#20: Managing your Money & Getting Your Books RIGHT for Scaling your Biz with Loriann Kuntz

Bookkeeping, that is just something you do for taxes. You only do that for taxes. Yes, that's true. But bookkeeping is an information system that you need to have to be able to operate your business and be able to scale.

Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Aligned Coach Podcast. This is your heart-centered business coach and the host, Lindsay Baddio. I'm so excited to have you here. If you are a new listener, welcome to the podcast that's going to change your life. Okay, I'm just kidding, but not. Okay, but seriously, welcome back. I'm so, I'm so excited to have you. Today's interview is with a business badass, LoriAnn Kuntz. LoriAnn is a bookkeeper and CFO. We talk— this episode is so good, y'all. We talk on the Profit First cash management system. We talk on managing your books as a new business owner, where to go after you've already gotten past the beginner stage, really how to start scaling out and what to do with your money. We also talk about some of the mistakes that you make whenever you're starting out. And we even touch on like tax write-offs and things like that. So I know that this is not like the sexiest subject. Oh, bookkeeping, right? But this is the kind of stuff that's going to help you become a business owner, right? And not just a business hobbyist. So this is going to help you build out a sustainable business, right? A business that will last the test of time, of pandemics, of changes, of all of those things that come with life. Right. So I hope that you take all the gold from this episode. I hope that you take from it what you need to receive. I will also lovingly encourage you to leave a review on this podcast. One of my goals for 2021 is to have this become one of a top, a top chart podcast that can impact more new coaches, more growing coaches in the online world. So please leave a review. Leave us some stars. Let us know what you think. Let us know what you like the most. What was the most, the most beneficial or like what was the golden nugget that you took from this? And yeah, that way we can share it with more, so with more people and with more coaches. So yes, without further ado, we will jump on in to today's interview with Laurieann Koontz. I'm also going to— y'all, I'm going to link in the comments— or in the comments. Oh my gosh. I'm going to link in the show notes the, the— oh my goodness, I just lost my train of thought. Okay, I'm going to link in the show notes her Instagram, how to get in touch with her so that you can grab the resources that we talked about in here. I'm also going to link the application for one-on-one coaching with me. I have a spot open. I have a spot that's coming open in May. So whenever you get this episode, it will probably be the following week or the next week whenever the spot opens up. So if you've been thinking about scaling your business to $10K months, to starting to build out your team, diversifying and mastering your lead generation, and setting your business up for scalability, then this position is for you. This is for heart-centered coaches that value money just as much as they do impact. So you've gotta be here for the impact, here for the change that you're putting into the world, not just on a dollar sign, chase the dollar sign, rat race, right? So if that's you, I would love to have you apply and have a conversation. So I am going to link that in the comments as well. And yeah, let's go ahead and jump in and get started. I hope you all enjoy this and I'll see you in the next episode. Bye. Okay. Welcome everyone to the Aligned Coach Podcast. I'm so excited to have you all back. Today's guest, I'm so excited to have her here. Um, I have LoriAnn Kootz with us today. Laurianne is a frickin' money badass, business badass. She is a bookkeeper and a CFO. Laurianne has taught me everything that I like literally know about my books and managing my money. She's also very skilled in Profit First. Y'all know that I talk about the Profit First system all the time. So she's helped me with that as well. And I'm super excited to have her here. So if you are like a new coach or a growing coach or entrepreneur, And you've been like wondering, how do I manage my money? Like, what do I do? How do I get prepared for taxes? Like, how do I handle these things that go on in the back end of a business that no one talks about? Then you are listening to the right episode. LaurieAnn, we're going to dive into this today, dive into her journey. So yes, without further ado, welcome on, LaurieAnn. I'm so excited.

I am too. Thanks for having me. I'm like, So excited. It's been a little bit since I've done a podcast interview and I'm like, okay, I'm excited. Like, I love these. Yeah, so much fun.

They really are. They're so like, just so chill too, you know, like let's just get on and talk to each other and like let the world listen. Exactly. Yep.

That's how I like it.

That's exactly what we're going to do. Oh my gosh. So first of all, like just kind of like casually tell us about your life. What, how did you get into this online world? I think that that's always like one of our favorite questions. Is like, how did you come into the online world? What did that journey look like? And yeah, tell us about yourself.

