Music, art & performing arts businesses
Books and taxes for art galleries.
Consignment sales split with the artist, gallery-owned pieces sold outright, opening reception costs, and a shipping crate every time a piece goes to a collector out of state. 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
November came in at $11,600. The Whitfield piece sold for $6,000 at a 50 percent split, so only $3,000 of that is actually yours.
- Collector payment, Whitfield pieceConsignment sales
- Owned print saleGallery-owned inventory sales
- Artist payout, RuizConsignment payouts
- FedEx Freight, cratingShipping and crating
- Total Wine, openingReception costs
Why your books are different
Art gallery books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a sale and books the whole thing as revenue. Most of what moves through a gallery is not fully yours. It is a collector's payment for a piece you do not own, waiting to be split with the artist who made it. When the books do not separate the split, the gallery looks like it made money it actually owes out.
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1
The full sale price gets booked as gallery revenue
A painting sells for $6,000 on a 50 percent consignment split, but the whole amount hits the books as income. The gallery looks like it made $6,000 when it actually earned $3,000 and owes the other half to the artist.
What we doBooks the commission kept as gallery revenue and the artist's share as a payable, so the number you see is what you actually earned. -
2
Artist payouts get made before the collector's check clears
A gallery pays an artist their share as soon as a sale is agreed to, before the collector's payment has actually settled. If the payment bounces or is delayed, the gallery is out money it has not received yet.
What we doTracks when a collector's payment actually clears before the artist payout goes out, so the timing never gets ahead of the cash. -
3
Gallery-owned pieces get mixed with consigned work
A gallery that buys a few pieces outright, rather than on consignment, sells them the same way as consigned art. Mixed together, you cannot tell which sales are pure profit and which owe a split.
What we doKeeps gallery-owned inventory separate from consigned pieces, so each sale shows what it actually nets you. -
4
Reception and shipping costs disappear into overhead
Wine, catering, and a printed catalog for an opening, plus the cost of crating and shipping a sold piece, get lumped into general expenses. Buried there, you cannot see what a show actually cost to put on.
What we doKeeps reception costs and shipping in their own lines, so you know what each show costs against what it sells.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an art gallery.
Set up once for how sales split and what a show costs to run. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Consignment salesThe full collector payment for a piece you do not own outright.
- Gallery-owned inventory salesPieces the gallery bought and owns before selling.
- Art fair booth salesSales made off-site at an art fair or exhibition.
- Private sale referral feesA finder's fee for connecting a collector to a sale you did not host.
Money out
- Consignment payoutsThe artist's share of a sale, paid after the collector's payment clears.
- Gallery rentSpace rent for the showroom and back storage.
- Reception costsWine, catering, and printed materials for an opening night.
- Shipping and cratingPacking and freight for pieces sold to out-of-town collectors.
- Marketing and catalogsShow announcements, mailers, and a printed or digital catalog.
- InsuranceCoverage on consigned and owned art while it is in the gallery.
What we watch for you
- Commission kept
What the gallery actually earns on consignment sales, versus the artist's share.
- Owned versus consigned mix
How much of your sales come from pieces you own outright, which carry no split.
- Payouts owed
What is owed to artists on sales that have cleared but have not yet been paid out.
- The set-aside
What you will owe in taxes, tracked against the commission you actually keep every month, so filing season is no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things gallery 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.
Your income is the $3,000 you keep. I logged the rest as owed to the artist, so the gallery's number reflects what it actually earned.
You can, but I would wait until it settles. Otherwise you are paying out money the gallery does not have yet, which gets messy if the payment falls through.
That one is different. I keep gallery-owned pieces separate from consignment, so the full sale price counts as your income, no split owed.
The tax side
The tax side of an art gallery.
Most of what goes wrong here is treating a collector's payment as your own before the artist's share is accounted for, and missing the sales tax owed on a physical sale.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Sales tax on art salesSelling a physical painting or print is usually subject to sales tax in states that have one, collected on the full sale price at the point of sale.
- Consignment income timingOnly the commission kept counts as gallery income. The artist's share is a payable, not an expense, and should not be deducted twice.
- The pass-through deductionMost gallery owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
- Self-employment taxA sole proprietor or partner gallery owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax on net profit, on top of income tax.
Deductions art galleries miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Gallery rent and utilities
- Reception catering and wine
- Printed catalogs and mailers
- Shipping and crating materials
- Art insurance
- Website and online sale listing fees
- Art fair booth fees
- Framing for gallery-owned pieces
- Lighting and display fixtures
- Continuing education and studio visits
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 art gallery year, kept every month.
Shows open on their own calendar, and collector sales come whenever they come. Your taxes come on a schedule, and 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
The season gets planned
Last year's return gets started, artist payouts are reconciled, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed and signed off
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the commission kept on every sale since January has been feeding the set-aside.
- July
Midyear sales check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how the year's mix of owned and consigned sales is running.
- October
Before the holiday show season
Gift-season sales often bring the year's busiest stretch. Gus looks at inventory and any move worth making 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 art galleries. 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 gallery owners ask first.
How do you handle a sale split across multiple payments from a collector?
Gus tracks each payment as it clears and only counts the gallery's commission share as income once the full amount is collected, so partial payments do not get counted twice.
Do I owe sales tax on consigned art the same as pieces I own?
Usually yes, on the full sale price either way. Gus flags each sale so the accountant confirms what your state requires.
My artists want to see their sales reports. Can Gus help with that?
Gus keeps a clear record of what sold and what is owed to each artist, which your bookkeeper can pull into a report whenever you need one.
I sometimes buy a piece myself before reselling it. Does that change the books?
Yes. It gets tracked as gallery-owned inventory instead of consignment, so the full sale price counts as your income with no split owed.
How does Gus handle art fair sales made away from the gallery?
The same way as in-gallery sales, split by commission if consigned. He just keeps them tagged separately so you can see how the fair performed.
My books are a mess from last season. Can you still take this over?
Yes. Send the bank statements and any consignment agreements you have. Gus sorts it out, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
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