Gyms & fitness studios
Books and taxes for all-star cheerleading gyms.
Tumbling class tuition, competitive team fees that run thousands a season, uniform orders, and travel to a bid event out of state. Gus sorts all of it, and an accountant checks every transaction.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
December came in at $11,400. Team fees for the winter travel season came due this month, and I kept them apart from tumbling tuition since they cover a whole different set of costs.
- Jackrabbit family tuition draftTumbling tuition
- Team season feeTeam fees
- GK Elite uniform orderUniform costs
- Coach and staff payrollCoach pay
- Bid event travel depositCompetition travel
Why your books are different
An all-star cheer gym's books go wrong around team fees and travel.
A generalist sees tuition and a rent bill. Your gym charges a season-long team fee that covers coaching, mats, and choreography on top of regular tumbling tuition, orders uniforms for the whole roster, and sends teams to bid events and Summit with real travel costs. When the books miss that, the team program's true cost stays buried.
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1
The team fee gets treated like regular tuition
A season-long team fee often covers choreography, music editing, and practice time on top of coaching, and when it's counted the same way as monthly tumbling tuition, you can't tell what the team program actually costs to run against what it brings in.
What we doKeeps team fees in their own category, separate from tumbling tuition, so the team program's real economics are visible. -
2
Uniform orders look like one big random expense
A season uniform order for a full competitive roster can run into the thousands, and without its own line, it looks like an unplanned expense instead of the expected, budgeted cost families' fees are meant to cover.
What we doTracks uniform costs against what families paid toward them, so you can see whether uniform fees actually covered the order. -
3
Travel for bid events and Summit blends into regular expenses
Travel, hotel deposits, and event fees for a competitive season are real costs tied to a specific team's schedule, but folded into general gym expenses they hide what a competitive season actually costs to run.
What we doKeeps competition travel in its own line so you can see what the season's travel schedule actually costs. -
4
Tumbling tuition and team fees run on different calendars
Recreational tumbling classes often run month to month while competitive team commitments run a full season, and mixing the two together makes it hard to tell what's steady income versus what's tied to one season.
What we doKeeps tumbling tuition and team fees in separate lines so you can see how much of the gym's income is recurring versus seasonal.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an all-star cheer gym.
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
- Tumbling tuitionMonthly recreational class fees drafted through Jackrabbit.
- Team feesSeason-long fees for competitive team members, kept apart from tuition.
- Uniform paymentsWhat families paid toward the season uniform order.
- RetailPractice wear, bows, and gear sold at the gym.
Money out
- Coach payRecreational and competitive team coaches, kept apart.
- Uniform costsThe order paid to a supplier, tracked against what families paid in.
- Competition travelHotel, event fees, and travel for bid events and Summit.
- EquipmentMats, springboards, and tumble tracks.
- Rent and utilitiesThe building and the ceiling height a full tumbling floor needs.
- SoftwareJackrabbit or a similar family-billing and scheduling system.
- MarketingLocal ads and referral incentives for new families.
What we watch for you
- Team fee margin
Whether team fees actually cover choreography, coaching, and travel for the season.
- Uniform fees vs costs
Whether what families paid for uniforms matched what the order cost the gym.
- Tuition vs team revenue
How much of the month is recurring tumbling tuition versus season-based team fees.
- The set-aside
What you'll owe in taxes, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things cheer gym owners 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.
Because team fees cover a whole season of choreography, coaching, and travel, not just monthly classes. I keep them in their own category so the jump reads as what it is.
Close. Families paid in $8,200 and the order came to $7,900, so it covered itself with a little room. I track both sides so you can see that every season.
If she's not on payroll and you pay her $2,000 or more this year, yes, by January 31. I keep that list running so it's ready.
The tax side
The tax side of running an all-star cheer gym.
Most of what trips up a cheer gym is timing and labels. Team fees mixed with regular tuition, uniform money passing through untracked, and travel buried in general expenses.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Coach or contractorA coach who runs your team practice schedule on your equipment usually counts as an employee, not a contractor, no matter what the pay arrangement is called. Gus flags it before it becomes a habit.
- Contractor 1099sA guest choreographer or clinician not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Sales tax on uniformsUniform sales are usually taxed even when tuition and team fees aren't, and the rule varies by state. Gus keeps uniform payments separate so that number is easy to find.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when tuition, team fees, and travel are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions all-star cheerleading gyms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Mats and tumble tracks
- Jackrabbit or scheduling software
- Liability insurance
- Coach certifications
- Choreography fees
- Bid event entry fees
- Team travel and lodging
- Business phone and booking line
- Cleaning service
- Marketing and referral incentives
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 all-star cheer gym's year, kept every month.
The competitive season builds toward Worlds or Summit. Your taxes run on the calendar year. Your team keeps you ahead of both. 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 bid event season doesn't turn into an April surprise.
- 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'll owe, and whether this year's team fees and travel matched the budget.
- October
Before the season builds
Before tryouts and the new competitive season ramp up, Gus looks at mats or equipment worth buying 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 all-star cheerleading gyms. 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 cheer gym owners ask first.
Can Gus keep team fees separate from regular tumbling tuition?
Yes. Team fees cover a season of choreography, coaching, and travel, and they're kept in their own category so you can see how the competitive program performs apart from monthly tumbling classes.
Can Gus track whether uniform fees covered the actual order?
Yes. Both sides are tracked as their own categories, so you can see whether what families paid in matched what the uniform order cost, instead of it blending into general team income.
Does competition travel need its own category?
Yes. Hotel deposits, event fees, and travel tied to bid events and Summit get their own line, separate from everyday gym expenses, so you can see what the season's travel schedule costs.
Families pay tuition through Jackrabbit. Does Gus need that to change?
No. Keep running the gym the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement and billing drafts, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Our books haven't been kept up since earlier this season. Is that a problem?
Not a problem. Send whatever statements you have on hand. Gus sorts through the gap, the accountant checks his work, and most owners have a clear picture faster than they'd expect.
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