Collision & appearance

Books and taxes for collision and body shops.

Insurance checks, customer deductibles, supplements that land weeks later, and a painter paid by the panel. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle

From $197 a month
An accountant on every transaction
Cancel whenever

MayExample month

$18,300

what you made

May came in at $18,300. Two supplements from State Farm finally cleared, so I matched them back to the repair orders they belonged to instead of counting them as new sales.

State Farm claim payoutInsurance payments
Customer deductible, cashDeductibles
PPG paint orderPaint and refinish
LKQ parts invoiceParts
Painter commission, J. RuizCommission pay

Money in$96,500

Money out$78,200

Set aside for taxes$4,300

An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A body shop's books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is repair orders that get paid in two pieces months apart, a painter paid by the panel, and parts that arrive from three different counters. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which repair orders are still owed to you.

1
The supplement shows up a month later

A shop tears down a fender, finds hidden frame damage, and writes a $2,400 supplement. The insurer approves it three weeks after the car left. Booked as a brand new sale, it looks like unrelated income instead of the rest of a job already on the books.

What we doMatches the supplement back to the original repair order, so the full job total shows up once, on the job it belongs to.
2
The deductible and the insurance check get mixed up

A customer pays a $500 deductible in the lobby, and the carrier wires $3,600 a week later for the same car. Lumped together, it is hard to see how much cash actually comes from customers versus insurers.

What we doBooks the deductible the day it is collected and the insurance portion when it clears, kept as two lines on the same job.
3
Painter commission hides inside plain wages

A painter paid a percentage of the labor on every repair order looks like a regular paycheck once it lands in the bank export. That buries what painting actually costs against what those jobs brought in.

What we doKeeps commission pay in its own line, apart from hourly wages, so labor cost can be checked against paint work specifically.
4
The frame machine is not a supply run

A new frame machine or a measuring system can run as much as a used car. Filed as shop supplies, it wrecks the month and can get missed when it is time to write it off.

What we doFlags equipment purchases the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off.
5
A parts order muddies a clean month

One heavy week of LKQ and dealer parts invoices for three big jobs makes that month look thin, while the next month looks great once the same jobs get paid out by insurance.

What we doKeeps parts against the repair orders they were bought for, and tells you when a heavy parts week is the reason a month looks tight.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a collision shop.

Set up once for how repair orders get paid and what a job costs to fix. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

Insurance paymentsClaim checks and direct repair program payouts from carriers like State Farm, Progressive, and Geico.
SupplementsAdditional insurance payments approved after teardown, matched back to the original job.
DeductiblesWhat the customer pays directly at pickup, kept apart from the insurance portion.
Cash and card jobsRepairs and touch-ups paid outright with no insurance involved.
Sublet billingWindshield or alignment work sent out and billed back through the repair order.

Money out

Paint and refinishPaint, clear coat, and mixing supplies from PPG, Sherwin-Williams, or BASF.
PartsOEM and aftermarket panels from LKQ, RockAuto, or the dealer counter.
Commission payWhat painters and techs are paid per repair order, apart from hourly wages.
Sublet costsWindshield, alignment, or upholstery work paid out to another shop.
Estimating softwareCCC ONE, Mitchell, or Audatex subscriptions used to write estimates.
EquipmentFrame machines and measuring systems, logged so they get written off right.
Garagekeepers insuranceCoverage on customer vehicles while they sit in your shop.
Booth and shop costsRent, utilities, and paint booth filters.

What we watch for you

Receivable lag
How long insurance takes to pay after a car leaves, so cash surprises get smaller.
Paint cost share
Paint and refinish against sales, so pricing keeps up with material costs.
Commission share
Painter pay against what those jobs brought in, checked as prices change.
The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things collision shop 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.

State Farm finally paid the supplement on the Camry. Why does it look like a random deposit?

It is not random, I matched it to that repair order. The full job now shows what it actually paid, deposit and supplement together.

Just bought a new frame machine for $14,000. Does that come off this year?

Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.

My painter wants to know if his commission counts toward his own taxes or mine.

That depends on how he is paid and classified, which is above my pay grade. I flagged it so the accountant can walk through it with you.

The tax side

The tax side of a collision shop.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. A supplement counted as new income, a painter paid like a contractor who works like an employee, and equipment filed as supplies.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

Equipment write-offsA frame machine, measuring system, or paint booth upgrade can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
Contractor 1099sA painter or tech not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
Employee or contractorA painter who works your schedule, uses your booth, and takes direction on every job usually looks like an employee, even if paid by commission. Getting that wrong gets expensive.
The pass-through deductionMost shop owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books track supplements and sublets correctly all year.

Deductions collision and body shops miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

Paint booth filters
Frame machine calibration
Estimating software fees
Garagekeepers insurance
Shop rags and tack cloths
Uniforms and shop coats
Hazardous waste disposal
Booth utilities
Parts counter delivery fees
Trade certification courses
Card processing fees
Tow-in fees you cover

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 collision shop's year, kept every month.

Claims come in whenever a bumper meets something. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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 1099 list is ready, 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 running since January.
July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether that spring hail run changed the number.
October
Before winter claims
Salt and pothole season brings more collision work. Before it hits, Gus looks at equipment you might buy and anything worth doing before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 collision and body shops. 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 collision shop owners ask first.

Can Gus track jobs that get paid in two pieces by insurance?

Yes. He matches the deposit and the supplement to the same repair order, so the job's real total shows up once both payments clear, not as two unrelated deposits.

I use CCC ONE to write estimates. Do I have to change anything?

No. Keep writing estimates the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.

My painters are paid commission. Does that change the books?

It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Commission stays commission. Gus keeps it visible so you can see paint labor against what those jobs brought in.

Do I write off a new frame machine all at once?

Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides.

My books are behind because I have been chasing insurance checks. Is that a problem?

No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them and matches payments to jobs as they clear, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.

Does Gus deal with the insurance company directly?

No. Gus sorts and tracks what insurance pays once it lands in your account. Negotiating claims and supplements stays with you and the adjuster.

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.

We keep books for the business next door too.

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

Books and taxes for collision and body shops.

A body shop's books go wrong in the same few places.

The supplement shows up a month later

The deductible and the insurance check get mixed up

Painter commission hides inside plain wages

The frame machine is not a supply run

A parts order muddies a clean month