Adding and connecting a new Mettle bank account in FreeAgent
If you’ve received an email from Mettle saying that you may need to change your Mettle bank account from a sole trader account to a limited company bank account, you may also need to add that new Mettle bank account and connect this bank feed in FreeAgent.
If you need to change your Mettle bank account to a limited company bank account, your FreeAgent account may be affected in two ways:
- If you’re using a limited company account in FreeAgent, you’ll need to follow the steps below to connect the new limited company bank account in FreeAgent.
- If you’re using a sole trader account in FreeAgent for your limited company, you’ll need to switch to a limited company account in FreeAgent instead.
You can find out which account type you have in FreeAgent by going to your Company Details settings.
Connect a new Mettle bank account in FreeAgent
1. Edit the existing Mettle bank account
First, you’ll need to edit your existing Mettle bank account.
Change the name of the bank account to something like 'Mettle account (sole trader)' and make sure the 'Show these details on Invoices' box is unticked.
Select 'Save changes' at the bottom of the screen.
2. Add the new Mettle bank account and enable the Mettle feed
Next, you’ll need to add a new bank account in FreeAgent.
Enter your new Mettle limited company bank account details and give it a different name to your existing Mettle account, such as 'Mettle account (limited company)'.
Tick the 'Make this my primary bank account' box to make the new bank account your primary bank account in FreeAgent.
If you’ll be creating invoices, tick the 'Show these details on Invoices' box to display the new bank account details on the invoices.
Select 'Create new account’ at the bottom of the screen.
Once you’ve added the new bank account, you’ll need to enable the feed for it.
3. Explain the movement of funds between the bank accounts as a transfer
When you transfer the funds from the old account to the new account, you’ll need to explain the bank transactions as a transfer between bank accounts.
Once both transactions have imported FreeAgent, explain the money in transaction in the new bank account as a 'Transfer from Another Account' and select the old bank account from the drop-down menu.
If you explain one side of the transfer before both transactions have imported into FreeAgent, this will create a duplicate transaction which you’ll need to match to the corresponding transaction once it has been imported.
4. Hide the old bank account
Finally, you can hide the old bank account in FreeAgent to stop it appearing as an option in drop-down menus.
Hiding a bank account only changes the way that FreeAgent displays it. The bank account still has an impact on your business’s books and needs to be managed alongside your active bank accounts. This means that you still need to explain any unexplained transactions on your hidden bank accounts before you file your VAT return or your Self Assessment tax return to HMRC.