Business Banking
As an advocate you are not obliged to have a separate bank account for your practice, but it will make your administration much easier to have a discrete account for this purpose. You don’t have to open a business account, which often comes with bank charges. Most banks will let you open a normal retail account as long as you have regular receipts over a certain monthly threshold or have at least one direct debit. By channelling all your business expenses through a distinct account you will have most of your bookkeeping function performed automatically by your bank.
Advocates often set up multiple bank accounts to keep separate pots of cash. The different accounts can be used to hold a provision for income tax, VAT and retained earnings, but keeping your accounts up to date with Xero and Alterledger you will have access to these figures without the messy process of transferring cash between accounts.