Coaching Practice Setup Course

Build the founding layer your coaching runs on: entity choice, bank accounts, bookkeeping, taxes, insurance, and the professionals to bring in. This is the structured course; our free starting guide covers the overview.

~30 hours, self-paced 21 modules, 171 lessons Lifetime access

Enroll — $79 Watch the lessons

Setting Up Your Coaching Practice - Coach as Founder

Alex Kudinov, MCC

Course author and instructor

Coach as Founder Entity, money, pros, insurance, taxes - the full operational backbone of a coaching practice, in one place. Taught generically so you can do it in any US state.

Watch before you enroll

Two lessons from the course

What the course is and isn't in a few minutes, then how the six starting-point roadmaps work so you never wonder where to begin.

Lesson 0.1.1 · How to Set Up a Coaching Practice
The identity shift the whole course turns on: from a coach who is starting a business to a founder who builds the layer the coaching runs on.

Lesson 1.1.1 · How to Read the Implementation Roadmap
The answer to "where do I even start?" - six step-by-step maps, one for your exact situation, each pointing to the lessons you need in order.

The rest of the 171 lessons unlock the moment you enroll.

How this is different

Not a "just form an LLC" video

The people who actually know this work - accountants, attorneys, insurance brokers - sell services, not curriculum. So the only free guidance out there is generic small-business advice that was never written for a coaching practice. This course was.

Generic business advice

A free video, a rule of thumb, and a referral link.

"Form an LLC, save 30% for taxes" - one-size rules that don't fit your numbers
Written for any business, so nothing maps to how a coaching practice actually earns
Sells you one tool or one state's answer, then leaves you to guess the rest
Stops at "talk to a professional" - without making you able to hire a good one

This course

The whole founding layer, built for coaches, from zero through your first tax filing.

The categories and the math, so you compute your answer - not a number that fits someone else
Written for a coaching practice specifically - entity, banking, payments, contractors, taxes, insurance
Generic to any US state, with the three factors for choosing yours and where to file
Makes you a competent buyer of your CPA, attorney, and broker - 144 templates you keep

What you'll be able to do

From zero infrastructure to an operating practice

Six things you can actually do by the end - not concepts you've heard of, but decisions made and systems running.

Choose and file the right entity

Run the LLC-vs-S-corp decision on your own numbers, pick your state of formation using the three factors that matter, and walk through EIN, state registration, and the beneficial-ownership filing without guessing.

Stand up clean financial infrastructure

Open the business banking that keeps personal and business cleanly separated, set up a chart of accounts that maps to your tax return, and get a payment processor live so you can issue your first invoice.

Hire pros without overpaying or getting it wrong

Become a competent buyer of a bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, insurance broker, and payroll service - the questions to ask, the price ranges to expect, and the red flags that tell you to keep looking.

Run year-one tax discipline

Set a tax-reserve methodology you compute yourself, make quarterly estimated payments on time, track deductions to the right Schedule C lines, and reach your first filing with the records already in order.

Put your protective layers in place

Bind the errors-and-omissions coverage a coaching practice actually needs (and check the AI exclusion), pick a retirement vehicle type that fits a one-person business, and know where your own work ends and a fiduciary's begins.

Walk away with your Founding Pack

The capstone: entity filed, books reconciled, payments live, pros chosen, year-one calendar and tax reserve running. One completed roadmap, instructor-reviewed by Alex Kudinov, MCC - your practice, set up for real.

What's inside

The whole founding layer, in order

Twenty-one modules, from the decisions you make before you form anything to the annual cycle that keeps the practice running. Watch the diagnostic first, pick your roadmap, then drill into the modules each decision calls for.

~30h

Of content

171

Video lessons

144

Templates to keep

Modules

The topical modules are an encyclopedia you return to as each decision comes up - not a video series you binge once. Every layer ends with the type of pro you need, what to ask, what it costs, and the red flags.

Orientation & The Six Roadmaps

What this course is, isn't, and where you start

~1.5h · Modules 0-1

How to use the course, the credibility commitments it holds, and six step-by-step implementation maps - one for each common starting situation - so you never wonder which lesson to watch next.

