Why Most Coaches Don't Know What's Actually Happening With Their Money

Most six-figure coaches aren’t careless with money. They’re paying their taxes. They’re investing in their business. They’re watching the numbers. And yet, when you ask a simple question “What’s actually happening with your money?” The answer is frustratingly vague. Not because they’re irresponsible. But because the way most coaching businesses track money doesn’t create clarity. It creates noise.

Information Isn’t the Same as Understanding

At this stage, most coaches are looking at

Their bank balance (which changes daily and tells them nothing useful)
Stripe or PayPal dashboards (revenue only, no context)
Monthly revenue totals (that look great until expenses hit)
Maybe a Google Sheet they opened six months ago and haven’t touched since (yes, we’ve all been there)

There’s plenty of information. But zero interpretation. Dashboards tell you what came in. They don’t tell you what’s left, what’s working, or what’s sustainable. So decisions get made on fragments

“This launch did $22k, so we’re good.”
“The bank balance is fine right now.”
“Last month was strong, so we should be okay to hire.”

That’s not financial insight. That’s educated guessing and it affects every decision you make.

The DIY Phase Lasts Far Too Long

DIY finance works in the early days. When the business is simple, volume is low, and you’re just trying to keep things afloat, rough tracking is enough. The problem? Most coaches stay in this mode well past its usefulness. By the time you’re at six figures

Expenses are layered (team, ads, platforms, subscriptions, 1099 contractors)
Delivery capacity actually matters financially
Cash flow timing matters (a $15k launch today doesn’t mean $15k in your account tomorrow)
One or two decisions can shift your entire year

But the financial systems haven’t evolved to match the complexity of the business. And that Google Sheet you swore you’d keep updated? It’s three months behind. Again.

The Tax Time Scramble

You know the feeling. It’s January or February. Your accountant asks for your books. And you realize you have no idea what happened last year. So you spend a weekend (or longer) trying to piece it all together

Downloading Stripe reports
Digging through bank statements
Trying to remember what that $847 charge in May was for
Realizing you’ve been miscategorizing things for months

You get it done. Barely. You swear this year will be different. And then you get back to running the business and the cycle starts again. Because the issue isn’t discipline. It’s that you’re trying to retrofit a system that was never designed for this level of complexity.

The Post-Launch Confusion

This one shows up constantly. You just closed a $20k launch. You’re celebrating. The numbers look incredible. Two weeks later, you check your bank account and think: Wait. Where did it go? Because Stripe says $20k. But your account shows $11k. And you can’t figure out the gap. Was it

Refunds?
Payment plans that haven’t come through yet?
Fees you didn’t account for?
Expenses you forgot were about to hit?

You don’t know. And the frustration of not knowing, especially after working that hard, is exhausting. This is when I hear: “I celebrated a five-figure launch, but I have no idea what I actually made.”

Why “I’ll Deal With Finance Later” Backfires

Most coaches don’t avoid finance intentionally. They’re just focused on marketing, delivery, clients and team. Finance feels like something you handle once everything else is “set.” The issue is that finance is what tells you whether what you’re building actually supports you. When clarity comes last

Growth feels heavier instead of easier
Hiring feels risky because you can’t see the real numbers
Rest feels conditional on “getting ahead first”
Decisions take longer because you don’t fully trust what you’re looking at

And the business keeps moving. Clients keep coming. Revenue keeps rolling in. But the knot in your stomach about money? That stays.

The False Solutions That Don’t Actually Help

By the time most coaches realize they need help, they’ve already tried a few things.

They bought a finance course for coaches. They watched two modules, got overwhelmed, and never went back.

They set up QuickBooks. Once. In 2022. They haven’t logged in since. The guilt of seeing “127 transactions need review” keeps them from opening it.

They hired a bookkeeper. Who sends them reports every month that they don’t read because they don’t know what they’re looking at or what to do with the information.

They swore they’d update their Google Sheet religiously. It worked for two months. Then it didn’t.

None of these are bad solutions. They’re just incomplete. Because tools don’t create clarity on their own. And courses don’t interpret your specific business reality. What’s missing is someone who can translate the numbers into decisions you can actually make.

Tools Capture Data. Clarity Comes From Interpretation.

Most coaches don’t have a data problem. They have a translation problem. The numbers exist. But they’re not decision-ready. If you can’t easily answer

What’s actually profitable in my business?
What’s draining energy and margin without a clear return?
How much capacity do I really have before something breaks?
What can I safely commit to next?

Then you’re not lacking discipline or intelligence. You’re lacking signal quality. And without reliable signal, even the smartest, most capable business owners second-guess themselves constantly.

The Real Problem: Your Business Outgrew Your Systems

The frustration you’re feeling isn’t personal failure. It’s a mismatch. Your business is operating at a level that requires real financial infrastructure and you’re still running on systems designed for a much simpler stage.

That gap is what creates the stress. Not your effort. Not your intelligence. Not your commitment. The system you’re using just can’t support the decisions you’re making anymore.

Want this level of clarity in your own business? Start with the Cash Flow Clarity Check. It shows you what I look at first when a coach isn’t sure where they stand financially.