Advisors, lenders & money services
Books and taxes for check cashing and small-dollar lenders.
A check cashing fee taken at the counter, a money order sold where only the commission is yours, a small loan that never gets repaid. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
December made $9,300. Three checks the store cashed came back unpaid, so I logged them as bad check losses instead of letting them eat into your cashing fee income.
- Daily cashing fees, registerCheck cashing fees
- Money order commissionMoney order commissions
- Bad check lossBad check losses
- Cash-in-transit serviceVault and security
- State lending license feeLicensing
Why your books are different
A check cashing business's books go wrong in a few particular spots.
A generalist bookkeeper sees cash come in and cash go out and calls the difference profit. Your storefront sells money orders that mostly belong to someone else, hands out small loans that count as an asset until they are repaid, and eats a real loss whenever a cashed check bounces.
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1
A bounced check is a real loss, not a rounding error
When a payroll or personal check the store cashed comes back unpaid, the money already went out the door to the customer, and if that loss is not tracked on its own, it quietly eats into cashing fee income until nobody can say which fees were actually profitable.
What we doTracks every bad check as its own loss, tied to the original transaction, so cashing fee income is not silently eaten by write-offs. -
2
Money order face value is not the store's revenue
A customer buying a $500 money order pays $500 plus a small fee, and only that fee belongs to the store, since the rest gets remitted to the money order company, so counting the full sale as revenue wildly overstates income.
What we doKeeps only the commission earned on money order sales as revenue, with the face value tracked separately as a pass-through. -
3
Small loan principal gets counted as income the day it goes out
A small-dollar loan handed to a customer is money the store expects back with a fee, not a sale, and booking the loan amount as revenue the day it is disbursed overstates income before any fee has actually been earned.
What we doTracks loan principal as an asset owed back, separate from the loan fee, which is the store's actual earned income. -
4
The vault cash count never matches the register tape
A storefront handling thousands in cash a day can have a drawer come up short or long by closing time, and if that difference is not caught and flagged right away, it disappears into a miscellaneous line instead of getting investigated.
What we doFlags cash drawer differences against the register tape each time they show up, instead of letting them wash into a catch-all expense.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a check cashing storefront.
Set up once for how the store earns fees on cash-heavy transactions. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Check cashing feesThe percentage fee taken on each check cashed at the counter.
- Small loan feesFees earned on small-dollar loans, tracked apart from the loan principal.
- Money order commissionsThe small fee earned per money order, separate from the face value collected.
- Bill pay and card loading feesFees for utility bill payments and prepaid card loading services.
Money out
- Bad check lossesAmounts lost when a cashed check comes back unpaid.
- Loan lossesSmall loan principal that is never repaid.
- Vault and securityCash-in-transit service, safes, and alarm monitoring.
- LicensingState small-dollar lending and check cashing license renewals.
- Surety bondsBonds required to operate a licensed cashing or lending storefront.
- InsuranceCoverage against theft and cash losses at the counter.
What we watch for you
- Bad check rate
How much of cashing volume comes back unpaid, against the fees it generates.
- Loan default rate
How much small loan principal never gets repaid, a direct hit to cash on hand.
- Drawer variance
How often the cash count differs from the register tape, caught before it grows.
- The set-aside
What the store will owe once bad check and loan losses are subtracted out.
Ask Gus
Things check cashing 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.
It gets logged as a bad check loss tied to that transaction, so it does not quietly eat into your cashing fee income without you noticing.
No, only the small commission. The face value passes through to the money order company, so I keep that separate from what the store actually earns.
It does, so I flag it against the register tape right away instead of letting it disappear into a miscellaneous line. Worth a look before it becomes a habit.
The tax side
The tax side of a check cashing and small-dollar lending business.
Most of what matters here is keeping pass-through money separate from real revenue and timing losses correctly, since the underlying business tax rules are otherwise routine.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Only fees and commissions are taxable revenueMoney order face value and small loan principal are not the store's income. Only the fee or commission actually earned counts toward taxable revenue.
- Bad check and loan losses are generally deductible when realizedA check that never clears or a loan that is never repaid can usually be deducted once the loss is confirmed, not merely suspected. The accountant applies the right timing.
- Counter fee profit and the S corp questionOnce bad check and loan losses are written off, what is left of the store's counter fee income is taxed at 15.3 percent for self-employment tax up to the $184,500 wage base for 2026, worth weighing against an S corp election due March 15.
- 1099s for contract staffA contract security guard, cash courier service, or part-time worker paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions check cashing and small-dollar lenders miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Cash-in-transit service
- Vault, safe, and alarm monitoring
- State lending license fees
- Surety and fidelity bonds
- Errors and omissions insurance
- Security camera systems
- Storefront rent
- Utilities for the location
- Point of sale and cashing software
- Employee background checks
- Cash counting equipment
- Signage and storefront maintenance
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 check cashing business's year, kept every month.
Cashing volume and small loans move every day of the year, with holiday spending driving one of the busiest stretches. Your team keeps the store's own books current through all of it. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Year planned
Tax refund season often brings a surge in cashing volume, 1099s go out for anyone paid outside payroll, and last year's return gets started.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with bad check and loan losses tracked apart from fee income all year, so the total is accurate.
- July
Halfway check
Where the store stands, what it will owe, and whether bad check and loan loss rates are holding steady.
- October
Before year end
A look at vault and security equipment worth buying before December, ahead of the holiday cashing rush.
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 check cashing and small-dollar lenders. 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 check cashing owners ask first.
A check I cashed came back unpaid. How does that get handled?
It becomes a bad check loss tied to that specific transaction, so it shows up clearly instead of quietly cutting into your cashing fee income.
Is the full amount I collect for a money order my revenue?
No. Only your small commission is revenue. The rest gets remitted to the money order company and is tracked separately as a pass-through.
My drawer counts have been off some nights. Can Gus catch that?
Yes. Cash drawer differences against the register tape get flagged right away, so a pattern gets caught early instead of disappearing into a miscellaneous line.
Does Gus decide who qualifies for a small loan or set my cashing fee rates?
No. Gus and your bookkeeper only keep the store's own books, what it makes and spends. Underwriting and pricing decisions stay entirely with you.
Some small loans I make never get repaid. How does that affect my numbers?
The unpaid principal is tracked as a loan loss, separate from the fee income the loan was meant to earn, so you can see how much default is actually costing you.
My books have never separated money order pass-through amounts from real revenue. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and Gus pulls the commission out of the face value, so your real revenue is finally visible.
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