What this is and isn't - the work that comes before the coaching, not a substitute for your CPA or attorney
The six roadmaps - from scratch, formalizing a sole prop, side practice while W-2, corporate exit, non-US founder, US coach abroad
Each map is a numbered sequence pointing to the exact lessons you need, in order

Decisions Before You Form

The choices that shape everything downstream

~1.5h · Module 2

Before you file a single form, the decisions that everything else hangs on - and the ones people get wrong by defaulting.

Are you actually in business yet? Hobby vs business, and why the IRS cares
Solo vs partnership, personal brand vs business entity
Naming your practice without painting yourself into a corner
State of formation and the residency edge cases that trip coaches up

The Founder's Boundary - Find Your Pros

Operator and buyer, never a substitute for a licensed pro

~2h · Module 3

Placed early on purpose. The mental model that keeps the rest of the course from feeling overwhelming: you run the layers you should run yourself, and you become a sharp buyer of the rest.

The money-advice line by category - legal, tax, investment, accounting, insurance - and where yours ends
Find your bookkeeper, CPA, attorney, insurance broker, and payroll service
For each: what they do, what to ask, the price range, and the red flags
What you bring to your pros so you pay for advice, not data entry

Forming the Entity & Tax Registration

From decision matrix to EIN to S-corp election

~3.5h · Modules 4-5

The mechanics, generic to any US state. The entity types, how to form, and the filings nobody warns you about.

The entity decision matrix and LLC formation mechanics, step by step
Getting an EIN, state registration, local licenses, and DBA
The Beneficial Ownership Information report and multi-state nexus
S-corp election mechanics - the math, the threshold, and the maintenance it adds

Financial Infrastructure

Banking, bookkeeping, payments, separation discipline

~5h · Modules 6-10

The plumbing that money runs through - set up once, correctly, so it never becomes a year-end mess.

Business checking, savings (the tax reserve), and a business card that builds credit, not debt
A chart of accounts that maps one-to-one to your Schedule C lines
Payments and invoicing - getting a processor live and issuing your first invoice
Refunds, chargebacks, disputes, and the separation discipline that keeps the corporate veil intact

Paying People

Yourself, contractors, and employees

~3h · Modules 11-12

How money leaves the business - to you and to anyone who works with you - without creating a tax or compliance problem.

Paying yourself: owner's draw, reasonable compensation, and the S-corp payroll layer
Contractors vs employees - the classification test and why it matters
1099 issuance, contractor agreements, and the ethics of the working relationship
What changes the day you hire your first employee

Protective Layers

Retirement vehicles and insurance

~3h · Modules 13-14

The layers that protect the practice and the founder - taught as vehicle types and coverage categories, with the clean line to a fiduciary held throughout.

Retirement vehicle types for a one-person business - Solo 401(k), SEP-IRA, IRA
Why we teach the vehicle, not what goes inside it - that's your advisor's job
The errors-and-omissions coverage a coaching practice needs, and the AI exclusion to check
Auxiliary coverage and the decision tree for what you actually need

Tax, Cash Flow & the Annual Cycle

The hardest module, then the rhythm that makes it routine

~5h · Modules 15-17

The part most coaches dread, broken into mechanics you can actually run - plus the cash-flow and year-end rhythm that turns tax season from a scramble into a checklist.

Tax thinking and filing - estimated payments, the Schedule C line by line, year-end
A tax-reserve methodology you compute, not a "save 30%" guess
Budgeting, cash flow, and surviving the feast-or-famine of a young practice
The annual operating cycle - the calendar that keeps it all on time

Risk, Special Cases & the Tools Encyclopedia

Audit readiness, edge cases, and the platforms to use

~4h · Modules 18-19

The situations the default path doesn't cover, and the tools you'll actually use - placed last, because the criteria only make sense once you know what you're choosing between.

Audit risk, record-keeping for defense, and the corporate-exit transition
Non-US founders forming a US entity, and US coaches living abroad
The tools and platforms encyclopedia - banking, books, payments, payroll, by evaluation criteria
Where updates concentrate, so the topical modules stay durable

Course Completion & Your Founding Pack

Resources, certificate, and the capstone deliverable

~0.5h · Module 20

The wrap: your complete resource index, a place to give feedback, and the steps to earn your certificate by submitting the Founding Pack.

