STUDIO NOIR

Private · Master Plan · v1.0
STUDIO NOIRBANK SETUP RUNBOOK

STUDIO NOIR · Bank Account Setup Runbook

The bank stack that holds Taj’s $84,000, keeps the $45K reserve untouchable, and gives us clean books from day one.

Plain English. If a line says “Taj does this,” it means Taj is the only person who can do it (the bank requires her SSN + wet signature or biometric). If a line says “Trill sets this up,” it means Trill can configure it in the dashboard without Taj on the call.

The bank stack at a glance

Three accounts, one bank, one card. No commingling. Every dollar has a lane.

Account Purpose Starting balance Rules
Operating Checking Rent, contractor pay, member deposits, all day-to-day cash flow $24,000 (Buckets 1-4 in [[startup-budget]]: legal + lease + cash buildout + soft-launch marketing) Runs the business. Cards + wires + ACH originate here.
Reserve Savings (“DO NOT TOUCH”) The 5-month rent + fixed opex cushion $45,000 (Bucket 5) Locked. Only Taj can pull funds. Two-signature rule for any transfer above $500 (Taj + Trill via app).
Tax Reserve Savings Set-aside for income + sales tax $0 at open; funded from operating cash as revenue comes in 25% of member revenue automatically swept here monthly.
Buffer The remaining $15K until the lease is signed, held in Operating Checking $15,000 (Bucket 3 cash buildout, deployed at buildout month) Sits in Operating; earmarked in the cash tracker.

Total = $84,000 across the two active accounts on day one.

Debit card: one card in Taj’s name on the Operating account. No cards on the Reserve or Tax accounts, ever.

Credit card: business Amex or Chase Ink, opened only after 90 days of banked revenue. Not needed at formation.

Which bank

Recommendation: Mercury (mercury.com) for the primary stack.

Why Mercury over a local NC bank: - Free business checking, no monthly minimum, no per-transaction fees - Native multi-account structure (Operating, Reserve, Tax; all inside one login) - Native ACH + wire transfers in-app - Slack-quality API for future integrations (bookkeeping, Stripe, Mariana Tek) - Sub-accounts with independent balances (perfect for the Tax Reserve auto-sweep) - Debit card issued in 3 to 5 business days

Why not a local NC bank first: - Local banks (First Citizens, Truist retail, Live Oak) require in-person appointments, higher minimums, per-item fees, weaker digital experience. - They are a good fit for later when we want a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan for the Phase 2 flagship. Live Oak Bank (Wilmington, NC) is the largest SBA lender in the country and headquartered in-state; we open a relationship banking account there in Year 2 as SBA prep.

Rejected: Bluevine, Novo, Relay. Fine tools, weaker sub-account UX than Mercury for the specific reserve-account discipline we need. Chase Business is fine but branch friction is unnecessary at this stage.

The 7-step setup

Step 1. Confirm formation is complete (Trill, 5 min)

Before we open the bank, we must have: - NC Articles of Organization approved for STUDIO NOIR LLC (Formation Step 3) - EIN letter for STUDIO NOIR LLC (Formation Step 5) - Signed Operating Agreement (Formation Step 6)

If any of these three is missing, Mercury will reject the application. See [[formation-sop-northwest]].

Step 2. Apply to Mercury (Taj + Trill, 45 minutes on a call together)

Mercury requires the beneficial owner (Taj) on the application. Trill sits with Taj on a video call and drives.

Go to https://mercury.com/apply. Select “LLC.” Upload:

  • Articles of Organization (from Northwest dashboard)
  • EIN letter (PDF from IRS)
  • Signed Operating Agreement (PDF)
  • Taj’s driver’s license (photo, front and back)
  • Taj’s SSN (typed into the form; Mercury encrypts)

Mercury asks a few underwriting questions: - Nature of business: “Fitness / wellness studio operations” - Estimated monthly revenue: “$15,000 to $25,000 within 12 months” - Estimated monthly transactions: “50 to 150” - Estimated peak balance: “$85,000” - Website: https://studionoir.thewalkergroup.studio (or the eventual .com if secured)

Approval typically arrives same-day or within 24 hours. On approval, Mercury issues the Operating Checking account, routing + account number, and mails a debit card.

Step 3. Open the two additional accounts inside Mercury (Trill, 10 min)

Once the primary account is open, Trill logs into Mercury and creates two additional accounts under the same LLC:

  • Account name: “STUDIO NOIR RESERVE — DO NOT TOUCH”
    • Type: Mercury Savings (interest-bearing, currently ~4% APY)
    • Purpose in dashboard: “5-month operating reserve”
  • Account name: “STUDIO NOIR TAX RESERVE”
    • Type: Mercury Savings
    • Purpose: “Sales tax + income tax set-aside”

Both accounts show up in the same login as the Operating account. Same debit + wire capability is available but we do not issue any card on them.

