My band and I are looking at the schedule we are playing this spring/summer and a lot of local gigs are coming together. I was a late comer to the band and I have never had to get involved in the financial side of what we do. Of course with more money coming in from the gigs it is creating problems...
I am hoping for some resources or general advice on how to successfully manage the financial side of a small band. We have been working up the pay scale, but on average are really only getting somewhere around $100 each per gig for a 5 piece band (plus tips). Occasionally it's better but that's part of the struggle...
Do most bands get a bank account in their name? Sometimes we get checks made out to the band name. I don't want to run all that money through my own account. Does this require some sort of business paperwork?
What sort of documentation do we need to do for tax purposes? How do people declare this income?
I know big bands have administrative costs and fees that get covered in contracts, but for the small bands basically we do all the booking and often sound reinforcement or whatever else we need. I was hoping to somehow get an agreement within the band on how to handle these things in the future and set up a framework of how that would look. Like we couldn't do 10% for booking the gig but getting a flat $20 for bringing it in would at least establish a starting point. The bass player running the sound from the tablet should get something extra, and we can't do the normal sound guy rate for him but I know he would appreciate an extra $20 for the extra work... I feel like now is the time in our growth as a band that we need to agree on how to do this.
Your opinions are appreciated, I am sure I am missing a ton of stuff, please share your band stories - good or bad!
Thanks,
Dan G.
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