Consulting & business services
Books and taxes for coworking spaces.
Eighty-five members across three membership tiers, a meeting room booked out for the afternoon, a landlord's common area fee that jumped without warning, and the coffee and cleaning costs that scale with how full the space actually is. 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
February came in at $10,800. Your landlord's common area maintenance charge jumped this month, so I flagged it as its own line instead of letting it quietly inflate your regular lease cost.
- Membership dues, 85 membersMembership income
- Meeting room bookingsMeeting room rental income
- Building CAM adjustmentLease and common area fees
- Cleaning serviceCleaning and janitorial
- Coffee and kitchen suppliesKitchen and coffee supplies
Why your books are different
A coworking space's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and a lease bill. Your business is three membership tiers that members upgrade and downgrade mid-month, a meeting room that gets booked on top of memberships, and a landlord's common area fee that moves on its own. When the books do not know that, a jump in one cost line can look like your whole business got more expensive.
-
1
A mid-month tier change gets billed wrong
A member upgrades from a hot desk to a private office halfway through the month, and if the change is not prorated correctly, either you undercharge for the upgrade or overcharge for days they were on the old plan.
What we doTracks mid-month membership changes so upgrades and downgrades get billed for the days each tier was actually used. -
2
Meeting room income blends into membership dues
Meeting room and event space rentals are a different, more variable kind of income than steady monthly membership dues, and mixed together, it is hard to see how much of the business is the reliable recurring base.
What we doKeeps meeting room and event rental income separate from membership dues, so the steady base of the business is visible on its own. -
3
A common area fee spike looks like your lease got more expensive
A landlord's common area maintenance charge can shift with property taxes or shared utility costs, and folded into a flat lease expense, a spike looks like your rent went up when it is really a separate, variable charge.
What we doKeeps common area maintenance fees in their own line, apart from base lease, so you can see what is actually driving a cost increase. -
4
Kitchen and cleaning costs are not tied to occupancy
Coffee, snacks, and cleaning costs scale with how full the space actually is, and without tracking them against occupancy, it is hard to tell if a rising cost means more members or just more waste.
What we doKeeps kitchen and cleaning costs visible against member count, so rising costs can be checked against actual occupancy.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a coworking space.
Set up once for how you bill and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Membership incomeHot desk, dedicated desk, and private office dues.
- Meeting room rental incomeHourly and day-rate bookings for meeting spaces.
- Event space rental incomeAfter-hours rentals for private events.
- Day-pass incomeDrop-in fees for non-members using the space for a day.
Money out
- Lease and common area feesBase rent plus variable common area maintenance charges.
- Cleaning and janitorialRegular cleaning service for shared and private spaces.
- Kitchen and coffee suppliesCoffee, snacks, and kitchen consumables for members.
- Community manager payrollWages for staff running the front desk and member relations.
- Furniture, internet, and AV equipmentDesks, high-speed internet, and meeting room technology.
What we watch for you
- Membership renewal rate
How many members renew each month across your different tiers.
- Meeting room versus membership mix
How much of your income is steady membership dues versus variable room bookings.
- Cost per occupied seat
What kitchen and cleaning costs run against how many members are actually using the space.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things coworking space 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 track mid-month changes like that, so the billing reflects the days on each tier instead of guessing at the whole month.
Not exactly. I keep that fee in its own line, apart from your base lease, so you can see it's a separate charge that moved, not your rent itself.
I track those costs against your member count, so you can check whether the increase matches higher occupancy or something else.
The tax side
The tax side of a coworking space.
Most of what goes wrong here is separating variable lease charges from your base rent and keeping room income visible on its own. Handled right, the year does not surprise you.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Furniture and equipment write-offsDesks, furniture, and AV equipment bought for the business can usually be written off in the year they are purchased. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Payroll tax depositsWages for community managers and front desk staff carry payroll tax obligations that run on their own schedule, separate from the business's income tax.
- Self-employment taxOwner profit that isn't run through payroll carries a 15.3 percent self-employment tax up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base.
- The pass-through deductionA coworking space's profit can often qualify for up to a 20 percent deduction off taxable income, confirmed by the accountant once occupancy and costs are settled for the year.
Deductions coworking spaces miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Furniture and desk equipment
- High-speed internet and AV systems
- Cleaning and janitorial service
- Kitchen and coffee supplies
- Community manager payroll
- Business liability insurance
- Marketing and local advertising
- Membership management software
- Signage and interior upgrades
- Continuing education courses
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 coworking space's year, checked in four times.
Membership renewals and seasonal remote-work trends move differently through the year. Gus keeps your own taxes on schedule alongside them. 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, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, as membership renewals kick off the new year.
- April
Filed. Done.
Filed and signed, with nothing left to figure out, since the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether membership renewal rates are holding steady.
- October
Before year end
A look at furniture, equipment, and software upgrades worth doing before December closes out the year.
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 coworking spaces. 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 coworking space owners ask first.
A member changed membership tiers in the middle of the month. Does Gus handle the prorated billing?
Yes. Mid-month tier changes are tracked so the billing reflects the days a member was actually on each plan.
My landlord's common area fee spiked this month. Does that mean my whole lease got more expensive?
Not necessarily. Gus keeps that fee separate from your base lease, so you can see it as its own variable charge rather than a rent increase.
Can Gus tell me if my meeting room bookings are actually a growing part of the business?
Yes. Meeting room and event rental income are kept apart from membership dues, so you can see how much of your revenue is that more variable income.
Coffee and cleaning costs went up this quarter. How do I know if that's normal?
Gus tracks those costs against your member count, so you can check whether the increase lines up with more people using the space.
My books are behind after a stretch of member turnover and tier changes. Is that fixable?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have from membership billing and room bookings. Gus sorts them out, 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.
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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