Campgrounds, RV parks & glamping
Books and taxes for campground developers.
Founding membership deposits coming in months before you open, a grading contractor, a county impact fee, and a construction loan draw schedule. Gus sorts every dollar, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
November came in at $14,400. The founding membership deposits are held, not counted as earned yet, since the campground has not opened for a single night.
- Founding membership depositsPre-sale deposits held
- County planning departmentPermits and impact fees
- Summit Grading & ExcavationSite development
- Riverbend Utility ContractorsSite development
- Pre-opening marketing campaignMarketing and sales
Why your books are different
A campground under construction has books unlike an open one.
You have not opened a single site yet, but you already have money coming in through pre-sales and money going out to contractors and the county. When the books do not separate development activity from ordinary operating costs, you cannot tell what you actually own once the gates open.
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1
Founding membership deposits get spent like earned revenue
Selling founding memberships or early site reservations before opening brings in real cash, but none of it has been earned yet since no one has stayed a single night. Spent as if it were profit, it leaves nothing when refunds or credits come due.
What we doHolds pre-sale deposits separate from earned income until the campground actually opens and stays begin. -
2
Site development costs get expensed instead of added to the property
Grading, road building, and utility installation are not ordinary operating expenses, they generally become part of what you have invested in the land and get recovered over time rather than written off the month you pay for them.
What we doFlags site development and construction costs separately from operating expenses so the accountant can add them to the property correctly. -
3
A high volume of contractors makes 1099 tracking easy to lose
A new build involves a grading crew, an electrician, a paving contractor, a well driller, and more, often a dozen different vendors in a single season, and keeping track of who crossed the reporting threshold gets hard fast.
What we doKeeps a running list of every contractor paid and what they have been paid, so nothing is missed when 1099s go out. -
4
Construction loan draws are not income
Money drawn from a construction loan to pay contractors is borrowed money, not revenue, and if it lands in the same account as membership deposits it is easy to accidentally count it as income.
What we doKeeps loan draws separate from earned income and pre-sale deposits, so your revenue picture stays accurate. -
5
Permits and impact fees look like a random government expense
County permits, impact fees, and inspection costs are a real, sizable part of what it costs to bring the property online, and lumped into general expenses they disappear instead of showing the true cost of getting open.
What we doKeeps permit and impact fee costs in their own line so the full cost of development stays visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a campground under development.
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
- Pre-sale deposits heldFounding memberships and early site reservations, not yet earned.
- Construction loan drawsBorrowed funds, kept separate from income.
- Investor capital contributionsFunds put in by partners or investors, tracked apart from revenue.
- Site revenue after openingThe first real site bookings once the campground opens.
Money out
- Site developmentGrading, road building, and utility installation.
- Permits and impact feesCounty and local fees required to bring the property online.
- Marketing and salesPre-opening advertising and founding membership sales costs.
- Loan interestInterest on the construction loan, tracked for the accountant.
- Professional feesEngineering, surveying, and legal costs for the build.
- Equipment purchased before openingMowers, golf carts, and site equipment bought ahead of launch.
What we watch for you
- Pre-sale deposit balance
How much you are holding that is not yet earned income.
- Development cost to date
The running total invested in the property before it opens.
- Contractor payment total
Who is approaching the $2,000 threshold for a 1099.
- The set-aside
What you will owe once revenue starts, tracked from the first dollar earned.
Ask Gus
Things campground developers 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.
Not yet. I am holding those deposits until the campground actually opens and members start staying, since nothing has been earned yet.
Probably not all at once, work like that usually becomes part of what you have invested in the property. I flagged the costs and the accountant will sort out the right treatment.
I am keeping a running total for every contractor as payments come in, so the list is ready in January instead of a scramble.
The tax side
The tax side of developing a new campground.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and classification: money that looks like income but is not yet, and costs that look like expenses but are really investment in the property.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Capitalizing site development costsGrading, road building, and utility installation generally add to the cost of the property rather than get deducted right away. This is one of the areas most worth the accountant's direct involvement.
- Construction period interestInterest on a loan used to build the property often has to be added to the property's cost rather than deducted immediately during the construction period.
- Contractor 1099sAny contractor paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31, and a new build often means tracking many contractors at once.
- Recognizing pre-sale membership incomeDeposits collected before the campground opens are generally not income yet. When and how much becomes taxable income depends on your specific membership terms, which the accountant reviews.
Deductions campground developers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Engineering and surveying fees
- Legal fees for the development
- Permit and inspection fees
- Marketing for pre-sale membership drives
- Site signage during construction
- Equipment bought before opening
- Insurance during construction
- Travel to the property site
- Office costs for the development team
- Utility connection fees
- Loan origination fees
- Professional accounting and legal review
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 campground development year, kept every month.
Most of the tax weight in a development year sits in decisions made before you ever open the gate. Gus keeps the records clean while the accountant handles those calls. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the build
Last year's return gets started, the growing contractor 1099 list is reviewed, and you get a monthly set-aside once real revenue is expected to begin.
- April
Filed and done
Your return is filed and signed, with development costs and pre-sale deposits handled the way the accountant determined.
- July
Midyear check
Where the project stands financially, what has been capitalized so far, and how pre-sale momentum compares to plan.
- October
Before opening season
A look at total development costs to date and what still needs to be tracked before the campground takes its first real booking.
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 campground developers. 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 campground developers ask first.
We're selling founding memberships before we even open. Is that money taxable now?
Usually not yet. Gus holds those deposits separate from earned income, and the accountant determines when and how much becomes taxable based on your membership terms.
Can we deduct all our site development costs the year we pay for them?
Generally not all at once. Grading, roads, and utility work usually become part of what you have invested in the property, and the accountant works out the right treatment with the accountant's full records in hand.
We have a construction loan and an operating account. Does Gus need both?
Yes, send both. Gus keeps loan draws separate from any actual revenue, so your income picture stays accurate while the project is still being built.
We've used a lot of different contractors this year. Can Gus help us stay on top of 1099s?
Yes. He keeps a running total for every contractor paid, so the list is ready by January instead of a last-minute scramble.
When should we start the monthly subscription, before or after we open?
Before is usually better. Getting development costs and pre-sale deposits tracked correctly from the start makes the transition to an operating campground much cleaner.
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