Easy bills management for peace of mind

Here to make budgeting even easier, Bills Manager helps to give you an accurate picture of what’s actually left in your main account after the bills. Available for personal, joint, business and sole trader accounts, Bills Manager is a free feature that pays your Direct Debits and standing orders directly from a Saving Space of your choice. Our Saving Spaces feature enables you to set money aside from your main balance.

By using Bills Manager in your personal or joint account, you set money aside for essential bills, so you know exactly what’s left for the fun stuff.

As for business and sole trader accounts, Bills Manager can help keep you on top of your recurring costs and outgoings. Set money aside to cover regular monthly bills like admin software, insurance, tools and workplace rent through our Spaces feature and then pay these bills directly from a dedicated Saving Space. This can leave you with a better understanding of your cashflow – and the wiggle room.

How can the Bills Manager feature help with business accounts?

Here are a few ideas:

• Stay one step ahead of recurring costs - create a Space specifically for regular bills, such as insurance and office materials, so they’re all tallied up in one place
• Integrate expenses with Marketplace – payments from Spaces will automatically sync with Xero and FreeAgent via Marketplace, so transactions feed into your software seamlessly. If you’re using other accounting software, such as Quickbooks, check out our FAQs
• Reconcile payments with the Starling Business Toolkit – Stay on top of tax, invoices and expenses through Toolkit. Payments coming out of your Spaces will be automatically categorised

How can Bills Manager help with personal accounts?

Why not try:

• Putting rent aside – when you’re paid, you could set aside money for your monthly rent and pay the standing order from your dedicated Space
• Organising household bills – work out how much you need (internet, water, council tax) then set aside money on payday and set up Direct Debits from the Space
• Separating your credit card bill – if you spend on a credit card, create a dedicated Space and repay the balance by Direct Debit
• Setting up savings and investments – move money into a Space as soon as you’re paid, to avoid temptation, then set up Direct Debits to your ISA or pension
• Planning for charity donations – decide on your amount then move it to a Space and set up one or multiple Direct Debits

How do I set up Bills Manager?

Go to a Saving Space, tap ‘Manage Space’ and then ‘Pay bills from this Space’. You can then choose which of your Direct Debits or standing orders you would like to pay from the Space. You can create a new Space for different bills, or use an existing Space.

Automatic top ups

If you know how much you need for essential bills or regular investments, you can automatically move a fixed amount into a Space, every week or month, or top up a Space to a certain amount. For example, if you need £850 per month for bills, you could regularly transfer across that amount, or perhaps even a little bit more to give yourself a buffer.

Alternatively, you could ask for your Space to be topped up to £870 at the start of each month, meaning that if you already have £20 in your Space, only £850 will be transferred. This feature can help make sure there’s the right amount of money in the Space to cover upcoming payments.

To set this up, first select the Space that you want to use. Then click ‘Manage Space’ followed by ‘Automatic Transfer’. You can then select the amount, frequency, start date, end date and whether you want to ‘Transfer in a fixed amount’ or ‘Top up to an amount’.

As well as personal, joint, business and sole trader accounts, automatic transfers can also be set up for Kite, our debit card for kids, and our Connected card. The Connected card is designed to be given to trusted friends, neighbours or family members, who can then buy groceries or household items on your behalf.

Peace of mind

The day before a Direct Debit is due, we’ll send you a notification that a payment is needed the next day. If you don’t have sufficient funds in the Space to make the payment, we’ll let you know, so you have time to add the funds you need.

On the day the bill is due, if the payment can’t be taken because there’s not enough money in the Space, we’ll send you a notification. You’ll have until 4pm that day to transfer the required amount into the Space to make the payment. Otherwise, the payment will be declined. When using the Bills Manager feature, the bill can only be paid from your chosen Space, not your main balance. When a payment has been made, we’ll tell you through a real-time notification.

Try Bills Manager today to make your budgeting simpler.