DTC brands
Books and taxes for coffee brands.
A green coffee container, roast loss on every batch, a wholesale cafe account on invoice terms, and a subscription that ships over weeks. 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
September came in at $11,000. Two bags of last month's roast passed their best-by date, so I booked that markdown the week it happened.
- Shopify Payments payoutSite sales
- ReCharge subscriptionsSubscription sales
- Green coffee importer invoiceRaw coffee and importing
- Valve bag packaging orderPackaging
- Meta adsAdvertising
Why your books are different
A coffee brand's books go wrong around weight, freshness, and timing.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is beans that lose weight in the roaster, a freshness clock on every bag, and a subscription that ships over weeks instead of all at once. When the books do not know that, margin quietly disappears.
-
1
Roasting loses weight, and the books need to know that
Green coffee loses 12 to 20 percent of its weight when it is roasted, so a 100 pound bag of green beans does not become 100 pounds of roasted coffee, and costing a bag off the green price alone understates what it actually cost to make.
What we doLands the true roasted cost, including the weight lost in roasting, onto each bag, so pricing reflects what a bag really costs. -
2
Roast dates force a use-it-or-lose-it clock on inventory
Coffee sold as fresh roasted usually needs to move within a few weeks, and bags that pass their best-by window often get discounted or donated, and if that markdown is not booked, it looks like inventory simply vanished.
What we doBooks a markdown or donation of aging stock as its own cost the week it happens, so stale inventory shows up honestly. -
3
A wholesale cafe account often buys on standing weekly orders
A cafe that takes a standing weekly delivery pays on invoice terms that can run 15 or 30 days, and if those invoices are not tracked apart from cash sales, the books cannot show whether wholesale accounts are actually paying reliably.
What we doTracks wholesale cafe invoices and payments separately, so you can see which accounts pay on time and which do not. -
4
Green coffee is bought in bulk, months before it is roasted
A direct trade purchase of a full container of green beans can tie up a large sum months before that coffee is roasted and sold, and expensing the purchase the day it is paid can make a strong quarter look like a loss.
What we doKeeps green coffee on hand as inventory until it is roasted and sold, not an expense the day the container lands. -
5
Subscription coffee ships on a schedule that does not match when it is charged
A subscription customer is often charged on the first of the month, but the coffee roasts and ships in batches over the following weeks, and counting the whole charge as revenue on day one overstates what was actually delivered that month.
What we doRecognizes subscription revenue as bags actually ship, so the month's number reflects coffee that went out the door.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a coffee brand.
Set up once for how you sell and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Site salesFull-price and promo orders through your own storefront.
- Subscription coffeeRecurring orders, recognized as bags actually ship.
- Wholesale to cafesStanding accounts billed on invoice terms.
- Marketplace salesAmazon or a similar site, if you sell there.
Money out
- Green coffee and importingRaw beans, held as inventory until roasted.
- Bags and packagingValve bags, labels, and boxes.
- Roasting equipmentMaintenance and upkeep on the roaster.
- AdvertisingMeta and Google ad spend driving traffic to the site.
- Fulfillment3PL or in-house shipping for orders and subscriptions.
- Card and marketplace feesWhat processors and marketplaces keep before you get paid.
- Freight and import dutyGetting green coffee from origin to the roastery.
What we watch for you
- Roasted cost per bag
Green coffee cost plus roast loss against bags produced, so pricing reflects the real cost.
- Wholesale account aging
How current cafe accounts are on invoices, so a standing order does not turn into unpaid credit.
- Freshness markdown rate
How much aging stock gets discounted or donated, since it quietly cuts into margin.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked from bags actually shipped, not what was charged.
Ask Gus
Things coffee brand 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, that stays on the books as inventory until it is roasted and sold. I keep it separate so a big purchase does not look like a loss it is not.
Yes, and I book it the week it happens, so stale inventory shows up honestly instead of just disappearing from the numbers.
I track wholesale invoices separately from cash sales, so you can see exactly which accounts are current and which are falling behind.
The tax side
The tax side of a coffee brand.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and yield. A container expensed too early, a subscription counted before it ships, and a set-aside nobody started until spring.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsYou deduct the cost of what sold, not what got roasted. Green coffee waiting in the warehouse is an asset until it is roasted and sold, not a write-off the day the container lands.
- 1099-K from marketplaces and processorsShopify Payments and any marketplace where you sell subscriptions or wholesale coffee report your volume to the IRS once you cross $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year. Every dollar is taxable whether or not the form arrives.
- Roasting equipmentA commercial roaster or packaging line bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property acquired after January 19, 2025, and Section 179 covers up to $2,560,000 in a year.
- The pass-through deductionUp to 20 percent of qualified business income can come off before tax, phasing down for single filers above $201,750 and joint filers above $403,500. The number only comes out right when green coffee and roast loss were both costed correctly all year.
Deductions coffee brands miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Green coffee and importing costs
- Roasting equipment maintenance
- Bags and packaging
- Freight and import duty
- Meta and Google ad spend
- 3PL fulfillment fees
- Cafe expo booth fees
- Product photography
- Card and marketplace fees
- Trademark and brand registration
- Cupping and quality control supplies
- Roastery rent
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 coffee brand's year, kept every month.
Subscriptions ship every week of the year, and gift sets bring a real push at the holidays. Your team is on the books every month in between. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Gift sets wind down
Holiday gift set sales wind down, right as last year's return needs to get moving. Subscriptions keep shipping steady through the shift, and Gus keeps the set-aside running.
- April
Signed, sealed, filed
The accountant signs and files the return, roast loss and all. The set-aside has tracked what actually shipped since January, so the bill is no surprise.
- July
Green coffee buying season
A common time to buy green coffee containers for the months ahead. Gus keeps those purchases as inventory, not an expense that sinks a summer month.
- October
Holiday roasts ramp up
Holiday gift sets and wholesale orders both ramp up. Gus watches freshness dates closely as inventory turns over faster.
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 coffee brands. 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 coffee brand owners ask first.
We bought a full container of green coffee. Does that count as an expense right away?
No. It stays on the books as inventory until it is roasted and sold, so a large purchase does not make a strong quarter look like a loss.
How does Gus handle coffee that passes its roast date?
A markdown or donation of aging stock gets booked the week it happens, so stale inventory shows up as the real cost it is instead of quietly disappearing.
A cafe account is behind on paying us. Can Gus track that?
Yes. Wholesale invoices are tracked separately from cash sales, so you can see exactly which accounts are current and which are falling behind.
Do I need to account for the weight coffee loses when it's roasted?
Yes. Green coffee loses 12 to 20 percent of its weight when roasted, and Gus lands that real cost onto each bag, so pricing reflects what a bag actually costs to produce.
Our subscription charges on the first, but coffee ships over a few weeks. Does that matter for the books?
It does. Gus recognizes subscription revenue as bags actually ship, so the month's number reflects coffee that went out the door, not just what was charged.
My books are behind because we just started a direct trade relationship with a new farm.
Send the import paperwork and your bank statements. Gus sorts through the new relationship and most owners know where they stand within a week.
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