Yeah, and I think that's a funny question because it really is, it's like you just stumble into like this whole new world, this online space, like it's this whole community. It's so cool. But yeah, so, oh man, what do I tell? I have been, I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My parents had businesses like my whole life. So I've, been in the business world and it's always kind of something that I just like, it's just part of me. And I, through that, I was able to start like just learning numbers and realize that I really like accounting and bookkeeping and anything to do with finances, especially around businesses. I like personal finances too, but around businesses. And I was able to start that at like 13 and 14. My mom was like the one that really got me started taking over some of the tasks in the family business. And then I went on the traditional accounting path that I wanted to be a CPA and do tax, and I started down that road, and I ended up— I got hired on a CPA firm at 16. So I— it still blows my mind. I'm like, I don't know how I got the job, but it did, and it was amazing. Yeah, like, it was, it was the best opportunity ever. Like, it was, it was really cool. Um, so I was in there, I got to see like what was happening really. I was over like, I don't know, I was a payroll specialist, so I was over like 50 or 60 different payrolls and like the payroll taxes and everything like that. So I learned a lot with payroll, but then also traditional accounting. And, um, long story short, I saw there was a disconnect between the CPAs or accountants and the business owners, and there was like a gap. Um, they would— the business owners would come in once a year or even quarterly and like, here's my stuff. And then the accountant would do their taxes and then kind of that's it. And to me, I'm just like, that doesn't, that does not help the business owner. The business owner needs to have like this information month to month. They need to know what's going on. They need to have a plan for their money. They need to save. They need to really project and know what's really just know what's happening. And there was, it wasn't happening that way. It was, there was a gap and I saw that. And so I left there and it's crazy. It's been. I don't even know how long, but whenever I left there, I remember telling a few people, I'm like, you know, I would really love to do something from home and have my own like business where I could help out these business owners. And I was just thinking the other day, like, that's what I'm doing.

Like, it's like it happened.

Oh my God. Like years down the road. And I'm like, here I am doing it. And so anyways, that's my like accounting bookkeeping path.

But oh my God, that's awesome. It literally happened. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves how far we've came, you know, because like we'll say like, this is my goal, or like, you know, manifesting is like the thing, right? I'm manifesting this business, I'm manifesting this life. And then like we don't even realize when it happens. And like, I think that's why it's so powerful to like write stuff down or to like have reminders right around you, like where you used to be, because like you, you're like, you look back and you're like, holy crap, like this is literally what I was like asking for. Like this is the thing that I wanted.

And you have that now. Yeah. And I've been able to do it with my daughter. She's like a year and a half. And that's like what I always wanted to do is to work from home so I could be with her and go out to my husband's farm. Like, he's a farmer. And so it's like, it's— yeah, that's a little bit about my life and my story and my dream coming true, I guess.

Oh, I love that so much. Yes. And you're so right. Like, that was one of the things for me when I was leaving teaching. It was like, yes, I wanted to start my own business. And yes, I wanted to like do this full time, but I also wanted to have the freedom to like spend more time with my kids and like more time with Daniel, you know, and be able to like go take him lunch or like make him breakfast in the morning, like these really like small things, you know. But they just— it's your life, right? Like outside of our business, like we have lives, you know, and like they're meant to be lived and not to just like work our life away. So that's awesome.

I love that. Yeah, it's, it's awesome. I love, I love what I do. I love helping people really understand their numbers and their business because that's, that's what we all set out to do is to be able to have our life like the way that we want it. And that's why we have our own businesses. And really for us to be able to structure it how we want our lives to be structured, you need to know how to plan and what our finances are helps us know how to plan.

Oh my gosh, what would you tell like, yeah, I think this kind of like leads us. How does like a new business owner because like literally like all I knew was like, okay, let's just make some money. Well, then you like make some money, but you're like, what do you do with it? Like, you know, and so I, and I'll just like speak from personal experience. I was operating like out of one checking account. Like I thought I was like doing something. I was like, oh, I've got my own business account now. And then I'm like operating out of this one account. I'm spending the money as quick as I'm making it. I don't really know where it's going. Like, what would you tell someone that is like, they're starting to make money in their business? Like, what would be like the very first thing for them? You know, if they, if they had, if they don't even have like a QuickBooks account, they don't even know what, they don't even know what they don't know. Like, what would you kind of guide them to do or to learn or to set up? Or like, what would you say to them? Yeah.

