Bjoern, I saw you're located in Germany — does any of the neobanks help you solve this? I guess switching bank don't solve the problem of getting your old data though, even if it would make it easier to get hold of _future_ records.
Last time I checked more thoroughly and based on admittedly rather cursory research right now neobanks such as Holvi, N26 or Fyrst either a.) provide a fully integrated accounting software and no API / data exchange at all, b.) only integrate with specific accounting software products such as lexoffice, or c.) only allow you to export CSV files.
They seem even more like walled gardens than traditional banks.
While I described MT940 as the "WTF of file formats" at least it's some sort of loosely agreed upon standard, as is HBCI. Both of these formats / protocols are dated and cumbersome to work with but they at least allow you to access and exchange data in an automated fashion. None of the neobank products seem to support those and there's no modern, easier-to-use alternative protocol either, none that I know of at least.
Furthermore, some of those neobanks have had a reputation of summarily closing customer accounts that didn't fit their business model anymore. That makes them way too erratic and unreliable for running a business.
Regarding closing down accounts — I recently made a detour into the Revolut subreddit and it's filled mostly with people gushing about their accounts being shut down without notice.
Now, I never know how much of that is on the company and how much is on the user doing something shady, but regardless, I would not dare to take such chances with my business.
Thanks for pointing that out — had not connected the dots until now.
Sure, I didn't want to make the whole topic around my narrow use case but good idea.
Right now, I'm still unable to open an account in the bank I choose. So my current needs are just to be able to open an account within ~48h or so. My application was flagged for reasons still unknown and its now almost 4 weeks since I applied.
Once set up, my current requirements are pretty basic — I need an account where I can put funds from VC/angel, ideally split up in a checking and savings account, with the possibility of creating additional accounts for specific needs. Making payments should be easy and relatively cheap.
Down the road, I'd love if the bank could give me a clear overview of runway and projections, integrations with accounting software, etc. And be able to easily pull from the bank all the data they have on my company.
And the bank should scale with my needs — I rather not sign up for a "freelancer" neobank and be forced to switch as soon as my needs go beyond that.
Thanks for pointing this out. We are exploring a bunch of different ways to formulate what we do and for whom, and you're right that the core message became a bit muddled here.
Would love (really!) to hear more about your specific needs. Feel free to email me at christian@trycashflow.com.
I don't know, I think resolution is very important to get as many facial expressions as possible over via video. Those things that make in-person conversations smooth, but makes video feel stilted.
For the sake of argument; are you sure getting those secondary projects done is really a net benefit for the company? Compared to, let's say, doing more uninterrupted work on the primary project?
Im uncertain myself so further reflections on this would be interesting to hear.
Yes, of course. The primary work is client work. The secondary projects are things needed to assist the marketing team to increase conversions, increase hourly billing rates, etc.
My gf is very extrovert and in need of social interactions to not get depressed. Having an "office room" helps, but not really solving the issue. Now she just feels ignored instead.
She gets it from an intelligent perspective that I need to work, but emotionally its a struggle.
I think this is the issue my wife has. She sees me at home and seems to think, well, maybe I can interrupt him just this once, and it happens a few times a day. I feel like I get more done in less time, but I also get less time, what with taking care of random errands.
When I worked on the office, she kept complaining that I came home too late (8 hours + ~1 hour commute). Now she complains when I work too late, but I work late because of the interruptions.
I've considered renting an office in my city, which would mean a ~5 minute commute by bicycle. This should help solve most of the issues we have, since I can be physically away, but not that far away. When I talk to her, things get better for a little while, but it's not really a permanent solution. I could probably make it work with 2-3 days in the office and work at home the other days.
Some days I would just do obligations like meetings and urgent stuff at the normal hours and leave the deep work to do when she and the baby were asleep.
This was definitely the hardest thing to balance...
for real tho, it might
404krel at gmail dot com if you want some guidance