Either its an expense counted against his profit, and he never expected to make a profit (since he was already in the hole if it was exactly funded) - or it doe

Either its an expense counted against his profit, and he never expected to make a profit (since he was already in the hole if it was exactly funded) - or it doesn't count as an expense and he made $20k. That's over 30% profit, as opposed to the 9% he's claiming. You can't have it both ways.