So first off, before any, before you even bring in money, my guess is that you're spending money. You should probably keep track of that too. Yes, I know you should keep track of that. So I think really from the moment that you decide, like, you know what, like I'm going to turn this into a business, or even, even sometimes people think it's just going to be like a part-time hobby or something and it turns into a business. But you just, Go ahead and like you said, have that, even if it's just one, have a separate business checking account. That way it's separate and you can keep all of your business transactions in there. As you grow, it will get more and more. And what you want to do is just have like a simple Excel or Google Sheet open and just put in your income and your expenses. That's all, that's all you need to do for now. Then once you start bringing in more money, You're going to want to like separate things out into categories and be more detailed and keep it month by month and have more of a plan. And then really, there's a certain point that it's like you can't do it in Excel anymore. You can't do it in Google Sheets. Like, it's taking too much time. There's, there's a lot of room for error there. But you can get something like Xero or QuickBooks, and you can really have those linked up to your bank accounts. Which at that point you should at least have another savings for tax savings and business savings. But like Lindsay said, I do like the book Profit First, and he talks about— I'm not a Profit First coach or anything, but I do, I really like it. And his mindset is like to operate out of different types of bank accounts. And sometimes, and I'll be honest, sometimes that works for some people, it doesn't work for that. But at least you need to have to, I would say, minimum of 3 big accounts. And really start getting a plan and projecting your income, projecting your expenses based off of the numbers that you've compiled from the start. So you can kind of see everything going on.

Yeah. Oh my gosh, y'all, like, I'm not a Profit Coach expert or anything like that, or Profit First coach or expert. But I will tell you, like, I always direct like my clients, like anyone I talk to about money, there's like this 17-minute-long video on YouTube. And if you put it on like 1.5 speed, you can watch it in like 12 minutes and it literally breaks down the Profit First method. So like, I'm like, go do this thing like as soon as you can, because it took me from like kind of operating month to month and just kind of like guessing on what's going on to like, I feel so like secure, you know, and that brings like another level of like, confidence in your, like, in your future as a business owner. Because like, as an entrepreneur, like, it's, it can be an emotional roller coaster. Like, we all know that, you know, like, one, one week, we're like, yeah, like, I got clients out the yin yang, like, it ain't no thing. And then like the next week or the next month, you're like, oh my God, what am I doing with my life? You know? So, so I highly recommend like the Profit First, go watch this video. What we'll do is I'll actually like link the video in the show notes. That way y'all can go watch it. And it like literally changed my life, like straight up. And then of course, Lorianne came in and she's like, okay, so here's how you integrate Profit First, like with your bookkeeping, with your bookkeeping and like keeping up with your expenses. So she made all the pieces come together. But I highly recommend like y'all getting started there. If you're listening and you're like, what are y'all even talking about? Yeah, I'll link that in the show notes for y'all.

Yeah, and I think real quick, Profit First, his idea is it's kind of flipped from the traditional way that you look at numbers. So usually you look at, okay, you got your sales, you got your expenses, and then whatever's left you pay yourself, which if you're just starting out or even if you've been in business for a year, like, you're probably just not gonna— you're not— there's not going to be anything left like at the end of the month. And I know for me, like, if there's a month that I don't like kind of follow Profit First. Like, I'm like, oh, at the end of the month, I spent too much money. And to where Profit First looks at it is like you have your sales and then you pay yourself what you need to pay yourself and you operate your business on what's left. And it kind of gives a little bit of a— it also gives security net too, because with that, that you get, you allocate money to tax savings, you allocate money to, to your operating expense account and Anyways, I don't need to go too far. Just watch the video. But with that comes, you need to track it all because you're moving money back and forth. You're spending money here, you're bringing money in here, and you really need to have a bookkeeping system to really understand stuff. So I really do say that if you have, if you're following Profit First and you have all these different bank accounts, you need to have either QuickBooks or Xero or some type of accounting software because it's I mean, you have 5 different accounts that you have to take care of instead of just one. So you need to make sure everything's reconciled and accounted for.

That was where my gap was. Like, I had the system going on and I'm like, okay, like I set up QuickBooks, but I don't really know what to do in here. So that was definitely my gap. And I think it's a gap that is easy to just kind of kick the can down the road. Like it's easy to just push that off and push it off and push it off. And then whenever it comes around tax time, right? And you're like, what do I do now? You know? Or you owe money in, but there's so many different ways that you could be like writing it off, you know. And I know we had talked about different things that you can write off and things like that. So yes, so, so, so imperative, just like take care of it from the beginning. So yes, thank you, thank you for that reminder to just start with like a Google Sheet or like Excel sheet and just start, okay, this is my income and these are the expenses, and just like track it that way, right?

