Should I be paying fees for business accounts?

The answer typically depends on the type of business(es) you own as well as the volume of activity of that business. The larger and more complex that your business becomes, the likelihood becomes greater that you will be paying for banking services.  However, on a basic level, as long as you keep the bank’s minimum deposit threshold (varies by bank ($2k-$10K) and your monthly transactions are below a minimum threshold (also varies by bank ~ 500-750 items), you should not be paying any fess. An exception would be for a cash/coin intensive business where you would need to deposit a lot of cash on a weekly basis.  This process is more labor intensive for the bank and a bank will typically charge per cash deposit above a certain level. 

So, if you are paying fees, you need to ask your bank why? The first place to start is to understand your account type and asked what you would need to do to avoid monthly fees.  If there is no solution for you to avoid fees, it might be your bank. Banking fees can vary by each bank by large margins.  A general rule is that smaller banks typically are cheaper than larger ones.  The flip side is that larger banks are able to provide certain, more-complex solutions that smaller banks do not have or are able to provide.  So, if you can’t avoid fees, you might look at a smaller institution to handle your services.  Banks will really compete for Treasury Management services and new deposits, so if you are large enough, let’s say $500,000 in deposits, you can certainly shop your business around and see if you can do any better.  Banks can discount their banking services just like they can a loan. 

The short answer is that if you find yourself paying fees: 1) you might be in the wrong account type, 2) you might be paying full price, where you could be receiving a discount, 3) you might be at a wrong bank

You might ask, why would a bank put me in account where I’m paying fees, when I could be switched to an account that is free?  There are a few reasons why this happens.  The first is that your business outgrows an account type, e.g., your monthly ACH credits, debits, number of checks, etc., has increased due to additional hiring or customers. The second may be that someone is not paying attention and you need to simply ask.  Changing an account type is instantaneous and can save large amounts of money.