Money First CEO

Most business owners can tell you their revenue target. Very few can tell you their financial freedom number.

In this episode of Money First CEO, Harman Johnston asks the question most business owners have never properly sat down and answered: not your revenue goal, not your growth target, but the actual amount of money you need coming in consistently for your life to feel genuinely free.

Because here’s the pattern Harman sees constantly, including with clients at Blu doing $100,000, $150,000, even $200,000 a month: they’re working long hours, building impressive businesses, and when you ask if they’re where they want to be financially, the answer is almost always “not yet.” Ask them what “enough” would actually look like, and most have never thought about it.

That’s the gap this episode closes.

Why This Number Matters

Every business starts with a clear number: the amount needed to cover the bills and replace an old salary. But once a business owner passes survival, that number tends to disappear, and “more” quietly becomes the only goal. More revenue fuels progress, and progress feels good, but more isn’t a destination. It’s a treadmill.

Without a specific number, there’s nothing to reverse engineer your business around, and no way to know when you’ve actually made it.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn

•          Why most business owners never define what “enough” means, and what that costs them

•          The three layers that make up a financial freedom number: needs, wants and peace of mind

•          How to calculate each layer with real numbers, not guesses

•          How to turn your personal number into a revenue target your business can be built around

•          Why your freedom number isn’t fixed, and what tends to change it over time

•          Why a bigger business isn’t always a freer one

A Practical Takeaway

Harman walks through a worked example: baseline living costs of $9,000 a month, lifestyle wants of $4,000 a month, and $2,000 a month toward savings and investments adds up to a $15,000 after-tax freedom number. Account for tax, and that might mean paying yourself close to $20,000 a month before tax. If owner’s pay sits around 30% of revenue, that’s a monthly revenue target of roughly $67,000, a number directly connected to the life you actually want to live, not one pulled from a goal-setting workshop.

This week’s action: sit down for 20 minutes, work out your own three layers, add them up, then check what you’re currently paying yourself and ask honestly whether you’re on track.

Why This Conversation Matters

Knowing your number changes what you’re chasing. Instead of measuring success by revenue alone, you’re measuring it against a specific outcome connected to your life, your family and your wellbeing. Growth beyond that number becomes a choice, not a necessity, and growth by choice feels very different from growth by pressure.

Ready to build your business around your number instead of chasing revenue for its own sake? Blu Bookkeepers’ Financial Calm System helps service-based business owners get the visibility and structure to become confident Money First CEOs.

Book your free discovery call: https://blubookkeepers.com.au/contact

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

Here’s a question worth sitting with: if your business doubled tomorrow, would you be excited, or would you quietly panic?

Most business owners assume growth is the fix. More revenue, more breathing room, more freedom. But in this episode, Harman Johnston makes the case that growth doesn’t solve financial problems, it amplifies them. The businesses that fall over during rapid growth are rarely the ones with a bad product or a weak offer. They’re the ones with a financial foundation that was never built to hold twice the weight.

Harman walks through a real client story: a consulting firm doing $80,000 a month with a healthy margin and a business owner who was paying herself consistently. Then they landed a major government contract and revenue jumped to $160,000 a month almost overnight. On paper, it looked like a win. In reality, within three months the wheels were wobbling. New hires, new software, a bigger office, subcontractors to cover the gaps. Revenue had doubled, but expenses had more than doubled, and the margin that was healthy at $80,000 a month was razor thin at $160,000.

That’s not a revenue problem. That’s a structure problem, and it’s one of the most common traps in business.

Why this topic matters

Every business owner wants growth. Few stop to ask whether their finances are actually ready for it. Growth tests your infrastructure, not just your ambition, and the gap between “we grew” and “we grew and stayed profitable” almost always comes down to what’s happening behind the scenes with cash flow, tax, team costs and systems.

Key takeaways

•          More revenue does not automatically mean more available cash. Without the right structure, expenses can grow faster than revenue.

