Wellness & recovery services
Books and taxes for acupuncturists.
Private and community room treatments priced differently, an herbal dispensary carrying real inventory, and superbills some clients submit to insurance themselves. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February came in at $5,900. The herbal dispensary restock was bigger than usual, so I checked it against herb sales before flagging it as anything unusual.
- Square payout, private roomsPrivate treatments
- Square payout, community roomCommunity treatments
- Herbal formula wholesale orderHerbal dispensary
- Needle and cupping suppliesClinical supplies
- Malpractice insuranceInsurance
Why your books are different
An acupuncture practice runs two price points and a small pharmacy under one roof.
A community room charging a sliding scale rate earns nothing like a private room, and an herbal dispensary is a retail business with real inventory sitting next to a clinical practice. A bookkeeper who has not seen this exact combination treats it all like one undifferentiated service.
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1
Community and private rooms are two different businesses
A community acupuncture room charging $30 to $50 on a sliding scale serves a different purpose than a private room billed at full rate, and blended into one revenue line, there is no way to tell whether the community model is actually sustainable.
What we doKeeps community and private room income in separate lines so each model's real contribution is visible. -
2
The herbal dispensary is inventory, not a supply closet
Chinese herbal formulas and patent medicines get bought wholesale and sold to patients at a markup, which means real inventory and cost of goods sold, something a typical service-based practice never has to manage.
What we doTracks herbal dispensary purchases and sales as inventory, so margin on herbs is visible apart from treatment income. -
3
Superbills create income that looks unpaid
A patient pays out of pocket and takes a superbill to submit to their own insurance, and if the office is still waiting to hear whether reimbursement worked out, it is easy to lose track of what was actually collected versus what is pending.
What we doBooks the payment as income when the patient pays, since that is when the money actually changed hands, regardless of what insurance later does. -
4
Single-use clinical supplies get lost in general expenses
Needles, cupping sets, and moxa are used once per patient and bought in bulk, and folded into general supplies, it is hard to see the real cost of running each treatment.
What we doKeeps clinical supplies in their own line so the cost per treatment stays visible over time.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an acupuncture practice.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Private treatmentsFull-rate sessions billed per visit or from a package.
- Community treatmentsSliding scale group room sessions, kept apart from private rooms.
- Herbal dispensary salesHerbal formulas and patent medicines sold to patients.
- Treatment packagesPrepaid multi-visit series, tracked as owed sessions until used.
Money out
- Clinical suppliesNeedles, cupping sets, moxa, and single-use items.
- Herbal dispensary inventoryWholesale herbal formulas bought for resale.
- Malpractice insuranceCoverage for treatments performed.
- License and renewal feesState licensure and continuing education requirements.
- Booking softwareScheduling and payment tools.
What we watch for you
- Community versus private mix
How much revenue comes from each room type, so pricing and scheduling stay balanced.
- Herbal margin
What herbal formulas cost against what they sell for, tracked apart from treatment income.
- Cost per treatment
Clinical supply spend divided by treatments run, so pricing reflects the real cost of care.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things acupuncturists ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
I keep it in its own line, so you can see exactly what it earns against private rooms. It might be worth a look at the ratio of hours between the two.
As income the day they paid you. What their insurance does afterward does not change what already happened in your books.
I checked it against dispensary sales and it lines up with normal restocking, not overspending. I keep herb costs separate so this is easy to see.
The tax side
The tax side of an acupuncture practice.
Most of what trips up an acupuncturist is the herbal dispensary's inventory side and knowing when superbill income actually counts.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsHerbal formulas bought wholesale for resale are inventory, and their cost is deducted as they sell, not all at once when you buy them.
- Self-employment taxWorking for yourself means paying both halves of Social Security and Medicare, 15.3 percent total, on top of income tax. The set-aside is built to cover it.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
- Quarterly estimated taxesWith no employer withholding anything, most practice owners pay estimated tax four times a year, on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15.
Deductions acupuncturists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Needles and cupping supplies
- Moxa and clinical consumables
- Herbal dispensary inventory
- Malpractice insurance
- License renewal fees
- Continuing education courses
- Treatment table and linens
- Booking software
- Business liability insurance
- Marketing and lead fees
- Clinic rent
- Professional association dues
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
An acupuncture practice's year, kept every month.
Cold and flu season, stress-driven bookings, and a steady dispensary business move differently through the year. Your team keeps you ahead of the tax calendar through it all. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, even with dispensary and treatment income moving at different paces.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether community room hours changed the mix.
- October
Before the year closes
Gus looks at whether an herbal inventory restock or clinical equipment purchase is worth doing before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for acupuncturists. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions acupuncturists ask first.
How does Gus handle my herbal dispensary?
He tracks herbal formulas as inventory, keeping their cost and sales separate from treatment income, so you can see the real margin on the dispensary on its own.
A patient pays me directly and submits their own insurance claim. Does that change my books?
No. Gus counts it as income the day the patient pays you, since that is when the money actually changed hands. What insurance does with their claim afterward is between them and the insurer.
Should my community room and private rooms be tracked separately?
Yes, and Gus does it automatically. It is the only way to see whether the sliding scale model is actually paying for itself against your full-rate rooms.
Do I need to track needle and supply costs closely?
It helps. Gus keeps clinical supplies in their own line so you can see cost per treatment over time, which matters if prices need a second look.
My income varies a lot between treatment weeks and dispensary sales. Is that a problem?
No. Gus tracks both sides of the practice, so a quiet treatment week that is offset by dispensary sales still shows up as an honest month.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
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What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever