PJ account: how important is it for MEI?
Understand the importance of opening a PJ account for individual micro-entrepreneurs.
It's quite common for micro-entrepreneurs to use a personal bank account within the company. However, this is not an appropriate practice, as it can make it difficult to organize the business's finances.
So, if you're an individual micro-entrepreneur and you're still undecided about opening a PJ account, this article is for you.
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Does the MEI need to have a legal account?
The MEI is a simplified business model created by the Federal Government with the aim of giving small business owners easy access to creating a CNPJ and less bureaucracy to operate in the market.
A legal account is a bank account created under the company's CNPJ. In other words, it belongs to the company and is separate from the personal bank account.
Due to this objective of facilitating access to the CNPJ for the entrepreneurial population, it was not made compulsory for the Individual Microentrepreneur to open a legal account.
In other words, it is possible for MEIs to operate using their personal bank account. However, this is not a recommended practice.
If you have a company, the best thing to do is to open a company account, where you can keep precise track of your incomings and outgoings and separate what is personal money from what is business money.
Below, we'll tell you a little more about the importance of a PJ account for MEIs.
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Why is it so important for MEIs to have a PJ account?
If you have started a company, want to establish yourself in the market and grow, you will need to focus on actions with these objectives.
There are many reasons for MEIs to open a legal account and separate their business finances from their personal finances. Here are some of the reasons we consider to be the most important.
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Personal finances separate from business finances.
This is the main factor that leads micro-entrepreneurs to open an account for their company.
If you use a single account for personal and professional finances, you may not know how to separate what belongs to the company and what you can actually spend. The money goes into the account and you start using it to pay personal and household bills, while paying suppliers, buying stock, etc.
If you have a small income, this might work. But what about when your company starts making more profit? How do you manage that?
Therefore, the best thing to do is to have an account for the company and set a monthly amount to transfer to your personal account, as if it were your salary. This way, you can manage your accounts separately and achieve greater financial organization in both sectors.
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It's easier to collect from customers!
With a PJ account you can offer your customers various payment methods, such as transfer, Pix, deposit, card machine and boleto.
What's more, when you pass on your bank account to a client, if it's associated with the CNPJ, it conveys much more credibility.
If you provide services to other companies, the PJ account will be a requirement for receiving payments. In other words, without it you won't be able to serve these clients.
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Easy access to credit lines...
MEIs have easier access to credit lines so they can invest in their business. However, in order to do so, they need to present a legal account. This will be a requirement of most banks.
What's more, with a PJ account you can negotiate special terms and reduced interest rates, as well as accessing larger loans.
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How do I open an MEI account?
The first step to opening a PJ MEI account is choosing a bank. Research the financial institutions that offer the best conditions for your business before making this decision.
If you already have a good relationship with a bank, you should look for this option there.
The opening process can vary from institution to institution, but generally requires you to present your CPF and ID, the company's CNPJ, proof of address and the CCMEI (Certificate of Individual Microentrepreneur Status).
If you are an MEI and have questions about how your company works or accounting management strategies, talk to the CLM Controller team.
