New to the USA questions.

[SwedeTampa]

Hi!

I had businesses in Sweden when I was younger, now I live in the USA and I am enrolled as a full time college student in Florida.

I have some questions that I cant really get my head around and keep in mind that I just want the most simple and easiest solution not necessarily the "best", since I am in college I have no delusions that this will make me a living I just need something to do in my spare time and hopefully I can make some pocket money and get some business experience until time comes to start something "for real" in the future:

* Do I really need a dedicated Business Bank account? Or is it just preferred?

* If I need a dedicated account how; What is the cheapest account? I will mainly do my business online and will also accept credit cards. Is PayPal OK to use?

* Do I need a business number, some say yes others tell me no. I heard that you can run your business of your SSN, is that correct? If so what is the point with getting a business ID number?

[Freelancier]

Do I really need a dedicated Business Bank account? Or is it just preferred?

If you're just working under your own name or as a DBA, you don't need a business bank account, but it might still be preferred just to help you keep track of your income and expenses in a way that an accounting program can help you with. But that only happens if you have enough business to warrant it... if you don't, then don't bother.


If I need a dedicated account how; What is the cheapest account? I will mainly do my business online and will also accept credit cards. Is PayPal OK to use?

PP is fine as a first step, but just know the limitations on their "seller protection", especially when it comes to online transactions. As for "cheapest account", what I've found is that for a business account, places like Schwab will offer them for free.


Do I need a business number, some say yes others tell me no. I heard that you can run your business of your SSN, is that correct? If so what is the point with getting a business ID number?

Yes, you can do business using your SSN. However, if you don't want to hand out your SSN at every turn, you can get an EIN for free from the IRS (https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp).

[SwedeTampa]

If you're just working under your own name or as a DBA, you don't need a business bank account, but it might still be preferred just to help you keep track of your income and expenses in a way that an accounting program can help you with. But that only happens if you have enough business to warrant it... if you don't, then don't bother.



PP is fine as a first step, but just know the limitations on their "seller protection", especially when it comes to online transactions. As for "cheapest account", what I've found is that for a business account, places like Schwab will offer them for free.



Yes, you can do business using your SSN. However, if you don't want to hand out your SSN at every turn, you can get an EIN for free from the IRS (https://sa1.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp).


Ok, this cleared up some questions. Weird that I did not find these answers easily online, some say "yes" other "no" to just about anything!

My mom always had her own Law Firm so in Sweden I could just ask her, but here I have to learn everything from scratch, that is both fun and also a lot more work. :rolleyes:


EIN you say,can I just get one right now and have for future reference or do I need to start using it?
Thanks for the link by the way! :)

[Freelancier]

EIN you say,can I just get one right now and have for future reference or do I need to start using it?

A good question that I spotted the answer to when I was poking around: the IRS says that if you don't use an EIN within 15 months, they'll "turn it off" and you'll have to request a new one.

And everyone has opinions, they're like certain body parts. Everyone has them, not everyone knows how to keep them quiet :)

[SwedeTampa]

A good question that I spotted the answer to when I was poking around: the IRS says that if you don't use an EIN within 15 months, they'll "turn it off" and you'll have to request a new one.

And everyone has opinions, they're like certain body parts. Everyone has them, not everyone knows how to keep them quiet :)


Thank you so much your answers are really helpful :)

[billbenson]

Freelancier gave you some good advice. I would just add that most of the things like EIN, business bank account, bus phone etc you should get if affordable. A note on the phone, I just use a Vonage account. You don't need to go to Verizon and pay outrageous fees for a business account. Just get a second personal line and you are fine.

[Freelancier]

I just use a Vonage account

We have AT&T land-line, Vonage, and Callcentric (with a 2-line Cisco VOIP device that we got for $80) for all our different businesses here at the house. We probably could start a thread on it, but: for line quality, AT&T wins without a doubt, but the cost is 2.5x Vonage and 4x Callcentric. Fax is on Vonage, so that works better than expected. And we have a crazy fast Comcast line, I'd hate to think of people trying to do VOIP on DSL or other inferior bandwidth offerings. But there are a lot of telecom choices out there, you just have to find the combination that works best for you.

[billbenson]

Vonage has a feature called simuring (probably misspelled). The phone rings at my house and my partners place an hour from me. Whoever picks up the phone first gets the call. They also email you transcribed messages. Both of these are nice features. It does have inconstant quality as you mentioned. Still I like it

[SwedeTampa]

Freelancier gave you some good advice. I would just add that most of the things like EIN, business bank account, bus phone etc you should get if affordable. A note on the phone, I just use a Vonage account. You don't need to go to Verizon and pay outrageous fees for a business account. Just get a second personal line and you are fine.

Yea, I do not really care about that though. The only one calling me is my wife and I know her number.
If someone else decided to call is is new business (hopefully!!) or someone trying to sell me something. LOL

Got a P.O Box though, I do not want to put my home address all over the internet.

Sorry for all the super simple questions, everything just comes as once when you just move to a new country.

[billbenson]

You could also buy Vonage (a router for you and send a router to your family in Sweden). Other than the monthly $29 fee, you would have free long distance to your family's phone.

I have no idea what the sound quality would be on an international call like that. I'd be really curious if anyone has ever done this.