I'm a bit confused about how Open for Business works in rotational play. I tried it out in Pleasantview by having Brandi Broke run an electronics store. I played on the business lot, made a few sales, and left with some items that still needed restocking. I tracked her family funds, then switched over to the Pleasants. While playing as Angela, I had her buy a TV from Brandi's store and noticed the cashier was also restocking items.

When I switched back to the Brokes, I saw that the family funds went back down to the original amount I tracked. I've been searching forums and the internet to figure out how OFB works in rotational play, but I haven't found any clear answers. So, now I'm wondering: when you visit these family-owned businesses with another household, do they actually gain or lose money based on sales, restocking, and staff wages?

Mine usually lose money. Their funds appear to be debited with cost-of-sales and staff wages but sales revenue is not credited to them. Before sending Sims to to an owned business, I try to visit the owning household and take a note of their funds. After my Sims have visited them, I will go back to the owners, and try to put their funds to roughly what they would have been, if the game had done the calculations correctly. In one case I made a spreadsheet to help me calculate how much to give to the owners of a nightclub. The game was deducting wages paid to staff, but not giving them anything for money spent by clubbers.

I honestly find this one of the least satisfactory aspects of The Sims 2. I really object to having to do manual bookkeeping for my business owners. I find it a rather boring chore, and is why I don't play more owned businesses. I often end up sending my Sims to shop at unowned businesses, so I don't have to do these calculations.

I would love a mod that fixed this problem, and suggest that those working on a modernised version of The Sims 2 should make this a priority.