Banks Your Accountant Should Love
Why is this even a topic of discussion, you may ask. It’s more likely that local credit unions will experience difficulties with their online portals because they are small entities. This can lead you to have to go back and forth with your accountant and bank rep. for statements or access permissions.
You would be surprised at how often this scenario occurs. However, they can offer competitive loan rates and higher interest rates on CDs and savings accounts. It’s definitely a good idea to keep a relationship with a credit union, but maybe not use it as a primary bank. So, the main question is: what makes a great bank, and why does your accountant prefer these?
Digital Infrastructure & Accounting Integration
In today’s age, it’s important to consider bank branches that provide you with options for digital banking capabilities. You want to weigh in on whether they provide you a user-friendly website or, even better, an app to access and view your accounts.
A crucial question you’ll want to ask is: Does it provide visibility into deposits, showing the deposit slips for customer checks deposited? This feature allows your accountant to easily view remittances without having to constantly communicate with you.
The next important feature to consider is whether they will provide view-only access to specific users. This is great to provide your accountant because even though they are handling your financials, it’s a safe practice to give them view-only access. You don’t want anyone to have access to your bank accounts, including the ability to make transfers or add money.
Another great feature to look for that will help you and your accountant is whether this bank website or app supports accounting software integrations. Many accountants use QBO, and it’s most beneficial when your bank transactions smoothly integrate with your QBO account. It reduces manual work for you and your accountant when your financial data and bank are integrated with software.
Is there a list of good banks?
There is a list of bank branches we recommend, and keep in mind that it also depends on what you need for your business. Some of these banks require a minimum balance to avoid a bank fee, but others charge a fee regardless of the minimum balance. It ultimately depends on which advantages and disadvantages are most important for your business needs. Our first recommendation is Chase Bank; we hear good feedback from clients about the Chase bankers’ website/app accessibility and QBO integration capabilities.
However, this branch is not nearly as good as other banks when it comes to interest rates or savings rates. For those options, you would want to look at a local credit union. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Truist are also on our list of recommended banks, along with Chase.
Keep in mind that if you need to travel out of town for your company, a megabank like this will have more accessible ATMs should you need them. Take a look at this comparison of the best banks for small businesses in April 2026 from NerdWallet to find deeper pros and cons.
A list of good regional banks
If you want to shy away from these megabanks because they don’t have enough advantages for your business, we do have a list of recommended regional banks that can provide personalized services and flexible lending options. Fifth Third Bank is considered a reputable bank for easy online banking, mostly serving the Midwest. They also have more ATMs, which is perfect for jobs outside your hometown.
However, we have found that implementing features for view-only accessors can be lengthy. Other banks include Navy Federal and Huntington, which both serve many parts of the US, from Alabama to Pennsylvania and beyond.
There are a few we don’t recommend, and other accountants may have related issues with visibility to your financials. These include South State Bank and U.S. Bank; our clients have experienced difficulty in receiving proper support services to provide view-only access to their bank accounts. South State, in particular, only allows one user access to a secure external downloaded browser, which has proved to be a tedious setup process.
Nevertheless, these banks can provide competitive advantages to you that others may lack. Again, it all comes down to what fits you and your business needs, but it’s also important to consider what will be easy for you and your accountant.
Bottom line
What you should have gathered is that it’s advisable to hold account relations at both types of branches. Community banks & credit unions will have more flexible and quicker underwriting. This is especially great for a small start-up business or for a business that doesn’t require much out-of-town travel and needs ATMs.
But you may encounter limited technology and lack a robust online banking platform. In contrast, holding your company accounts at large national banks will offer more products and services to you. This is ideal for an expanding business and one that requires work travel. It also provides you with master accounts to hold sub-accounts for your employees, if needed.
Unfortunately, these megabanks will charge higher fees for services, money transfers, and overdrafts. They’re also much stricter on lending guidelines and rely on credit scores and federal regulations.
A middle ground between the 2 is regional banks, which offer digital features while still focusing on relationship-based services. These banks also tend to charge moderate fees, comparable to those of national banks. Nevertheless, the technology and software integrations can vary by branch, and products and services are still limited.
Additionally, a chart with these specifications is available to you at the bottom of this blog. And if you’re still on the fence about which banks to choose for your business needs, reach out to our team at Waterford Business. We are more than happy to help and discuss in depth what bank brand is best for you.
