Credit and Debit cards

[secsee1]

I know that this should be in the business section but it is only a general question, A friend of mine has 2 en-suite rooms that are no longer used due to family members moving away so she wants to let them out on a bed & breakfast basis, it seems these days that most B&Bs take a card number as a deposit, so as she has no arrangement with the bank but does have a bank account how does she get the money from the given card number into her account?

[ummmm]

She'd be better off opening a business account. The bank should provide everything she'd need.

Book-keeping a business that is ran from a personal account is a nightmare.

[mccfluff]

what ummm said. she needs to keep this separate, plus has she thought about insurances, fire policies etc. its not as simple as just renting rooms out

[bushbaby_de]

She'd also need planning permission to use her home as a B&B.

[EDDIE51]

As well as planning permission she needs to pay business rates instead of council tax on that % of the house that is used as a B&B . This is quite complicated as she will have to claim expenses for the business as well and set it against tax. Probably easier to just rent out the 2 rooms on a monthly basis, if there is a university near then the accomadation office will be happy to help her rent the rooms to students , there is always a shortage of student accomadation.

[Maydup]

I'd advice her to uses an online booking service Not only do most of us book htat way but it will also process all the deposits for her. Credit card proceessing is complex and expensive. You need a merchant number, an arrangement with a service provider and either a chip and pin machine or appropriate sofware. There are fees and charges to pay and strict rules to adhere to about processing credit card numbers, storing the data and transfering the money.

If this can all be done by a third party it would be much more manageble for a small business. Alternatively think about using Pay Pal as they do all the processing for you too.

[ubasses]

She cannot. To take card transactions she will have to apply to her bank for card processing and be assesed like any other facilty from them. They are stricter on card not present transactions due to the higher risk of fraud. To be honest when I was working we would look at a turnover of £20k a year through the card system before it would be cost effective for the customer.
No harm in talking to the bank as I have been retired a few years now. They will probably want a business plan and expect her to have complied with all rules and regs for the B&B.

[237SJ]

A friend of mine has a "cottage industry" business and she uses Streamline. It might be worth Googling them.

[parkie]

I think I'm right in saying if there is a mortgage on the property the lender also has to be notified. Is this correct?

[237SJ]

I`m not sure about the regs but where I come from, half the world does B&B. I have a feeling you only have to conform to all the regs (fire etc) if you have four or more rooms. I`m sure someone will correct me though..

[secsee1]

Thank you for all of your interesting answers, I have printed them off and will pass them on to her.

[EDDIE51]

Since October 2006 ALL B&Bs have to comply with the full fire regulations
http://www.bandbassociation.org/fire.html
It used to only apply to places with over 6 rooms.
I still think it is a much better idea to just rent the rooms out on a monthly basis.

[sherrardk]

Credit card payments are not instant - the money is 'held back' for quite a while.

[mccfluff]

streamline charge for the service

[bushbaby_de]

parkdale - yes you're right. Insurance company too.