Aviation & marine services
Books and taxes for boat transport companies.
Long-haul contracts, oversize load permits, an escort vehicle for the wide ones, and the fall migration of boats heading south. Your own bookkeeper stays on it all year, 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 $16,700. The fall migration haul contracts came in strong, and the escort vehicle rented for the widebeam job got booked to that job alone.
- Long-haul contract, Maine to FloridaHaul contracts
- Local yard-to-yard moveHaul contracts
- Oversize load permits, three statesPermits and fees
- Escort vehicle rentalEscort and pilot car costs
- Diesel, tow truckFuel and vehicle costs
Why your books are different
A boat transport company's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a truck, a trailer, and a fuel bill. Your business is oversize permits by the state, an escort vehicle that only some jobs need, and cargo insurance on boats worth far more than the truck pulling them. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which routes actually pay.
-
1
Permit costs get averaged instead of tied to the job
A wide load crossing three states can rack up separate permit fees in each one, and if that cost is not tied to the specific haul, you cannot tell whether a multi-state route still made sense to quote the way you did.
What we doKeeps permit and fee costs tied to the haul contract that needed them, so a permit-heavy route shows its real cost. -
2
Escort vehicle costs blend into general vehicle expense
Not every load needs a pilot car, and lumping escort costs in with your own truck's fuel and maintenance hides which jobs actually require the extra expense and whether the quote covered it.
What we doKeeps escort and pilot car costs in their own line, separate from your own truck and trailer expenses. -
3
Cargo insurance looks like a flat overhead cost
Insuring a boat worth several hundred thousand dollars while it rides on your trailer is a real, variable cost that should track with what you are hauling, not sit as a flat monthly number disconnected from the jobs.
What we doKeeps cargo insurance visible against the value of what is on the road, so the cost tracks with the work. -
4
A seasonal migration rush looks like a normal month
Fall and spring bring a wave of snowbird boat moves that can dwarf the rest of the year, and averaging that rush into twelve even months hides how much of your income depends on those two windows.
What we doKeeps the migration season's haul contracts visible on their own so the busy months read as the real shape of your year.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a boat transport company.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Haul contractsLong-haul and local moves, billed by the trip.
- Loading and blocking feesPrep work billed separate from the actual transport.
- Storage while awaiting pickupShort-term yard storage billed to the customer.
- Broker-referred jobsHauls booked through a transport broker, kept apart from direct customer jobs.
Money out
- Permits and feesState-by-state oversize load permits tied to each haul.
- Escort and pilot car costsRented or contracted escorts for wide loads.
- Fuel and vehicle costsDiesel, maintenance, and repairs for the tow truck.
- Cargo insuranceCoverage on the boats being hauled, tracked against their value.
- Trailer maintenanceHydraulic trailer upkeep and tire replacement.
- Driver wagesKept apart so you can see labor against what each haul brought in.
What we watch for you
- Cost per mile
Fuel, permits, and escort costs against miles hauled, the number that tells you if a route is priced right.
- Permit cost by route
How much multi-state permitting eats into a job, tracked so quotes keep pace.
- Migration season share
How much of the year's income lands in the fall and spring rush, useful for planning cash through the gaps.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things boat transport 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.
Yes. I tie permit costs to the haul that needed them, so you can see whether a permit-heavy route is still priced right.
Its own line, separate from your truck's regular fuel and maintenance, so you can see exactly what the wide loads cost you.
No, I keep that season visible on its own, so it reads as the real shape of your year instead of getting averaged away.
The tax side
The tax side of a boat transport company.
Most of what goes wrong here is tying variable costs to the right job. Permits, escorts, and cargo insurance all move with the work, not the calendar.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Truck and trailer depreciationThe tow truck and hydraulic trailer can often be depreciated, with bonus depreciation currently 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Section 179 can also let you expense qualifying equipment up to $2,560,000 in the year you buy it.
- Vehicle mileage or actual costsBusiness mileage can be deducted at 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents from July, or the accountant may find actual truck expenses work better for your year.
- Contractor 1099sAny escort drivers or extra help you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when permits, fuel, and hauls are booked right all year.
Deductions boat transport companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Oversize load permits
- Escort and pilot car fees
- Diesel and truck maintenance
- Hydraulic trailer repairs and tires
- Cargo insurance premiums
- CDL licensing and renewal
- DOT compliance costs
- Tie-downs, straps, and blocking materials
- Truck stop and lodging costs on long hauls
- Dispatch and route planning software
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 boat transport year, kept every month.
Your busiest weeks follow the weather, not the calendar. 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 year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list 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, right as the spring northbound hauls start booking up.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the spring migration rush changed the number more than usual.
- October
Peak migration season
With the fall rush of southbound hauls underway, Gus looks at truck or trailer equipment worth buying 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 boat transport companies. 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 boat transport owners ask first.
Can Gus track permit costs by route so I know which ones are worth quoting?
Yes. Permit and fee costs get tied to the specific haul, so you can see whether a multi-state route is still priced right after all the paperwork costs.
Do I need to change how I invoice long-haul customers?
Not at all. Invoice however your dispatch and billing already works. Gus reads the deposits as they land and reaches out just once if a payment does not obviously match a haul on the books.
Escort vehicles cost different amounts on different jobs. Does that confuse the books?
No. Gus keeps escort costs in their own line tied to the jobs that needed them, so a wide-load job's real cost is visible instead of blended with your regular truck expenses.
Do I write off a new hydraulic trailer all at once?
That is usually the case. Trailers and other transport equipment typically qualify for a full write-off in the year of purchase, though the accountant will look at your whole year before deciding if spreading it out serves you better.
My books are behind from a busy migration season. Is that a problem?
No. Turn over the bank statements you have piled up. Between Gus sorting them and the accountant checking the work, most haulers know exactly where they stand within 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