Creators, coaches & info products

Books and taxes for online course creators.

A launch week that brings in a quarter's worth of sales, payment plans that trickle in for months, refunds, and affiliates who earn a cut of every sale. Your own bookkeeper sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
MarchExample month
$37,000
what you made

March came in at $37,000. That includes the launch week plus two months of payment plan installments from the last cohort, kept separate so you can see both.

  • Kajabi payout, launch weekCourse sales
  • Payment plan installmentsCourse sales
  • Affiliate commission payoutsAffiliate payouts
  • Meta ads, launch campaignPaid advertising
  • Kajabi subscription feeSoftware
Money in$68,000
Money out$31,000
Set aside for taxes$9,500
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A course business's books go wrong in a few specific spots.

A generalist sees one big deposit during launch week and calls the quarter a win. Your income really includes payment plan installments still owed from the last cohort, refunds that trickle in for weeks, and affiliate cuts that come straight off the top. When the books do not separate them, the real launch number is a guess.

  1. 1

    A launch week hides months of payment plans

    A $40,000 launch week might really be $22,000 in full payments and $18,000 in the first installment of payment plans still owed over the next five months, and treating it all as this month's income overstates what actually landed.

    What we doKeeps payment plan installments visible as their own line month to month, so you can see what is already collected against what is still owed.
  2. 2

    Refunds trickle in after the guarantee window

    A 30-day guarantee means refunds keep coming for weeks after a launch closes, and if they are not tied back to that launch, the next month looks worse than it is for reasons that have nothing to do with new sales.

    What we doBooks each refund against the launch it came from, so you know the real number a launch kept, not just what it first brought in.
  3. 3

    Affiliate commissions look like a straight expense

    Paying affiliates 30 to 50 percent of a sale is a real cost of getting that sale, but if it is not tracked against the sales it drove, it is hard to tell whether the affiliate program is actually worth running.

    What we doKeeps affiliate payouts tied to the launch or funnel that earned them, so the true profit on affiliate-driven sales is visible.
  4. 4

    Launch ad spend swamps a quiet month

    A big Meta or Google ad push in the weeks before a launch can make the month before the money arrives look like a loss, when it is really the cost of the sales still to come.

    What we doFlags launch ad spend as its own line so a heavy spend month reads as an investment in the coming launch, not a bad month on its own.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a course business.

Set up once for how the business gets paid and what it spends on. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Course salesFull payments and payment plan installments through Kajabi, Teachable, or Podia.
  • Coaching upsellsOne-on-one calls or group coaching sold alongside a course.
  • Affiliate commissions earnedCommissions the creator earns promoting someone else's course.
  • Bundle and upgrade salesHigher-tier packages sold during or after a launch.

Money out

  • Paid advertisingMeta, Google, and YouTube ads run to fill a launch or evergreen funnel.
  • Affiliate payoutsCommissions paid out to affiliates who sold the course.
  • Course hosting feesKajabi, Teachable, Podia, or ClickFunnels subscription costs.
  • Email and funnel toolsConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, and landing page software.
  • Launch team payCopywriters, tech help, and customer support hired for launch week.
  • Video and course productionFilming, editing, and hosting the actual course content.

What we watch for you

  • Payment plan balance

    How much is still owed from past cohorts, since it is money already sold but not yet collected.

  • Refund rate

    What share of a launch comes back as a refund, tracked against that launch alone.

  • Cost per launch

    What ads, affiliates, and launch team pay cost against what a launch actually brought in.

  • The set-aside

    What will be owed, tracked every month, so a big launch quarter does not turn into a surprise bill.

Ask Gus

Things course creators ask Gus.

Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.

My launch brought in $40,000 but half of that is payment plans. What do I actually have?

About $22,000 landed already. The rest is installments still owed over the next few months, and I am tracking those separately so you know what is real cash now.

Refunds are still coming in three weeks after the launch closed. Is that normal?

Yes, that is the guarantee window. I am booking each one against the launch it belongs to, so you will know the real number once it settles.

Is my affiliate program actually profitable once I pay out commissions?

I track commissions against the sales they drove, so the real margin is visible. Whether to keep the program at that rate is your call.

The tax side

The tax side of running a course business.

Most of what trips people up here is a launch that spans several months of real cash flow but gets treated like one lump, and affiliates paid without a clear list.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Paying affiliates $2,000 or moreAn affiliate not on payroll, paid $2,000 or more in 2026 in commissions, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that running total across every launch.
  • Self-employment taxA course creator not on payroll owes 15.3 percent in self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
  • The S corp questionOnce profit clears well above a reasonable salary, an S corp election can lower the self-employment tax bill. The accountant runs the numbers on actual profit, not a guess.
  • The pass-through deductionMost course businesses can take up to 20 percent of profit off their taxable income. Above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, the accountant checks how much applies.

Deductions online course creators miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Course hosting fees
  • Email and funnel software
  • Paid ad spend for launches
  • Video and audio equipment
  • Launch team and copywriters
  • Affiliate commissions paid
  • Landing page tools
  • Payment processor fees
  • Business liability insurance
  • Course production editing
  • Webinar software
  • Backup drives and storage

General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.

All year, not just April

A course business's year, kept every month.

Launches come in bursts, but the books stay closed every month between them, all year. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Map out the launch calendar

    Last year's return gets started, the affiliate 1099 list is finalized, and a monthly set-aside is planned around the year's first cohort.

  2. April

    Filed mid-cohort

    Filed and signed between launches, with nothing owed as a surprise since the set-aside has been growing since January.

  3. July

    Mid-year launch review

    Where the business stands, what it will owe, and whether the spring cohort changed the number.

  4. October

    Before the last cart open

    Many course creators run a final launch before year end. Gus looks at what is planned and anything worth doing before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.

Book a call
  • Monthly bookkeeping

    Every transaction sorted into categories set up for online course creators. You never categorize a thing.

  • An accountant checks every transaction

    Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.

  • Your business tax return, filed

    Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.

  • The monthly number

    What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.

  • Your own bookkeeper

    A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.

  • On your books all year

    Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.

  • Cancel any time

    No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.

Straight answers

Questions online course creators ask first.

Do I owe tax on the full payment plan amount or just what has been paid?

Generally only on what has actually been collected. Gus tracks installments as they come in so the accountant works from real cash, not the full contract amount.

I run launches for two different courses. Can Gus keep them separate?

Yes. He tracks revenue, ad spend, and affiliate payouts by course so you can see what each one actually earns on its own.

My affiliates are paid directly through Kajabi. Does Gus still track that?

Yes. Gus works from your bank and processor statements to keep a running total for each affiliate, so the year-end list is ready.

A refund came in for a sale from three months ago. Does that mess up my numbers?

No. Gus books it against the launch it belongs to, so that old launch's real number updates instead of muddying the current month.

My books have never been separated from launch to launch. Can Gus fix that?

Yes. Send the bank and processor statements you have. Gus sorts them by launch, the accountant checks them, and most creators know where they stand inside a week.

Is a real accountant checking my books?

Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.

What does it cost, and can I cancel?

It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.

More in creators, coaches & info products

We keep books for the business next door too.

What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for

Book a call

Pick a time. That's the whole signup.

Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.

  • $197 a month to start
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever