Blog · 2026-09-23

"Before you pay, check one thing: the account name"

After working through several hundred files, the most overlooked item - and the one with the most direct consequences - is who the money goes to.

How it usually starts

One entity signs the contract, another receives the payment. Two versions are most common: "we collect through an affiliated company", or "it is easier through the boss's personal account". Neither is illegal, but both leave a large part of the contract's protection empty.

What to check

• Compare the account name against the contract party word for word (not "looks similar" - word for word)
• The receiving bank and the branch (ask if it does not match)
• Whether the entity name matches the business licence (not a short form, not a shop name)
• Whether there is any written note of "third-party collection"

Once the account name and the contract party differ, ask: "Can we use the corporate account of the contract party?" The reason they cannot is more worth hearing than any public record.

What if they insist on paying elsewhere

Then change the contract so it is with the same entity that receives the money - or do not do the deal. Once the money has left, the path to getting it back is much longer; changing a contract takes minutes.