Online businesses
Bookkeeping for course creators
A launch week can bring in more than the rest of the quarter. Your books should tell you what it actually cost to get there.
Updated October 4, 2026
In short
Course creators and membership businesses get paid through Kajabi, Teachable, Podia, Stripe or Substack, in payouts that already have platform fees, card fees and refunds taken out. We split those back apart, track affiliate payouts for 1099s, and show what each launch earned after ad spend. Most fit our Moderate tier.
How the money moves
How money comes in and goes out
Sales come through the platform's checkout, often on payment plans, and the platform pays you in batches. A single payout can mix full-price sales, installments, a refund from last week and a chargeback.
Costs cluster around launches: ads, a copywriter, affiliate commissions, sometimes a live event. Then there's the steady stuff: the platform subscription, email software and video hosting.
Common problems
Where the books usually go wrong
Payment plans and refunds
A $997 course on six installments with a 30-day refund window is a lot of moving parts to book correctly.
Affiliate commissions
Affiliates are usually 1099 contractors. Their totals need tracking as you pay them, not reconstructed in January.
Launch math
Without tagging launch costs, you can't tell whether the last launch made money after ads.
Annual memberships
Annual plans paid up front may need spreading across twelve months if your accountant uses accrual accounting.
Every month
What we do every month
- Reconcile each platform's payouts to its transaction report
- Record gross sales, platform fees, card fees, refunds and chargebacks separately
- Track affiliate and contractor payments for 1099s
- Tag ad spend and launch costs so each launch has a real result
- Reconcile bank and card accounts to their statements
A month of books, for example
Picture a creator selling a $497 course on Kajabi plus a $29 monthly community. In a launch month, Kajabi pays out about $38,000 across a dozen payouts. We'd record about $41,000 in sales, $1,300 in fees, $1,700 in refunds, and $5,400 owed to four affiliates. Matched against $9,000 in Meta ads, she sees the launch cleared about $23,000.
Illustrative example, not a client story.
Getting started
What we need from you
- Read access to your course platform and Stripe reports, or monthly exports
- Your affiliate payout report
- Which ad campaigns belonged to which launch
Software and statements we work from
- Kajabi
- Teachable
- Podia
- Thinkific
- Stripe
- Substack
- ThriveCart
- PayPal
Price
What it costs
Most course and membership businesses fit Moderate, $400 to $600 a month. Several platforms, many affiliates or annual-plan accounting can move you to Complex.
One flat monthly price, set after the free review. See the pricing guide or estimate your tier.
Questions
Common questions
Do you understand Kajabi and Teachable payouts?
Yes. We work from each platform's payout and transaction reports, so every fee and refund gets its own line.
Do I owe sales tax on digital courses?
It depends on where your buyers are and what you sell. That's one for your accountant; we'll keep sales by region easy to pull if they need it.
Can you show profit per course?
Yes, using classes or separate income accounts, so each product has its own numbers.
My platform handles affiliate payouts. Do I still need 1099s?
Often yes, if you're the one paying them. We keep the totals ready either way, and your accountant confirms who files.
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