Friday, March 16, 2018

Opening A Company Current Account For Your Business (for Malaysian Mompreneurs/WAHMs)

Prelude:

I decided to start an estore last month. A typical sanguine approach to the whole setup; I jumped right into it and hope I would be able to swim without sinking to the bottom. I’ve been crafting since a few years after I got my son (2008). I’ve started online business through this blog, facebook, instagram and whatsapp since 2010. Business seems like a big word. Well, it kept me busy through the years, I even had some down time post bazaar year (2012) and hardly take any orders at that point. I made a come back in 2014, doing more workshops and craft classes around Klang Valley and by the twist of fate, I embark on my Silhouette Sales and Training journey last year which got me into the creation of the Estore. I just wanted to streamline the process of channeling orders so I can track them better. I still get orders via other social media platform which I still entertain but gradually, I hope I can get my customers to go to the Estore and perform their transactions there.

Anyway, back to the story. Once the Estore is up, I realised that I wanted a more convenient way to expedite payment. The current method I’ve been using is the direct transfer method. I’d send my customers my bank accounts and the amount due and they do the transfer. It is all done MANUALLY! I wanted a more hassle free way. When I signed up with EasyStore, they offered a free registration with the payment gateway ie. IPay88 and eGHL. Once I got the email with the documentation to be completed, one of the requirements is to provide 3 months COMPANY CURRENT ACCOUNT statements. I don’t have that. So I need to open one or I can’t apply for the payment gateway for my Estore and I’m back to the dark ages of doing things the hard way.



Why do you need to have a company current account?

If you’ve taken time to read my prelude, you know that I need one to apply for a payment gateway system. Other than that;
  • To standardize your business transactions. Never mix business with pleasure. Your business transactions should go into your business account; not your personal account. 
  • Proper Book-keeping system. When your business grows bigger eventually, you need to have this in place. I wasn’t ambitious. I thought it was a hobby and it’s a bonus to actually earn from your hobby. It took me 8 years to realise that this can be a serious thing. This can generate income substantial enough for my household. So, even if you don’t see the income coming in now, just go ahead and open a company account anyway. Be prepared for success.

What do  you need to do to open one?

  1. The pre-requisite: You need to register your business with SSM (Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia or Companies Commission of Malaysia) 
  2. Go to the nearest bank branch and obtain a form to open a company current account. It is a multiple pages form and take time to run through it with the bank officer to make sure you don’t miss out any details to fill in. I tell you, the mere look at the form alone makes me want to stab a knife to my heart. The paperwork is killing me! 
  3. If you’re the patient one and want to safe a trip, then by all means, you can fill up the form at the bank and submit it on the spot provided you’ve all the supporting documents that they requested. I have a friend who did exactly that. I wasn’t patient enough to do that and prefer to torture myself slowly in the comfort of my home. 
  4. The supporting documents for the application.
    • IC copy
    • SSM documents
    • Company stamp
    • Introducer-you can be your own introducer if you have a current account with Maybank.
      I made my own company stamp with Silhouette MINT
  5. Once you’ve compiled the documentation, make your way to the bank for submission. According to the bank officer, it takes them 2-3 days to process the application. I didn’t have my hopes high because during my consultation with a friend who had gone through the process, she says it can be anywhere from 2 days to a month. So when I didn’t hear from the after 2 days, I kept my cool and gave them more time to process the application. My reminder went off last Wednesday where it’s exactly 2 weeks after my submission. I went on my stalker mode and start calling and following up on my application. Called the bank in the morning, the officer in charge said he’d call me back later. When I didn’t hear from him after an hour, I called back after lunch at 2 and the officer in charge is out for lunch. Finally at 5, the person in charge called back and said my application is approved and I can come to the branch to conclude my application.
  6. Bring your IC and Company Stamp to the bank. You need to sign a few papers, have your thumb scanned, yada yada yada and they will eventually give you a letter with your bank account number. The bank officer will also help you register your Maybank2u account as in my case I opted not to get a chequebook. Everything is online anyway. To activate your account, you need to deposit or transfer RM1000 to your brand new company current account. I guess the officer sees that I’m savvy enough to handle the online transaction that he let me do it at home. There is a 24 hours cooling off period for you to transfer the amount into the bank account or it would be terminated. I’ve waited 2 weeks to open the account; God helps me if I’m foolish enough not to do the transfer ASAP.
So there you have it. I survived through that ordeal. I want to prepare you to what lies ahead when you embark on this journey so you’ll be better prepared than I was. I stumbled on this post to get a general idea of the process involved: http://akasiiik.blogspot.my/2016/08/cara-buka-akaun-perniagaan-enterprise.html. 

If there’s interest, I’d do a series of posts covering the whole setting up an estore process to securing the payment gateway system. Leave a comment if you want to read about this.

Till then, keep calm and thank goodness it’s Friday :)


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