The One Financial Move Every Creative Keeps Putting Off

It takes about 20 minutes. It will save you hours of confusion and possibly a very uncomfortable conversation with your accountant.

Open a separate business bank account.

We know. You've heard this before. You've been meaning to do it. It's on the list somewhere between 'update website' and 'actually respond to that networking email.' And yet here we are.

Here's why it keeps getting postponed: when you're running a small creative business, especially in the early years, the line between personal and professional finances feels blurry because it is blurry. You buy props on your personal card. A client pays you and you transfer it to your checking account because that's where the bills come from. It all technically works. The money goes in, the money comes out, and somehow things get paid.

But come tax time — or come the moment you want to actually understand whether your business is profitable — that blurry line becomes a very significant problem. Now someone (probably you, probably at 11pm in January) has to go through 12 months of a joint personal-business account and figure out which transactions were business expenses and which ones were groceries.

A separate business account fixes this completely. Business income goes in. Business expenses come out. At the end of the year, the account tells the whole story without any detective work. Your bookkeeper can do their job faster. Your tax preparer charges you less. You can see, at any moment, exactly what your business has earned and spent.

Most banks offer free or low-fee business checking for sole proprietors. You don't need a corporation or an LLC to open one. You need your business name, your EIN or Social Security number, and about 20 minutes.

It is the single highest-ROI financial move available to a small business owner, and almost everyone delays it longer than they should. Including, probably, some people reading this right now.

No judgment. Open the account. Future you will be grateful.

— Kimberly

Questions about getting your financial foundation set up properly? We're good at this. kimberly@kimberlyhillstudio.com