Is Acting Your Business Or Your Hobby?

**UPDATE:

I emailed Miata Edoga yesterday and she told me since I have opened a business checking account and I have business debit card that starting a DBA is not necessary and that I am actually moving in the right direction! That was great to hear!!


So this year when I decided to pursue my acting career full-time I created an Acting Fund. You always hear that you should treat acting as a business and not like a hobby. I read an article by Abundance Bound founder Miata Edoga (http://www.abundancebound.com/) that you should separate you personal income and expenses from your business income and expenses. Miata suggested starting a DBA (Doing Business As) that would allow you to qualify for a business account. You can look up that info on the net however one website that she suggested for more info is www.legalzoom.com

Well starting a DBA is not in my budget at the moment so temporarily I opened a business checking account at my bank and I use this account for business purposes ONLY. SO anything that goes into or comes out of this checking account is acting related.

I do not have a business name or anything, but you don't need one to open a business checking account I just used my full name as the business name.

This will help you keep track of all the money that you spend for your acting career and help you stay organized for tax purposes. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP THOSE RECEIPTS!!

I have a folder that I keep all my hard copy receipts but all my purchases are made with my card, I don't take out cash from this account, so I always have the bank statement to go by if I ever lose my receipt.

SO any money that I get from doing background work goes into this account. Any money that I make from other jobs unrelated to acting I split in half for my personal account and for my business account.

Now if only I could get some people to donate to my acting fund...hmmmm! ha! :-D

Stay tuned...