Business bank accounts for tradespeople: builders, plumbers and electricians

The short answer

Trades have a particular mix of banking needs: customers who still pay in cash or by cheque, a lot of spending at merchants, CIS deductions for those working for contractors, and admin done between jobs on a phone. No single account wins on all of them. The sections below take each need in turn, then compare the accounts.

Cash and cheque deposits

Cash is where app-based accounts are weakest. Monzo Business takes cash at any PayPoint or Post Office for £1 per deposit, on every plan. The fee is low; the monthly limit is the constraint. Monzo’s help pages give £3,000 a month (sole traders) and £10,000 a month (limited companies). That is roughly £692 a week for a sole trader.

For a plumber paid £1,500 in cash for a bathroom, one deposit costs £1 per deposit. Two jobs like that in a month, £3,000 in all, would use 100% of a sole trader’s monthly limit, leaving no room for smaller cash payments until the next month.

Other accounts price cash differently:

A flat fee like Monzo’s is cheapest for large deposits, because percentage and per-£100 charges grow with the amount. Starling’s percentage fee has a minimum charge, so on Starling’s published tariff every deposit costs more than Monzo’s flat fee; its attraction is elsewhere in the account. High-street accounts also usually charge a monthly fee after any free period. Check the current tariff on each bank’s page: Starling, Tide, Barclays, Lloyds.

Cheques are still common from older customers and some trade accounts. Monzo lists cash and cheque deposits as included on every plan, with no cheque fee on its fee sheet. Starling takes cheques free by post or in the app. The full detail for Monzo is on our Monzo Business cash deposits page.

Taking card payments on site

Most customers would now rather pay by card than hunt for cash. Monzo Business includes Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android, no card reader, on every plan including the free Lite. The customer taps their card or phone on yours. Stripe processes the payment and charges £0.20 + 1.4% for UK and European cards; Monzo says it adds nothing on top. Phones need to meet Stripe’s requirements: iPhone Xs or later on iOS 16.7+; Android 13+ with NFC. Powered by Stripe.

On a £1,500 job paid by a UK card, the fee is £0.20 + 1.4% for UK and European cards. That is more than the £1 per deposit cash deposit fee, but the money arrives without a trip to the Post Office and does not count towards your cash limit.

• Starling: Tap to Pay: 1.6% per transaction, no monthly fee (Starling Tap to Pay).
• Tide: Tap to Pay 1.5% + 11p; card reader 1.5% + 5p (pay as you go) (Tide Tap to Pay).
• Revolut Business: Tap to Pay 0.8% + 10p; online cards 1% + 20p (UK consumer cards), but no free plan and no cash deposits.

If you prefer customers to pay later, a payment link or invoice works too: card payments online cost £0.20 + 1.5% for standard UK cards on invoices and payment links, and pay-by-bank transfers are free.

CIS and setting tax aside

Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct money from subcontractors’ payments and pass it to HMRC as advance payments towards the subcontractor’s tax and National Insurance. HMRC’s subcontractor guidance sets the deduction at 20% if you are registered, or 30% if you are not. You can apply for gross payment status to be paid without deductions.

That changes how you should bank:

• Payments arrive net. Work done for contractors lands with the deduction already taken. Work for private customers arrives in full.
• Set tax aside on the gross jobs. On Monzo Pro or Team, you can have up to 3 Tax Pots, each taking a percentage of every incoming payment, moved automatically. Because a Tax Pot takes the same percentage of every payment, a CIS tradesperson might choose a lower rate than someone paid gross, and top up manually after private jobs. Our tax set-aside calculator helps you choose.
• Keep a record of every deduction. The deductions are advance payments towards your tax and National Insurance, so you need the paperwork from each contractor to claim them against your bill.

CIS covers most building work, alterations, repairs, decorating and installing heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation systems. It does not cover some jobs, such as carpet fitting or delivering materials. Check HMRC’s guide if you are unsure.

Materials, merchants and team cards

A big share of a tradesperson’s spending goes on materials at builders’ merchants and wholesalers. Paying on the business card, rather than personal, keeps every purchase in the books. On Monzo Business you can attach a photo of the receipt to each transaction, and Pro and Team sync with Xero, FreeAgent, Sage and QuickBooks.

If you run a small team or have an apprentice:

• Monzo Team (from £25 a month) includes 5 expense cardholders as standard, with limits you set per person and payment approvals above them. The Team plan page explains how we use it.
• Monzo Pro has 5 active virtual cards at once (9 a month, 100 a year), useful for online orders and subscriptions, but no expense cards for staff.
• Starling offers free expense cards; team access for up to 5 users, on its free account.
• Tide has none on free; 1 to 3 on paid plans, extra seats £5 each.

Trade credit accounts at merchants are arranged with the merchant, separately from your bank, so they do not limit your choice of account.

Invoicing from the van

Sending the invoice before you leave the job is the single best way to be paid quickly. Monzo Business Pro and Team include invoices and quotes in the app or on the web, with automatic matching and a pay-by-card link. You create the invoice on your phone, the customer pays by card or bank transfer, and the payment is matched to the invoice when it arrives.

Lite does not include invoicing; you would need separate software or Pro at £9 a month. Starling offers free invoicing in the app, and Tide offers 3 invoices a month (unlimited on Max). The Monzo Business invoicing page walks through how it works.

A sensible set-up for a one-van business

For a sole trader or small company in the trades, a set-up that covers most situations looks like this:

• One business account for everything that is not cash-heavy. Card and transfer payments in, materials and fuel out on the card, Direct Debits for van finance, insurance and phone.
• A tax pot or two. One for Income Tax and National Insurance (or Corporation Tax for a company), and one for VAT once you are registered.
• A plan for cash. Either a weekly deposit within your account’s limit, or a second account at a bank with branch or counter deposits if cash is a large share of your income.
• Invoices sent on the day. From the account itself on a plan that includes invoicing, or from accounting software that syncs with it.
• Receipts attached as you go. Merchants’ receipts are easy to lose in a van; a photo against the transaction is not.

Sole traders do not have to open a business account at all, but a separate account is the simplest way to keep the records HMRC expects. Our guide to whether sole traders need a business account sets out the rules.

Accounts for tradespeople compared

High-street figures come from the Barclays tariff and NatWest business account charges, checked 9 October 2026. “Not listed” means the bank’s page did not list the feature for this account, not that it is unavailable. Card acceptance at high-street banks is usually through a separate card-machine provider.

When a high-street bank suits better

Choose a high-street bank as your main account if most of your income is cash, you regularly bank coin, or you want a branch relationship for borrowing on vans and equipment. Our Monzo Business vs high-street banks comparison sets out their monthly fees after the free period.

Choose an app account if customers mostly pay by card or transfer and cash is occasional. Monzo’s flat cash fee is the cheaper per deposit; Starling’s free invoicing and expense cards are the draw there. See Monzo Business vs Starling for a head-to-head.

Use both if you take serious cash and want modern tools: bank the cash on the high street and run cards, transfers, tax pots and spending through the app. Moving money between them is free on Monzo’s side. Sole traders should also read our guide for sole traders.

One more check: Monzo’s eligibility page lists industries it cannot support, including unlicensed scrap metal and unregistered waste management. Trades that also do clearances or scrap should read the Monzo Business eligibility rules first.

If Monzo suits you, opening through our link means we both get £50. That is only for people who have never had a Monzo account of any kind and who download the app, apply, add money and make a first card payment within 30 days. Paying cash in does not count; buying materials with the card does.