October 2023 Income At-A-Glance
Gross Income for October: $156,869
Total Expenses for October: $15,021
Total Net Profit for October: $141,848
Difference b/t October & September: -$7,135
% of net profit to overall gross revenue: 90%
Why We Publish An Income Report
This monthly income report is created for you, Fire Nation!
By documenting the struggles we encounter and the successes we celebrate as entrepreneurs every single month, we’re able to provide you with support – and a single resource – where we share what’s working, what’s not, and what’s possible.
There’s a lot of hard work that goes into learning and growing as an entrepreneur, especially when you’re just starting out. The most important part of the equation is that you’re able to pass on what you learn to others through teaching, which is what we aim to do here.
Check out all of our monthly income reports – from the very beginning!
Let’s IGNITE!
**We’ll receive a commission on the affiliate links below. If you click on my affiliate link and sign up for the products and services I trust and recommend, then I will earn a commission.
Ron Parisi’s Monthly Tax Tip
Hello, Fire Nation! Ron Parisi from CPA On Fire here with our October 2023 Tax and Accounting tip.
At CPA On Fire, we specialize in working with entrepreneurs to minimize their tax liability while keeping them in line with the ever-changing tax laws.
Our firm has been working with JLD & Kate at Entrepreneurs On Fire for years now, and they’ve included me in these monthly income reports with unlimited access to all their accounts so I can verify that what they report here is complete and accurate.
And because they believe in delivering an insane amount of value to you, my job doesn’t stop at the verification level; I also provide a new tax and accounting tip every month!
Ron’s October Tax Tip: Rearview Accounting versus Forward-facing Financial Insights
As we approach the end of 2023, it’s incredible how fast this year has flown by!
Every month, we discuss valuable tax and accounting insights for entrepreneurs, and today, I want to shed light on the difference between rearview financial reporting and forward-facing financial insights.
Rearview Accounting
Rearview accounting, as commonly practiced in the industry, often falls short in serving entrepreneurs.
It’s usually compliance-based and typically involves receiving last month’s financials well into the current month.
By the time you get your hands on those numbers, you’re already weeks behind, trying to figure out what worked and what didn’t.
This outdated approach leaves you with little room to act in real time.
Forward-Facing Financial Insights
Now, let’s flip the script.
Forward-facing financials involve creating forecasts and budgets that align with your long-term business goals.
As the month progresses, you continually measure your actual performance against these targets. This allows you to stay focused on where you want to be, whether it’s a year from now, three months down the road, or even further into the future.
You’re not dwelling on the past; you’re looking ahead and making course corrections as needed.
For one of our new CPA on Fire clients, shifting to forward-facing financial insights proved to be transformative!
They gained a clear understanding of when to invest in ad spend, when to add key team members, and how these decisions would impact their margins.
With a three-year revenue forecast and a rolling 12-month expense budget, they visualized the future of their organization, including the org chart and marketing strategy.
The shift from a retrospective mindset (or rearview accounting practices) to a forward-thinking one has supercharged their confidence and resulted in outstanding performance!
Let’s use this month’s tax and accounting tip to embrace forward-facing financial strategies that support your long-term aspirations with your financial operations. It’s time to leave rearview accounting behind and start shaping a more successful future for your business!
As always, it’s always a pleasure to be with you, Fire Nation! Wishing you a successful month ahead – go out there and crush it!
CPA on Fire offers CFO and fractional financial operation services. We have vast experience working with high-growth entrepreneurs. If you recognize the need to level up your financial operations to improve growth, profitability and free your time, let’s connect! We can show you how we help our amazing clients and what we can possibly do for you and your business.
Check out our website: CPAOnFire.com!
What Went Down In October
Interview of the Month
The Secret to Landing TEDx and the Biggest Stages on Earth – Even if You are Just Starting Out with Taylor Conroy
3 Value Bombs
- One mistake that aspiring speakers make is they get so honed in, focused, crazy and maniacal. They lose sight of what is actually important in a talk, and that is experience.
- If you’ve gone through a whole bunch of stuff in your life, you went through it for a reason. You went through it so that you can help other people go through it faster, to live more comfortably, happier, more euphoric lives.
