Route, vending & coin-op assets
Books and taxes for ATM route operators.
Surcharge fees, interchange, vault cash refills, and armored pickups across a row of bars and convenience stores. Your own bookkeeper keeps vault cash and real income apart, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $6,500. The replacement unit at the bar on Fifth Street is logged as its own asset, not a repair.
- Surcharge revenue, route batchSurcharge fees
- Interchange settlementInterchange fees
- Loomis armored pickupCash logistics
- Location fee, Corner TapLocation commissions
- Cellular data plan, route ATMsTelemetry and data
Why your books are different
ATM route books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees cash moving through a bank account and assumes it is all income. Your business is surcharge fees earned on top of somebody else's money, vault cash that is not yours, and location owners who take a cut in different ways. When the books do not know the difference, your real profit disappears into the noise.
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1
Vault cash gets counted as income
The cash loaded into a machine so customers can withdraw it is a float, not a sale, but an owner who runs vault cash through the same account as surcharge income ends up with books that cannot separate what came in from what went back out the machine's slot.
What we doKeeps vault cash funding and replenishment out of revenue entirely, and books only the surcharge and interchange the machine actually earned. -
2
Location fees get paid three different ways
One bar takes a flat monthly fee, another takes a cut of the surcharge, and a convenience store takes nothing because it wants the ATM as a draw, and if all three get logged the same way, you cannot see what each stop is really costing you.
What we doBooks each location's arrangement as its own line, so a flat fee, a percentage cut, and a free placement all show up honestly. -
3
Armored pickups get lost in bank fees
A Loomis or Brinks pickup to refill vault cash across a dozen machines is a real, recurring cost, but buried inside general bank charges it never shows up as what it is costing per stop.
What we doKeeps cash logistics in its own line, so armored transport costs are visible against what each route stop earns. -
4
A replacement machine looks like a repair
An ATM that finally dies gets replaced with a refurbished unit costing several thousand dollars, and filed as a repair bill it never gets tracked as the equipment it is or written off the way equipment can be.
What we doBooks each ATM as its own asset on the day it goes into service, so the machine gets the write-off treatment equipment is due instead of vanishing into a repair line. -
5
Interchange settlements land days apart from surcharge
Surcharge and interchange for the same withdrawal often settle on different schedules from different processors, and matched up wrong, a month can look like it earned less than the machines actually did.
What we doMatches surcharge and interchange back to the same withdrawal activity, so the month reflects what the route actually earned.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an ATM route.
Set up once for how each machine earns and what the route spends to keep cash moving. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Surcharge feesWhat the cardholder pays for the withdrawal, the route's core earnings.
- Interchange feesWhat the cardholder's bank pays for routing the transaction.
- Location fee incomeAny flat fee charged to a location instead of splitting the surcharge.
- Machine sale proceedsMoney from selling a retired ATM to another operator.
Money out
- Location commissionsThe cut a bar, store, or venue takes on its own machine.
- Cash logisticsLoomis, Brinks, or a bank courier moving vault cash to and from machines.
- Machines and repairsNew and refurbished ATMs, cassettes, and card readers.
- Telemetry and dataCellular data plans that keep each machine reporting in.
- Processing and network feesWhat the ATM network keeps for handling each transaction.
- Vehicle and fuelFuel and repairs for driving the route to service machines.
- InsuranceLiability and theft coverage on cash and equipment.
What we watch for you
- Surcharge per machine
Shows which machines earn their keep and which stops barely cover the pickup cost.
- Cash logistics cost
Armored pickups against surcharge earned, so a low-traffic machine gets a second look.
- Commission share
Tracked across every stop on the route, so a renegotiated fee does not quietly eat into your surcharge earnings.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on surcharge income, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things ATM route 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.
That is vault cash going in and out of the machines, not your earnings. I keep it separate from surcharge and interchange, so the income line only shows what you actually made.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not a repair, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
That is above my pay grade, rules vary a lot by state and I would rather the accountant walk you through it than guess.
The tax side
The tax side of an ATM route.
Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as income at all. Vault cash mistaken for revenue, a location fee buried in commissions, and a machine filed as a repair.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Machines and cassettesNew and refurbished ATMs usually qualify to be written off in the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Surcharge and interchange as incomeOnly the surcharge and interchange you actually earn count as revenue. Vault cash loaded into a machine is a float, not a sale, and it should never be reported as income.
- Contractor 1099sA backup driver or cash courier paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll usually needs a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of route profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when vault cash and surcharge income are kept separate all year.
Deductions ATM route operators miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Machine purchases and cassettes
- Armored transport and pickups
- Cellular data plans
- Card reader repairs
- Location commission fees
- Route vehicle fuel and repairs
- Liability and theft insurance
- ATM network processing fees
- Locks and vault hardware
- Storage for spare machines
- Route management software
- Signage and machine wraps
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 ATM route year, kept every month.
Vault cash moves every week of the year. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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 cash year
Last year's return gets started, the contractor 1099 list for couriers and backup drivers is ready, and your monthly set-aside begins now, so April is already handled.
- April
Return filed and signed
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear surcharge check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer bar and event traffic changed the surcharge number.
- October
Before holiday withdrawals
Cash withdrawals often climb around the holidays. Gus looks at whether a new machine is worth adding 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 ATM route operators. 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 ATM route owners ask first.
Is the vault cash in my machines counted as my income?
No. Vault cash is a float that goes back out as withdrawals happen. Gus keeps it out of your revenue and books only the surcharge and interchange the machine earned.
My locations take their cut three different ways. Can Gus handle that?
Yes. Whether a bar takes a flat fee, a percentage of surcharge, or nothing at all, Gus books each arrangement as its own line so you can compare what every stop actually nets.
Do I need to register my ATM business with the state?
Rules vary a lot by state and this is not something the subscription files. Gus tracks the numbers and flags what looks off, and the accountant helps you sort out what your state actually requires.
How do armored pickups show up in my books?
As their own cash logistics line, separate from bank fees, so you can see what Loomis or Brinks is costing you against what each machine brings in.
I just added six machines to the route. Does that change how the books work?
No, the process stays the same, Gus just adds each new machine as its own line for commissions, surcharge, and any equipment cost.
My route records are a mess from switching processors last year. Can that get sorted?
Yes. Send the statements you have from both processors. Gus works through the transition and most owners know where they stand within a week or two.
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