The full index of 144 templates, checklists, scorecards, and worksheets
The Founding Pack capstone - one completed implementation roadmap, instructor-reviewed
Your certificate of completion, shareable on LinkedIn

Start where you are

Six roadmaps. One of them is yours.

The reason most coaches stall isn't the work - it's not knowing what to do first. So the course opens with six implementation maps, each a numbered sequence built for one starting situation. Pick yours and the order is decided for you.

Roadmap 1

Forming from scratch

You have the coaching skill and zero business infrastructure. The default map takes you from no entity to a filed, banked, insured practice in order.

Roadmap 2

Formalizing a sole prop

You're already coaching for pay as an accidental sole proprietor. This map cleans up what exists - entity, separation, books - and elects S-corp if the math says so.

Roadmap 3

Side practice while W-2 employed

Coaching on the side of a day job. The map handles the W-2-plus-Schedule-C reality and the withholding adjustments that keep you out of an April surprise.

Roadmap 4

Corporate-exit transition

Leaving a corporate role to coach full-time. The map adds the exit-specific moves - the 401(k) rollover, the benefits gap, the timing of formation around your last paycheck.

Roadmap 5

Non-US founder, US entity

Forming a US entity from outside the country. The map routes through the US-entity specifics and the Stripe Atlas path for international founders.

Roadmap 6

US coach living abroad

An American citizen coaching from overseas. The map layers in the foreign-earned-income exclusion, foreign tax credit, and FBAR notes the standard path skips.

Not sure which one you are? The diagnostic intake walks you through it in the first few minutes and points you to your map - and you can switch maps any time as your situation changes.

Is this course for you?

Who this is for, and who it isn't

Two quick lists so you can self-select before you enroll.

For you if

You can coach, but you've never formed an entity, separated your finances, or thought through taxes for the practice
You've been taking coaching income as an accidental sole proprietor and want to make it real before it becomes a problem
You're leaving a job to coach full-time and need the operational backbone in place before the first paycheck stops
You're a non-US founder forming a US entity, or a US coach living abroad, and generic advice never fits your case
You want to be a sharp buyer of your CPA, attorney, and insurance broker - not dependent on whatever the first one tells you

Not the right fit if

You want someone to do your taxes or be your accountant - this makes you a competent buyer of those services, not a substitute for them
You're looking for marketing, niche, offers, sales, or how to get clients - that's the operator work, covered in Running a Coaching Business
You need state-specific legal advice - this teaches the structure generically and points you to your state's agencies and your own attorney
You have no US tax or entity ties at all - the mechanics are US-centric, though the founding discipline transfers
You want a live cohort with set dates - this is fully self-paced, on your schedule

Your instructor

Built by a founder who has actually done this.

Not "led by" - written, recorded, and reviewed by an MCC who built and runs a coaching practice, and who learned the founding layer the hard way so you don't have to.

Alex Kudinov, MCC

Co-founder & Managing Partner, Tandem Coaching

ICF MCC

Alex co-founded Tandem Coaching and runs it - the entity, the books, the payments, the contractors, the taxes, the insurance. Direct, pragmatic, and honest about what you should run yourself versus what you should pay a pro to handle. This course is the founding work he wishes someone had handed him on day one: categories and the math, never one-size prescriptions, taught generically so you can apply it wherever you set up.

More about Alex

Format and certificate

What you get when you enroll

Self-paced, on your schedule

171 short video lessons across 21 modules. A diagnostic intake and six roadmaps route you to what to watch first. Watch on any device, no live sessions to schedule around.

Lifetime access

No 30-day, 90-day, or one-year limit. The topical modules are an encyclopedia - come back to banking, taxes, or insurance the moment that decision is in front of you.

Certificate of completion

Pass the verification quiz and submit your Founding Pack - one completed implementation roadmap, reviewed by Alex Kudinov, MCC. You get a shareable certificate suitable for LinkedIn.

144 resources to keep

Checklists, scorecards, templates, and worksheets - entity decision matrix, account-opening checklists, pro-selection scorecards, the tax-reserve worksheet, the annual-maintenance calendar, and more. Yours to use long after the course.

