Craft beverage producers

Books and taxes for custom-crush wineries.

Production fees from a dozen client brands, barrel storage billed by the month, a shared crush pad, and your own house label made in between everyone else's schedule. 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
AprilExample month
$17,300
what you made

April came in at $17,300. Barrel storage billing went out to every client on schedule, and I kept your house label's costs apart from client work so you can see what your own wine actually costs you.

  • Client production fee paymentCrush and production fees
  • Barrel and case storage feesStorage fees
  • Missing Link mobile bottlingBottling service costs
  • Cooperage order for house labelHouse label barrels
  • Bailee's customers insurance premiumInsurance and permits
Money in$68,500
Money out$51,200
Set aside for taxes$5,600
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A custom-crush winery's books go wrong at the line between your wine and theirs.

A generalist sees one winery and one cellar. Your business is a dozen client brands sharing your crush pad, wine that belongs to someone else's label even though it is made in your building, and a house wine of your own squeezed in between everyone else's schedule. When the books blur that line, nothing about the year is trustworthy.

  1. 1

    Client wine gets booked like your own inventory

    Grapes and wine that belong to a client brand are not your inventory, even while they sit in your tanks and barrels. Booked as your own stock, your balance sheet overstates what you actually own and understates what you are just holding for someone else.

    What we doKeeps client-owned wine off your inventory and tracks it as work performed for a fee instead, so what you own and what you are holding for others stay clearly separate.
  2. 2

    Barrel storage billing gets lost across a dozen small accounts

    A monthly barrel or case storage fee charged to each client brand is small on its own, but across a dozen accounts, it is easy to lose track of who has actually paid and who is behind.

    What we doKeeps storage billing matched to each client account, so nothing gets missed even with many small recurring charges.
  3. 3

    Shared equipment costs never get split fairly

    A crush pad, a bottling line, and lab equipment serve every client brand at once, and without a clear way to divide those costs, no single client's production run shows its real cost.

    What we doAllocates shared facility costs across client work by volume or usage, so each client's true production cost is visible.
  4. 4

    A bulk bottling run mixes several clients' cases

    Glass, corks, and labels bought in bulk for one bottling day often cover several client brands at once, and the cost needs to be split by actual case count, not guessed at.

    What we doTracks packaging bought for a shared bottling run and splits it by each client's actual case count.
  5. 5

    House label sales blend into client service fees

    Fees for crushing and bottling client brands are a service business, while your own house label is a wine sales business, and blended into one number, you cannot tell which part of the operation is actually carrying the other.

    What we doKeeps client production fees and house label wine sales in separate categories, so each side of the business is visible on its own.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a custom-crush and alternating proprietor winery.

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

  • Crush and production feesPer-ton or per-case fees charged to client brands for crushing and cellar work.
  • Storage feesMonthly barrel and case storage billed to each client account.
  • Bottling service feesFees for running a client's wine through the bottling line.
  • House label wine salesSales of your own label, kept apart from client service fees.

Money out

  • Shared facility costsCrush pad, tank, and lab equipment costs, allocated across client work.
  • Bottling service costsMobile bottling line services like Missing Link, or your own line's upkeep.
  • House label barrels and juiceBarrels and any grapes or juice purchased for your own label, from coopers like World Cooperage.
  • Packaging for shared bottling runsGlass, corks, and labels bought in bulk, split by client case count.
  • Cellar staff wagesCrew running crush, cellar, and bottling work across client accounts.
  • Insurance and permitsBailee's customers coverage for client property, plus your federal and state permits.

What we watch for you

  • Client storage receivables

    What each client account owes on recurring barrel and case storage, so nothing slips through across many small billings.

  • Cost per client production run

    Shared facility costs allocated fairly, so each client's true production cost is visible.

  • House label versus service revenue

    How much of the business is your own wine against fees for client work, so you know which one is really carrying the other.

  • The set-aside

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

Ask Gus

Things custom-crush winery 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.

Does the wine we are making for a client count as our inventory?

No. That wine belongs to the client even while it sits in your tanks. I track it as work performed for a fee, not as something you own, so your books reflect what is really yours.

We ran a bottling day for three clients at once. How do we split the glass and cork costs?

By actual case count for each client. I tracked what was bought for that run and split it accordingly, so no one client is overpaying for another's cases.

Who owes federal excise tax on the wine we make for a client under their own bond?

That usually falls to the client's own bonded status, not yours, but alternating proprietorship rules can get specific. This one is above my pay grade, so I keep clean records and the accountant sorts out who owes what.

The tax side

The tax side of running a custom-crush and alternating proprietor winery.

Most of what goes wrong here is drawing the line between what you own and what you are holding for someone else, and between service revenue and your own wine sales.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Federal excise tax under alternating proprietorshipUnder an alternating proprietorship, each client brand usually holds its own federal bond and owes its own excise tax on the wine made under that bond, separate from what your house label owes on its own wine. This is a detail worth confirming with your excise tax preparer for each client relationship, not something to assume.
  • Client property is not your inventoryGrapes, juice, and wine owned by a client brand should not appear as your own inventory, even while they are in your custody. Clean records of what belongs to whom make the accountant's job, and any audit, far easier.
  • Shared equipment and facility costsCrush pads, tanks, and bottling lines can usually be written off the year you buy them, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property placed in service after January 19, 2025. How shared costs are allocated to clients matters for your own return.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated custom-crush facilities can take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income. It comes out right when client service fees and house label sales are kept separate all year.

Deductions custom-crush and alternating proprietor wineries miss

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

  • Shared crush pad and lab equipment
  • Bottling line maintenance
  • House label barrels and juice
  • Bailee's customers insurance
  • Federal and state permit fees
  • Cellar crew wages
  • Client billing and accounting software
  • Forklift and warehouse equipment
  • Water and wastewater treatment
  • Case goods for the house label
  • Lab testing for client and house wines
  • Facility utilities

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 custom-crush winery's year, kept every month.

Your calendar runs on client harvest schedules as much as your own, but your return is still due every April. Your team keeps you ahead of it. 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, client billing from the past year gets reconciled, and you get a monthly set-aside for income tax so the excise tax bucket stays separate and April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your income tax return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January across every client account.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether new client accounts changed the number.

  4. October

    Before harvest fills the crush pad

    Before client harvest schedules take over the facility, Gus looks at shared equipment worth buying and anything to do 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-crush and alternating proprietor wineries. 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 custom-crush winery owners ask first.

Does wine we make for a client show up as our inventory?

No. Gus tracks it as work performed for a fee, since the wine belongs to the client, not to you, even while it is in your building.

How does Gus split shared facility costs across clients?

By volume or usage for each client's production run, so no single client's cost is guessed at or unfairly loaded onto another.

Can Gus keep our house label separate from client service fees?

Yes. Client production and storage fees are kept apart from house label wine sales, so you can see which side of the business is really carrying the other.

Who is responsible for excise tax on wine we make for a client?

Under an alternating proprietorship, that usually falls to the client's own bond, not yours. It is worth confirming for each relationship with your excise tax preparer, since the details matter.

We bill a dozen client accounts for barrel storage every month. Can Gus track who has paid?

Yes. He keeps storage billing matched to each client account, so a missed payment does not slip through across many small recurring charges.

Our client work and our house label have never been on separate books. Can Gus fix that?

Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them into client fees, storage, and house label sales from here forward, and the accountant checks it.

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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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