“Good fences make good neighbors,” according to the neighbor in Robert Frost’s poem, Mending Wall.  Nowhere is this adage truer than in the realm of small business banking.  Erecting a fence between your business and personal banking makes good business sense.  Unfortunately, too many new and part-time small business owners fail to do so. 

Running their small business out of personal checking accounts small business owners seek the holy grail of simplification.  Comingling personal and business funds, however, unnecessarily complicates your life and subjects you to avoidable risk.  It makes separating business transactions from personal ones at tax time a nightmare.  This in turn increases the likelihood of missing business deductions.  In addition, you risk the IRS declaring your business a “hobby” and invalidating your business expenses.  And if someone should investigate your records (may it never be), you have a very poor audit trail.  And, let’s face it.  It just doesn’t look professional to use a personal checking account when interacting with customers. 

If you want a good business, take the time to erect a good fence by opening a business checking account to record your business transactions.  Arvest offers a variety of business checking accounts designed to grow with your business.  There are four non-interest bearing checking accounts:

1.  Free Small Business - A basic account with no monthly service fee for small businesses that write few checks, deposit few items, and primarily need an account to separate business transactions from personal ones.

2.  Small Business - For the small to moderate-sized business that has limited needs and is a checking alternative that has a simple fee structure - a flat monthly maintenance fee.

3.  Small Business Club – Offers the advantage of special Club rewards, exclusive to qualifying Small Business Club customers including a waived monthly service charge.

4.  Business Checking - For the moderate to large-size business, Business Checking offers the potential to save money through an earnings credit.

There are also two Arvest business checking accounts that earn interest.  These either require either a minimum dollar amount ,(Business Money Market), or charge a monthly fee that is offset by the interest that you earn, (Business Interest Checking.)

To help you determine which account fits your business best, Arvest’s website includes a feature called "Account Chooser" that walks you through the various options.  Or you can locate and contact an Arvest Small Business Banker in your local area through the Small Business Resource Center.  You will also find numerous free resources like articles, interactive workshops and business calculators at the Small Business Resource Center. 

If you want a good business, you need a good fence.  Do yourself and your business a favor, make sure the appropriate fence exists between your personal and business accounts.

To fully understand tax implications for your situation, please consult your tax advisor.

Arvest Bank in Greater Kansas City completed its system conversion this past weekend, enabling former SolutionsBank customers in the Kansas City area to use all 9 Arvest Bank locations in the region! Not only has the Arvest Bank footprint expanded in the Kansas City area, but customers who were formerly with SolutionsBank can now take advantage of an expansive network of more than 230 branch locations and 320 ATMs throughout Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Upgrades to accounts, products and services also took place over the weekend providing SolutionsBank customers with even more financial solutions.

SolutionsBank customers who enjoyed the opportunity to earn Rewards points with their SolutionsBank credit card can now also earn points on all signature based debit card purchases with Arvest Rewards, allowing them to earn and redeem points even faster than before. 

Arvest Mobile Banking is now available to those customers who want the ease and flexibility of being able to safely and securely check account balances, make transfers, and monitor spending from their mobile phone.  Along with Mobile Banking, Arvest offers user-friendly online banking services to help customers monitor their accounts any time of the day. 

For those customers who have a mortgage with Arvest Bank, they can rest easy knowing that Arvest Bank retains the servicing on 99% of the loans they make, meaning that you can visit any Arvest Bank location to make payments, ask questions, or refinance your loan. Customers can also take advantage of some of the lowest overdraft fees in the nation. ($15.93 or $17.43 depending on account)

Small Business customers will have access to an expanded Treasury Management service line and if your company needs new or used equipment to get the job done, a lease program may be the answer.  The Arvest Bank Equipment Finance department can now assist customers find the best solution for their equipment needs.

Are you a former SolutionsBank customer? Click here for important information about the recent conversion.

Below are photos of the Arvest Bank location in the Board of Trade Building in downtown Kansas City.

The Brashears Furniture Company has been selected to receive the National Home Furnishings Association's 2010 Retailer of the Year. This award is considered one of the highest honors in the furniture industry.

Brashears is a third-generation, family-owned business that has been serving customers in the Ozarks since 1935.  The main showroom is in Berryville with additional showrooms in Branson, Missouri and Springdale, Arkansas.

Arvest has a long standing relationship with the Brashears, which has allowed us to know them personally and to learn how to help their business succeed. We salute the Brashears family and employees for this well-deserved recognition.

Officials at Arvest Bank have announced the reconstruction of the Arvest branch located at 1404 S.E. “J” Street in Bentonville, Ark. The drive-through only branch will close on Friday, March 13 and will re-open in mid-July 2010.

The current facility, built in 1982, will be demolished and a brand-new branch will be built in its place. Much like the existing facility, the new one will be a drive-through location equipped with updated technology including individual screens at each teller bay, allowing for face-to-face interaction with customers. The drive-through lanes will be wider and additional security measures will be installed.

“Quite simply, its just time for an upgrade,” Lorrie Madden, EVP and sales manager, Arvest Benton County said of the new construction. “As with any building, time begins it to take its toll. At Arvest, we continually seek to provide our customers with the best banking experience possible. This new building will allow us to serve for our customers at the “J” Street branch faster, safer and in a more private fashion.”

During the construction period, customers can visit nearby Arvest Bank locations for their banking needs. The closet branch is located at 201 N.E. “A” Street on the Downtown Bentonville Square.
 

This a good question regarding retirement.  However, there are several variables that would impact the answer.  We would need some more specific information to give you a good answer.  Will you need access to this money immediately after retirement since retirement is only a few years away?  In other words, will your retirement sources of income be greater than your expenses in retirement?   Is this money being saved to support you in retirement or to make a purchase?  Everyone has a different definition of what a few years might mean.  Is it 2 or 3 years or 5 to 10 years?  How small is a small investment?

