When operating your own forum, do you like to open a separate bank account to keep it's finances separate, or do you manage it and pay out from your own personal account?
I know over here in the UK you can setup a Ltd Company really easy which can give you a business account, or you can even open another account in your name (or as a unregistered sole trader business) to keep things separate
Crafter Craze is the only forum that is owned by me and I just use money out of my personal account because it's not a huge site with expenses or income. I think it makes sense if the site were huge to have a separate account for business because it is easier when doing taxes here in the US.
My site is not big enough to earn money and in fact, I spent money on it more than earning. I have not come around to a person who has their own bank for their site, all in all, a Paypal account 😉 I have a Paypal account for the site/business and so all that earnings go into there and back to paying the site again without using my bank. You can set up PayPal and add funds easy.
I've never had a website that needed it's own bank account. None of my forums did that nor were they a success for me to profit in any way, shape, or form.
If I find myself generating income I would consider getting a separate bank account however, at this time my forum is strictly just a hobby. It can easily become a money pit but I don't think it's an issue at this time. 😉