- Know exactly what you stand for as a speaker and the experience that you want the audience to have.
Thought-Leader – Sign up for Taylor’s FREE training and learn how to Land A TEDx Talk & Spread Your Message To Millions In As Little As 30 Days… Even If You’ve Never Spoken On Stage In Your Life!
Podcasters’ Paradise turns 10!
We launched Podcasters’ Paradise, our premium membership community, 10 years ago – it was October 31, 2013!
We’ve shared the story about how Podcasters’ Paradise came to be many times, but in case you haven’t heard it, here’s the short version:
John launched a service called PodPlatform in 2013.
The idea: You record your podcast episode, he does the rest.
(Sound familiar? There are about a thousand companies offering this service now… LOL.)
Anyway, at the time, no one wanted it.
Why?
Because not a lot of people knew HOW to podcast.
So John scrapped PodPlatform, and he went back to the drawing board.
That’s when we came up with the idea to create a membership course that would teach people how to create, grow, and monetize their podcast – and provide support from a like-minded community every step of the way.
Ten years later and we’re still helping podcasters do just that!
So we decided that for our 10 year anniversary, we were going to do something special…
We hosted our first LIVE Podcast Masterclass in over a year!
Not only that, we threw in some pretty incredible bonuses for those who decided to join Podcasters’ Paradise during our 10-year anniversary celebration, including a one-on-one strategy with John, plus an intimate mastermind with us 30 days from joining to check in on our new members podcasting progress.
We’ve been building, improving, and loving on Podcasters’ Paradise for 10 years.
Video tutorial updates, daily private Facebook Group interaction, always adding new email templates and sample documents, jumping on live every single month to answer all of our member’s podcasting questions…
When we say premium membership, we mean it.
Inside of Podcasters’ Paradise you have daily direct access to us, PLUS the support of thousands of other podcasters who are on the same journey as you.
So if you’ve ever thought about launching your own podcast, don’t wait.
You deserve to have your message heard, and a podcast is a perfect way to do it!
You can learn more and join Podcasters’ Paradise today at PodcastersParadise.com!
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October 2023 Income Breakdown*
Product/Service Income: $152,078
TOTAL Journal Sales: $2,003 | Total Journals Sold: 48
The Freedom Journal: Accomplish your #1 goal in 100 days!
- Total: $1,069 (23 Freedom Journals + 2 Digital Packs sold)
The Mastery Journal: Master Productivity, Discipline and Focus in 100 days!
- Total: $614 (14 Mastery Journals + 1 Digital Packs sold)
The Podcast Journal: Idea to Launch in 50 Days!
- Total: $320 (8 Digital Packs sold)
Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 Podcasting community in the world!
- Recurring: $11,320 (51 recurring)
- New members: $6,582 (6 new members)
- Total: $17,902
Real Revenue: Turn your BIG IDEA into Real Revenue
- Total: $75
Podcast Sponsorships: $132,059
Podcast Launch: Audiobook: $32 | eBook: $7
Free Courses that contribute to the above revenue:
Your Big Idea: Discover your big idea in under an hour!
Free Podcast Course: Create and launch your own podcast!
Funnel On Fire: Create a funnel that converts!
Affiliate Income: $4,791
*Affiliate links below – if you click on my affiliate link and sign up for the products and services I trust and recommend, then I will earn a commission.
Resources for Entrepreneurs: $4,401
- Audible: $0
- Bluehost: $0
- Click Funnels: $3,148
- CovertKit: $5
- Amy Porterfield’s DCA: $1,248
- Coaching referrals: $0 (email me for an introduction to a mentor for overall online business or a Podcast focused mentor!)
Resources for Podcasters: $275
- Podcasting Press: $0
- Splasheo: $0
- Fusebox: $0
- Libsyn: $246 (Use promo code FIRE for the rest of this month & next free!)
