Restaurants, cafes & food service
Books and taxes for donut shops.
Early morning cash sales, dozens that never make it to closing, frying oil bought on its own schedule, and gas station racks that pay weeks late. Gus sorts every one, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one clear number each month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
June brought in $5,500. National Donut Day alone moved twice the usual Friday volume, so do not expect July to keep that pace.
- Square POS batch depositCounter sales
- Cash deposit, dailyCounter sales
- Flour and oil orderIngredient purchases
- Frying oil deliveryFrying oil
- ADP payrollWages and payroll taxes
Why your books are different
A donut shop's books go wrong in the same five places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. A donut shop makes a product that cannot be held past a day, runs on heavy early morning cash, and supplies racks that pay weeks after delivery. When those pieces are not tracked apart, the owner cannot tell how much of each batch actually sold.
-
1
Same-day shrink never gets counted
Donuts do not keep past a day, and trays tossed at closing are a real cost. Left uncounted, nobody knows how much of each batch actually sold versus how much went in the trash.
What we doAsks for a nightly shrink count and tracks it as its own line, so the real cost of what did not sell is visible. -
2
Frying oil gets buried in ingredient cost
Oil for the fryers is bought and changed on its own schedule, and lumped in with dough, filling, and glaze, the true cost of frying gets lost inside a bigger ingredient number.
What we doKeeps frying oil in its own line, apart from dough and toppings, so a real cost change is easy to spot. -
3
Early morning cash sales get undercounted
A shop that opens at four in the morning and runs heavy cash for the first few hours can lose track of the drawer if nobody is counting it consistently before the day gets busy.
What we doAsks for a daily cash count and records it the same as any card sale, so early morning sales do not quietly disappear. -
4
Prepaid dozen orders get counted twice, or not at all
An office calls ahead and pays for six dozen for pickup the next morning. If that payment is not matched to the pickup day, it either shows up as income too early or gets missed entirely.
What we doMatches prepaid orders to the day they are actually picked up, so the sale lands in the right month. -
5
Gas station and convenience store racks pay on delay
A shop that supplies donuts to a rack at a nearby gas station or convenience store is often paid weeks after delivery, and without tracking what is owed, a real production week can look like it made nothing.
What we doTracks what wholesale rack accounts owe against what has been paid, so a slow-looking week is not mistaken for a slow week of baking.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a donut shop.
Set up once for how the counter, the racks, and prepaid orders each run. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Counter salesWalk-up sales, cash and card, rung through Square.
- Drive-thru salesOrders taken and paid at the window.
- Office dozen and prepaid ordersBooked to the day the order is picked up, not the day it is paid.
- Wholesale rack accountsGas stations and convenience stores billed and paid on delay.
Money out
- Ingredient purchasesFlour, sugar, filling, and glaze, kept apart from frying oil.
- Frying oilBought and changed on its own schedule, tracked separately from ingredients.
- Wages and payroll taxesEarly shift and counter pay.
- Boxes and packagingDozen boxes, bags, and coffee cups.
- Rent and building costsLease, utilities, and repairs on the shop.
- Shop equipmentFryers, proofers, and glazing tables, logged apart from ingredients so they get written off right.
- Marketing and local adsSignage and local advertising.
What we watch for you
- Food cost percentage
Ingredient and oil cost against sales, the number that catches a price jump early.
- Nightly shrink
What gets thrown out at closing, tracked so it is a known cost, not a mystery.
- Labor cost percentage
Early shift and counter wages against sales.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things donut 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.
More than you would guess if nobody is counting it. I track your nightly shrink as its own line, so you can see the real cost of what does not sell.
No, I track what they owe against what has already landed, so a slow-looking week does not get mistaken for a slow week of actual baking.
The day they are picked up, not the day they paid. That way your sales line up with the actual work.
The tax side
The tax side of a donut shop.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels: prepaid orders booked on the wrong day, shrink left untracked, and equipment lost inside an ingredient order.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- The FICA tip creditIf your counter has a tip jar and staff report the income, you can often claim a credit for the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare tax on tips above the minimum wage portion.
- Section 179 on shop equipmentFryers, proofers, and glazing tables can usually be written off the year you buy them, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Worker classification for early shift crewA baker or counter worker who shows up at your set hours and uses your equipment is almost always an employee, not a contractor, even for an overnight shift.
- Form 1099-NEC for rack delivery helpAnyone hired outside of payroll to stock gas station or convenience store racks, paid $2,000 or more in 2026, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions donut shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Frying oil disposal fees
- Donut boxes and dozen containers
- Glazing table maintenance
- Coffee and add-on supplies
- Proofer and fryer repairs
- Uniforms and hair nets
- Food handler certification
- Local delivery mileage
- Employee shift meals
- Pest control contracts
- Online ordering fees
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 donut shop's year, kept every month.
The fryer is going before sunrise every day of the year. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for any rack delivery help is readied, and you get a monthly set-aside so a busy year does not turn into an April surprise.
- April
Filed and signed
Your return is filed and signed. Because the set-aside has been running since January, there is no scramble for cash.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the midpoint of the year, including whether National Donut Day and summer office orders changed what you will owe.
- October
Before fall orders
Before fall flavors and holiday office orders pick up, Gus looks at fryer or proofer purchases worth making 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 donut 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 donut shop owners ask first.
How does Gus track donuts we throw away at the end of the day?
He asks for a nightly count of what did not sell and keeps it as its own line. That way the real cost of shrink is visible instead of just disappearing into the trash.
We take a lot of cash in the first hour we are open. Is that hard to track?
No, but it does take you keeping a count. Gus records a daily cash total the same as a card sale, so early morning sales do not go missing from the numbers.
Do you handle payments from the gas station racks we supply?
Gus tracks what those accounts owe against what has actually been paid, so you can see how much of your production is still waiting to be collected.
An office prepays for a big dozen order the day before pickup. How does that get counted?
It counts the day the order is actually picked up, not the day it was paid for, so your sales always match the work that happened.
We have never separated frying oil cost from the rest of our ingredients. Can we start now?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and Gus starts tracking frying oil in its own line from here forward.
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