Pay yourself, with the receipts.

Counsel is an honest CFO in your pocket. It works out what you can safely pay yourself against 13 weeks of cash, and every number opens to show the math behind it.

Get it on the App Store Try the web demo

Free tier  iPhone + web app · Pro $14.99 / month

02 / Pay yourself

The number nobody computes.

How much can you take home this month without starving the business? Most owners guess, or skip it.

Counsel works it out as a safe owner draw: the largest monthly pay the cautious 13-week cash path can carry, with cash ending the quarter no lower than it started and never dipping below your floor. Bills, variable spend and the tax set-aside are in the simulation.

When the math can't support a salary yet, it says "not yet" and names the lever that would change that.

Pay Yourself is part of Counsel Pro. The receipts behind it are free.

“Some months I profit, some months I don’t pay myself.”
Overheard on r/smallbusiness, not a Counsel user
Counsel's Today screen. Card one, from the Pay Yourself engine: pay yourself on the 1st and 15th while the cautious path keeps cash above a floor, with its method listed underneath.
fig. 1 — Today: the Pay Yourself engine's proposal, with its method underneath. Demo sample data, not a real business.
Counsel's Plan screen. A cash sentry card reads: even my low estimate clears your bills, with a low band, a high band, and the time it took to compute on the device.
fig. 2 — Plan: the low estimate, checked against your bills. Computed on the device. Sample data.
03 / When cash gets tight

Profitable on paper, tight on Friday.

Customers pay net 30. Rent, payroll and the supplier all land the same week. The P&L can't show you that. A cash calendar can.

  1. 1

    Cash calendar

    Thirteen weeks of money in against your bill schedule, week by week, with the tight weeks flagged early.

  2. 2

    Money-owed aging

    Who owes you, and how long it's been, so you know which invoice to chase first.

  3. 3

    A range, not a promise

    Forecasts come as a band with a confidence level. The middle line is only its center.

  4. 4

    A banker's packet

    The same numbers, put together so you can hand them to a lender.

04 / How it stays honest

Receipts, not narratives.

Tap any number and it opens: the method, the sample size, the confidence. If there isn't enough data yet, the card says so instead of guessing.

ElsewhereCounsel
"Revenue looks a bit soft this month."Structural break Mar 6, −28%, p < 0.001. Welch test, your ledger.
A single forecast number.A range with a confidence band, because ranges are the honest answer.
"Consider reviewing your pricing."Elasticity measured from your own price change, with what +5% projects. Graded in 30 days.
9statistical engines, run on your phone
<1sfor the whole battery, on the device
65 KBthe on-device engine module

It connects to Stripe, Square, Shopify, bank feeds, or a CSV you drop in. The math runs in your hand, not on someone else's server.

Counsel's how-to-read card: plain words first, every number opens to its receipt, pills say how sure the math is, including not ready to call.
fig. 3 — "How to read this page": every number opens, and the pills say how sure. Sample data.
05 / Price and the fine print

What it costs, and what it won't do.

  • Free

    $0

    The math, for everyone: every receipt, every method, every honest "not enough data yet."

  • Counsel Pro

    $14.99 / month

    Or $119.99 a year. Adds the acting features, Pay Yourself among them.

The fine print, in plain words

  • It never moves money. Counsel can change prices and send messages, and that's the limit.
  • You decide. It shows the math. It isn't financial, tax or legal advice, and it isn't a bookkeeping service.
  • iPhone and web today. Android is still in closed testing.
  • Some things are marked "soon" in the app, like Counsel Watch and the accountant handoff.

Start with the free tier.

Get it on the App Store Read the money guides
06 / Guides

The money questions, with the math shown.

Every guide names its method and works a real example. Three run as calculators in your browser.

All 17 guides
  1. 1

    How much should you pay yourself?

    The median month, the worst honest month, and a draw that survives February. Calculator

  2. 2

    How many months of cash do you have?

    Cash over your heaviest burn month, and why four months is the line. Calculator

  3. 3

    Can you afford that hire?

    The average month always says yes. Run the slow-month test too. Calculator

  4. 4

    Revenue dipped. Real, or a slow week?

    Compare like with like, then test whether the change beats your normal swing.