•          There are five areas most likely to break under rapid growth: cash flow timing, tax obligations, team costs, systems and processes, and your own capacity as the CEO.

•          A healthy financial foundation doesn’t remove the challenges of growth, it makes them manageable.

•          Growth should feel exciting, not terrifying. If it fills you with anxiety instead, that’s a foundation problem, not a growth problem.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

•          Why more revenue doesn’t automatically mean more financial breathing room

•          The five things most likely to break when a business doubles in size

•          A real client story of what happened when revenue jumped from $80,000 to $160,000 a month

•          Seven honest stress-test questions to check if your finances are growth-ready

•          Why percentage-based allocations scale with you, while fixed amounts fall behind

•          How a cash buffer protects you from the timing gap between spending and getting paid

•          The six steps to build a financial foundation that can handle rapid growth

•          What the Financial Calm System does to prepare a business for scale

•          Why calm growth is a system, not a personality trait

Practical listener takeaway

Go through Harman’s seven stress-test questions honestly this week. Write down every question where your answer was no. That list is exactly what needs fixing before your next phase of growth, and you only need to start with the first one.

This episode is a reality check delivered with genuine care. Harman isn’t trying to talk anyone out of growing. She’s making sure that when growth arrives, it builds you up instead of burying you.

Ready to build a financial foundation that can handle growth?

If you’re chasing the next revenue milestone but you’re not confident your systems could handle it, Blu Bookkeepers’ Financial Calm System is built to get your finances growth-ready before the growth arrives.

Book your free discovery call: https://blubookkeepers.com.au/contact/

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

You want to look after your team. You want people to feel valued, motivated and excited to stay. But every dollar you hand out in bonuses has to come from somewhere, and if it’s coming from operating cash, you’re one quiet month away from a promise you can’t keep.

In this episode, Harman breaks down why most business owners get employee rewards wrong, and walks through the exact system she runs at Blu Bookkeepers to reward her team sustainably, without the guilt, the guesswork or the pressure on margins.

Why this topic matters

Good people are hard to find and even harder to replace. Replacing an employee can cost anywhere from 50 to 150% of their annual salary once you count recruitment, training, the productivity gap and the disruption to clients. A well-structured reward system costs a fraction of that, and it tells your team they’re more than a line item on the payroll. But most business owners are running rewards on feeling, not structure, which is exactly what puts profit at risk.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

•          The four mistakes that make bonuses unsustainable (reactive rewards, over-promising, funding from the wrong place, and rewarding too early)

•          Why the real cost of losing a good team member is bigger than most owners think

•          How Harman funds a Team Rewards account the same way she funds tax and profit, with every revenue deposit

•          Why she waits six months before anyone qualifies, and why tenure decides the share

•          The six practical steps to set up your own version of this system

•          What to do about the tax and super obligations on bonuses

•          The non-financial rewards that cost nothing but matter just as much: time off, development, recognition, autonomy and small gestures

Practical takeaway

Open a separate bank account this week and label it Team Rewards. Decide on a starting percentage, even a small one, and add it to your next round of revenue allocations. In six months, you’ll have a funded reward ready to distribute, without touching your profit, your pay or your operating cash.

The bottom line

Rewarding your team doesn’t have to hurt your profit. When it’s built into your system properly, it protects profit by retaining the people who help generate it.

Ready to work out what percentage your business can actually sustain? Book a discovery call with Blu Bookkeepers and we’ll model it against your current numbers.

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

We talk a lot on this podcast about profit first percentages and Xero reports, but this episode is about something most business owners avoid completely: the money conversation with your partner.

I'm not a relationship expert or a therapist. I'm a bookkeeper and a Profit First Professional, and I've lived the tension of business money spilling into home life. In this episode I'm sharing why this conversation is so hard, what happens when you avoid it, and exactly how to have it in a way that brings you and your partner closer instead of pushing you apart.

