Collection of Income:  Business managers have the responsibility to following-up contractual obligations to make sure that their clients are compensated in accordance to the scope of the contract in a timely manner.  This means that business managers must be well-versed in all domestic and international music business contracts, legal and financial interpretations, and payment schedules. 

Royalty Examination:  Some business management firms also have departments for record royalties’ audits.  That is, they audit record companies and music publishers (and their foreign licensees and affiliates) to see if there are any major royalty discrepancies.  And, in many cases, there are discrepancies.  Also, on occasion, they perform due diligence investigations for clients who may show interest in purchasing other music catalogs of copyrights in order to build a stronger portfolio.

Investments:  The business manager makes recommendations to the client about the purchase, sale, partial investment, overall inherent risks involved in investing in different businesses and the stock market.  The main objective is, or should be, to create a diversified portfolio for the client that avoids speculative risks and produces an eventual return on investment plus a continual stream of residuals.

Tour Accounting:  The business manager assists the client in planning, budgeting, and revenue forecasting for United States and International tours.  Because a single concert tour by a major artist can easily gross $200--$400 million in a nine-month period, this is an area where the business manager is more valuable than even the personal manager and the attorney.

Accounting and Bookkeeping:  Just like a corporation, the business manager keeps records of all cash inflows and outflows.  Monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements/reports are prepared for the artist so that he/she knows where they stand financially at a specific period of time.

Publishing Administration:  In some rare cases, the business manager acts as the artist music-publishing administrator.  In most cases, however, the business manager is given the task of auditing music publishers and record companies in insure that publishing royalty payments are accurate and on time.

Budgeting:  Expense and income forecasting, or budgeting, is one of the most important, if not the most important aspects of a successful artist(s) career.  As an artist becomes more successful, business and creative meetings have a tendency to focus more on the bottom line financial imperatives than on the actual creative growth and challenge at hand.

Tax Planning:  As mentioned earlier, it is not how much money one makes but how much one actually gets to keep.  Business managers know, or should know, all the sophisticated legal tax planning loopholes and benefits.  They are very savvy when it comes to Wall Street investments and offshore money heavens.  If a business manager doesn’t know all these tricks, then you need to dump him and find one who does!!