Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for Amazon delivery service partners.
Weekly settlements based on routes run, driver payroll for every van, lease payments on the fleet, and scorecard bonuses or deductions that move the number around. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
December settled at $20,600. A scorecard bonus for on-time and safe driving landed this month, so I kept it apart from your base route pay.
- Weekly route settlementRoute settlements
- Scorecard bonus payoutPerformance bonuses
- Driver payroll runDriver payroll
- Van lease paymentVehicle lease costs
- Fuel reimbursement programFuel
Why your books are different
A delivery service partner's books go wrong around payroll and the scorecard.
A generalist sees a weekly deposit and a payroll run. Your business runs a program with its own rules: drivers on payroll, vans leased through an approved leasing company, and a settlement that moves with a performance scorecard. When the books do not track those pieces apart, you cannot see what is actually driving a good or bad week.
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1
A weekly settlement nets out more than route pay
A settlement can include base route pay, a scorecard bonus, and a deduction for a damaged package or a missed route, all in one deposit, hiding what actually drove the number up or down that week.
What we doBreaks a settlement into route pay, bonuses, and deductions, so each piece shows up where it belongs. -
2
Driver payroll gets treated like a flexible cost
Every driver has to be a payroll employee under the program rules, but if payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits get buried in one wage line, you lose sight of the true cost of running each van.
What we doKeeps payroll wages, taxes, and workers comp visible by category, so the real cost per van is clear, not just the paycheck total. -
3
Van lease payments look interchangeable with ownership
Vans leased through an approved leasing company are financed differently than a truck you own outright, and treated the same as a loan payment, the books can miss what actually belongs to the business versus the lease terms.
What we doTracks lease payments as their own category and flags anything that looks like it should be handled as a purchase instead. -
4
A scorecard chargeback looks like a random shortfall
A deduction for a safety event or a missed delivery window can shrink a settlement without explanation on the bank statement alone, and left untracked, it just looks like the week came up short.
What we doKeeps scorecard-related deductions in their own line, so a pattern with one route or one driver shows up instead of disappearing into the total.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a delivery service partner.
Set up once for how the weekly settlement pays you and what running the fleet costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Route settlementsBase weekly pay for routes completed.
- Performance bonusesScorecard-based bonuses for safety and on-time delivery.
- Startup and ramp supportAny onboarding support paid during a new service area launch.
- Fuel and mileage reimbursementAny per-route reimbursement paid on top of the base settlement.
Money out
- Driver payrollWages, payroll taxes, and benefits for every driver.
- Vehicle lease costsPayments on vans leased through an approved leasing company.
- FuelFuel costs across the fleet, tracked apart from lease payments.
- Workers comp and insuranceCoverage required to run drivers and vans under the program.
- Uniforms and safety equipmentRequired driver gear and safety supplies.
- Scorecard deductionsChargebacks for missed routes, damage, or safety events.
What we watch for you
- Cost per route
Payroll, fuel, and lease costs against routes completed. It tells you where the real margin sits.
- Bonus and deduction net
How much scorecard performance is adding or taking away from a normal week.
- Labor share
Payroll against total settlement income. It is usually the biggest number to watch.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things delivery service partners 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.
Yes. A scorecard deduction for a late route came out before the deposit. I broke it out so you can see your base route pay and the deduction separately.
I track payroll and lease costs by category, so once you have a few weeks of data for a van, the real cost per route becomes clear.
Every driver in this program has to be a payroll employee, so that part is already settled. I keep payroll clean so the accountant can confirm everything else is in order.
The tax side
The tax side of running a delivery service partner business.
Most of what trips up a delivery service partner is losing track of what a settlement actually contains and what running a fleet of leased vans really costs.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Payroll tax responsibilitiesSince every driver is a payroll employee, the business owes its share of Social Security and Medicare tax, along with federal and state unemployment tax, on top of wages.
- Lease payments versus ownershipVans leased through an approved leasing company are usually deducted as a lease expense rather than depreciated, since the business does not own them outright. The accountant confirms how a specific lease should be treated.
- Work Opportunity Tax CreditHiring drivers from certain groups can qualify for a credit worth up to $9,600 per hire, which is worth checking as the business scales up drivers.
- The pass-through deductionMost delivery service partner owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when settlements, payroll, and lease costs are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions Amazon delivery service partners miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Driver payroll taxes
- Workers comp premiums
- Van lease payments
- Fuel across the fleet
- Uniforms and safety gear
- Driver background checks
- Route planning software
- Vehicle cleaning supplies
- Office space for dispatch and scheduling
- Continuing safety training
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
A delivery service partner's year, kept every month.
Routes run every week no matter the season, and the holiday delivery surge changes what those weeks look like. Your team stays on both, not just at filing time. 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, payroll records are reconciled, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether adding vans or drivers this year changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday surge
Route volume climbs hard before the holidays. Gus looks at whether the fleet and payroll are ready for the busiest stretch of the year.
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 Amazon delivery service partners. 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 delivery service partners ask first.
Can the books break down what is actually in my weekly settlement?
Yes. Route pay, scorecard bonuses, and any deductions are tracked separately, so you can see what drove a strong or a weak week instead of just a net number.
My drivers are all W-2 employees. Does that make the books more complicated?
No, it actually keeps things simpler since there is no contractor classification question. Gus tracks payroll wages, taxes, and workers comp cleanly by category.
How do lease payments on the vans get handled versus if I owned them?
Lease payments are tracked as their own cost, generally deducted differently than an owned vehicle would be. The accountant confirms the right treatment for your specific lease terms.
Can you tell me if a specific route or driver is costing me money?
Gus tracks cost per route from payroll, fuel, and lease data, so patterns become visible over a few weeks. He does not manage drivers or routes himself.
What happens with a chargeback for a damaged package or a safety event?
It gets logged as its own deduction, separate from base route pay, so you can see if it is a one-time event or a pattern worth addressing.
I started mid-year and my books were never set up properly. Can you catch things up?
Yes. Send the settlement reports and payroll records you have. Gus sorts it out, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand within a couple weeks.
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