Small manufacturers & fabricators
Books and taxes for cabinet shops.
A builder's progress payment, a homeowner's design deposit, a sheet goods order, and an install crew's day rate. 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
August came in at $14,500. The Ridgeview job's second progress payment posted separately from the deposit, so the kitchen's real margin stays visible.
- Ridgeview Homes progress pmtBuilder progress billing
- Fontana design depositHomeowner deposits
- Sheet goods orderSheet goods and lumber
- Cabinet hardware supplierHardware and slides
- Install crew, week 2Installation labor
Why your books are different
Cabinet shop books go wrong between the deposit and the install.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your shop bills a builder in stages, takes a homeowner deposit months before a kitchen ships, cuts sheet goods on a CNC router, and sends a crew to install every job. When the books do not track each stage, a big deposit month looks great and the install month looks weak, when neither is the real story.
-
1
Progress payments look like full sales
A builder pays a third of the contract at cabinet order, a third at delivery, and the rest at install, but if every payment is treated as a finished sale, the job's real profit is impossible to see until it is fully done.
What we doTracks each progress payment against the job's total contract, so you can see where a kitchen actually stands financially at any point. -
2
Sheet goods get bought ahead of the job that needs them
A shop buying plywood and MDF in bulk to get a better price can make one month look expensive and the next look great, when really the material is just sitting on the shelf waiting for a job.
What we doKeeps sheet goods and lumber in one steady line and flags when a bulk order is the reason a month looks thin. -
3
Install crew costs disappear into the job price
A crew's day rate to set cabinets, scribe fillers, and hang doors on-site is real labor cost that a flat kitchen price can quietly absorb if it is not tracked on its own.
What we doKeeps install labor separate from shop labor so you can see what on-site work really costs against the contract. -
4
Builder terms and homeowner terms get mixed together
A builder paying net 30 on a volume account and a homeowner paying a deposit and balance are two very different payment patterns, and blended together neither shows its real timing.
What we doKeeps builder progress billing separate from homeowner deposits so each customer type's cash timing is clear.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a cabinet shop.
Set up once for how builders and homeowners pay and what a kitchen costs to build. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Builder progress billingStaged payments tied to order, delivery, and install milestones.
- Homeowner depositsDesign deposits held until the job ships.
- Final balancesThe remainder due once cabinets are installed.
- Countertop and accessory add-onsExtras billed alongside a cabinet order.
Money out
- Sheet goods and lumberPlywood, MDF, and hardwood face frame stock.
- Hardware and slidesHinges, drawer slides, and pulls.
- FinishingStain, paint, and spray booth supplies.
- Installation laborCrew day rates for on-site setting and finishing.
- Shop rent and utilitiesIncludes the CNC router and dust collection power draw.
- Equipment loan or leasePayments on the CNC router and edgebander.
- Design softwareCabinet design and cut list software subscriptions.
- Delivery vehicle costsFuel and maintenance for the delivery truck or trailer.
What we watch for you
- Job margin at completion
What a kitchen actually earned once every stage payment and cost lands, not just the deposit.
- Sheet goods cost share
Material as a percent of sales. A jump means a bulk buy or a supplier price move.
- Install cost per job
What crew labor actually costs against a job's contract price.
- Builder days to get paid
How long a builder's progress payment sits before it clears, separate from homeowner terms.
Ask Gus
Things cabinet shop 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.
No, and I don't book it that way. I track it against the full contract so the job's real margin only shows once every stage is in.
That bulk buy is the reason. I flagged it, and the material sits on the shelf for future jobs, so it is not really a loss this month.
If they are not on payroll and you pay them $2,000 or more this year, yes, a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of a cabinet shop.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing on progress payments and keeping sheet goods bought ahead from muddying a month.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- CNC routers and edgebandersShop equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, and Section 179 covers up to $2,560,000.
- Progress billing and depositsA staged payment or deposit taken before a kitchen is fully delivered is money owed against the contract, not a finished sale, until the job is complete.
- Sheet goods and lumber on handPlywood and hardwood bought ahead and sitting in the shop at year end get valued and matched against what actually sold, rather than expensed the day they were bought.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when builder progress billing and sheet goods cost are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions cabinet shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Sheet goods and hardwood
- Cabinet hardware and slides
- Stain and spray booth supplies
- Edgebanding and adhesives
- Design and cut list software
- Delivery vehicle fuel
- Dust collection filters
- Safety gear and respirators
- Trade show and showroom costs
- Install crew tools
- Shop insurance
- Small hand tools
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 cabinet shop year, kept every month.
Kitchens land on their own schedule, tied to builder timelines more than a season. Your taxes still run on one. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Kitchens planned
Open contracts and sheet goods on hand get sorted, last year's return gets started, and your monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Kitchen return filed
The accountant files and signs your return once builder progress payments and homeowner deposits are sorted. The set-aside has been running since January, so April brings no surprise.
- July
Midyear kitchen check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a busy builder season changed the number.
- October
Before the rush
Gus looks at any router or edgebander buy worth making before December and flags it for the accountant's call on depreciation.
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 cabinet shops. 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 cabinet shop owners ask first.
How does Gus handle staged payments from a builder?
He tracks each payment against the full contract instead of booking it as a finished sale, so the job's real margin only shows once it is done.
We sell both to builders and directly to homeowners. Should those be tracked differently?
Yes, and Gus does that automatically. Builder progress billing and homeowner deposits show different timing, so keeping them apart keeps both honest.
Do we have to change how we quote a kitchen?
No. Keep pricing kitchens the way you always have. Gus reads it off your bank statement, and when a payment is unclear he asks once and remembers your answer.
Our install crew is a separate company we hire by the job. Does that change anything?
It changes where the cost is tracked, not what you do. Gus keeps install labor apart from shop labor so you can see what on-site work really costs.
Our books are behind after a busy stretch of builder work. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts builder payments and homeowner deposits alike, the accountant checks the result, and most shops see where they stand within a week.
Do I write off a new CNC router all at once?
Often you can. A router or edgebander bought for the business can usually be deducted the year it is bought, though sometimes spreading it out fits a shop's year better. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
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