Guides · Rentablo
How to separate business and personal money
By the Rentablo team ·
To separate business and personal money, treat your business as if it were your employer: each sale is split between supplies, your pay and the business profit; you pay yourself only your salary, and the rest stays saved for what it's for. Having separate places for each part (accounts, digital pockets or envelopes) helps keep it apart.
Why the money gets mixed
In small businesses, the same person serves clients, collects payments and pays the household bills. The day's cash ends up at the grocery store, a client's transfer pays a utility bill and, when it's time to buy materials, there's nothing left.
It isn't a lack of discipline: it's that nobody decided which part of each sale belongs to whom.
Pay yourself a salary
Decide what percentage of each sale is your pay and take only that. It can be daily, weekly or every two weeks. What matters is not taking money from the business “when needed”.
If your pay isn't enough, the answer is in your prices or your sales, not in the supplies money.
Keep the supplies share aside
What you set aside for supplies is for restocking materials. Keeping it separate means you don't run out of polish, dye or products right when you have the most clients.
Build the business reserve
Profit isn't extra money to spend: it's the business's savings. Use it for:
- A fund for slow months. A reasonable goal is to cover one or two months of fixed costs.
- Replacing or repairing equipment.
- Courses and new materials.
- Advertising.
Tools to keep the money separate
- Separate accounts or pockets: many banks and digital wallets let you create pockets or sub-accounts. One for supplies, another for the business reserve, and your pay to your personal account.
- Envelopes for cash: if you get paid a lot in cash, three envelopes work just as well.
- An app that does the math: Rentablo tells you on each sale how much goes to supplies, how much is your pay and how much belongs to the business, and adds up the totals for the day, week or month.
What about tips?
Tips belong to whoever served the client. They aren't split with the business: add them to your earnings. If several people work together, agree from the start on how tips are handled.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of sales should I pay myself?
It depends on your costs and whether the business is your main income. A common starting point is half of what you charge for services, then adjust: more if you work from home or do home visits with few fixed costs, less if you want to save to grow.
Do I need a bank account just for the business?
It helps, but it isn't required to start. What matters is knowing which part of each sale belongs to whom; digital pockets or envelopes work too.
What do I do if my pay isn't enough one month?
Use the business reserve to cover that month, then review your prices and your sales. If it happens often, your prices probably don't cover your real cost.
Is the business profit my money?
It belongs to the business: it's for replacing equipment, growing and covering slow months. If there's money left at the end of the year, you can decide to take some out, but in a planned way.
Do the math without the effort. Rentablo is a free app that splits every sale between supplies, your pay and your business profit, and keeps your clients and appointments. Get it on Google Play or use it on the web.