If you’re thinking about supporting US businesses from the UK, there are a few unspoken rules that can lead to securing more business for your company.

While the following suggestions may not be legally required, as a non-American vendor you may want to consider implementing them in order to build better credibility among American businesses.

Bank accounts

Here you mostly have two options, you can open a USD account from your existing UK bank, or you can set up a new one for the US side of the business with a US bank. Whether you comply with this can massively impact whether potential customers in the US.

Getting Incorporated 

While this isn’t a necessity, getting incorporated, similarly to a limited company in the UK, has various benefits: 

• Tax efficiency – this happens in the form of tax relief, deductions, potentially lower rates in some cases and, overall, more flexibility over income splitting and dividends.  

• Shared liability and protected personal property – as a shareholder in a corporation, your personal liability is limited, protecting your personal assets from business debts and legal liabilities. 

• Transferable ownership – corporations have more flexibility due to the fact that business owners don’t own company property directly but through stock shares. This significantly streamlines processes when transferring these shares to a partner or family member. 

Ultimately, if you aren’t prepared to get incorporated, in some cases, this can be a deal-breaker for those considering whether they should work with you, as it can affect your credibility as a business. 

Getting insured  

Once incorporated, businesses can then get US insurance. This can provide essential protection, offering liability coverage for legal expenses and damages, safeguarding physical assets against damage or loss, and ensuring continuity with business interruption coverage. It includes worker’s compensation for employee injuries, professional liability for service providers, and cyber liability for digital threats.  

Legal support  

When operating in the US you’ll have to be aware of federal, state, and local laws, regulations and taxes, which makes the US more complex than most of its Western contemporaries. To stay fully compliant, you can partner with the following experts: 

• An all-round EOR 
• A US insurance expert 
• A cross border accountant 
• A US tax specialist 
• A US legal specialist  

An all-round EOR, such as LGWS can specifically support your legal needs through employing fully-compliant workers for you – contact us today.