Key takeaway

Your partner doesn't need every financial detail. They need honesty, context and a plan.

What we cover

•    Why business income creates a different kind of pressure at home than a regular pay cheque

•    The two patterns that don't work: silence and conflict

•    The three things your partner actually needs to hear

•    How Profit First builds trust without a finance lesson

•    A step by step guide to having the conversation well

•    What to do if your partner doesn't understand the business, or is too involved

•    This week's five minute action step

“Nothing builds trust faster than showing someone there's a system protecting the family's financial future.”

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

Budgeting does not need to mean a complicated spreadsheet you build once and never look at again.

In this episode of Money First CEO, Harman Johnston breaks down a simple, practical approach to small business budgeting that helps you understand where your money is going, protect the money that matters and stop expenses quietly eating into your profit.

Harman shares the three layers of a simple business budget, why expense creep is one of the biggest silent profit killers in small business, and the regular money habits that can help you make calmer, more confident financial decisions.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

·       Why many small business owners avoid budgeting and end up spending based on feel

·       The three simple layers of an effective business budget

·       How to use your average monthly revenue as a realistic budgeting baseline

·       Why owner’s pay, tax and profit should be protected before operating expenses

·       How expense creep can quietly reduce your profit margin

·       The three questions to ask when reviewing recurring business expenses

·       Simple spending rules that take emotion out of business purchases

·       Why your budget needs a buffer for unexpected costs

·       How to plan for annual and quarterly expenses before they become a cash flow problem

·       How to use budget versus actual reporting in Xero to spot variances and ask better questions

Harman’s simple budgeting framework

1. Revenue: Use your average monthly revenue from the last six months as your realistic baseline.

2. Protected money: Allocate owner’s pay, tax and profit before spending on the business.

3. Operating expenses: What is left becomes the spending limit for running the business.

Your Money First action this week

Pull up your recurring expenses in Xero. Choose three subscriptions, tools or ongoing charges you have not reviewed in at least six months. Ask: Am I still using this? Is there a better deal? Is it earning its place?

That one exercise could save your business hundreds of dollars a month.

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

Your business is busy. Revenue is coming in. But you are still wondering where the money goes.

If more profit feels like it would require more clients, more work and longer hours, this episode is for you.

In this episode of Money First CEO, Harman Johnston shares five practical ways service-based business owners can increase profit without adding more to their already full week.

You will learn how to spot hidden expenses, review pricing with confidence, separate your cash properly, plan for hiring and create a simple weekly money routine that helps you make better decisions.

This is a must-listen if you are working hard in your business but not seeing enough left over for profit, tax or your own pay.

In this episode, you will learn:

•  Why more revenue is not always the answer to more profit 
•  How to find expenses quietly reducing your margins 
•  Why reviewing your pricing matters more than you think 
•  How Profit First helps you stop guessing what you can afford 
•  How to prepare for a new hire without putting pressure on cash flow 
•  The weekly money habit that helps you lead like a CEO 

Your next level of profit may not come from doing more.

It may come from paying closer attention to what is already happening in your business.

Listen now and start making your money work harder than you do.

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

This month Harman invested $20,000 back into her business. Not on a new car or a fancy rebrand. On four strategic investments that most business owners overlook. In this episode she breaks down exactly where every dollar went, the thinking behind each decision, and what it means to spend like a Money First CEO.

If you have ever hesitated to hire a professional, avoided learning something new, or felt uncomfortable talking about money in your business, this episode is for you.