What this course is - and what it isn't

It makes you a competent operator of the layers you should run yourself, and a competent buyer of the ones you shouldn't - your CPA, attorney, and insurance broker. It teaches categories and the math so you compute your own answer; it never hands you a number or a single state's path. It is not legal, tax, or investment advice, and it doesn't replace your professionals - it makes you able to hire good ones and know exactly what to ask them.

Enroll now — Lifetime Access

One payment, instant access. You're in the first lesson and looking at your roadmap within 60 seconds of checkout.

The course includes Lifetime Access as defined in our Additional Terms — 21 modules, 171 lessons, 144 templates. Work through it at the pace the practice actually moves.

Instant access Lifetime access Secure checkout

$79 — one-time payment

Lifetime access. 21 modules, 171 lessons, 144 templates, capstone Founding Pack.

Enroll — $79

Also in All-Access ($597/yr) and the $949 bundle. This course uses secure checkout via Tandem Commerce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Before you enroll

What does this course cost?

$79 one-time payment, lifetime access. No subscription, no renewal — the course is yours the moment you enroll.

It’s also included in the Practitioner Series bundle ($949) and the All-Access plan ($597/yr), if you want the full series.

Will this replace my accountant or attorney?

No - and it's deliberately built not to. The course makes you a competent buyer of those services and a competent operator of the layers you genuinely should run yourself. There's a whole module - placed early - on the boundary: where your own work ends and a licensed pro's begins, for legal, tax, investment, accounting, and insurance.

Every layer ends with the type of pro you need, what to ask them, the price range to expect, and the red flags. You'll spend less on professionals and get more from them, because you'll know what you're buying.

Is this US-specific? What about my state?

The entity, tax, and insurance mechanics are US-centric, but they're taught generically - the LLC structure, the three factors for choosing your state of formation, and the categories of filings - then you point to your own state's agencies for the execution. No "Delaware is best" shortcuts.

There are also dedicated roadmaps for non-US founders forming a US entity and for US citizens coaching from abroad.

I haven't earned anything coaching yet. Is it too early for this?

It's the right time. The course assumes zero business infrastructure on day one - "Are you actually in business yet?" is literally the first decision it walks you through. The earlier you set things up cleanly, the less you have to untangle later.

If you're already taking coaching income informally, there's a roadmap for that too - formalizing an accidental sole proprietorship without making a mess of what already exists.

How long does it take?

About 30 hours of content - but it isn't built to binge. It's an encyclopedia you work through along a roadmap, drilling into a module the moment that decision is in front of you: forming the entity this week, setting up banking next, taxes when the quarter closes.

There's no deadline and no expiry. You set up the practice at the pace the practice actually moves.

What do I actually get at the end?

Three things you keep:

1. Your Founding Pack - one completed implementation roadmap, with your entity filed, banking and books set up, payments live, pros chosen, and your year-one calendar and tax reserve running. Instructor-reviewed by Alex Kudinov, MCC.

2. 144 resources - checklists, scorecards, templates, and worksheets you'll use long after the course.

3. A certificate of completion, shareable on LinkedIn.

How is this different from Running a Coaching Business?

Founder versus Operator. This course - Coach as Founder - is the legal, money, tax, and insurance backbone you set up so the practice can exist: entity, banking, books, payments, contractors, taxes, insurance.

Running a Coaching Business - Coach as Operator - is the work of growing it: niche, offers, sales, B2B sponsorship, and the contracts behind paid engagements. They're a deliberate sequence. Found it, then run it.

Do I need to be ICF credentialed or a Tandem student?

No. This is the business side of practice, not coaching skill, so it doesn't assume a credential or any Tandem program. It assumes you intend to run a coaching practice and want the operational foundation done right.

If you're also looking to earn your credential, that's our ICF Level 1 (ACC) and Level 2 (PCC) programs - separate work, and a natural companion to setting up the practice.

The Practitioner Series

Stop wondering where to start. Set up your practice.

Learn to run the business and operations side of a coaching practice — taught generically, not legal, tax, or financial advice. $79, with Lifetime Access as defined in our Additional Terms.

Enroll — $79 See the whole pathway