Craft beverage producers
Books and taxes for cideries.
A fall apple bill that lands all at once, blended batches from three different pressings, taproom pours, and distributor cases. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
June came in at $15,400. Patio season is carrying the taproom, and I kept your own-orchard apple costs apart from the juice you bought in, so you can see which one actually costs less per gallon.
- Square taproom depositCidery taproom pours
- Regional distributor payoutWholesale case sales
- Milne Fruit ProductsPurchased juice
- American Canning suppliesCanning and packaging
- Keg leasing chargeKeg deposits
Why your books are different
A cidery's books go wrong around the apple bill and the blend.
A generalist sees a taproom and a fruity drink. Your business is a fall apple cost that lands all at once, cider that sells year round from batches blended out of several pressings, and an orchard that may or may not be your own. When the books do not separate all that, the year does not add up.
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1
The apple bill lands months before the cider sells
Whether you press your own orchard's fruit or buy juice by the tanker, most of the year's apple cost hits in a few fall weeks, while the cider it becomes gets sold all year. Expensed the day it is paid, harvest month looks like a disaster and the rest of the year looks better than it is.
What we doKeeps apples and juice in inventory until the batch they become is packaged and sold, so harvest season does not wreck the monthly number. -
2
A blended batch loses its real cost
A tank blended from three pressings at different prices needs an actual cost per gallon, not a guess. Without it, you cannot tell whether a batch made money until long after it is gone.
What we doTracks what went into each blend and what it cost, so the batch's real cost per gallon is there when you price it. -
3
Own-orchard fruit and purchased juice get lumped together
Apples you grow yourself and juice you buy from a regional supplier carry very different costs, but one combined fruit line hides which source is actually cheaper for a given cider.
What we doKeeps own-orchard apple costs separate from purchased juice, so a sourcing decision for next fall is based on real numbers. -
4
Distributor payouts arrive net of fees
A distributor invoice for a pallet of canned cider often nets out a delivery fee or a chargeback before the money lands. Booked as the deposit, both your wholesale price and your real cost disappear.
What we doRecords what you actually invoiced as the sale and treats the distributor's deduction as its own line, so the shelf price and the real fee are both visible. -
5
A canning line reads like an ordinary supply run
A canning line or a bladder press can cost as much as a used truck. Filed as supplies, it muddles the month it was bought and gets missed at tax time.
What we doCatches a purchase that size the day it posts and files it under equipment instead of supplies, so the accountant can decide how it gets written off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a cidery.
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
- Taproom poursPints, flights, and slushies rung through Arryved or Square.
- Wholesale case salesThe full distributor invoice, with the distributor's cut booked separately.
- Farmers market and festival salesBooth sales at markets and cider festivals.
- Merchandise and growler salesCans, growlers, and shirts sold to go.
Money out
- Own-orchard apple costsPicking, storage, and pressing for fruit you grow yourself.
- Purchased juiceBulk juice from suppliers like Milne Fruit Products.
- Canning and packagingCans and labels from suppliers like American Canning.
- Keg depositsWhat you owe back to leasing companies like MicroStar or accounts holding your kegs.
- Taproom staff wagesPourers and event staff, kept apart from production labor.
- Excise and alcohol taxFederal and state cider tax payments, kept apart from what you collect in sales tax.
- Cellar equipmentPresses, tanks, and canning lines, logged so they get written off right.
- Insurance and permitsLiquor liability coverage and your federal and state cider permits.
What we watch for you
- Cost per gallon by blend
What each batch actually cost once its pressings are averaged, so pricing is based on real numbers.
- Orchard versus purchased juice cost
Which fruit source is actually cheaper for a given cider, once picking and storage are counted.
- Cider in tank
What is aging or blending but not yet packaged, so a quiet-looking month after harvest still makes sense.
- The excise set-aside
Federal and state alcohol tax sits apart from your income tax set-aside, on its own schedule.
Ask Gus
Things cidery 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.
