Managing Money by The Futur

The Futur Managing Money is an online course by Errol Gerson that explains the money side of running a creative business in plain terms. It has more than two hours of video, a 29-page Managing Money handbook with example financial reports, demonstrations of the FreshBooks and Gusto software, and worksheets for working out cash flow and your break-even point. It is a beginner course with no prerequisites, and it costs $149 as a one-time purchase on The Futur's website.

Many designers start a business because they love the work, then find that invoices, cash flow and reports take up more worry than the projects do. This course is short and practical: it aims to make the numbers readable, not to turn you into an accountant. Within The Futur's catalogue it sits alongside the pricing and negotiation courses, but at a much lower price and with no business experience required.

What You Will Learn

The course gives you the basic financial picture of a small creative business and tools to keep it up to date.

• How to read the financial reports a small business produces, using the examples in the handbook
• How cash flow works and how to track it with the cash flow worksheet
• How to calculate your break-even point with the break-even worksheet
• How invoicing and bookkeeping software can help, through a FreshBooks demo
• How payroll software can help once you pay others, through a Gusto demo
• How to keep an eye on your numbers as the business grows

Who Is The Futur Managing Money For?

The official page names freelancers, bookkeepers, entrepreneurs and studio owners as the audience. With a beginner level and no prerequisites, The Futur Managing Money suits a designer who has just gone freelance as well as a studio owner who has always left the numbers to someone else and wants to understand them.

It is not a substitute for advice from an accountant on tax or legal matters, which vary from country to country. It is also not a pricing course: if you need help deciding what to charge, look at the pricing and negotiation courses instead.

Course Structure

The official page describes the course by its materials rather than a list of modules:

• Video lessons: more than two hours on managing the finances of a creative business
• Managing Money handbook: a 29-page guide with example financial reports
• Software demos: walkthroughs of FreshBooks and Gusto
• Cash flow worksheet: for tracking money in and out
• Break-even worksheet: for finding the minimum you need to earn

With just over two hours of video, it is one of the shorter courses to get through, which suits a subject many creatives tend to put off.

Price and Access

The Futur Managing Money costs $149 as a one-time purchase. That is at the lower end of The Futur's price range, the same as several of its skills courses such as Logo Design 01 and Color for Creatives, and a tenth of the price of Painless Pricing.

The facts we checked do not state the access period or refund terms, so read the official page before buying.

About the Instructor

Errol Gerson has spent 43 years teaching entrepreneurship, business and leadership to artists and designers. That long focus on creative people, rather than business students in general, shapes the course's plain-language approach to numbers.

Things to Consider

• Use your own figures: fill in the cash flow and break-even worksheets with your real income and costs as you watch.
• Software is optional: the FreshBooks and Gusto demos show what such tools can do; you do not have to sign up to either to follow the course.
• Local rules: tax, payroll and reporting rules differ by country, so check the details with a local accountant.
• Next step: once you know your break-even point, How To Negotiate helps you defend prices that cover it; agency owners can go further with Painless Pricing.
• Time: with about two hours of video, you can watch it in an afternoon and spend the rest of the time on the worksheets.
• Check the page: confirm the current price on the official course page.

Start the Course

Interested in learning with The Futur?

Start Managing Money

For the full syllabus and pricing, visit the official The Futur website.

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Last verified: November 9, 2026