If the time frame is 2 or 3 years and you will need the money immediately, the simplistic answer is that it is best to keep it in short-term investments with maturities similar to your retirement time frame.  You can save for small dollar amounts in certificates of deposit (CD’s), money markets and short-term maturity mutual funds.  For larger dollar amounts and maturities in the 3 to 5 year range, you can invest in fixed income Unit Investment Trusts, fixed annuities that have a maturity and a given rate of interest, and short-term and intermediate-term mutual funds.

It is important to visit with a client advisor who can better understand your situation to help give you the best advice as to the investments that will meet your own individual needs.

Click here to contact a client advisor, learn more about planning for your future and download our free Retirement Planning guide.

It's never too late to rebuild your retirement. Get started today!

Brokerage services provided by Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Securities, mutual funds, and insurance products are:
 

Today, women are playing an ever-increasing role in making important financial decisions – whether for themselves or for their families.  While many of the basic rules of investing hold true for all investors, some life events will affect women differently than they will men, and these can also have an impact on investment decisions.  Following are a few areas of special consideration for women investors:

Longer life expectancy.  People in general are living longer these days, and conventional wisdom will tell you that women tend to outlive men.  Studies have, in fact, confirmed that this is the case.  According to CDC statistics from 2003, women outlive men by an average of more than five years.*  So women in particular often end up facing more years in retirement.  To be prepared for such a situation, women need to take special care to implement select strategies catered to their possible long-term needs.

Being on your own.  Statistics also show that women have a very high probability of being on their own at some point in their financial lives, not only as a result of a spouse’s death, but also because of divorce or simply remaining single.  Dropping from two incomes down to one would obviously require making some adjustments, so it’s important to think about alternatives and options in the event you should be faced with a similar situation.

Time spent out of the work force.  When caring for children — or even an elderly parent — women tend to spend more time away from work than men.  Some surveys have shown that, on average, women spend more than a decade out of the work force.  The implications for women with regards to investments are clear: they will have less time than their male counterparts to contribute to their retirement nest eggs.

While these are just some of the many important considerations for women investors, there are also several simple steps women can take to come up with an effective financial strategy.
For starters, you should look for ways to educate yourself about investments.  The financial press and financial web sites are loaded with information about investments and alternatives.  It’s important to remember that not every source is the most reliable, but the bottom line is that there is plenty of information out there.

You may also want to seek advice from a professional.  The act of enlisting a financial advisor to help with your investments does not take away from your ability to make the final decisions.  It does, however, provide you with someone you can turn to for guidance as you make those important decisions.

One of the most important things you can do is make a list of your financial goals and then develop strategies to meet those goals.  Taking the time to assess your current financial situation will help you get a clear picture of where you are, and then you can envision where you want to go.  Keeping in mind the special circumstances we mentioned earlier, you can chart a course of action that will enable you to meet any challenges that may arise in the future. 

*Information cited: CDC, NCHS,  Table 27.
 

Brokerage services provided by Arvest Asset Management, member FINRA/SIPC and a subsidiary of Arvest Bank. Securities, mutual funds, and insurance products are:

On February 26th, Arvest associates and their family and friends from across North Central Arkansas took the plunge into the icy waters of Lake Norfork during the 6th Annual Polar Bear Plunge to benefit the Special of Olympics of Arkansas.

Twenty-one brave souls represented Arvest and took the plunge and raised over $1,400! They also took the award for the Largest Group to Plunge and Best Dressed!

This year’s Polar Bear Plunge was the most successful to date with a total of over 51 plungers and $7,200 raised for Special Olympics. To learn more about the Special Olympics and how you can get involved, click here. 

Lynn Dame, Arvest associate and winner of the Best Dressed category, shows off her tropical-themed outfit. 

Arvest associates "take the plunge" into the frigid Lake Norfork water. 

Do the long hours you put in as a small business owner make you happy?  Does worrying about your business’ sales and profits bring you peace of mind?  Or are you ready to throw in the towel and call it quits?  A recent Gallup Poll just might change your mind. 

Between January 2 – August 19, 2009, Gallup interviewed 100,826 adults in various occupations to measure their well-being.  Gallup uses the data to create the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index as a way of determining

People’s well-being at the close of every day based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health as not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being.

Interestingly, the results of Gallup’s Poll showed self-employed Americans have the highest overall well-being and the highest satisfaction with their work environment.  Their well-being scores beat out the next highest groups of professionals and managers/executives. 

On its own these results are not too shocking.  However, combine this finding with another recent Gallup Poll showing that this same group works the most number of hours in a typical work week.  Almost half of self-employed Americans (49%) report that they work over 44 hours in a typical work week.  Only 38% of those employed by a private business report working over 44 hours per week.  Longer working hours = increased well-being? 

Is there a correlation between longer working hours and higher well-being?  Probably not.  A better explanation of these two polls is that there are other factors present in owning your own business (e.g. being your own boss) that significantly offset the detriment derived from working longer hours.  Working longer hours does not significantly reduce the emotional well-being gained from owning your own business. 

The emotional well-being results are even more shocking when you realize that the study was conducted during the heart of one of the deepest recessions America has ever seen.  And business owners are among the hardest hit.  Other surveys show small business owners’ optimism to be at all-time lows due to falling sales and profits.  It appears that worries about falling sales, profits and weathering the recession also do not substantially offset the emotional benefits of owning your own business.  Or do they? 

What do you think?  

Visit the Arvest Small Business Resource Center for other helpful articles, online tools and calculators.  To learn more about Arvest business services, please contact a local business banker today.