Vehicle sales & auto services
Books and taxes for buy-here-pay-here dealers.
Down payments, weekly note collections, repossession recoveries, and floor plan draws all move differently through the bank. Gus sorts every dollar to the right note, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
August netted $8,800. Two notes went bad this month, so I wrote off the remaining balances and put both cars back into inventory at what they are worth to resell.
- PayNearMe collectionsNote collections
- Down payment, 2016 MalibuDown payments
- Manheim auction buyVehicle inventory
- ABC Recovery repo feeRepossession costs
- NextGear draw feeFloor plan financing
Why your books are different
A buy-here-pay-here lot's books go wrong around the note, not the sale.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business carries its own paper, so a single car turns into a year or more of weekly payments, down payments, and sometimes a repossession. When the books do not track the note itself, you cannot tell what a deal really made you.
-
1
Note payments look like new sales
A customer's weekly payment on a car sold eight months ago lands in the account and gets logged as a fresh sale, inflating this month's revenue and hiding how the whole note portfolio is actually performing.
What we doBooks the sale once when the car goes out the door, then tracks weekly and biweekly payments as collections against that receivable, not as new income. -
2
Down payments and note payments blur together
The cash taken at signing gets treated the same as a payment coming in six months later, so it is hard to tell how much of a deal's price came in up front versus how much is still on the note.
What we doBooks the down payment separately at the sale date, so each note's starting balance and remaining collections are accurate. -
3
A repossession erases the wrong number
When a note goes bad and the car comes back, the balance the customer still owed just disappears from view instead of being written off on purpose, so the books never show what default actually costs you.
What we doWrites off the unpaid balance when a unit is repossessed and logs the car back into inventory at what it is realistically worth to resell. -
4
Floor plan draws hide inside vehicle cost
You buy at auction on a floor plan line, then resell the car on your own note, and the draw's interest and per-unit fee get buried in the vehicle cost instead of tracked as financing.
What we doKeeps floor plan interest and fees separate from unit cost, so what it actually costs to carry unsold inventory is visible. -
5
Recovery fees get counted like a sale
Some notes let you charge a customer for towing and storage after a repossession, and that fee sometimes gets logged as new revenue instead of a partial recovery of what the repo cost you.
What we doKeeps repossession-related fees in their own line, separate from vehicle sales, so they never inflate what the lot actually sold.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a buy-here-pay-here dealer.
Set up once for how notes get written and collected. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Down paymentsCash taken at signing on a new buy-here-pay-here deal.
- Note collectionsWeekly or biweekly payments coming in at the lot or through a servicer like PayNearMe.
- Repossession recoveriesTowing and storage fees charged back to a customer after a repo.
- Wholesale salesRepossessed or aged units sold off through an auction instead of refinanced.
Money out
- Vehicle inventoryWhat was paid at auction for units bought to put on notes.
- Floor plan financingInterest and per-unit fees on the inventory line, often through NextGear Capital.
- Repossession costsWhat a recovery agent is paid to bring a financed unit back.
- ReconditioningGetting a repossessed or newly bought unit ready to sell again.
- Payroll and collections staffWages for anyone calling or collecting on past-due notes.
- GPS and starter interrupt devicesThe tracking and payment-assurance units installed in financed cars.
- Dealer and lending licensingState dealer license, any lending license required, and the surety bond.
What we watch for you
- Note delinquency rate
What share of notes are behind, tracked straight from what came in versus what was due.
- Average down payment
Shows whether deals are being written with enough skin in the game to hold up.
- Repo rate
How many financed units come back, since that drives both lost revenue and recovery cost.
- Gross per unit
What is left on a car after buy price and recon before the note even starts paying out.
Ask Gus
Things buy-here-pay-here dealers 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 write off what he still owed and log the car back into inventory once it's repossessed, so the books show the real loss, not just a gap in payments.
Three customers made double payments catching up. I kept that as regular note collections, not new sales, so the count stays honest.
Tell me when it happens if you can. Recovery fees and inventory changes are easier to get right with a heads up, and I'll still ask if something looks off.
The tax side
The tax side of a buy-here-pay-here lot.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and what a note really is. Getting sales, collections, and repossessions in the right buckets is what makes the return come out right.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Financed sale profit and timingWhen you carry the note yourself, profit on that sale is often reported over the life of the note rather than all at once. The right treatment depends on how your notes are structured, so the accountant makes that call.
- Inventory versus a write-offA unit bought to put on a note is inventory. Its cost only counts against income once that specific car is sold outright or the note closes out.
- A defaulted note's balanceWhen a customer stops paying and the car is repossessed, the unpaid balance is generally handled as a loss connected to that sale, not as a separate write-off.
- Self-employment tax on profitA sole proprietor or partner pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on business profit, up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base for 2026.
Deductions buy-here-pay-here dealers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Repossession and recovery fees
- GPS and starter interrupt devices
- Auction buy and transport fees
- Reconditioning on repossessed units
- Collections staff phone plans
- Skip tracing services
- Dealer and lending license fees
- Storage lot fencing and lighting
- Payment processing fees through your servicer
- Vehicle history reports
- Title and lien search fees
- Bond renewal costs
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 buy-here-pay-here year, kept every month.
Notes get paid every week, on their own schedule. Your taxes come on a schedule too. 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 for any contract recovery agents is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned before tax season brings fresh down payments.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while refund season brings buyers in with cash for a down payment. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at midyear, what you will owe, and how the note portfolio's delinquency rate is trending since January.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at notes worth writing off on purpose and units worth clearing before the calendar turns, so the year's number is not a surprise.
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 buy-here-pay-here dealers. 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 buy-here-pay-here dealers ask first.
How do you track forty different notes at once?
Gus follows the deposits from your servicer or the payments you log by hand, matching them to the sale already on the books. He asks when a payment does not match a note he expects.
What happens on the books when I repossess a car?
The unpaid balance on that note gets written off as a loss, and the car goes back into your inventory at what it is realistically worth to resell.
Do you file anything with the state about my lending license?
No. Your team keeps your books and flags what looks owed. Any lending or dealer license filings stay with you or your attorney.
My collections are mostly cash. Does that work?
Yes. Send Gus a running log of cash collections along with your bank statement, and he sorts them the same way as anything collected through a servicer.
Can Gus tell me which notes are the risky ones?
He can show you delinquency and repo trends from the numbers themselves. Deciding who to finance next stays your call, but you get real numbers behind it.
I financed a car for a family member off the books last year. Is that a problem?
Send Gus what you have. He sorts personal deals from business ones and gets your books straight so this year starts clean.
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