Yeah, exactly. Okay. Yeah, it's just, it's, it's so important to start from the beginning because honestly, I've seen it so many times. What happens is the coaches or even service providers, all of a sudden they boom and they're making, they go from $2K months to like $15K months. And then they look, they're like, what's happening? And then from there, there's a jump from $15K to $40K months. And it's like, what, what do I do with all this money? And I really do believe, and I've always said this, and I was listening to a podcast I forget who it was this week. And they even said too, but like, the more money you have, the more responsibility you have, the more— like, it's honestly, the more money you have, the more problems could happen. And so therefore you have more responsibility and you have to manage them better. And so as you're growing, you need to get more systems in place, whether you're doing it or a bookkeeper is doing it. You just need to really know what's going on because what it is, is like a bookkeeping— I don't know what it's like. Okay, for you, Lindsay, like whenever you think of bookkeeping, what do you think of? Like, what is the first thing that you think of?

I think of numbers and receipts. Like, I think of like paper receipts in my head and like a lot of numbers.

Yeah. And then some people think— they think of that. They think— some people are like, it's stressful, it's confusing and gives them anxiety, which— oh yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear all the time. But If you look at it, a lot of people are like, okay, bookkeeping, that is just something you do for taxes. You only do that for taxes. Yes, that's true. But bookkeeping is an information system that you need to have to be able to operate your business and to be able to scale. And I really, and I do say that like, if people don't have a bookkeeping system in place, they're not going to be able to scale and they're going to be held back. Um, they might be starting to make money, but what's going to happen is they're going to spend it or they're else they're not going to pay for tax. Like they're just, they're not, they're going to be paying way too much in taxes. There's just so many things that is detrimental to your business if you don't have a good bookkeeping system in place.

Such a good reminder. I'm like, okay, I think it's that time I need to like log into my books.

Thank you for that reminder.

Oh my gosh, this is so good. Okay. So what has been like, I like to kind of like talk like about your expertise, but also like about your journey as like an entrepreneur yourself. Um, what, What has been like the biggest— we'll go two ways. Like, what has been like your biggest, like, win? Like, what have you— like, what's your favorite part about like being your own business owner? And then also, what's been like the biggest struggle? Like, what's like the biggest headache in your business? Like, what are you just like, oh my gosh, you know?

So yeah.

Yeah.

So biggest struggle. I'll go start with that one first. Yeah. Me and my husband were just talking about that last night. It's like time management with a toddler. I cannot find like 4 hours of just solid work time. And to me, it's like spread out throughout the day. And he's like, you're literally working and thinking about work from like as soon as you get up to going to bed. He's like, you've got to stop. Yeah, I'll be like in my bed working on my phone. He's like, you have to stop. So that's my biggest struggle, just being honest. Um, yeah, don't know how I'm going to do it because, girl, that's why I pay for daycare.

My kids go to daycare.

I know, I know, I know. But like, I just, I don't know. She's been really good. Like, I can work during nap times, but as she gets older, her naps are getting shorter and shorter. And they just, I'm just like, shorter.

I'm like, what am I doing?

So I know, I'm like, this is sad. I was, I was trying to get on a call yesterday and it took Lenny, which is my daughter. It took her an hour and a half, no, 2 hours to fall asleep. And I'm like, in between calls, ending a call, starting a call. I'm just like, you're supposed to be sleeping.

I can't do this.

Yeah, that's my struggle.

That is like real frickin deal problems though. Like, this is something that like nobody talks about. I don't think we talked about it enough. For example, like my kids, Atlas, my son came home Wednesday because he had a stomach virus and he had to come home. So I'm like Wednesday and then yesterday also they were, they were both home yesterday. Thankfully, like I had my mom step in and help me out. But like, We don't always have that help, right? Like, we don't always have help. And so we just have to like make it work, you know. And sometimes he'll be on my hip on a coaching call. And like, that's just the way it is. Like, it's real deal life over here.

This is it.

Yeah.

