Separating personal and freelance accounts, and why it matters
No law forces you to have a bank account for your activity. But mixing personal and professional money costs you every quarter: expenses you do not deduct because you cannot find them, IVA you spend without noticing and a balance that tells you nothing. Separating is cheap and takes an afternoon.
Why separate: proof for Hacienda
A deductible expense has to be tied to the activity and justified. If your account mixes the supermarket with your software subscription, every review turns into an argument. With a business account, the statement is the evidence: everything leaving it has a professional reason.
Why separate: the quota is calculated on profit
Since 2023 your quota depends on your net income. Social Security regularises it the following year using Hacienda's data. If you do not know what you really earn because everything is mixed, you do not know which band you are in or whether to change it. With separate accounts, profit shows itself.
Why separate: clarity
Your personal account balance should answer one question: how much can I spend. The business account answers another: how much do I owe Hacienda and how much is left. Mixed together, neither gets answered.
How to do it: three accounts, not two
The structure that works has three parts. A personal account where you pay yourself a fixed salary. A business account where you get paid and from which you pay professional expenses. And a tax reserve account you transfer the IVA and set-aside IRPF to on the day you get paid. Many banks let you open the second and third at no cost.
- Personal account: receives a fixed salary on the same day each month.
- Business account: income, professional expenses, RETA quota.
- Reserve account: collected IVA and 20% of profit, no card.
One card per account
The business card only pays for business things. The personal one, everything else. When in doubt at the till, ask whether you could explain it to an inspector. If not, personal card. With this rule, categorising afterwards is almost automatic.
What to do with mixed expenses
The phone, the car, the home internet. Pay them from the business account if professional use is the majority and from the personal one if not. Record the percentage you apply and use it consistently. In Fider that percentage sits on each transaction and the engine applies it to IRPF and IVA without you recalculating.
How Fider solves it: three wallets
Every transaction in Fider carries a wallet: personal, freelance or company. You can look at one, two or all three at once. Net worth is computed over whichever combination you choose, and the 303 and 130 drafts only read the freelance wallet. If an expense slipped into the wrong wallet, moving it is one click and the bank is untouched.
Frequently asked questions
Am I required to have a bank account for my activity?
No, no law requires it. But it makes justifying expenses, calculating the quota and tracking what you owe Hacienda much easier.
How many accounts do I need?
Three work better than two: personal, business and tax reserve. The reserve account needs no card.
What do I do with a mixed expense like the phone?
Pay it from the account matching the majority use, decide a reasonable professional percentage and apply it consistently.
How do I pay myself a salary as an autónomo?
Transfer a fixed amount from the business account to the personal one on the same day each month. The rest stays for professional expenses and taxes.
What are Fider's wallets?
Each transaction carries a label: personal, freelance or company. You can view any combination, and the tax forms only read the freelance one.
What if an expense lands in the wrong wallet?
You change its wallet with one click. No money needs to move between bank accounts.