Money guide
Finances & Banking
A growing music career creates several financial lives at once. Your character has personal money, a band can have shared funds and businesses can have their own accounts and obligations. Understanding who owns a balance—and which account an action will charge—is more important than chasing one large headline number.
In brief
Keep personal money, band money and business money conceptually separate. Use banking and transfers to move funds intentionally, review transaction history when a balance changes, and preserve enough cash for upcoming commitments rather than spending to zero after every payday.
Three different budgets
Personal funds
Your character's own money supports personal travel, items, lifestyle and any activity explicitly charged to the player.
Band funds
Shared music income and contributions can support band recording, touring, equipment and other collective costs where the flow allows it.
Company funds
Business money belongs to the company economy and should be judged against payroll, operating costs, investment and revenue.
Transfers
Moving money between permitted owners is a deliberate transaction, not a silent balance merge.
Personal banking
Bank accounts give players a clearer place to manage deposits, withdrawals and transfers rather than treating every balance as one anonymous wallet.
- Open or select the account. Make sure you are looking at the account belonging to the active character.
- Choose the transaction. Deposit, withdraw or transfer according to what the destination supports.
- Review the amount and destination. Shared names and multiple characters make this worth checking twice.
- Confirm the result. The account and character balances should reconcile with the transaction history.
Band finances
Band income can come from music and live activity, while expenses can include studios, travel, equipment, crew, merchandise and other shared costs. Permissions matter: not every member should necessarily have the same authority over shared money.
Payment source at booking
Some activities can offer more than one valid payer. Recording is an important example: a band project normally makes sense as a band expense by default, while personal funds may be selectable where appropriate.
Transactions and financial truth
Use the transaction or ledger history to understand why a balance moved. Summary cards and weekly snapshots are useful views, but the underlying transactions are the best way to diagnose a surprising change.
| Question | Where to look |
|---|---|
| Why did my balance fall? | Recent transactions and scheduled/recurring costs. |
| Did a transfer happen? | Both the sending and receiving account history. |
| Who paid for the recording? | The booking/payment transaction and selected source. |
| Is the band actually profitable? | Income and costs over time, not one current balance. |
Cashflow beats vanity balance
A character or band with less cash but manageable commitments can be healthier than one with a large balance and several expensive bookings about to land.
- Keep a reserve for required travel.
- Budget recording and release promotion together rather than separately.
- Consider repair, equipment and crew costs before a tour.
- Avoid using every band dollar on a cosmetic or marginal upgrade.
- Review recurring obligations before committing to another fixed cost.