Faith-based, nonprofit & membership orgs
Books and taxes for arts nonprofits.
Season subscription sales, a guest artist's performance fee, a state arts council grant, and gift shop sales that ring up next to the box office. Your own bookkeeper keeps it sorted, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
October came in at $6,400 after expenses, mostly the season opener. I kept the guest director's fee in its own line since she is not a regular employee.
- Season subscription batchTicket sales
- State arts council grantGrant funding
- Guest director feeArtist and performer fees
- Costume and set materialsProduction costs
- Playhouse utilitiesFacility costs
Why your books are different
An arts nonprofit's books go wrong in the same recurring places.
A generalist sees ticket revenue and calls it a business. Your organization sells a whole season before a single show opens, pays guest artists in a way that looks nothing like regular payroll, and often runs a gift shop or gallery sales alongside the box office. Miss that and nobody can tell what a single production actually cost or earned.
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1
Season subscriptions get counted before the season starts
A patron who buys a five-show season pass in August pays for all five shows at once, and counted the day it lands, that revenue makes the first month look flush and the rest of the season look thin.
What we doKeeps subscription revenue visible against the shows it covers, so early sales do not make one month look better than it is and later ones look worse. -
2
Guest artist and director fees look like regular payroll
A guest director or performer paid a flat fee for one production is a different kind of pay than a staff member's salary, and lumped together, nobody can see what a single show actually cost in outside talent.
What we doKeeps artist and performer fees in their own category, separate from staff payroll, and flags who was paid what for the 1099 question at year end. -
3
A grant tied to a specific production gets spent on general costs
A state arts council grant awarded for one specific production can quietly get spent on general operations if it is not tracked apart from other funding, which creates a problem when the funder asks how the money was used.
What we doTags grant funds by the production or purpose they were awarded for and tracks spending against them separately. -
4
Gift shop or gallery sales blur into ticket revenue
Merchandise, program books, or art sales rung up at the same register as ticket sales get lumped together, so nobody can tell whether the shop or gallery actually contributes or just breaks even against what it costs to stock.
What we doKeeps gift shop and gallery sales in their own category so you can see what they bring in apart from ticket revenue. -
5
Production costs for one show bleed into the next
Costume, set, and rental costs for a fall production and a winter production can overlap if purchases are not tied to the show they were for, making it hard to know whether any one production actually broke even.
What we doTags production costs to the specific show they belong to, so each production's real cost is visible on its own.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an arts nonprofit.
Set up once for how tickets, grants, and sales flow through your season. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Ticket salesSingle tickets and season subscriptions sold through the box office.
- Grant fundingState arts council and foundation grants, often tied to a specific production.
- Membership and patron givingRecurring gifts from patron-level donors and members.
- Gift shop and gallery salesMerchandise, program books, and art sales.
Money out
- Artist and performer feesGuest directors, performers, and musicians paid per production.
- Production costsCostumes, sets, lighting, and rentals, tagged to the show they were for.
- Facility costsUtilities, maintenance, and insurance for the venue.
- Staff payrollArtistic and administrative staff on regular payroll.
- Marketing and printingSeason brochures, posters, and advertising.
- Outside rental hosting costsCosts of hosting outside groups that rent the venue.
- Box office and ticketing feesProcessing fees for online and in-person ticket sales.
What we watch for you
- Cost per production
What each show actually costs against what it brought in, tracked show by show.
- Subscription renewal rate
Whether season ticket holders are coming back, tracked from the books instead of a guess.
- Grant spending against purpose
Whether a production-specific grant is being spent the way the funder specified.
- Gift shop or gallery margin
What merchandise or art sales bring in against what it costs to stock and staff.
Ask Gus
Things arts nonprofit managers 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 subscription revenue tied to the shows it covers, so the season reads accurately across all five productions, not just the month the checks came in.
If she is paid $2,000 or more this year and is not a regular staff member, yes, a 1099-NEC by January 31. I am keeping her fee tracked apart from payroll.
Not without checking the grant terms. I track that money against the winter production only, so you know what is actually available before committing it elsewhere.
The tax side
The tax side of running an arts nonprofit.
Most of what matters here is keeping production costs and grant money tied to the right show, and getting artist pay classified right.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Worker classification for guest artistsA guest performer or director paid a flat fee for one production is often properly treated as a contractor, but someone directing your season on an ongoing basis and following your schedule may be closer to an employee. The accountant weighs the details.
- Contractor 1099sA guest artist, musician, or director not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Restricted grant recordkeepingA grant tied to a specific production needs its own spending record, both for the organization's own filing and for what the funder requires in its own reports.
- Gift shop and gallery salesOngoing merchandise or art sales unrelated to the organization's core mission can sometimes create taxable income at the entity level, worth flagging for the accountant if the shop grows beyond a small, occasional sideline.
Deductions arts nonprofits miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Costume and set materials
- Lighting and sound equipment
- Rehearsal and venue rental
- Guest artist travel and lodging
- Marketing and season brochures
- Box office and ticketing fees
- Liability insurance
- Program printing costs
- Instrument and equipment maintenance
- Gift shop inventory
- Grant application and reporting costs
- Storage for sets and costumes
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 arts season, kept every month.
Productions come and go on their own calendar, but the books stay steady across the whole season. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Close out the fall season
Last year's records are wrapped up, production costs for each fall show are finalized, and the guest artist 1099 list is completed.
- April
Fall season finalized
Whatever filing applies to your organization is ready to hand off, with ticket sales, grant spending, and production costs already sorted for the year.
- July
Between seasons check
Where subscription sales and grant spending stand heading into the next season, and which productions from the past year actually broke even.
- October
Season opener check-in
The new season is opening. Gus looks at how ticket sales and grant funding are tracking against the budget set for the year's productions.
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 arts nonprofits. 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 arts nonprofit managers ask first.
Can Gus tell us what each production actually cost versus what it earned?
Yes. Production costs are tagged to the specific show they belong to, so you can see each production's real cost and revenue on its own, not blended with the rest of the season.
Our season subscriptions are sold in one lump sum in the summer. Will that distort our monthly numbers?
No. Subscription revenue is kept visible against the shows it covers, so the season reads accurately across every production instead of front-loading one month.
A grant we received is only for one specific production. Can Gus track that?
Yes. Grant funds are tagged by the production or purpose they were awarded for, and spending is tracked against that, so you can show the funder exactly how the money was used.
Do you file our organization's annual return with the IRS?
No, that is outside this subscription. Production costs, grant funds, and ticket revenue stay sorted by show all year, so whoever files that return for you is working from clean numbers, not a season's worth of receipts in April.
Our gift shop sells merchandise and small art pieces. Does that count as a separate business?
Usually not, but if it grows into a steady, significant source of income apart from your mission, it is worth a look. Gus keeps shop sales in their own category and flags it for the accountant if it grows.
Our books have not been reconciled since last season closed. Can you catch us up?
Yes. Send the bank and box office records you have. Gus works through the backlog and the accountant checks it, and most organizations know where they stand within a couple of 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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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