Legal Question in Business Law in California

Do you "have to" for what reason? There is no legal reason. In fact as a sole proprietorship, you could run it all through your personal checking account with no legal consequences. Your bank may or may not require it, because businesses generally have a lot more transactions and therefore the banks fee structures are different. Also, if you want your business to have a separate IRS Taxpayer Identification Number, or you have employees and need a state Employer Identification Number tied to the account you pay them out of, then you may need one to keep your book keeping straight or your bank may require it. But there is no legal requirement that a sole proprietor have any kind of separate account for their business.

You will want a seperate account after you file and publish the DBA. There are a variety of reasons why you would want a seperate account and even consider a seperate legal entity such as a corporation of LLC. If you would like a FREE memorandum on the advantages and disadvantages of various legal entities...

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Filing a "DBA" (fictitious business name) is unnecessary and inappropriate, since your business name includes your surname. I agree with Mr. McCormick, and would add a couple more reasons why you might want to have a separate business bank account, even though you are not "required" to do so: First, a separate account will make your business accounting easier for all those tasks and reports where some agency is interested in how the business is doing, and not your personal finances. Think "sales tax returns," "IRS 1040, Schedule C" and so forth. It will also make it easier to keep track of how the business is doing and to prepare your own profit and loss statements, balance sheet, etc. Second, business-size checks with the name of the business printed on them will make a better impression on your suppliers and others to whom the business writes checks.