Business and Personal Accounts: Keep ’em Separated
There are a million meaningful reasons to operate an arts business, from creating revelatory art experiences for the public, to a commitment to a tradition, to the love of making hand-crafted objects. But at the end of the day, if it is a business (and not, say, a non-profit), a major purpose is to make money to pay for the expenses of living. And if the purpose of the businesses’ earnings is to pay for our personal expenses, why then is it so important to keep the business financial transactions separate from our personal ones?
The reasons are simple. It protects you from tax trouble and legal trouble. And it’s the law.
Here is an example to illustrate the tax trouble scenario.