Business credit card

[bagelhead]

Do you recommend obtaining a separate Business Credit Card for a moderate amount of business-related expenses? Or should one just use his Personal Credit Card and keep meticulous records?

How do you handle dual-use expenses such as Gas, Cell phone, Internet, etc.?

Thanks!

[LifeIsGood]

I highly recommend AVOIDING a business credit card. A consumer card offers you many protections and benefits that are absent on business cards. When I had my business, I had a credit card that I used exclusively for business related expenses. My philosophy was that if it was a legitimate business expense, it went on that card. Otherwise I used my personal card.

[arkerr123]

I am in a similar situation. I just bought a triplex and I am pondering if I will setup a new personal account or a new business account.

[ResNullius]

I always used my personal card. When it comes to getting reimbursed at work, I always had to submit receipts anyway. By using my personal credit card, I got all the rewards and points, which were huge since I put many tens of thousands of dollars on my credit card in a given year for airfare, hotels, dinning, and such. Heck, sometimes I used my credit card to pay for numerous associates who were traveling with me.

[fareastwarriors]

I am in a similar situation. I just bought a triplex and I am pondering if I will setup a new personal account or a new business account.

Just use another personal card or set up a new personal card. Keep your triplex expenses separate from your personl spending. No need for any business card.

[dailybagel]

I am assuming that even with a business credit card, you would be personally liable for the credit account, correct?

[PaddyMac]

I've used both personal and business credit cards for business expenses. For business now, I use the Amazon Chase Business. Look at the terms and see which one works best for you. The most important thing is to have a separate card for business; it really simplifies things.

[englishgirl]

I spent the last year (first year of my "business" but I wasn't incorporated yet) using my personal card. I did NOT keep good records. I need to be better at this, and I intend to start using QuickBooks online in January to track my business finances better. But I'm going to have a giant headache getting my taxes done and tracking down receipts and such. I therefore decided I need a separate card starting in January, which is when my business is incorporating.

I've decided to upgrade my personal Costco membership to an executive business membership, and to go with the Costco Amex business card as I do this. Then I'll put as many business expenses as I can on that card. That's my first step. Seems like I can easily keep using my personal checking account with the Costco Amex. Then I'll open a business checking account once I start receiving funds direct from actual customers (instead of just 1099 income). And then maybe I'll consider a non-Amex business card. But, first things first...

[englishgirl]

Just revisiting this topic.

I was just in my personal Amex account, and noticed that you can tag your expenditures. So I created a tag called "business" and went back and tagged the last 6 months (at least, what I remember off the top of my head). Then by selecting to show spending for the year categorized by each tag, the website adds everything up for you.

Now, this feature has probably been there for 10 years and I just noticed it (and I'm sure other banks have something similar). But it looks pretty handy if you don't want to have a separate card. However, I have bought some business items at Costco, and those are all mixed up with personal items. It seems like that'd be hard to tag. For that reason, I think paying on two separate cards, one for business and one for personal, makes things a lot neater.