Pet services
Books and taxes for dog behaviorists.
Initial behavior consults, multi-month treatment plans, vet-referred aggression cases, and travel to homes for in-context evaluations. 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
January came in at $9,600. New Year resolutions brought in more initial consults than usual, so I kept those apart from your ongoing treatment plan check-ins.
- Square, initial consultInitial consults
- Vet clinic, referral caseVeterinary referral work
- Treatment plan installmentTreatment plans
- Mileage reimbursement, home visitTravel and mileage
- Certification renewalContinuing education
Why your books are different
Dog behaviorist books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees a consult fee and a mileage log. Your business is treatment plans billed across months, cases sent by vets dealing with real aggression or anxiety, and evaluations that only make sense done in the dog's own home. The books need to track all of it.
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1
Multi-month treatment plans get counted at the first payment
A client pays for a treatment plan that runs across several months of check-ins, and if the whole thing counts as income the day it starts, later months where the real follow-up work happens look thinner than they are.
What we doCounts treatment plan payments as each stage of work is delivered, so income reflects the ongoing case work, not just the first session. -
2
Vet-referred cases blur into self-booked clients
A serious aggression case sent by a veterinarian looks identical in the bank feed to a client who found you through a general search, hiding how much of your caseload actually comes from clinical referrals.
What we doTags veterinary referral cases separately from self-booked consults, so you know which relationships bring in your more serious work. -
3
Home visit travel gets absorbed into the session fee
Evaluating a dog in its own home often means real drive time and mileage, but if that cost gets folded into a flat session price, you cannot tell whether your pricing actually covers the travel a case requires.
What we doKeeps travel and mileage visible against session fees, so home visit pricing reflects the real cost of getting there. -
4
Certification renewals get lost as a random fee
Behavior certification renewals and required continuing education hit the account periodically and get lumped in with software subscriptions or ignored entirely.
What we doCatches certification and course fees when they land and puts them in their own line, instead of letting them blend into whatever category is closest.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a dog behaviorist practice.
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
- Initial consultsFirst-time behavior assessments, billed separately from ongoing plans.
- Treatment plansMulti-month case work, counted as each stage is delivered.
- Veterinary referral workCases sent by vets dealing with aggression or anxiety.
- Virtual follow-upsVideo check-ins billed apart from in-person visits.
Money out
- Travel and mileageDrive time for home visit evaluations.
- Continuing educationCertification renewals and required coursework.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for working directly with aggressive or anxious dogs.
- Assessment tools and equipmentMuzzles, long lines, and safety equipment for evaluations.
- MarketingVet clinic outreach and referral partnerships.
What we watch for you
- Referral share
How much of your caseload comes from vet clinics versus clients who found you directly.
- Plan balance
Treatment plan work clients have paid for but you have not yet delivered.
- Travel cost per case
What mileage to home visits costs against what a session actually charges.
- Certification spend
What staying credentialed costs each year, tracked apart from routine expenses.
Ask Gus
Things dog behaviorists 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.
Only the work delivered so far. I count each stage as it happens, so a big plan payment does not make one month look stronger than the case work actually completed.
Yes, I tag vet-referred cases separately from self-booked consults, so you can see how much of your caseload comes from those clinical relationships.
Bring the accountant in on that one. Whether they end up an employee or an independent contractor depends on how the arrangement is structured, and it is worth getting right from the start.
The tax side
The tax side of a dog behaviorist practice.
Timing on treatment plans and mileage for home visits are the two things that matter most here.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Treatment plan income counted as deliveredA multi-month treatment plan is not fully earned the day the first payment clears. Gus tracks the balance so income reflects case work actually completed.
- Mileage for home visit evaluationsA behavior case often needs to be seen where it actually happens, which means driving to the dog rather than the other way around. That mileage runs 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents after, and Gus keeps a running total from what you log.
- An associate behaviorist, employee or contractorSomeone taking on cases using your intake process and referral relationships on a regular basis usually looks more like an employee than an independent contractor.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when consults, plans, and referral work are tracked accurately all year.
Deductions dog behaviorists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Assessment and safety equipment
- Muzzles and long lines
- Liability insurance
- Vehicle mileage to home visits
- Certification renewals
- Continuing education courses
- Phone plan for client updates
- Video consult software
- Printed treatment plan materials
- Vet clinic outreach costs
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 dog behaviorist's year, kept every month.
New Year resolutions bring a wave of consults, and your taxes come on a schedule of their own. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
New Year rush
Consult requests jump as owners resolve to fix behavior issues. Last year's return gets started and a monthly set-aside is planned.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether vet referral volume this year changed the number.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at certification renewals coming due and any equipment worth buying before December.
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 dog behaviorists. 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 dog behaviorists ask first.
When does a multi-month treatment plan actually count as income?
As each stage of the case gets delivered, not the day the client first pays. That keeps a big plan sale from making one month look far stronger than the ongoing work actually completed.
Does Gus track which cases come from vet referrals?
Yes. Referral cases are tagged separately from self-booked consults, so you can see over time how much of your caseload comes from those clinical relationships versus general inquiries.
Can I deduct mileage for home visit evaluations?
Usually, yes. A dog's behavior often only makes sense in its own environment, so the driving it takes to see that is a real cost of doing the work, and Gus keeps a running mileage total so it is not forgotten at year end.
My books have never separated consults from ongoing treatment plans. Can that change?
Yes. Send your bank statements and Gus starts sorting initial consults from ongoing plan payments going forward. Most practitioners get a clear picture within a month or two.
I'm considering bringing on an associate to help with cases. What happens at tax time?
It depends on how the work is structured. Someone taking cases through your intake and referral network usually looks more like an employee, and Gus flags that before it becomes a costly habit.
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