple and understandable conditions for cash settlement services. The main thing is to carefully read the tariffs, where it is written that when opening a current account by submitting an online application, the cost of the operation is 1000 rubles, and when registering offline - 3000 rubles. Maintenance - 900 rubles per month. Avangard does not have package offers. One tariff for everyone. It includes connecting to Internet banking, a salary project, and an unlimited number of intrabank payments. External payments will cost 30 rubles per transaction. You can link a Cash Card to your current account, which will allow you to use your account through an ATM. Service in the office is provided upon prior request. Please note that this card is not intended for payments at retail outlets.

The opening procedure is standard, as is the package of documents provided. To keep the cost of opening to a minimum, you need to fill out an online application, upload scans of the required documents, and then contact the office with the originals to complete the operation.

Bank "Revival"

For new individual entrepreneurs, the bank’s “Starter” tariff plan is best suited. In it, opening via the Internet will be absolutely free. Maintenance costs 600 rubles per month. The cost of one Internet payment at this tariff is the highest in the bank - 40 rubles per 1 piece. The opening procedure involves an online application to reserve an account number, uploading scans and then contacting the bank office. All this can be done within one day. The tariff includes free options: online banking service, issuance of a checkbook, certification of documents and transaction passport. Maintaining a linked card will cost 200 rubles.

Free account opening is valid as part of the “Easy Transition” promotion. It will run until December 31, 2017. Therefore, those who want to save money and use Vozrozhdenie Bank need to hurry up.

There is very little information on the bank's website about tariffs for related operations. Apparently, you will have to contact the office directly for it or call bank specialists.

Raiffeisen-Bank

A bank with foreign capital usually provides fairly favorable terms of service in many areas. Let's see what he can offer the young IP. Raiffeisen has several tariff plans. The Start package will suit me. Its price when paid for 1 month is 990 rubles. But if you pay for 1 or 2 years at once, the cost will be lower - 743 rubles per month. This amount includes the opening, maintenance of an account and Internet service “ELBRUS”-Internet, opening of a “Business 24/7” card - “Basic”. Card maintenance costs 90 rubles per month. Mobile banking will cost 190 rubles. The cost of one payment is 25 rubles.

To reserve a room, you need to submit a request through the website. The manager will call you back and discuss the time of the meeting with the employee to sign the documents. The employee will arrive at the specified location within the city where the bank office is located. At first glance, Raiffeisen’s pricing policy is quite loyal, but here you need to study in depth the tariffs for the necessary individual entrepreneur operations.

VTB 24

The bank is large and one of the top five, but cash settlement services for individual entrepreneurs are not very comfortable here. Firstly, the prices for opening an account are off the charts - 2500. Even if we take the minimum package tariff, which provides a 50% discount, it turns out that I will pay 1250 for opening, 250 for connecting to an Internet service and 1000 for a package of documents, and even I will pay a subscription fee of 1100 for the first month. The huge and clumsy mechanism of this bank still lags behind new trends and does not offer online account booking. Everything will have to be done in person at the office. Internet banking is not connected remotely, but is installed on my computer, for which I must sign a “Certificate of Completion”.

Module-Bank

A young bank working exclusively with small and medium-sized businesses. All operations and processes in it are “tailored” to remotely servicing enterprises. It has many additional services that make life easier, which I really appreciate. Let's look at its tariffs. The “Starter” tariff suits me. In it, opening, maintaining an account and Internet banking for 1 person are absolutely free. But 1 payment costs as much as 90 rubles. There is also a 1.5% charge for cash withdrawals from any amount.

Here I can afford a more expensive tariff - “Optimal”. The monthly fee is only 450 rubles, but there are additional options and goodies. The current account number is reserved remotely after submitting an application and uploading documents. To sign the agreement, you will have to come to the bank’s office or call an employee. I was a little confused by the requirement in the list of documents for recommendations from other Modul-Bank clients. Also, keep this in mind. The free mode may change in a year and become quite unprofitable, since the bank attracts customers in this way.

Bank opening"

Quite a popular bank with a standard set of options when opening a current account for individual entrepreneurs. The operation itself costs 1,300, management will cost another 750 if remote service is available. If there is none, then the cost of maintaining it increases to 1700. The price of one payment order in online banking will be 27-30 rubles, depending on the type “external-internal”. Issue of a CACHE card costs 200 rubles, maintenance - 1500 per year (125 rubles per month). The registration procedure begins with an application on the website. When filling it out, you must tick the “Account reservation” box. After sending, the current account number will be sent to the specified e-mail, which can already be indicated in the documents. To complete the operation, you need to contact the bank with a package of documents within 2 weeks.

Comparative analysis and results

So, I virtually visited 7 banks that offer the service of opening an account for individual entrepreneurs. What happened? Where is the best place to open a current account for an individual entrepreneur?

Technically, the opening conditions are not much different. Everywhere the algorithm is the same:

Application on the website.
Room reservation.
Providing documents to the office or visiting a specialist.

The list of documents is also approximately the same (it is described in the Sberbank review).

Price. This is where it gets more interesting. I made a table with the results of the minimum cost of opening an account and servicing it.

	Internet banking	Card to account
Sberbank

Opening		200+1500 (maintenance for a year)
Raiffeisen
Renaissance	200 per month
Vanguard
Module-Bank		First year - 0

It turns out that the most expensive service is in the most “people's” bank - Sberbank. In sixth place is VTB24, in fifth place is Otkritie Bank, provided that you do not issue a card. Next comes “Vanguard”, and the top three look like this:

3rd place - Raiffeisen Bank;
2nd place - Vozrozhdenie Bank;
The winner is “Module-Bank” with absolutely free account opening at the “Start” tariff.

Before contacting a particular bank, Moneymaker Factory advises you to double-check the validity of the specified conditions. They tend to change several times a year.

After writing this review, we found a special offer from 1C and Tinkoff Bank for beginning entrepreneurs with free opening of a current account and free service for the first 3 months.

Tinkoff is a good and modern bank. Therefore, if anyone is interested, we recommend testing it for 7 months for new entrepreneurs and up to 3 months for everyone else for free. And we will soon add it to the review and, as it seems to us, it will become a leader. Specialist. An offer where everything is free can only be found from a 1C partner.