- Repurpose House: $10
- UDemy Podcasting Course: $19
Other Resources: $115
- Amazon Associates: $70
- Other: $45
Total Gross Income in October: $156,869
Business Expenses: $12,162
- Advertising: $25
- Affiliate Commissions (Paradise): $22
- Cost of goods sold (Journals): $192
- Fulfillment: $0
- Consulting: $106
- Design & Branding: $0
- Dues & Subscriptions: $211
- Legal & Professional: $0
- Meals & Entertainment: $150
- Merchant / bank fees: $2,093
- Amazon fees: $791
- PayPal fees: $17
- Office expenses: $574
- Community Refunds: $1,394
- Promotional: $0
- Travel: $610
- Virtual Assistant Fees: $5,977
- Website Fees: $0
Recurring, Subscription-based Expenses: $2,859
- Adobe Creative Cloud: $60
- Accounting: $468
- Boomerang: $90 (team package)
- Authorize.net: $29
- Google: $75
- Cell Phone: $152
- ChatGPT: $20
- CookieYes: $10
- GoDaddy: $44
- Internet: $68
- eVoice: $13
- Keap CRM: $232
- Insurance: $669
- Libsyn: $214
- Linktree: $9
- Taxes & Licenses: $505
- Patreon: $40
- Shopify: $36
- Zoom: $55 (one-time webinar fee)
- Xero: $70
Total Expenses in October: $15,021
Payroll to John & Kate: $15,900
In our May 2014 Income Report and our June 2016 Income Report, Josh focuses on how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur. Check them out!
Wondering what we do with all of our net revenue? We share all in our April 2017 Income Report :)
Total Net Profit for October 2023: $141,848
Biggest Lesson Learned
How to stay focused in 2024: Choosing a word of the year
As we approach the new year, you’re probably asking yourself a lot of questions about how you can make 2024 a great year for you and your business.
Questions like:
- How can I stay focused?
- How can I stay productive?
- How do I practice discipline when opportunities are around every corner?
The short answer is this:
If it were easy, everyone would be able to do it.
As you know, we’re all about productivity, discipline, and focus. That’s why John created The Mastery Journal, which is a great gift to get yourself for the new year! :)
In addition, there’s an exercise I feel is incredibly powerful when it comes to staying focused in 2024.
It’s choosing a word for the year.
Now you might be wondering how choosing a single word can help you stay focused throughout an entire year?…
Choosing a word for the year, and consistently reminding yourself of what that word is and why it matters to you, is how you stay focused in 2024.
Because when you get distracted ’cause there’s so much happening, or you see the hot new thing and can’t wait to try it (but know you shouldn’t), or you feel like this is THE opportunity for you, you’ll have your word to remind you of what you should REALLY be focused on.
Here’s a quick example…
In 2019 my word was confidence.
When I was thinking about what I wanted to focus on in 2019, it included things like:
- Speaking on stage
- Growing my podcast audience for Kate’s Take, and
- Making big decisions with more ease
I knew all of these things would require that I step into a new level of myself.
Specifically, I needed more confidence.
Confidence would let me know I belonged on those stages, and that I shouldn’t be afraid to ask to be there.
Confidence would allow me to share my podcast with the world without second-guessing whether or not it was good enough.
Confidence would help me make big decisions without the overwhelming stress of whether I was making the right decision.
In 2019 TikTok reached its first billion downloads.
Did I jump on the bandwagon and download TikTok?
No. I still haven’t to this day…
TikTok was NOT what was going to help me become more confident in order to land more stages, grow my podcast, and make big decisions with ease.
By focusing on confidence in 2019, I…
- Spoke on 5 stages
- Hit nearly 100,000 downloads for my podcast in a single year
- Made multiple BIG decisions in the business with more ease
See how helpful choosing a word was for me?
Alright, Fire Nation: now it’s your turn!
Think about some of the big goals you have for 2024.
- What do you want to focus on in 2024?
- What do you want to give your time and energy to in 2024?
- What word can help you stay FOCUSED and remind you of what’s most important to you in 2024?
Once you’ve chosen, write it down, look at it daily, and share it!
Until next month, keep your FIRE burning!
~ Kate & John
Note: we report our income figures as accurately as possible, but in using reports from a combo of Infusionsoft & Xero to track our product and total income / expenses, they suggest the possibility of a 3 – 5% margin of error.