Step 4. Fund the accounts (Taj, 20 minutes)

Taj initiates an ACH transfer from her personal bank into the Mercury Operating Checking account for the full $84,000. Mercury’s routing number is displayed inside the app. The transfer clears in 1 to 3 business days.

Once the funds land in Operating Checking, Trill moves $45,000 into “STUDIO NOIR RESERVE” and leaves $39,000 in Operating (which becomes $24,000 in cash outflow + $15,000 buildout cash held for the buildout month).

Tax Reserve stays at $0 until the first member revenue comes in.

Step 5. Set the transfer rules (Trill, 15 min)

Inside Mercury, configure:

  • Sub-account permissions: Trill can view all accounts but can only initiate transfers under $500 from the Reserve. Any transfer $500+ from Reserve requires Taj’s approval via app. This is the two-signature discipline.
  • Auto-sweep to Tax Reserve: Set a rule to sweep 25% of any member revenue deposit into the Tax Reserve sub-account. Mercury supports this via API; if the native UI does not, Trill writes a monthly reconciliation script that moves the sweep on the 1st of every month.
  • Card controls: Taj’s debit card has spend limits set at $2,000/day and $10,000/month by default. Category blocks: no crypto, no gambling, no ATM cash advances above $200/day.

Step 6. Book of record connections (Trill, 20 min)

Connect Mercury to the bookkeeping stack:

  • QuickBooks Online (or Wave for a leaner start): live bank feed configured for all three accounts.
  • Stripe for online payments (waitlist deposits, retail): payouts land in Operating Checking with 2-day rolling schedule.
  • Mariana Tek for member billing (Phase 1 booking + billing software): configured to charge cards and deposit to Operating.

Reconciliation runs weekly (Trill) and monthly (bookkeeper if we retain one; otherwise Trill).

Step 7. First Monday cash review cadence (Taj + Trill, 30 min recurring)

Every first Monday of the month, 30-minute call. Cover:

  • Balance across all three Mercury accounts
  • Member revenue vs the forecast in [[cashflow-forecast]]
  • Any transfers between accounts, why they happened, and whether the Reserve was touched
  • Any new spending category and whether it was approved in writing

See [[cashflow-forecast]] for the full monthly review template.

The rules for the reserve

  1. The Reserve is untouchable except in the specific circumstance defined in [[startup-budget]]: member revenue has failed to cover fixed opex and the Company has less than one month of Operating cash remaining.
  2. In that scenario, we withdraw one month at a time. Not the whole Reserve. Not two months. One.
  3. Any Reserve withdrawal requires an in-app 2-signature approval (Taj + Trill).
  4. Any Reserve withdrawal triggers an immediate CEO-level review: is Phase 1 salvageable, or do we begin the orderly shutdown (return equipment, surrender lease, wind down)?
  5. When retained earnings become available, the first priority is refilling the Reserve to $45,000, before Taj takes any distribution.

The rules for the operating account

  1. Every debit card charge over $250 gets a written justification in the cash tracker within 48 hours. No exceptions.
  2. No cash withdrawals from ATMs beyond the $200/day category cap. If Taj needs cash for a specific tip envelope or vendor, she flags it and Trill approves via app.
  3. Vendor payments are ACH or wire when possible. Debit card only for small subscriptions and unavoidable retail purchases.
  4. Personal expenses never touch the Operating account. Taj pays herself via distribution to her personal checking (Section 11 of the Operating Agreement).

The rules for the tax reserve

  1. Auto-sweep 25% of any incoming member revenue deposit.
  2. Never spend from Tax Reserve except to pay actual quarterly estimated taxes or annual tax bills.
  3. Recon quarterly with the CPA. If we are over-reserving, we sweep excess back to Operating. If we are under-reserving, we adjust the sweep percentage upward.

What Taj needs to do (short list)

  1. Sit on the 45-minute Mercury application call with Trill.
  2. Initiate the $84,000 ACH transfer from personal bank to Mercury Operating.
  3. Take the first Monday cash review meeting every month, on time, no rescheduling.
  4. Approve any Reserve withdrawal request in the Mercury app when Trill sends it.

That’s it. Trill handles everything else.

When we upgrade the bank stack

At ~$25K/month member revenue (Month 12 stretch target): - Open a business credit card (Chase Ink Preferred or Amex Business Gold) for the points economy on ad spend + vendor payments. - Consider Mercury Treasury for higher yields on the Reserve balance.

At Phase 2 planning (2028): - Open a relationship account at Live Oak Bank (Wilmington, NC). Live Oak is the largest SBA lender in the US and headquartered in-state. Relationship warmed 12 months before we ask for a $3M to $5M SBA 504 loan for the flagship buildout. - Keep Mercury as the day-to-day operating bank. Live Oak becomes the lending relationship.

Full Phase 2 capital stack in [[capital-stack]] (to be rewritten in 2028 against real Phase 1 numbers).

Setup checklist (mark each as done)