But honestly, it is really great though, because I mean, we're able to do that. We don't have to— it doesn't— I mean, yes, it might be a little bit stressful. Like, how are you going to do it? But you get through it. And that's the beauty of having our own businesses and being able to support ourselves. Through what we're doing. Yep.

Oh my gosh. So much. Yes. So much. Yes.

Okay.

So what's been your biggest, like, like when, like your biggest, like, mama, I made it moment. Like when was that? Or what is that?

What is that? Um, oh man. Probably the point that I'm like, you know what? Like, I don't have to be worried that clients are coming and I'll just be like, I'm being honest. Cause like whenever you're first starting, you're just like, Oh, I had this much interest. These people weren't sure, these people. And then you got people that signed on and then you didn't. And then it's like up and down. And the, just the mindset shift of, you know what, like people that are meant for you are going to come to you. And if they don't sign with you, they were not meant for you. And that's just something that like, I'm just like, it's, that was probably my biggest point because it's such a stress reliever. Cause I'm like, you know what, the people that are my clients, like whether it's a setup and training or a monthly bookkeeping client or CFO client, and they're signed and like they are perfect. They're like, they were— we were meant to work together. And the people that aren't my clients are like, we talked and they decided to who knows what. Then I was just like, oh, just even within a week or two, I'm like, you know, that's why we're not working. Like, it just— they weren't meant to be my clients. They were meant to be someone else's, or they are meant to do their bookkeeping on their own, or they'll come back later. I've had people, I've had multiple people come back and be like, I need you now.

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. Like, that is such a huge epiphany in business. I think whenever you realize, I'm sure that you've worked with like a coach, like a business mentor, right? So, so I think like when we first start our business, like we, and as a business coach, I see this a lot. Like we go into it and we think, okay, I gotta find the perfect strategy, right? I have to find the perfect lead generation system. Like that is the thing that's like going to give me my first $5K month or like whatever, you know, like we've got to find the perfect thing. And then you realize it's like, hmm, it's really not the strategy. I mean, it is, but it's also like me just wrapping my head around the fact that like, it's okay. And I am probably the biggest thing that's getting in my own way.

Yeah, you know, exactly. Exactly. Can we talk about first $5K months or first $10K months? Yes. Okay. So, so, okay. I, whenever I see a lot of this and people are like, I have a first $5K month, I have a first $10K month. And while that is so exciting, you have to look at what you spent to get there. So like you were saying, if you spent on a business coach, you spent a lead gen coach, you spent on a sales coach, I guarantee your $5K is gone already there. Yes. And so So that, and that's even whenever you think about reinvesting in your business, you have to think of like, okay, if investing in this course or this coach or something, what is going to be the ROI? Like, is it worth it? And I am all about business coaches and I am all about like having coaches, outsourcing, taking courses, learning. But there is a point in your business that you can be doing too much. And that's why you have to keep track of your numbers and know where things are going. So not just like Oh, I think my expenses were $3,000 or $5,000, I think. Maybe it's like times 2, like maybe like $6,000. Who knows? I don't know. But you have to know the total number of your expenses. But you also got to know where your money's going to, because you could be sucked up in the subscriptions, you're going to be spending money on advertising that isn't paying off. I've seen that a lot is Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, it doesn't— like, for some people it does work, but for a specific person that I see that, that I've seen that happen, it's like it's not paying off and they're spending hundreds of dollars a month in that.

Yeah, I remember that we talked about that, like whenever we were going through my books and you said like, let's label like what you're selling, that way we can see like which one is getting like the highest return on it, right?

Yeah, yeah. So that is even like on, on your income. So let's say you are, let's just say, okay, let's say you guys that are listening, say you're a coach and you have a mastermind, you have a mini-mind, you have one-on-one and you have a course. So a lot of times people just lump those all and be like, hey, you know what, I just had $15K sales this month. Well, okay, but what brought you those $15K sales? Was it the mini-mind? Was it the mastermind? Was it the one-on-one? Was it the course? What, what was it? Then what I like to do, and this is something for you guys as the business owner to do, and from all my clients, like, I can separate out and give you those numbers, but you have to look at those numbers and be like, you know what, where is my energy? And I really like thinking of this like, where is your energy and your time being spent and what product or service? Because that is— did that align to the amount of income that you're receiving? Or do you need to take time away or even close a service or create another one of a specific one? So to me, it's very important to separate out your different income streams, like 100%.

