Hair & grooming
Books and taxes for barbershops.
Fades, beard trims, walk-in cash, and a membership club that bills every month. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month for the whole shop.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
November came in at $11,500. Squire tips ran heavy this month with holiday cuts, so I kept them apart from ticket totals like always.
- Squire payoutChair tickets
- Unlimited club renewalsMembership plans
- Cash drawer depositWalk-in cash
- Barber Depot orderClipper and blade supplies
- Chair rent, two barbersBarber payroll and rent
Why your books are different
A barbershop's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a cash drawer and a few card deposits. Your shop runs walk-ins, appointments, a membership club, and barbers who might be on commission or renting a chair outright. When the books cannot separate those, you cannot tell what a chair is worth.
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1
Cash walk-ins go undercounted
A shop that still takes plenty of cash for a quick fade can lose track of how much actually came in the door on a busy Saturday if the drawer only gets counted once a week.
What we doAsks for a regular cash count and books it against the day it was earned, so walk-in volume is not a guess. -
2
Unlimited memberships booked as income too soon
A monthly unlimited-cuts club charges the card on the first but the member might get four haircuts or none. Booking the whole charge as income the day it clears overstates a slow month.
What we doHolds membership revenue until the visits happen, so a strong sign-up month does not fake out a quiet one. -
3
Chair rent and commission blur together
A shop with some barbers renting outright and others on commission can end up running both through one payroll number, hiding who is actually your employee.
What we doKeeps chair rent collected and commission paid out in separate lines, so the two arrangements never get confused. -
4
Product buys get lumped with tools
A Barber Depot order can mix pomade sold at the counter with clipper blades that get used up on every client. Filed as one expense, retail and supply both look wrong.
What we doSplits retail product from shop supplies as orders come in, so each shows its true cost.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a barbershop.
Set up once for how the shop gets paid and what it spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Chair ticketsFades, cuts, and beard trims booked through Squire or paid at the chair.
- Walk-in cashCash from clients who never touch the booking app.
- Membership plansUnlimited or discounted monthly club charges, held until visits happen.
- Retail salesPomade, beard oil, and grooming product sold at the counter.
- Chair rent incomeRent collected from any barber who leases a chair outright.
Money out
- Barber payroll and rentCommission or hourly pay through payroll, kept apart from chair rent.
- Clipper and blade suppliesClippers, blades, and razors that wear out fast and get replaced.
- Retail inventoryPomade and beard oil bought to resell, kept apart from shop supplies.
- Barbicide and sanitationDisinfectant and sanitation supplies required by the state board.
- Shop rent and utilitiesLease, water, and power for the storefront.
- Booking softwareSquire subscription and card processing fees on every ticket.
What we watch for you
- Cash share
Portion of tickets paid in cash. It tells you how much of a day is not going through the books automatically.
- Membership renewal rate
How many club members renew each month. A drop shows up here before it shows up in the chair.
- Chair revenue
What each chair brings in a month, whether rented out or worked on commission.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is not a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things barbershop 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.
I logged what you counted and deposited, about $2,400 in cash. If the drawer runs light some days, a daily count would close that gap.
It does. I hold membership charges until visits get used instead of counting the whole charge the day it clears, so your months stay honest.
His pay stops running through payroll and his rent becomes income to you. Once you set the arrangement, I split it out clean from month one.
The tax side
The tax side of running a barbershop.
Most of what goes wrong here is cash that never gets counted and a chair arrangement nobody wrote down clearly.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Cash income still countsCash from walk-ins is taxable the same as a card payment, whether or not it ever gets deposited. Undercounting it understates income and can look worse than paying the tax on it.
- The no tax on tips deductionThrough 2028, barbers who earn tips can deduct up to $25,000 of tip income from federal tax. Tips still owe Social Security and Medicare tax or self-employment tax either way.
- Chair renter or employeeA barber who sets his own hours and keeps every dollar he bills, minus rent, is usually running his own business. One who works your schedule on commission is usually your employee.
- Form 1099-NEC for fill-in barbersAny barber not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions barbershops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Clippers and blades
- Razors and strops
- Barbicide and sanitation supplies
- Chair rent paid, if you lease
- License renewal fees
- Booking app subscription
- Card processing fees
- Retail product purchased
- Capes and towels
- Shop rent and utilities
- Membership club software
- Trade show and continuing education
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 barbershop year, kept every month.
Holiday cuts, a spring bump, and a quiet stretch in between each change what the shop owes. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar. 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, the 1099 list for any fill-in barbers is ready, 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 running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether membership sign-ups changed the number.
- October
Before the December rush
Gus looks at equipment worth buying and moves worth making before the November and December cut rush arrives.
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 barbershops. 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 barbershop owners ask first.
Half my business is cash. Can Gus still keep the books straight?
Yes. Send what you count and deposit, and Gus books it against the days it was earned. A regular counting habit makes the picture sharper, but cash-heavy is normal for this trade.
We run an unlimited cuts membership. How does Gus handle that?
Membership charges get held as money owed until the visits happen, not counted as income the day the card clears, so a strong sign-up month does not make a slow cutting month look better than it was.
Some of my barbers rent chairs, others work commission. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Gus keeps rent collected and commission paid out in separate lines, so you always know which barber is your employee and which is running her own business.
Do I need to report tips my barbers get in cash?
Yes. Cash tips are taxable the moment they are earned, the same as a card tip. Gus asks about them when the deposits do not tell the whole story.
My last bookkeeper never separated pomade sales from clipper supplies. Can that get fixed?
Yes. Gus splits retail product from shop supplies going forward, and an accountant can help sort out what is worth cleaning up from prior months.
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.
More in hair & grooming
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Braiding salons
- Curly hair specialists
- Kids hair salons
- Mobile barbers & stylists
- Natural hair salons
- Trichologists & hair loss consultants
- Wig & hair replacement studios
- Blowout bars
- Hair extension specialists
- Independent booth-renting stylists
- Men's grooming lounges
- Salon suite operators
- Scalp micropigmentation studios
- Hair salons
- Medical tattoo & areola restoration artists
- Beauty schools & cosmetology academies
- Freelance makeup artists
- Independent nail techs
- Lash & brow training academies
- Permanent makeup artists
- Piercing studios
- Spray tan studios & mobile tanning
- Tanning salons
- Tattoo shops
- Teeth whitening studios
- Brow studios & microblading
- Day spas
- Esthetician & facial studios
- Lash extension studios
- Nail salons
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