Have you ever felt frustrated by the amount you’re paying yourself from your business? One of my clients was actually so scared of doing something wrong that she wouldn’t pay herself at all. Instead, she kept all the cash she made from her services sitting in her business account. Eventually, her husband became really frustrated and said, “You’re telling me we’re making all this money and that you’re doing well, but we’re not personally seeing any of it—how is that possible?”

If any of that sounds like you, I want to walk you through a few steps that might help you start making more income for yourself—and actually paying yourself more. So let me ask you: do you think of paying yourself as a regular payday or paycheck? That mindset shift might help, because I strongly recommend paying yourself consistently.

It’s easy to just transfer random amounts here and there, but when you’re starting out, it’s best to choose a set number that you know is safe. You can always adjust it later. Once you’ve picked your number, decide on your pay schedule. That could be once a month, twice a month, every other week, or even on the 1st and 15th—whatever makes the most sense for you and your business.

Setting a consistent payment schedule early on helps build momentum and motivation.

It allows you to actually see money coming into your business. More importantly, see some of it land in your personal account, too.

Now, if you’re thinking, “Well, Erika, I have no idea how to come up with that number,” this is actually a symptom of another problem—usually not having the right sales goal. You might be thinking, “Isn’t my sales goal just whatever I want to pay myself?” But there’s actually a lot more that goes into it.

A few things I want you to consider: First, how much do you actually want to be transferring from your business into your personal account? That’s the number we just talked about. Then, you have to remember taxes. This is one piece that’s easy to ignore, especially if you’re not sure how much to set aside. A good average recommended by most financial professionals is 25%. That won’t be exact for everyone but it will cover a big chunk. You can adjust that percentage once you file your returns. It’ll depend on where you live—your city, state, and county—but again, 25% is a solid baseline.

Next, you’ll want to add that tax amount to the amount you plan to pay yourself.

On top of that, you need a clear picture of your average monthly business expenses. Think about the tools and services you use to run your business. It could be your email service provider, CRM, bookkeeping software, office supplies, and any memberships you’re a part of. Add up those recurring expenses so you have a monthly estimate.

Then, ask yourself what investments you plan to make into your business this year. Are you thinking about joining a membership, purchasing a course or joining a mastermind, traveling for business, or upgrading your equipment (like getting a new laptop or camera)? Add those into the mix.

Once you’ve tallied all of that—your pay, taxes, expenses, and future investments—you’ll land on your true sales goal. That number will cover what it takes to run your business, support your future dreams, pay your taxes, and allow you to consistently be paying yourself.

So really, the number you need to bring in is likely much larger than you initially think. Once you’ve figured out how much you want to pay yourself, you can then determine how much income you actually need to generate to reach that goal. That becomes your true sales goal.

From there, ask yourself: What packages, services, or combination of offers will help you meet that number?

This is where you can evaluate whether your goal is realistic. For example, if your sales goal is $5,000, but your only offer is a $75 coaching session, you’d need to book a lot of sessions to hit your goal. That’s when it’s important to pause and ask: How many hours do I realistically have to work in my business and on my business? And how many hours can I dedicate to actually delivering those services?

This helps you figure out if that sales goal is even doable with your current structure. From there, you can assess whether you need to raise your prices or add other offers that better support your goals. That way you’re not relying on just one low-ticket service.

I personally like to write my sales goal down and track it. It gives me clarity around how many discovery calls I’ve had, how many contracts I’ve signed, and how close—or far—I am from that goal. It also helps me make smart financial decisions. If I want to invest in something, I can look at how close I am to my goal and decide whether that investment is realistic right now.

If you’d like more support with this, my mini-course walks you through this step-by-step and breaks down all these pieces so you can confidently set and work toward your sales goals.

You can find the mini-course I mentioned over at erikamillard.com. I hope everything we’ve talked about today gives you a little more clarity on how to set income goals that actually allow you to be paying yourself. And of course, if you need help with this, don’t hesitate to reach out or dive into my mini-course. It breaks things down step by step.

Now, let’s shift into our little “financial jargon” segment of the blog. I want to highlight something you might see when you’re sending invoices—especially if you’re using a platform like QuickBooks. There’s usually a dropdown option labeled something like “Due on receipt,” “Net 15,” or “Net 30.” These are terms that determine when the payment is expected.

So, let’s say you send an invoice on November 1st and you select “Net 15”. The system will automatically make the due date November 15th. If you choose “Net 30,” the due date will be 30 days from the invoice date. Pretty straightforward, but it’s worth understanding why these options exist.

Most of my clients set their invoices to “Due on receipt,” which just means payment is due right away. But these net terms actually come from the product-based and wholesale world, where it’s common to offer incentives for faster payments. You might even see something like “2/10” on an invoice. That means you’ll get a 2% discount if you pay within 10 days.

If you sell physical products or ever work with a wholesaler, these tiny details matter. They’re there to encourage faster payments, so sellers get their cash sooner.

So the takeaway here is this: understanding whether to set invoices as “due on receipt” or “net 15” or “net 30” can really impact your cash flow.

Most online service providers like us to stick with “due on receipt”. Depending on your industry or client relationships, you can adjust those terms to fit your business needs. At the end of the day, it’s your call as the business owner to decide what your payment terms are. That’s the beauty of running your own show.

I hope you’re walking away with more clarity on how to decide how much to be paying yourself. I really want to encourage you to start doing that consistently if you haven’t already. You deserve that stability and confidence in your business.

Until next time—happy bookkeeping! I’m so glad you’re here. Come hang out with me over on Instagram @Erika_Millard—I’d love to connect with you there!

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