IT & tech services
Books and taxes for cybersecurity consultants.
A monthly monitoring retainer, a one-time penetration test, per-seat licenses for endpoint tools, and a subcontracted analyst for a big audit. Your own bookkeeper sorts 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 $14,700. The incident response call for Marsh Logistics was a flat emergency fee, so I kept it apart from your ongoing monitoring retainers, they will not blend together.
- Monitoring retainers x6Monitoring retainers
- Marsh Logistics incident responseIncident response fees
- Huntress per-seat billingSecurity tool licensing
- R. Alvarez penetration testContract analysts
- Cyber liability insuranceBusiness insurance
Why your books are different
Cybersecurity consulting books go wrong at the retainer and the emergency call.
A generalist sees a deposit and a bill. Your business runs on flat monthly monitoring retainers, one-time audits and penetration tests, and the occasional incident response call billed at a premium. When the books blend those, you cannot tell which work actually pays for your time.
-
1
An incident response call looks like a normal retainer month
A client under active attack who pays a premium emergency fee for a weekend of work can make that month look like your retainers suddenly grew, when it was really a one-time call that will not repeat.
What we doKeeps incident response fees in their own line, apart from monitoring retainers, so a strong month reads honestly. -
2
Per-seat security tool costs creep without anyone noticing
Endpoint monitoring and threat detection tools bill per protected seat, and as client headcounts grow the tool bill grows with them, often faster than the retainer price was set to cover.
What we doKeeps per-seat tool costs in their own line so you can see whether a retainer's price still covers what it costs to run. -
3
A contract analyst for a big audit looks like a plain expense
Bringing in a subcontracted analyst for a compliance audit or a large penetration test and paying them like an ordinary bill hides whether that engagement actually made money after their pay.
What we doKeeps contract analyst pay in its own line and tracks it toward the 1099 threshold, tied to the engagement it supported. -
4
A compliance audit fee gets mixed with monthly monitoring
A one-time SOC 2 readiness review or a compliance audit paid as a lump sum looks like a great retainer month if it lands in the same deposit as your recurring clients.
What we doBooks one-time audit and readiness fees apart from recurring retainers so you can see which work is repeatable. -
5
Cyber liability insurance and tool licensing blur together
Your own errors-and-omissions and cyber liability coverage and the security tools you license to monitor clients both show up as insurance or software, making it hard to see what protecting your own business actually costs.
What we doKeeps your business insurance separate from client-facing tool licensing, so overhead never gets overstated.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a cybersecurity consulting business.
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
- Monitoring retainersFlat monthly fees for ongoing threat monitoring and response.
- Audit and assessment feesOne-time compliance audits, readiness reviews, and risk assessments.
- Penetration testingStandalone engagements to test a client's defenses.
- Incident response feesPremium billing for active attacks, kept apart from retainers.
Money out
- Security tool licensingPer-seat charges from endpoint and threat detection tools.
- Contract analystsSubcontracted help for audits and large penetration tests.
- Business insuranceErrors-and-omissions and cyber liability coverage for your own firm.
- Certification renewalsContinuing education and credential fees to keep certifications current.
- Reporting and documentation toolsSoftware used to write and deliver client reports.
- Business phone and mobile dataKept separate from personal use.
What we watch for you
- Retainer floor
Monthly monitoring income against total income, the base that holds without a new audit sold.
- Tool cost per seat
What security tools cost against seats covered, so a retainer's price still makes sense.
- Analyst spend
What contract analysts are paid, tracked toward the 1099 threshold and tied to the engagement.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things cybersecurity consultants 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 booked it as a one-time incident response fee, apart from your retainers, so it reads as the exception it was.
Yes, I keep tool licensing in its own line so you can see whether a retainer still covers what it costs to run.
Yes, since it crossed $2,000 and she is not on payroll. I have been tracking the total, so the form is ready by January 31.
The tax side
The tax side of a cybersecurity consulting business.
Most of what goes wrong here is a one-time engagement blended into a retainer, or a contract analyst paid without a running total kept for the 1099.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Contractor 1099s for analystsAny subcontracted analyst not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the running total all year.
- Self-employment tax for solo consultantsA one-person consulting practice pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside has to cover both.
- The pass-through deductionMost solo consultants can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when retainer and project income are tracked cleanly.
- Home office deductionA consultant working from a dedicated space at home can usually deduct a portion of home costs tied to that space.
Deductions cybersecurity consultants miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Security tool per-seat licensing
- Certification exam and renewal fees
- Cyber liability insurance
- Home office costs
- Reporting and documentation software
- Business phone and mobile data
- Continuing education and training
- Trade conference travel
- Laptop and testing hardware
- Contract analyst payments
- Professional association dues
- Encrypted backup and storage tools
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 cybersecurity consulting year, kept every month.
Incidents happen on their own schedule. Your books stay current no matter how the month looks, and the return follows. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
New year, clean books
Last year's return gets started, the analyst 1099 list is finalized, and a monthly set-aside means April is already handled.
- April
Filed, no scramble
Your return is filed and signed, with retainer and one-time audit income already sorted apart, so nothing gets untangled after the fact.
- July
Six months in
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this year's retainers grew or an incident spike skewed the picture.
- October
Before renewal season
Gus looks at tools or certifications worth buying before December and flags any tool cost creep worth trimming.
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 cybersecurity consultants. 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 cybersecurity consultants ask first.
I billed a client a premium rate for an emergency response call. Does that skew my books?
No. Gus books incident response fees separately from your monitoring retainers, so a big emergency month reads as the exception it was, not as retainer growth.
My tool costs are billed per seat and change every month as clients grow. Can Gus track that?
Yes. Security tool licensing gets its own line, so you can see the real cost against what a retainer brings in.
I bring in a contract analyst for bigger audits. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Gus keeps analyst pay in its own line and tracks it toward the 1099 threshold.
Do I owe sales tax on a penetration test I sold to an out-of-state client?
It depends on your state and the client's, and consulting services are often treated differently than software or hardware. Gus flags it so you and the accountant can confirm.
My books are behind because I never separated retainers from one-off audits. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send what you have. Gus sorts retainer income from one-time engagements, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand within 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