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Commercial Finance Launch Programme · Stage 2 of 10
Money & Foundations
Put the money and legal footing under the brokerage: a clean business account, your indemnity cover, and your data registration.
How long
~2 days (the bank, PII and ICO clocks are theirs)
You’ll have
A business account, PII quoted or in place, ICO done, and a costed runway
Steps
3 steps
Resources
2 resources
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01 Step 01
Step 01
Open a business bank account
Client-facing credibility and clean bookkeeping both need a business account in the company name, and some lenders and trade bodies expect it.
Do it yourself
- Compare a traditional bank against a digital business account for your needs: some are fee-free, others charge a low monthly fee.
- Prepare the ID and company documents onboarding will ask for.
- Open the account and wire it into your bookkeeping from day one.
Common mistake · Running early income through a personal account "just to start", which is a mess to unpick at year one and a poor look to a lender.
Time~half a day of admin (the bank’s clock is theirs) Cost£0 to ~£12.50/month indicative DifficultyEasy -
02 Step 02
Step 02
Arrange professional indemnity insurance
PII is effectively mandatory, since trade-body membership and many lenders and networks require it, and it protects you against claims from arranging finance.
Do it yourself
- Understand that cover level and price depend on your product mix, permissions and expected turnover, so it is quote-driven.
- Get quotes from at least the NACFB Mutual (the NACFB’s own PII facility), the FIBA PI facility, and the open market or a specialist broker.
- Match the cover to what your network and trade body require: they set the minimum, you do not guess it.
- Put cover live before you take on any client work.
Common mistake · Buying the cheapest generic PII that excludes regulated activity or your actual product lines, a policy that will not respond when it matters and will not satisfy the NACFB.
Time~1 day to gather quotes CostIndicative low-hundreds to low-thousands per year depending on turnover and permissions; get live quotes DifficultyMediumResource for this step
PDFPII quote comparison worksheet
Captures cover level, exclusions, regulated-activity treatment, and a does-this-meet-my-minimum gate.
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03 Step 03
Step 03
Register with the ICO and cost out your setup
You will process personal and financial data from day one, so a data-protection fee to the ICO is required, and a realistic setup-cost picture prevents nasty surprises.
Do it yourself
- Register for the ICO data-protection fee: for a new micro-business this is Tier 1, £52 a year, or £47 by Direct Debit, as of the February 2025 fee schedule, and keep the registration number, which the NACFB asks for.
- Build a simple setup-and-run budget covering PII, ICO, trade-body membership, software, and your authorisation route.
- Hold back working capital for the pre-revenue period, since your first commission can be months out.
Common mistake · Forgetting the ICO fee and the recurring memberships, then discovering the "cheap to start" brokerage has a real monthly base cost.
Time~half a day Cost£52/year ICO indicative, plus your build budget DifficultyEasyResource for this step
PDFLaunch cost and runway calculator
One sheet totalling one-off versus recurring costs and the months of runway to your first commission.
What you’ll have after this stage
- A business account with clean bookkeeping from day one
- PII quoted or in place and matched to your trade-body minimum
- ICO registration and its number
- A setup budget with a runway to your first commission