Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for cold storage warehouses.
Pallet position storage fees, a refrigeration utility bill that dwarfs a dry warehouse's, food safety compliance costs, and the backup generator that keeps product from spoiling. Your own bookkeeper sorts 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's electric bill jumped with the summer heat load on the freezer units, so I kept it apart from routine maintenance to show it for what it was.
- Pallet storage invoicesStorage fees
- Blast freezing service feesValue-add service fees
- Refrigeration electric billRefrigeration utilities
- Compressor maintenanceRefrigeration equipment upkeep
- Food safety inspection feeCompliance and inspection costs
Why your books are different
A cold storage warehouse's books go wrong around utilities and compliance.
A generalist sees storage invoices and a utility bill. Your business runs refrigeration and freezer systems that eat electricity in a way a dry warehouse never does, holds food product under health department rules, and depends on backup power the day a compressor fails. When the books do not separate those, a hot summer month looks like a spending problem instead of a season.
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1
Refrigeration utility costs get mistaken for a bad month
A summer heat wave can spike electric costs to keep freezer units running, and lumped into general utilities, that spike looks like something went wrong instead of a predictable seasonal swing.
What we doTracks refrigeration utility costs on their own, so a seasonal spike reads as expected instead of alarming. -
2
Compliance and inspection costs disappear into overhead
Health department inspections and food safety certification are real recurring costs specific to this business, but buried in general expenses, you lose sight of what staying compliant actually costs each year.
What we doKeeps compliance and inspection costs in their own category, so the real cost of running a regulated facility stays visible. -
3
A compressor failure looks like routine upkeep
A major refrigeration repair can run into five figures and is a very different event than a filter change, but lumped into one maintenance line, a serious failure gets buried among small, routine costs.
What we doSplits major refrigeration repairs from routine upkeep, so a real equipment problem does not hide inside a normal maintenance average. -
4
A new compressor or generator wrecks one month's numbers
Replacing a compressor or adding backup generator capacity can cost far more than a typical month's profit, and filed as a plain expense it makes a normal month look like a loss.
What we doFlags a major equipment purchase the day it posts, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how it gets written off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a cold storage warehouse.
Set up once for how clients pay you and what keeping product cold actually costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Storage feesPer-pallet or per-position fees for frozen and refrigerated space.
- Value-add service feesBlast freezing, repackaging, or labeling fees billed on top of storage.
- Inbound and outbound handling feesCharges for receiving or shipping out a client's product.
- Long-term contract retainersStanding monthly minimums from clients with guaranteed pallet space.
Money out
- Refrigeration utilitiesElectricity to run freezer and refrigeration units, tracked apart from general utilities.
- Refrigeration equipment upkeepRoutine maintenance on compressors and cooling systems.
- Compliance and inspection costsHealth department inspections and food safety certification fees.
- Warehouse laborWages for receiving, storage, and shipping staff.
- Building and equipment insuranceProperty coverage suited to refrigerated facilities and spoilage risk.
- Racking and material handling equipmentPallet racking rated for cold storage and forklifts suited to the environment.
What we watch for you
- Revenue per pallet position
What each storage slot actually earns, so you can see if occupancy and pricing line up.
- Refrigeration cost share
Utility costs against total revenue. It is usually the biggest swing factor in your margin.
- Major repair spend
Big refrigeration repairs tracked apart from routine upkeep, so equipment age becomes visible before it becomes a crisis.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things cold storage 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.
Not necessarily. I keep refrigeration utility costs in their own category, and this looks like the expected seasonal jump from the heat load, not a new problem.
I kept that repair apart from your routine maintenance line, so it shows up as the one-time event it was, not a sign of a bigger ongoing cost.
Yes, they are a real recurring cost of this business. I keep them in their own line so you can see what staying compliant costs across the year.
The tax side
The tax side of running a cold storage warehouse.
Most of what trips up a cold storage warehouse is treating major refrigeration equipment like a routine expense and losing track of what compliance actually costs.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Writing off refrigeration equipmentCompressors, freezer units, and racking bought for the business can often be written off in the year they are bought, up to the Section 179 limit of $2,560,000, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- 1099s for contracted maintenanceA refrigeration technician or contractor not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Utility costs as a deductible expenseRefrigeration electricity is a large but fully deductible cost of doing business, and tracking it separately from general utilities helps the accountant see the real margin on storage revenue.
- The pass-through deductionMost cold storage warehouse owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when storage fees and refrigeration costs are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions cold storage warehouses miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Refrigeration electricity
- Compressor and cooling system repairs
- Racking and forklift equipment
- Warehouse labor wages
- Food safety inspection and certification fees
- Property and liability insurance
- Backup generator fuel and maintenance
- Temperature monitoring equipment
- Uniforms and cold-weather gear
- Pest control for food storage areas
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 cold storage warehouse's year, kept every month.
Product moves through the freezer every week of the year, and utility costs swing with the seasons. Your team stays on both, not just at filing time. 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 1099 list for contracted maintenance help is finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer refrigeration costs changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday storage surge
Frozen holiday food volume climbs before the season. Gus looks at whether equipment upgrades make sense before the busiest stretch hits.
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 cold storage warehouses. 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 cold storage owners ask first.
Can the books show me if refrigeration costs are actually eating my margin?
Yes. Refrigeration utility costs are tracked separately from general expenses, so you can see exactly how much cooling costs against your storage revenue.
How do you handle a big spike in the electric bill during summer?
It gets tracked in its own category, so a seasonal spike reads as an expected pattern instead of getting mistaken for a spending problem.
Do compliance and inspection fees actually count as deductible costs?
Yes, they are ordinary costs of running a regulated facility. Gus keeps them visible in their own category, and the accountant confirms what applies to your return.
A major compressor repair really distorted one month's numbers. Is that normal to see?
Major repairs are tracked apart from routine maintenance specifically so that does not happen. One expensive event shows up as what it was, not as a trend.
I have both payroll staff and a contracted refrigeration technician. Is that handled differently?
Yes. Payroll wages and the technician's contractor pay are tracked in separate lines, and Gus flags it if the pay crosses the threshold that calls for a 1099, so nothing gets missed at filing time.
My books have never separated refrigeration costs from general utilities. Can you fix that?
Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus separates refrigeration costs going forward, and most owners see a clear picture within a few weeks.
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