Creative & production services
Books and taxes for commercial photographers.
A corporate shoot day rate, a licensing fee for how long an ad campaign can run, a rented studio for one afternoon, and a freelance retoucher on the final edit. 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
April came in at $11,500. The Delacroix Foods campaign licensed a full year of usage, so I booked that at the higher licensing rate instead of a standard day rate.
- Delacroix Foods usage feeLicensing and usage fees
- Harlow Group day rateShoot day rates
- M. Ferreira retouchingFreelance retouchers
- Daylight Studio rentalStudio rental
- Profoto strobe repairEquipment
Why your books are different
Commercial photography books go wrong at the usage fee and the studio rental.
A generalist sees a day rate and calls it income. Your business is licensing usage that changes the price of the exact same photo, studio space rented by the hour, freelance retouchers and assistants brought in per shoot, and gear that gets replaced often. When the books do not track usage and rental, the return misses what it should catch.
-
1
A usage license and a day rate are not the same line
Shooting the same product for a client's website is priced very differently than licensing that image for a national ad campaign running for a year, but if both just say sales, you cannot tell which kind of work is worth chasing.
What we doKeeps day rate income and licensing or usage income in separate lines so you can see what extended rights are actually worth. -
2
A rented studio for one afternoon looks like overhead
Renting a daylight studio for a single shoot is a cost tied to that project, not a recurring facility expense, and mixing the two hides what a shoot actually costs to produce.
What we doKeeps studio rental tied to the shoot it was for, separate from any studio or office space you rent full time. -
3
A freelance retoucher looks like a software cost
Sending a batch of images to a freelance retoucher for skin work or color correction means paying invoices that can land next to your Lightroom subscription.
What we doKeeps freelance retoucher payments in their own line and tracks what you have paid each contractor toward the 1099 threshold. -
4
A new strobe kit gets filed as a supply
A professional lighting kit or a new camera body can cost thousands, and filed as a supply purchase it wrecks the month and misses the equipment write-off.
What we doFlags strobe kits and camera bodies the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
5
Assistant day rates get mixed with your own fee
A first and second assistant paid for a shoot day can get lumped into the same invoice as your own fee, hiding what a shoot actually cost you to run.
What we doKeeps assistant pay separate from your own income, so you can see labor cost against what a shoot brought in.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a commercial photographer.
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
- Shoot day ratesStandard rates for a day on set, billed per project.
- Licensing and usage feesExtended rights for advertising, packaging, or long campaign runs.
- Rush feesCharged for a faster turnaround than the standard timeline.
- Retainer clientsOngoing product or catalog clients billed on a regular schedule.
Money out
- Freelance retouchersContractors brought in for skin work, color correction, or compositing.
- Studio rentalDaylight studios or rented space booked for a specific shoot.
- Assistant day ratesFirst and second assistants paid for a shoot day.
- EquipmentCamera bodies, lenses, and lighting, logged so they get written off right.
- Props and set materialsBackdrops, product stands, and styling items bought for a shoot.
- InsuranceEquipment and liability coverage for shoots on location.
What we watch for you
- Licensing share
Usage and licensing income against day rate income, so you know what extended rights are worth chasing.
- Shoot margin
What a shoot brought in against assistants, retouchers, and rental costs.
- Contractor spend
What you pay retouchers and assistants against total income, tracked toward 1099 season.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on day rates and licensing income, tracked monthly so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things commercial photographer 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.
I book that as a licensing fee, kept apart from your regular day rate income, so you can see what extended usage is actually worth over time.
Yes, since it crossed $2,000. I have been tracking every payment to her, so the form is ready by January 31.
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.
The tax side
The tax side of a commercial photography business.
Most of what goes wrong here is licensing fees mixed with day rates and equipment filed as supplies.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Cameras, lenses, and lightingBusiness equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025, covering most lighting and camera gear.
- Retoucher and assistant 1099sAny retoucher or assistant not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost solo commercial photographers can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when day rate and licensing income is tracked cleanly.
- Self-employment tax on solo incomeA photographer working alone pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside has to cover both.
Deductions commercial photographers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Camera bodies and lenses
- Lighting kits and modifiers
- Studio rental for shoots
- Freelance retoucher fees
- Assistant day rates
- Props and set materials
- Editing and cataloging software
- Insurance for gear and liability
- External drives and cloud backup
- Portfolio site hosting
- Continuing education courses
- Travel to shoots
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 commercial photography year, kept every month.
Campaign shoots and product catalogs run on client budget calendars. Your team keeps you ahead of both and the return besides. 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 retoucher and assistant 1099 list is ready, and a monthly set-aside means April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed right as spring campaign season ramps up. The set-aside covered it since January, so the bill is not a surprise.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring campaign season changed the number.
- October
Before year-end budgets close
Clients spend remaining marketing budget before December. Gus looks at equipment you might buy and moves worth making before year end.
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 commercial photographers. 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 commercial photographer owners ask first.
A client wants to license one shoot for a much bigger campaign. Does that change how it is booked?
Yes. Gus keeps licensing and usage income separate from your standard day rate, so you can see what extended rights are actually worth.
I rent a studio for some shoots and own my own space for others. Does that get mixed up?
No. Rented studio costs stay tied to the shoot they were for, kept separate from any space you rent or own full time.
My assistants and retouchers get paid different amounts every shoot. Does that complicate the books?
No, Gus tracks each contractor's total across the year no matter how the day rate varies from shoot to shoot.
Do I write off a new lighting kit all at once?
Often you can. Lighting and camera gear can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading the cost out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books are a year behind. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements and invoices you have. Gus sorts day rates and licensing fees into the right lines, 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