Do it today. Oh, so good. So good. That's like great advice. I think it also comes back to like creating offers and creating like your product suite to be something that you actually enjoy doing and keep it as simple as possible. I think that like once again, kind of chasing the perfect strategy, we think, oh, it's gotta be this complex and have all these different things, different offers, different lead magnets and all the stuff. Like keep it as simple as possible. You know, I would say especially in the first year, 2 years, 3 years, the simpler the better, right? Like how simple can you make it? So exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. So good. Okay. Um, alright, so we know to track your expenses and your income, keep a handle on where your money's coming from and where it's going. Alright, let's see what else. What else would you tell someone? I'm just like picking your brain here.

Go for it.

I love it. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so, so what about the coach that's like scaling? Like, what about the coach that's like, okay, she's got her books under control? Okay, she kind of knows what she's doing. Like, would you— I mean, like, what— I know that you're venturing into like CFO mode right now. And you're working for coaches, or you're, you're like starting to work with coaches that are like scaling. What is like the next step for them to like to have a sustainable and scalable business?

Like, what would you say? Um, well, it would come back to Are you— I mean, if you just look at the bookkeeping part, so they might have a good system in place. They might even love doing their numbers. But it's also they have to have time, like they need the time to do it. And as a business coach or service provider or whoever, as you're starting to scale your business, your time starts to get smaller and smaller and smaller. And I know that for me too. I'm like, OK, I got to outsource stuff. And so that's the first thing is kind of look and be like, OK, are you doing your bookkeeping now? Is it something you want to do? Are you gonna be keeping up with it? Do you have the time? And kind of look from there. Then once you get that kind of figured out, you need to start looking at like, okay, projections. Like, okay, I'm gonna be launching all this stuff. What do I project's coming at, like gonna be coming in? What do I need to do even for like tax savings? Because as more, like I said, more money comes in, more responsibility. You've gotta save for taxes. You don't wanna get hit with the $50,000 bill at the end of the year. And so you've got to say for that, you need to really know like, okay, yes, I am going to be launching XYZ. Also, that's bringing in more money. But what is going— what do I have to put out to get that? Like, I got to have a website or not a website, like a landing page. You got to have all of your different marketing things. You got to have— if you have like hired copywriter, if you hire out your website, I mean, you got to really think through As you launch all these, or these, maybe not even if you're launching consistently, but as you bring on more and more of something, you're going to— there's going to be an expense to it, most likely. So kind of like walk through that, look at what's going on there. And then also keep in mind, like, what do you, what do you want to bring home? What is your life? Like, what do you, what are your goals? Do you want to pay off debt for your personal life or your business? Like, do you want to travel more? Like, what do you want? And kind of looking ahead and being like, how can my business support me? So after you're in a position to where like you're able to support yourself, you're pretty comfortable in your business, you do want to grow, like what's the next steps? It's kind of like, what are my dreams, my goals in life? Do I want to give more away? Like, what do you want to do? And kind of looking at like, okay, this is how— this is what I need to be making my business to where it does support that. So kind of really projecting and looking at stuff in a, I don't know, more in-depth, in an, in an, I can't talk, in an in-depth way.

Yes. Yeah.

So good.

You actually encouraged me to give myself a pay raise. Yeah. Yay. Quarter 1. Yeah. At the end of quarter 1, I remember I Voxered you and I was like, hey, like, what do I do? Like, I'm looking at my numbers and you were like, well, you just have to think like, where do you need to put more money? Like, could you, You know, what do you do with the excess? Like, you know, without going into too much detail, you know, I had some wiggle room and I was like, huh, I could give myself a raise. Like, that's nice.

So isn't that so fun that I didn't know you did that?

That makes me so happy. Yeah, I did. I did. Because, and because I was like, I have like this cushion. And like, like, y'all, you have to go watch the Profit First video and this will all make sense. But I had some cushion in my expense bucket and like in the tax bucket. And I'm like, okay, like I could probably like give myself a raise. And you're like, yeah, you can do, you know, you have to look at it. And you know, I'm like, oh my gosh. So yeah, I gave myself only a 1% raise, but like, that's okay, right? Like it makes a difference, you know. So but I think that that comes from what you're talking about of like understanding your numbers. And knowing that like you're okay going forward and saying, okay, like what are your goals? Like what are, you know, what are your goals right now? Like what are you, what is it that you're working towards? Are you launching something crazy coming up? Like, and, um, and having like comfort in knowing like where your money's going and where it's coming from. So yeah, thank you. Thank you for that.