What You Will Learn
•       Why hiring a professional copywriter is one of the highest-return investments you can make

•       How to approach AI as a business investment, not a trend to wait on

•       The real reason avoiding sales is costing you clients, not saving you integrity

•       A simple Profit First strategy for prepaying annual subscriptions at EOFY

•       How to make spending decisions from data, not fear

Key Timestamps

•       [00:01:00] The $20k reveal and why Harman is sharing it

•       [00:02:00] Investment 1: Professional copywriting for the Financial Calm System

•       [00:05:00] Investment 2: AI retreat and why staying on the sidelines is a risk

•       [00:07:00] Investment 3: Sales retreat and the truth about ethical selling

•       [00:10:00] Investment 4: Annual subscription prepayments and EOFY tax strategy

•       [00:13:00] Tying it all together: what it actually costs to build a business that lasts

•       [00:16:00] Your one takeaway for this week

"The business can only grow as fast as the person running it."

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

Everyone loves talking about the wins. The new clients. The revenue milestones. The growth.
 
 But what if the biggest lessons in business come from the mistakes?
 
 In this honest and personal episode of Money First CEO, Harman Johnston shares the business mistakes that cost her time, money, energy and growth during the early years of building Blu Bookkeepers.
 
 What You'll Learn:
 • Why waiting too long to hire can stunt business growth
 • The hidden cost of trying to do everything yourself
 • Why being available 24/7 is hurting your business
 • The importance of paying yourself consistently
 • How to avoid burnout while still growing
 • Why asking for help is a leadership skill
 
 Listen to the full episode now!

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

Most business owners wear doing everything themselves like a badge of honour. 

But what if doing it all is the very thing holding your business back? 

In this episode of Money First CEO, Harman Johnston shares the lessons he learned the hard way about delegation, outsourcing, and letting go. 

From copywriting and branding to ads, email marketing and bookkeeping, Harman breaks down the hidden cost of DIY and why trying to save money often costs far more in lost time, lower quality results, and missed opportunities. 

If you’re constantly overwhelmed, stretched thin, and feel like the bottleneck in your business, this episode will help you think differently about outsourcing and leadership. 

What You’ll Learn 

• Why being across everything is different from doing everything 

• The true cost of DIY in business 

• How to calculate the value of your time 

• The biggest mistakes Harman made trying to do everything himself 

• Why outsourcing is an investment, not an expense 

• When it’s time to hire a bookkeeper 

• How Money First CEOs think about delegation 

Key Takeaway 

Your job is not to do everything. 

Your job is to lead everything. 

The fastest growing businesses are built by owners who focus on their strengths and surround themselves with experts. 

Timestamps 

00:00 Welcome 

04:00 The trap of doing everything yourself 

14:00 What I tried to do myself and why I stopped 

26:00 Why bookkeeping is the perfect outsourcing example 

50:00 How a Money First CEO thinks about outsourcing 

56:00 Final thoughts and your next step 

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]

End of financial year isn't about tax. It's about making better business decisions. In this episode, Harman walks you through seven practical things every business owner should do before June 30 so you can close the year with clarity and start the new one with intention. 

In this episode: 

• Why EOFY is a leadership moment, not just a compliance deadline 
• Get your books up to date so every decision is based on real numbers 
• Chase overdue invoices (one of our clients collected $42k in three days) 
• Know exactly where your cash sits across every account 
• Get a rough tax estimate before the bill arrives 
• Review how the year actually went, revenue vs what you kept 
• Pay yourself and explore tax savings before June 30 closes the window 
• Set clear financial targets so next year has direction 

Mentioned in this episode: 

• Profit First system and account allocations 
• The importance of super being received by the fund before June 30 
• How a $25k super contribution saved one client $8k in tax 

Ready to get clarity on your numbers before June 30? 

Book a free discovery call with Harman at blubookkeepers.com.au

🎧 Thanks for listening to the Money First CEO Podcast!
If this episode helped you move the needle, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Link to expense review

🔗 Where to Find Harman:
Website: www.blubookkeepers.com.au
Instagram: @blubookkeepers    

Facebook: @blubookkeepersau
TikTok: @profitwithharman
LinkedIn: Harman Johnston

📞 Ready to Take Control of Your Business Finances?
Book a Free Discovery Call here

📩 Have a Question or Want to Be a Guest?
Email me directly at: [email protected]