Performance, custom & powersports

Books and taxes for custom car audio shops.

Amp and sub builds, remote start installs, the monitoring fees that renew every month, and financed jobs that pay out short. 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
NovemberExample month
$13,000
what you made

November made $13,000. I kept the monitoring fees customers pay every month separate from the one-time install money, so you can see what actually renews.

  • Square counter payoutAudio and security installs
  • Customer monitoring feesSecurity monitoring income
  • Kicker and JL Audio invoiceParts and materials
  • 3M tint film orderWindow tint film
  • Affirm processing feeFinancing and card fees
Money in$47,000
Money out$34,000
Set aside for taxes$3,000
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A car audio shop's books go wrong in the same handful of spots.

A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is custom fiberglass builds, remote start installs with monthly monitoring, and financed jobs that pay out light. When the books do not know the difference, you cannot tell which work actually pays.

  1. 1

    A subwoofer box build blends parts into fabrication

    A custom fiberglass enclosure and amp build can take a full day of shop time, but the invoice often reads as one number. Booked as a single line, you cannot tell whether the equipment markup or the fabrication labor is what earns money.

    What we doSplits equipment cost from fabrication and install labor on custom build tickets, so you can see margin on each side.
  2. 2

    Monitoring fees look like one-time install income

    A remote start or security install often comes with a monthly cellular monitoring fee. Lumped in with the one-time install price, you cannot see which part of the business is actually recurring.

    What we doKeeps monitoring fees in their own category, separate from install revenue, so recurring income is visible on its own.
  3. 3

    A blown amp comeback is not free

    When an amp or wiring job comes back under warranty, the shop swaps equipment and burns bay time with no new invoice. Filed like nothing happened, the real cost of a bad install disappears.

    What we doLogs the swapped equipment and redo time against the original ticket, so a bad install's real cost does not just vanish.
  4. 4

    A partial financing approval splits into two payments

    When a customer is approved for less than the full $3,500 audio and security package, they often cover the rest with a card or cash on the spot. Recorded as one financed sale, the split between what the lender paid and what the customer paid directly gets lost.

    What we doBooks the lender's portion and the customer's direct payment as two parts of the same job, so the full sale price and where it actually came from both stay clear.
  5. 5

    A bulk speaker and amp order wrecks a month

    Stocking up on subwoofers, amps, and wiring kits before the holiday remote start rush makes that month look terrible and the months you sell through it look artificially good.

    What we doKeeps equipment purchases in one steady line and tells you when a stock-up is the reason a month looks thin.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a car audio shop.

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

  • Audio and security installsAmps, subs, remote start, and alarm installs, parts and labor together.
  • Security monitoring incomeMonthly cellular monitoring fees, kept apart from install revenue.
  • Window tint jobsStandalone tint tickets, usually same-day.
  • Custom fabrication buildsFiberglass enclosures and one-off builds, priced by the job.
  • Financed installsJobs split between what a lender approved and what the customer paid directly.

Money out

  • Tech wages and commissionsKept apart so you can see labor against the work it paid for.
  • Parts and materialsAmps, subs, and wiring from Kicker, JL Audio, and Rockford Fosgate.
  • Window tint filmFilm rolls and supplies from 3M and similar suppliers.
  • Remote start hardwareCompustar and Viper units and modules.
  • Shop rent and utilitiesThe bay, the sound booth, and the fabrication area.
  • Marketing and lead feesGoogle ads, car show booths, and local sponsorships.
  • Financing and card feesWhat the lender or processor kept before you got paid.
  • Freight on parts ordersShipping on amps, subs, and remote start kits.

What we watch for you

  • Monitoring subscribers

    How many customers are still paying monitoring fees. Steady growth here is real recurring revenue.

  • Partial approval rate

    How often a financed deal needs a card or cash top-off. Rising numbers change how you quote financing up front.

  • Comeback rate

    How often an install needs a warranty redo. Rising numbers point to a wiring or install issue.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things car audio shop 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.

How many customers are actually still paying for monitoring each month?

I keep monitoring fees in their own line, so you can watch that number grow or shrink apart from one-time install jobs.

Why does November look thin when we did a big holiday remote start push?

That amp and remote start order you placed this month was big. It is sitting in parts and materials, not lost, and it evens out as you install through it.

A customer was only approved for half the financing and paid the rest on a card. How does that get tracked?

As two parts of the same job. The lender's portion and the card payment both count toward the full sale, so the price stays honest and so does where the money came from.

The tax side

The tax side of a car audio shop.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. Equipment counted the day it is bought instead of the day it sells, monitoring income mixed with install revenue, 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.

  • Shop and fabrication equipmentFabrication tools, sound testing equipment, and a tint booth can usually be written off the year you buy them, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
  • Amp, sub, and remote start inventoryEquipment held for sale is inventory, not an expense the day it is bought. What actually sold during the month is what counts.
  • Monitoring income and timingMonthly monitoring fees are recurring income collected as it comes in. Keeping it separate from install revenue makes the return, and your own numbers, easier to trust.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.

Deductions custom car audio shops miss

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

  • Fabrication tools and supplies
  • Sound testing and tuning equipment
  • Tint booth maintenance
  • Diagnostic and wiring tools
  • Freight on amps and subs
  • Car show booth costs
  • Google local ads
  • Shop rags and cleaners
  • Uniforms with your logo
  • Tool financing and interest
  • Liability insurance
  • Trade publication subscriptions

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 car audio shop's year, kept every month.

Remote start season and summer car shows come every year on their own schedule. Your taxes come on a schedule too. 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

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, monitoring subscriber counts are reviewed, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

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

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer car show season changed the number more than expected.

  4. October

    Before the remote start rush

    Before cold weather brings the remote start rush, Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything worth doing before December.

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 custom car audio shops. 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 car audio shop owners ask first.

How does Gus handle monthly monitoring fees for remote start and security systems?

He keeps monitoring income in its own category, separate from one-time install revenue, so you can see how much of your business is actually recurring.

Can Gus split a custom build's parts from the fabrication labor?

Yes. He splits equipment cost from fabrication and install time on custom builds, so you can see which side of the job actually earns.

A customer's Affirm approval only covered part of the job. How is the rest tracked?

As a second payment on the same ticket. Gus books the lender's portion and what the customer paid directly as two parts of one sale, so the full price and where it came from both stay clear.

Do I write off my amp and sub inventory when I buy it?

No. Equipment held for sale is inventory. What actually sold during the month is what shows up on the return, not what you ordered.

A customer's install comes back under warranty. Does that change the books?

Gus logs the swapped equipment and redo hours against the original ticket, so the real cost of a bad install does not just disappear.

My books are behind after the holiday rush. Is that a problem?

No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, 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 performance, custom & powersports

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