Small manufacturers & fabricators
Books and taxes for wholesale countertop and solid surface fabricators.
A kitchen dealer's fabrication order, a slab yard purchase, on-site templating time, and a CNC saw blade replacement. Your own bookkeeper stays on it all year, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
March came in at $25,500. The broken slab from the Kendrick job is logged as yield loss, not a clean material cost, so it does not blend into normal usage.
- Northgate Kitchen and Bath, order 88Dealer fabrication orders
- Quartz slab loadSlab inventory
- CNC saw blades and water jet nozzleFabrication consumables
- Templating crew, subdivision runTemplating labor
- Remnant sale, cash saleRemnant sales
Why your books are different
Countertop fabricator books go wrong at the slab yard, not the showroom.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your shop buys expensive slabs that sit in a yard before they are cut, sends a crew to template a job site before fabrication even starts, and sells to installers and dealers rather than direct to homeowners. When the books do not track slab yield and templating separately from finished orders, a broken slab or a wasted trip looks like ordinary material cost instead of the real loss it is.
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1
A broken or misfit slab looks like normal material use
A slab that cracks during cutting or does not yield enough usable material for a job is a real loss, but if it is booked the same as a slab that was used cleanly, you cannot see how often breakage is actually eating into margin.
What we doKeeps slab breakage and yield loss in its own line so the real cost of waste is visible, separate from clean material use. -
2
Templating trips disappear into general labor
Sending a crew to laser template a kitchen before a slab is ever cut takes real time and mileage, and if it is not tracked against the job it serves, a job with a difficult site visit costs more than the price accounted for.
What we doKeeps templating labor in its own line so its cost against a job's price is visible. -
3
Remnant sales blend into regular fabrication orders
Selling a leftover slab piece for a small vanity or backsplash brings in real money, but if it is lumped in with full dealer fabrication orders, you cannot see how much of the yard's income actually comes from remnants.
What we doKeeps remnant sales in their own category so both revenue streams are clear. -
4
Slab inventory bought ahead skews a month
Buying slabs in bulk to secure a popular quartz pattern can make one month look expensive and the next look great, when the slabs are really just sitting in the yard waiting to be cut.
What we doKeeps slab inventory in one steady line and flags when a bulk buy is the reason a month looks thin.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a countertop fabricator.
Set up once for how dealer orders get paid and what a slab actually costs once yield and templating are counted. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Dealer fabrication ordersOrders from kitchen and bath dealers, builders, and installers.
- Remnant salesSmaller sales of leftover slab material.
- Templating feesCharges billed separately for on-site measuring.
- Edge and seam upgradesPremium edge profiles and seam work billed apart from base fabrication.
Money out
- Slab inventoryQuartz, granite, and solid surface slabs held in the yard.
- Fabrication consumablesSaw blades, water jet nozzles, and polishing pads.
- Templating laborCrew time and mileage for on-site measuring.
- Equipment loan or leasePayments on the CNC saw and water jet.
- Yard rent and utilitiesSlab storage and shop building costs.
- Delivery and install laborCrew time to deliver and set finished countertops.
- Waste and slab scrap disposalHauling broken or unusable slab material.
What we watch for you
- Slab yield rate
How much usable material comes out of each slab, so breakage and waste do not hide in normal costs.
- Templating cost per job
Crew time and mileage against a job's price, so a difficult site visit's real cost is visible.
- Remnant income
How much of the yard's income comes from leftover material, separate from full orders.
- Slab inventory value
What is sitting in the yard waiting to be cut, so a bulk buy is not mistaken for a bad month.
Ask Gus
Things countertop fabricator 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.
No, I keep breakage in its own line, so you can see how often it is actually happening instead of it blending into clean material use.
I keep those separate, so you can see how much of your income comes from remnants versus full dealer fabrication orders.
If they are not on payroll and you pay them $2,000 or more this year, yes, a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of a countertop fabrication business.
Most of what goes wrong here is keeping slab yield and templating costs visible and knowing what slab inventory is worth at year end.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- CNC saws and water jetsFabrication equipment can usually be written off, often in the year it is bought. Section 179 covers up to $2,560,000 and bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Slab inventory on handSlabs bought ahead and sitting in the yard at year end get valued and matched against what actually sold, rather than expensed the day they were bought.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026, including templating or install crews, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when slab yield and templating cost are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions wholesale countertop and solid surface fabricators miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Saw blades and water jet nozzles
- Polishing pads and compounds
- Templating equipment maintenance
- Edge profile tooling
- Freight for slab delivery
- Forklift and slab rack maintenance
- Safety gear and dust masks
- Delivery vehicle fuel
- Shop uniforms
- Small hand tools
- Yard insurance
- Waste and scrap slab disposal
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 countertop fabrication year, kept every month.
Dealer orders land on their own schedule, tied to building activity more than a season. Your taxes still run on their own schedule. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Slabs reviewed
Year end slab stock gets valued, last year's return gets started, and your monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Slab year filed
The accountant files and signs your return. Since the set-aside has been running since January, a month of heavy slab buying does not turn into an April surprise.
- July
Midyear slab check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether new dealer accounts this year changed the number.
- October
Ahead of the year end
Gus looks at any saw or water jet buy worth making before December and flags it for the accountant's call on depreciation.
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 wholesale countertop and solid surface fabricators. 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 countertop fabricators ask first.
Can Gus track slab breakage separately from normal material use?
Yes. Breakage and low yield get their own line, so you can see how often it is really happening instead of it hiding in general material cost.
Do we have to change how we quote a dealer fabrication order?
No. Keep quoting fabrication orders however you already do. Gus reads it off your bank statement, and if a payment is unclear he asks once and remembers your answer.
Can Gus separate remnant sales from full fabrication orders?
Yes. They get their own category, so you can see how much of the yard's income comes from remnants versus full dealer orders.
We bill templating separately from fabrication. Does that matter for the books?
It helps. Gus keeps templating labor in its own line so you can see whether a job's site visit actually cost what the fee covered.
Our books are behind after adding a couple of new dealer accounts. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts dealer orders and remnant sales apart, the accountant checks the result, and most owners know where they stand within a week.
Do I write off a new CNC saw all at once?
Often you can. A CNC saw or water jet bought for the shop can usually be deducted the year it is bought, though sometimes spreading it out fits the year better. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
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