Yeah. Oh, that makes me so happy. Uh, but yeah, more on that too is if you are, if you're in the position where you're scaling and you're like starting to really make some good money in your business. You're— I'm, I'm guessing this is just off of assumption that you're moving a little bit away from one-on-one, like, and moving more into group coaching. That is just— I am not a—

I don't—

this is just what I see. Raising or raising your prices, something, something's happening. Something's transitioning. There is a transition that's happening, raising prices, dropping off this product, adding this service. I have no idea what your business is. But you're switching, there's a trend, there's a transition happening. And sometimes between that transition, there is a gap and your income might drop. And it might drop for a little bit and then start picking up like really fast. So you've got to plan for that too. You got to think like, okay, while I'm transitioning to be making more money, doubling, tripling my income, What is going to happen as I'm switching over? And with that too, if you're the type of person that has different launches throughout the year and might have one-on-one and stuff like that, try to plan your launches accordingly so where you don't have like a $20K month and then like a $5K month and then a $30K month and then like a $7K month. So kind of like try to plan something as you're doing your bookkeeping or having a bookkeeper do it. You can see those trends, you can see those trends in your sales and also your income and kind of see how you can use that information to make better decisions that will help you in the long run. Absolutely.

And that is why, friends, I recommend an evergreen business model so that you do have more consistent months. And looking at launches more as like, this is something that I've leaned more into and I'm teaching like my clients and my community is like looking at launches as like the jetpack in your business. Like looking at it as like adding fuel fuel to your business, but it's not like the only way or the only time to make money, right? So you're not going, you're not having this huge month and then, oh, well, it's going to be another 2 months until I launch, quote unquote, again. So I'm not going to make any money in those months. So yeah, that's been a huge turning point in my own business and for my clients. Yeah.

And I think it's, I mean, that's so important because I see it time and time again is that it goes, I mean, okay, obviously as an entrepreneur, your months are a goal they're going to go up and down.

Yeah, I don't care what any business— yeah, I'm like, there's gonna be a little up and down.

Yep, hopefully. And the trend should always be going up, but it's going to be like a squiggly line going up. Um, but you want to minimize that up and down. And however, I mean, that's why you work with Lindsay. That's why you work with people that can help you plan out services and, I don't know, launches and products and I'm not a business coach. I like, here's your numbers, have at it. Yes, exactly. But yeah, that's definitely a good point.

Yes. So good. Okay, so this has been so informational. I know that some, like, I know that the people listening are like, oh my God, I need to go get on top of my books like right now. I'm ready to scale. I'm ready to be in control of my money. So if they wanted to like explore, because like I know that you offer like kind of like different packages for like wherever the entrepreneur is or like what they need help with. So your specialty is with like online businesses, right? So like you are like accustomed to looking at Stripe and PayPal and like all those places, right?

Yep. Online service-based businesses. That's, that's where I'm at.

Okay, awesome. So it's funny because we have like a CPA that— not a CPA. Well, yeah, they are CPA that does our like yearly taxes or whatever. And I'll take my stuff in and they are like, what is this? They're, you know, it's— they just don't know.

Right.

So yeah. Yeah. Oh, before. Okay. All right. I'm gonna I'm gonna come back to this question because there's one more thing I wanted to ask you about tax write-offs. Okay, so like we know as like, we are our business, right? Like as service providers, a little bit of influencer things going on. What type of like weird things can you write off that like you wouldn't think that like you could write off?

It really depends on— it depends on the person and their business. Okay. And that's really, that's really something that I like to lean on. It really is. And that's why I have to be careful. Um, but I really lean on the tax preparer for that. Okay. Because I— everyone's different. There are different tax preparers and some are super conservative and some are, some are super like aggressive. And so I would say like the traditional write-offs is like write off your home office if it's like within the rules or whatever. You can write off travel, you can write off your cell phone, you can write off utility— like in a way you can write off utilities, you can write off gas, you can do like the traditional stuff. There is definitely tax strategies that you can do to write off more stuff. And that's where I would say find a tax strategist that is familiar with you and your tax return. Because you also have to look at— not everyone's tax return looks the same. So as, as an LLC, your tax return is tied directly to your personal. It gets attached to your personal return. It is one return sent to the IRS. So as an LLC or sole proprietor, it's, it's taxed the same. It gets all involved in one return. And if you're filing with someone else jointly, that also affects that. If you have another, another job that affects exit. So, and then also if you're filing as an S corp, then that's two different returns. And so it's really, it's kind of hard for me to say because you've really got to have the full picture.

