01
Send it
Type out the charge, paste the line from the contract, tell us the number on the tax form. Whatever has you stuck.
Explain This · concierge
Got a charge, contract or tax thing that doesn't make sense? Send it.
Send the charge, the clause or the line on the form. A real person on our team reviews the answer and you get it back within 48 hours, in plain language.
- A real person reviews every answer before it reaches you
- Numbers come from our tested calculators, with the inputs shown
- Education, not advice. Your money stays yours to decide on
Free while we're testing. One question at a time, answered within 48 hours.
Three answers, the way they come back:
You asked
I invoiced $4,000 last month cutting videos for creators. My homie says I really only made like $2,600. Is he lying?
Numbers shared: $4,000 invoiced, about $400 on editing software and a hard drive
He's close. Out of $4,000 in, about $2,659.34 is actually yours once self-employment tax and an income tax set-aside come out.
Revenue isn't pay
Revenue is what clients paid you. Pay is what's left after the costs of doing the work and the tax on it.
On a W-2 job your employer covers half of Social Security and Medicare and pulls your half out before you ever see the check. On 1099 you're both sides, so it's 15.3% on most of your profit (the IRS counts 92.35% of it), and nobody withholds it for you.
Income tax comes on top of that. We used a 12% set-aside as a placeholder; your real rate depends on your whole year.
Where the $4,000 went
Invoiced$4,000
Work costs (software, drive)$400
Self-employment tax$508.66
Income tax set-aside (12%)$432
Actually yours$2,659.34
About 66 cents of every dollar you invoice is yours. Tax starts from profit ($3,600), not from what you invoiced.
Quest · Find your real number
Takes five minutes. Keep it on your phone; we don't need to see it.
- Add up what came in last month and what the work cost you.
- Look up this year's estimated tax due dates on IRS.gov (search Form 1040-ES).
- Put the next due date in your calendar.
Your situation is yours
A CPA or enrolled agent can tell you what you actually owe and which costs count. Bring them these numbers.
How we did the math: Treats this month as a typical slice of the year. Federal only; no state tax, credits, QBI or half-SE-tax deduction. Income tax line is a savings placeholder, not a bill.
✓ Reviewed by Censi · Example · Education only
This is education, not personalized financial, tax or legal advice. You make the call; for your exact situation, a licensed pro can confirm.
Human-reviewed
A person on our team reads and signs off on every answer before it reaches you.
Inputs shown
Every figure comes from a tested calculator, printed next to the numbers we put in.
Nothing to connect
Type your numbers or use ours — no bank linking, no uploads, no statements to send.
We never hold money
No accounts, no custody, no trades, no products we're paid to push.
Education only
We explain how money works. We don't tell you what to do with yours.
How it works
Four steps, start to finish.
Bring the thing that confused you. We explain it, run the math, and hand you one move. Same pipeline every time, so you always know what you're getting.
02
We break it down
Plain language, no bank talk. What the thing is, who gets paid, and what it's actually costing you.
03
We run the numbers
Through calculators we built and unit-tested, with the inputs printed on the answer so you can check our work.
04
You make one move
Every answer ends with one thing to go do, and the mission that goes deeper on it when you want more.
The missions
The stuff nobody explained to us.
Short interactive lessons on the three places our money quietly leaks. You move the numbers yourself, check what stuck, then go do one thing for real. Start at the top, or jump straight to the one you need.
- Mission 1Hustle money
Your Revenue Isn't Your Pay
Gig, drop and brand-deal money lands whole, and two tax bills are already waiting in it. See what's actually yours before you spend it.
Ends with one real moveStart hereLook at your last 1099 payment and work out what to set aside before you spend it.
- Mission 2Card money
Why the Minimum Payment Keeps You Broke
Move the payment, watch the interest. See how an APR turns a balance into a subscription you never signed up for.
Ends with one real moveOpen your card app and find your APR and this month's interest charge.
Unlocks after Mission 1Jump ahead - Mission 3Music money
The Advance Isn't Yours Yet
A label or brand advance hits different once you see recoupment. Work out when they're paid back and when you see a check.
Ends with one real moveFind the recoupment clause in a deal you have (or a sample one) and circle the royalty rate.
Unlocks after Mission 1Jump ahead - More missions
Coming soon
Taxes on a drop, splits on a feature, what a sponsorship contract actually says. Founding members vote on what we build next.
~5 min each · interactive · education only · nothing to connectFirst mission drops soon
Founding members
Get in on the ground floor.
We're building this with the first people who back it. Founding members help decide what we explain next.
$39 for your first year
- Every mission we drop during your first year
- Priority on Explain This: send us a money question, our team breaks it down for you. Ask us anything money
- A vote on which missions we build next
- Founding member credit, permanently
One-time charge, not a subscription. Full refund within 30 days, no questions. If we don't keep building after our first test run, you're refunded automatically. Sold by Sharif Samad McBride LLC. Education only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Terms
Early access
Get the first mission when it drops.
Two questions and you're in. We use them to build missions for how you actually get paid.
Real questions
Is this financial advice?
No. Censi is education. We explain how money works so you can make your own calls. We don't give personalized investment, tax or legal advice, we never hold your money, and we never make trades.
Do I have to link my bank or upload anything?
No, and there's nowhere to. Type your numbers or use ours — no bank linking, no uploads, no CSVs, no statements or screenshots required. Missions run on example numbers or numbers you move with a slider, it stays in your browser, and nothing you type is used to give you advice.
Where does AI come in?
We use AI to help draft explanations. A person on our team reviews every answer before it reaches you, and every number in a mission or an answer comes from calculators we built and tested, not from a chatbot guessing.
How long does an answer take?
Within 48 hours. Founding members go first. If a question needs someone licensed, we say so and point you to the kind of professional who can look at your actual situation.
Is this a game?
The missions are interactive, and finishing one logs a little progress: how many you've covered and how many days in a row you've shown up, kept in your browser with no account. That's the extent of it. No leaderboards, nothing is taken away if you skip a day, you can jump ahead to any mission whenever you want, and progress only ever comes from understanding something — never from trading, opening accounts or applying for credit.
What happens after I pay $39?
It's a one-time charge for your first year, not a subscription, and nothing renews automatically. Change your mind within 30 days and we refund you in full, no questions. And if we decide not to keep building Censi after our first test run, everyone gets refunded automatically by November 15, 2026. You don't have to ask.
Got a money question right now?
Ask us anything money. A person on our team breaks it down within 48 hours. Education, not advice.