There are multiple types of business entities, so we recommend consulting your tax advisor or an attorney as to which entity best suits your business.
Business Loans and Accounts
General
EIN stands for Employer Identification Number. Just as a social security is a unique number for an individual, an EIN is a unique number to identify a business entity, organization or club. An EIN can be obtained online for free directly from the IRS website.
Applications for a trade name can be found at the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation online.
Business Accounts
Freedom offers checking, savings, money market, and term share accounts for businesses. For more detailed information on any of these account types, see our Business Overview page.
To open a business account with Freedom, we will need: Employer Identification Number (EIN) (An IRS Letter of Issuance or proof may be required), mailing and physical address of the business, and personal identification for each signer. Depending on the type of business, more documentation may be required. For details, please visit our Business Banking overview page or contact our Business Banking Team directly.
Freedom offers several convenient services for our business members including Cash Management, Electronic Banking, Merchant Services, and more! For details, please visit our Business Services page or contact our Business Banking Team directly.
A business account and personal account may be linked in Online Banking under certain conditions. To request approval for this, please contact us at 1-800-440-4120 or visit any branch location.
For business accounts, other than sole proprietorships, an existing owner or signer should submit documentation describing the change(s) in ownership. All new signers will be required to provide two forms of ID, with at least one being a government issued photo ID. All new signers will also be required to sign account documents prior to being added to and transacting on the account. For additional information on the process for changing signers, contact us at 1-800-440-4120 or visit any branch location.
You may order checks by selecting the appropriate link below and following the prompts or by contacting us directly at 1-800-440-4120. Checks may also be ordered by visiting any branch location.
Order Personal Checks: https://www.deluxe.com/products-services/financial-checks-retail-linking.jsp
Order Business Checks: https://www.deluxe.com/shopdeluxe/sd/fiweblink/fiDetails.jsp
Business Loans
Freedom currently offers mortgages, installment loans, and lines of credit (including a Business Visa) for your business. Find out more about each loan type.
You may apply for a Business Loan by contacting our Business Banking Team.
In general, we review each request on it’s own merits. Freedom looks at cash flow, capacity, credit, collateral, character, and market conditions to determine if the loan makes sense for both the borrower and the lender.
Documentation for each type of business loan varies. Typically, documentation consists of an application, business debt schedule, personal financial statement, and tax returns/financial statements. Other documents may be required. Please consult your lender as to the specific documentation based upon your request.
Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI)
Beneficial ownership information (BOI) refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company.
In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act on a bipartisan basis. This law creates a new beneficial ownership information reporting requirement as part of the U.S. government’s efforts to make it harder for bad actors to hide or benefit from their ill-gotten gains through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures.
Update: In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.
Companies required to report are called reporting companies. There are two types of reporting companies:
- Domestic reporting companies are corporations, limited liability companies, and any other entities created by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office in the United States.
- Foreign reporting companies are entities (including corporations and limited liability companies) formed under the law of a foreign country that have registered to do business in the United States by the filing of a document with a secretary of state or any similar office.
There are 23 types of entities that are exempt from the reporting requirements. Carefully review the qualifying criteria before concluding that your company is exempt.
FinCEN’s Small Entity Compliance Guide for beneficial ownership information reporting includes a flowchart to help identify if a company is a reporting company and a chart summarizing the 23 exemptions (see Chapter 1.1, “Is my company a “reporting company”?”).
Update: In light of a recent federal court order, reporting companies are not currently required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force. However, reporting companies may continue to voluntarily submit beneficial ownership information reports.
FinCEN began accepting beneficial ownership information reports on January 1, 2024. BOI reports will not be accepted before then.
If you are required to report your company’s beneficial ownership information to FinCEN, you will do so electronically through a secure filing system available via FinCEN’s website.
This electronic filing system will be available by January 1, 2024, at which point information about the form will be posted on FinCEN’ s Beneficial Ownership Information webpage.
View the full list of FAQs from FINCen.