Yeah, yeah, you're right. But that's a good reminder though about your— where are you working in your home, home office? Like the little office supplies that add up, you know, like I wasn't like, I had like an ink subscription. That I had never written off, you know, like just like the little things like that, um, that we use for work that we kind of forget about. So take note of that, y'all.

Write it down. Any— yeah, anything in your office, um, if you go and like are meeting with a client or something, write that off. For meals, um, you can— yeah, you can write it. There's a— there's so many things you can write off. There's like a list of things that actually— I just thought of this, I always forget— I haven't Welcome email, like introduction, whatever. But it has 38 business deductions on there. So business deduction is specifically for service, like it, I think it's just for online businesses. It's for online businesses that is like with the Stripe, PayPal, you got Canva, you got like, here's all the typical online business stuff. And it's specifically for that. So there's really good ideas there. Is that like a resource that you have? Yes, yes, it is in— if you go to the link in my bio, you can sign up for it. It's like—

what's your username?

What's your Instagram name?

It's @loriannekoontz.co. So @lorianne— no e, no e, no e.

L-O-R-I-A-N-N-E. Koontz.

Koontz. Oh my God, we're gonna put it in the show notes, y'all.

Yeah.

I'm there. You can find me. Okay. Okay. Awesome. But yeah, that kind of actually leads into my next question was, yeah, how can people find you? Because you do have different resources. If like you're listening, you're like, okay, this is the kick in the butt that I needed to kind of get my life under control. What do you, what do you have out right now? How can they work with you? What would be the best place for them to go to find those resources?

Yeah, so my Instagram Excuse me. My Instagram is where I'm at most of the time. That's where all my information is at. So you can go there, you can like go through my highlights. I have a lot of information there. I have tips in my, in my feed. But then if you click on that same link in the bio to get the 38 business deduction ideas, you can click and apply for like bookkeeping help or apply for a quote or I forget how I have it labeled. There's only two options there. And so go there and then it will have kind of like an intake form. You kind of tell me a little bit about your business and kind of what you're interested in. So like Lindsay was saying, I have a few different things for where you are in your business. So some people might be just starting out or they want to do their own bookkeeping. And I have like a one-on-one training that I do for them. Then my main service that I do is monthly bookkeeping. So where I take it off of your hands to where you don't have to feel like the weight of like, oh, I need to go do it, I need to run my numbers and feel like, have like that stress and anxiety on it, to where you get your numbers delivered to you like on a monthly basis and you just have that information there. And then I do have a CFO package in addition to the monthly bookkeeping where we go more in depth and look at your whole life and kind of walk things through of like really digging deep into your numbers.

So good. So they should go to Instagram, go check out those highlights, go check out the link, and go read your amazing content there.

Yes. You can DM me. I'm always— my DMs are always open.

Yay.

Awesome. Awesome.

Thank you so much, Laurianne. This has been so good. I know that this has been so valuable for the business owners and the coaches listening. This is like the dark side of running your own business, right? It is.

Yeah. And that's the thing. And I love that you're talking about it because I see so many business coaches that don't talk about it. And I'm like, this is the— I mean, this is really the foundation of your business. Like, you got to have it under control. Like, I don't care if you're doing it. I don't care if you have a bookkeeper that does it, but you have to— like, you have to have this under control. And so I Thank you for talking about money and numbers. It needs to be talked about. It really does.

Yeah, it really does. Like, y'all, like, running a business is not just having like a cute Instagram feed and like a viral reel. Like, it's, it's actually like managing your money and planning and having control over that, you know, so that you can actually, you know, plan your life around it. Like you said, like, live your life, you know, so Yes, thank you so much for this. This has been so good. So y'all know where to find Laurieann, go say hello to her. Let us know what your favorite part was. What was your favorite takeaway? And if you have any questions for her, she's, she is very friendly and very easy to talk to. So go reach out to her on Instagram. And yeah, and go say hi and tell her what your favorite part was.

Yeah, I'd love to hear from everybody listening. Yes.

Awesome. Thank you, Laurieann. And we will see See you all next time. Bye!