Guide
Gross revenue vs take-home
"I did $5k this month" is a gross-revenue statement. What you actually keep is a different, smaller number — and the gap between them is where a lot of coaches get an unpleasant surprise. Understanding the layers makes the real figure obvious.
Gross is the top of the funnel
Gross revenue is the total your clients paid you — the headline figure that feels like success. But it includes money that was never going to be yours: the processor's fee, the cost of the tools you used to deliver, and the tax owed on the profit. Gross is the starting point, not the result.
Four deductions to take-home
From gross, subtract in order:
- Processing fees — Stripe 2.9% + $0.30, PayPal 3.49% + $0.49.
- Tool subscriptions — TrueCoach, Zoom, Kajabi and the rest, monthly.
- Other business expenses — equipment, ads, education.
- Estimated tax — a reserve on the remaining profit.
What's left is your real take-home. It's normal for it to be meaningfully below gross.
Why the number should be always-on
Most coaches only compute take-home once a year, at tax time — too late to act on. CheckMargin shows it continuously: gross minus captured Stripe/PayPal fees, minus tool costs, minus expenses, minus your tax estimate, with a "where the money goes" bar so no layer hides. The point is to know your real number every month, not in April.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between gross revenue and take-home?
Gross revenue is everything clients paid you. Take-home is what's left after processing fees, tool subscriptions, other business expenses, and a tax reserve. The gap is often large, which is why the headline number can mislead.
Why is my take-home so much lower than my revenue?
Because four things come out of gross: payment-processing fees, the tools you pay for monthly, other business expenses, and the tax owed on your profit. Each is normal; together they create the gap.