Farms, ranches & agritourism
Books and taxes for corn mazes and fall festivals.
A bundled ticket that covers the maze, the slide, and a hayride, food trucks that pay you a cut of their weekend, and a season that has to earn its whole year in six 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
October came in at $34,400. The new maze-cutting GPS unit went in as equipment, not field supplies.
- Gate bundle ticket salesBundled admissions
- Food truck revenue shareVendor fees
- Maze GPS cutting unitAttraction equipment
- Weekend attraction staffSeasonal labor
- Straw bales, county co-opField and attraction supplies
Why your books are different
Corn maze and festival books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees ticket revenue. Your business bundles a maze, a slide, a hayride, and a handful of visiting vendors into one gate price, all inside a season that closes by Halloween. When the books do not separate those pieces, you cannot tell which attraction earns its keep.
-
1
One bundled ticket covers five different things
A family pays one price at the gate that covers the maze, the slide, the hayride, and a pumpkin to take home. Rung up as a single admission, you cannot tell which attraction is worth the cost of running it next season.
What we doSplits bundled ticket revenue by a simple share you agree on, so you can see roughly what each attraction earns. -
2
Food truck and vendor cuts get mixed with ticket sales
Visiting food trucks and craft vendors often pay you a flat fee or a percentage of their weekend, collected the same way as gate admissions. Lumped together, you cannot tell how much of the day's money is really yours versus a pass-through vendor fee.
What we doKeeps vendor and food truck fees in their own line, separate from ticket sales, so what is actually yours stays clear. -
3
The maze itself gets no line of its own
Cutting a corn maze costs real money every year, in seed, in a design service or GPS unit, and in the labor to plant it in the right pattern, but that cost usually gets buried in general field expenses.
What we doTracks maze planting, design, and cutting costs in their own line, so you know what the maze costs against what it draws. -
4
A flooded-out gate day reads as nothing at all
When a Saturday floods out the field and gates stay closed, there is no ticket revenue that day, but staff still got paid and vendors still showed up expecting a crowd. Without a note, a washed-out weekend just looks like a bad month.
What we doFlags weather-closed days against payroll and vendor costs, so a rained-out weekend reads as weather, not a warning sign. -
5
Attraction equipment gets filed as decorations
A maze-cutting GPS unit, a tow-behind slide, or a new fire pit area for the festival costs thousands and lasts for seasons, but on a bank statement it can look like a one-time fall purchase.
What we doFlags large attraction purchases the month they show up and logs them as equipment, not supplies.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a corn maze and festival.
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
- Bundled admissionsGate tickets covering the maze, slide, and hayride together.
- Vendor feesFlat fees or percentage cuts collected from visiting food trucks and craft vendors.
- Group and school bookingsField trip and birthday party bookings paid ahead of the visit.
- Pumpkin and produce add-onsPumpkins and fall produce sold on top of the ticket.
- Corporate and private event rentalsAfter-hours buyouts for company parties or private groups.
Money out
- Field and attraction suppliesStraw bales, hay, and maze planting seed for the season.
- Attraction equipmentGPS cutting units, slides, and fire pit builds, logged so they get written off right.
- Seasonal laborWeekend attraction staff, ticket takers, and parking crew.
- AdvertisingLocal ads, social posts, and school flyers that bring visitors out.
- Field day expensesPortable toilets, parking prep, and signage for busy weekends.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for crowds in the maze and on the attractions, usually a bigger line than a plain farm policy.
- Vendor coordination costsPermits and site fees paid on behalf of visiting food trucks.
What we watch for you
- Revenue per visit
What a family spends past the base ticket, tracked so you know which add-ons are worth keeping.
- Vendor share of revenue
How much of the day's money is really yours versus a pass-through vendor fee.
- Weekend labor share
What attraction staff costs against what a busy Saturday brings in.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things corn maze and festival 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.
Usually it can. I logged it as attraction equipment, not a field supply, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
I use a simple share you set once, so bundled admissions still show roughly what the maze, the slide, and the hayride each bring in.
Part of it is a vendor fee, not ticket revenue, so I keep it in its own line to keep what is actually yours clear.
The tax side
The tax side of a corn maze and festival business.
Most of what goes wrong here is bundled tickets and timing. Attraction equipment filed like decorations, vendor fees mixed with admissions, and a set-aside nobody started until the season ended.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Schedule F farm incomeIncome from growing and running the maze on your own farmland generally lands on Schedule F instead of the Schedule C a typical small business files.
- Attraction equipmentGPS cutting units, slides, and similar purchases can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099s for seasonal staffAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for gate, parking, or attraction help gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Admissions and vendor tax obligationsBundled tickets and vendor fees can carry different state tax treatment than a plain farm produce sale, so Gus keeps them separate for the accountant to sort out.
Deductions corn mazes and fall festivals miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Maze planting seed
- Straw bales and hay
- GPS cutting service
- Portable toilet rental
- School flyer printing
- Parking field signage
- Slide and attraction repair
- Liability insurance
- Tractor fuel for field prep
- Fire pit and firewood
- Uniforms and staff name tags
- Vendor site permits
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 corn maze year, kept every month.
Your whole season lands in six weekends. Your taxes come on a schedule the rest of the year. 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 seasonal staff 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so the fall season funds it evenly.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed well before the maze gets planted, so spring field prep gets your full attention.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand before the season, and a look at any attraction worth adding before opening weekend.
- October
Mid-season look
Gus checks how the season is tracking against last year and flags vendor fees and attraction costs worth a second look.
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 corn mazes and fall festivals. 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 corn maze and festival owners ask first.
Can Gus split up a bundled admission ticket?
Yes. Using a simple share you set once, he keeps the maze, the slide, and the hayride visible inside one gate ticket, so you can see roughly what each attraction is worth.
How does Gus handle what food trucks pay us?
He keeps vendor fees separate from ticket sales, so what is actually your revenue and what is a pass-through vendor fee never get confused.
Do I have to change how I run the gate?
No. Run the gate, the maze, and the vendor lot the way you always have. Gus works out what happened from your bank deposits, and a bundled ticket he cannot place gets a single question, answered once and remembered.
A washed-out weekend killed our numbers. Does that hurt the books?
It shouldn't. Gus notes weather-closed days against your payroll and vendor costs, so a rained-out weekend reads as weather, not a warning sign.
Is a new maze-cutting GPS unit written off all at once?
Usually. A GPS cutting unit bought to design the maze typically counts as attraction equipment eligible for a full write-off, though some years favor spreading the cost. Gus notes the purchase and leaves the decision to the accountant.
My weekend attraction staff are paid at the end of each night. Can Gus still track that?
Yes. As long as you tell Gus what went out to the crew, he keeps attraction staff pay as its own line, separate from vendor fees, so you can see what a weekend actually cost to staff.
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