Those apples are inventory until the cider they become is packaged and sold. The cost shows up then, not the week you paid the grower or the co-op.
Close, but your own fruit costs a bit more once picking and storage are counted. I kept the two apart so you can see it plainly.
Alcohol content and carbonation can push a cider into a different tax category. That call is above my pay grade, so I flag anything unusual and the accountant weighs in.
The tax side
The tax side of running a cidery.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. Apples bought all at once, a blend with no real cost, and an excise tax bucket nobody separated from income tax.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Federal excise tax on ciderA bonded cidery generally owes federal excise tax on cider it removes from bond for sale, separate from its income tax return. Rates and even the tax category can depend on alcohol content and carbonation, so nothing here is guessed at. Goatkeeper keeps the books clean for whoever files that return, it does not file it.
- Apples and juice as inventoryApples, purchased juice, and cider still blending or aging only reduce taxable income when the finished product is sold, not when the fruit or juice is bought. An accurate count at year end matters.
- Presses, tanks, and canning linesCellar and packaging equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property placed in service after January 19, 2025.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated cideries can take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income. It comes out right when taproom, wholesale, and orchard costs are kept separate all year.
Deductions cideries miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Purchased juice and concentrate
- Orchard picking and storage costs
- Cans, labels, and growlers
- Keg cleaning and CO2
- Liquor liability insurance
- Federal alcohol permit and bond fees
- Taproom glassware and furniture
- Farmers market and festival booth fees
- Press and canning line repairs
- Staff uniforms with your logo
- Refrigeration and cold storage
- Water treatment for pressing and cleaning
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 cidery year, kept every month.
Your apple bill lands hard in the fall, but your taproom's calendar follows summer. 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 apple season's costs get sorted into inventory, and you get a monthly set-aside so the excise tax bucket stays separate and April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your income tax return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January and the fall apple bill was already accounted for.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the height of patio season, and whether the summer taproom crowd changed the number.
- October
Before the apple bill lands
Before harvest and the year's biggest apple or juice buy, Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything to do 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 cideries. 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 cidery owners ask first.
Can Gus keep our own-orchard costs separate from purchased juice?
Yes. He books them in separate categories, so you can see which fruit source actually costs less once picking and storage are counted.
We blend batches from a few different pressings. Can the books handle that?
Yes. Gus tracks what went into each blend and what it cost, so a batch has a real cost per gallon instead of a guess.
Why doesn't our fall apple bill show up as a bad month?
Apples and juice are inventory until the cider they become is sold. Gus keeps them there so harvest month does not look like a loss.
Is our federal excise tax return part of what Goatkeeper files?
No. Cider excise tax is filed separately from your income tax return, by whoever handles that side of your paperwork. Gus keeps your pressing and sales records clean so that filing goes smoothly.
Can we deduct the whole cost of a new canning line right away?
Usually yes, but not always all at once. Gus logs the purchase as equipment the day it posts, and the accountant decides the best way to write it off based on how the rest of your year looks.
Our records are split between the orchard and the taproom. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them into orchard, taproom, and wholesale from here forward, and the accountant checks it.
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.
More in craft beverage producers
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Bottle shops & craft beer stores
- Craft distilleries
- Custom-crush & alternating proprietor wineries
- Homebrew & winemaking supply shops
- Kombucha brewers
- Meaderies
- Vineyards (grape growers)
- Brewpubs
- Coffee roasters
- Craft breweries & taprooms
- Liquor stores
- Non-alcoholic beverage brands
- Wineries & tasting rooms
- Arcade bars (barcades)
- Artisan cheese makers
- Bagel shops
- BBQ sauce & rub brands
- Beer gardens
- Candy & chocolate makers
- Charcuterie board & grazing table businesses
- Cigar lounges
- Commissary & shared commercial kitchens
- Cottage food producers
- Custom cake studios
- Dive bars & neighborhood taverns
- Farmers market vendors
- Food hall vendors
- Fudge & candy shops
- Honey producers & apiaries
- Hookah lounges
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