Money & Bookkeeping
The universal money system that fits any business: separate accounts from day one, a set-aside percentage derived from your own bracket, a weekly money hour, and the three numbers worth tracking.
Every business in this library is a different machine, but the money underneath all of them runs on the same wiring. This module teaches that wiring: business money separated from personal money the week you start, a tax set-aside percentage you derive from your own numbers instead of a guru's guess, one hour a week where you look at what actually happened, and three numbers that tell you the truth about any business, from a cleaning route to a YouTube channel. Work through it with a calculator open and you finish with the system running, not with notes about a system.
The honest promise: every tax figure in these lessons was checked against the live IRS or Social Security page that owns it, using 2026 rules, and the claims ledger lists where. Where a number depends on your state or your situation, I say so and hand you the method instead of pretending. The system is deliberately boring. Boring is what survives the first busy season.
This module is not a niche money course. Project deposits, inventory costs, and platform payout lags are real, but they are applications of this system, and the business courses in this catalog own them. Here you build the frame those applications hang on. This is also not tax preparation for complicated situations; when your situation grows teeth, the going deeper lesson tells you where the handoff to a professional belongs.
The system
The money system that fits any business
What a money system actually is, the four parts every one of them has, and why the same wiring runs a cleaning route and a YouTube channel alike.
Separate your money
Open the business account before your first dollar arrives, route every payment through it, and pay yourself by scheduled transfer instead of raids.
The tax method
The tax you didn't see coming
Self-employment tax explained without jargon: what the 15.3 percent actually is, why employees never see half of it, and the arithmetic that makes the set-aside method obvious.
Your set-aside percentage
Derive your own tax set-aside from your filing status and expected profit, using verified 2026 brackets, then round it up and stop guessing.
Quarterly estimates, without the fear
The four estimated-tax dates for 2026, the safe harbors that forgive honest math, and the reframe that turns a feared deadline into a routine shipment from your tax account.
Your numbers
The three numbers you actually track
Cash on hand, net margin, and revenue per hour: the only three figures most small businesses need weekly, and the vanity metrics they quietly replace.
Any business, and going deeper
How niche money shapes, deposits, inventory, payout lags, ride on this same frame, plus the records rules, the home-office shortcut, and when to hand off to a professional.