Organic, social & brand marketing

Books and taxes for content marketing agencies.

Monthly editorial retainers, whitepaper projects billed in stages, a bench of freelance writers and designers, and gated content that gets billed per download or per lead. 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
OctoberExample month
$11,600
what you made

October came in at $11,600. The whitepaper project hit its second milestone, so I booked that draw separately from your regular editorial retainers.

  • Editorial retainer, Client DRetainer revenue
  • Whitepaper, milestone 2Project milestone fees
  • Freelance writer, blog batchContractor payouts
  • Freelance designer, infographicsContractor payouts
  • CoSchedule subscriptionEditorial software
Money in$41,000
Money out$29,400
Set aside for taxes$3,100
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Content agency books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist sees invoices and a pile of freelancer payments. Your business is retainers billed for a set number of pieces a month, whitepaper projects paid in stages, and a bench of writers and designers who all get paid differently. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which clients or which writers actually pay off.

  1. 1

    A milestone payment looks like a retainer

    A whitepaper or case study project pays out in stages, say a third at kickoff, a third at draft, and a third at final delivery. Booked next to monthly retainer income, a milestone payment makes a normal month look like retainer revenue jumped when it did not.

    What we doKeeps project milestone fees in their own category, separate from retainer revenue, so the recurring number stays the one you can trust.
  2. 2

    Writer pay hides what each piece actually costs

    One freelance writer gets paid per word, another per piece, and a third on a monthly bucket of hours, all through different channels. Lumped together, you cannot tell what a blog post or a case study actually costs to produce.

    What we doKeeps contractor payouts tied to the work they cover, so you can see real cost per piece, not just a pile of freelancer payments.
  3. 3

    A retainer's piece count does not match what is billed

    A client pays for eight pieces a month but only four get delivered some months because of approval delays, so revenue looks steady even when delivery is falling behind, and nobody notices until the client asks about it.

    What we doFlags when retainer revenue holds steady but contractor activity for that client drops, so a delivery problem shows up before the client brings it up.
  4. 4

    Design and stock costs get buried in supplies

    Infographic design fees and stock photo licenses for a gated whitepaper get logged as generic supplies, so nobody can see what a lead magnet actually cost to produce against what it brought in.

    What we doKeeps design and licensing costs in their own line, tied to the project, so the true cost of a lead magnet is always visible.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a content marketing agency.

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

  • Retainer revenueMonthly billing for a set number of blog posts or articles.
  • Project milestone feesWhitepapers and case studies paid in stages.
  • Gated content feesFlat fees or per-lead pricing for downloadable guides and reports.
  • Editorial strategy feesOne-time content calendar and planning engagements.

Money out

  • Contractor payoutsFreelance writers, editors, and designers paid through Upwork or direct invoice.
  • Editorial softwareCoSchedule, Airtable, and content calendar tools.
  • Design and stock licensesCanva, stock photo, and infographic design costs tied to a project.
  • Lead capture toolsForms and gating software for downloadable content.
  • Coworking and officeShared office space or a home office setup.
  • Business developmentThe agency's own outreach and proposal tools.

What we watch for you

  • Retainer revenue

    The steady piece of income that predicts next month, separate from milestone projects.

  • Cost per piece

    What a blog post or case study actually costs once writer and design pay is added up.

  • Contractor cost

    What the writer and designer bench costs against revenue overall.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month so April never derails a production schedule.

Ask Gus

Things content agency 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.

The whitepaper milestone payment made this month look huge. Is that a problem?

No. I kept it separate from your retainer income, so you can still see the steady number underneath the milestone payment.

Do I need to send 1099s to the three writers I use regularly?

Anyone not on payroll paid $2,000 or more this year gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running as we go.

One client's retainer stayed the same but I feel like we delivered less this month. Am I imagining it?

Maybe not. Contractor activity tied to that client dropped while revenue held steady. Worth a look before they notice first.

The tax side

The tax side of a content marketing agency.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. A milestone payment counted like a retainer, a writer treated like an employee, and a set-aside nobody started until April.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026, a freelance writer, editor, or designer, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
  • Foreign writers and editorsA writer based outside the US usually does not get a 1099-NEC. The accountant collects a different form instead and decides what applies.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, and the accountant confirms how much of it applies once income passes roughly $200,000 single.
  • Self-employment taxA solo owner not running payroll owes 15.3 percent in self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the Social Security wage base.

Deductions content marketing agencies miss

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

  • CoSchedule or Airtable subscription
  • Canva and design tools
  • Stock photo licenses
  • Freelance writer payments
  • Freelance designer payments
  • Lead capture and gating software
  • Coworking space
  • Business phone and internet
  • Conference tickets and travel
  • Website hosting for the agency
  • Accounting and legal fees
  • Proposal and outreach software

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 content agency year, kept every month.

Editorial calendars run all year, but tax deadlines do not move. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Kick the year off

    Last year's return gets started, the writer and designer 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Signed and filed

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has been building steadily since January.

  3. July

    Midyear check-in

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether new whitepaper projects changed the number.

  4. October

    Before calendar planning

    Clients start planning next year's content calendar and budget. Gus looks at retainer profitability before those renewal talks.

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 content marketing agencies. 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 content agency owners ask first.

A whitepaper project pays in three stages. How does Gus handle that against my regular retainers?

Each milestone payment gets its own line, apart from retainer revenue, so your steady monthly income stays visible underneath the bigger project payments.

I pay some writers per piece and others a monthly flat fee. Does that matter for the books?

It helps Gus show you real cost per piece, but it does not change how you pay them. Keep paying writers the way you already do.

One client's retainer looks the same every month but I think delivery is slipping. Can the books catch that?

Often, yes. When contractor activity tied to a client drops while their retainer revenue holds steady, Gus flags it so you see the gap before the client does.

Do gated whitepapers and guides need to be tracked differently from regular blog retainers?

Yes. Gated content fees sit in their own category, separate from retainer and milestone income, so you can see whether lead magnets are actually worth what they cost to produce.

My freelancer payments have been a mess across three different apps. Can that get sorted out?

Yes. Send the bank and card statements you have. Gus sorts what went to which writer or designer, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand inside 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.

More in organic, social & brand marketing

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