Design & pre-construction
Books and taxes for drafting and CAD services.
A per-sheet invoice to one architecture firm, an hourly job for an engineer down the street, three CAD software licenses running whether or not work comes in, and a revision round nobody separately billed for. 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
May came in at $9,100. Three revision rounds on the Weller job went unbilled since they were inside the original per-sheet quote, so I flagged that job's real hourly return for you.
- Halberd Architects, sheet setPer-sheet billing
- Corwin Engineering, hourlyHourly billing
- AutoCAD LT subscriptionCAD software
- Revit subscriptionCAD software
- External hard drive backupEquipment
Why your books are different
A drafting and CAD business's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees invoices in and subscriptions out. Your business quotes a flat price per sheet, absorbs revision rounds that were never separately billed, and pays for two or three CAD licenses every month whether or not a job comes in. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which clients or which jobs are actually worth the time.
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1
Per-sheet quotes hide the real hourly return
A flat $400 per-sheet quote can take three hours on one job and eight on another with heavier revisions, and without tracking that, two jobs that paid the same look equally worthwhile when one quietly cost you far more time.
What we doFlags jobs with unusually heavy revision activity against a flat quote, so you can see which clients or job types are actually worth the rate. -
2
Software licenses run every month whether work comes in or not
AutoCAD, Revit, and a rendering plug-in all bill monthly regardless of how much work landed that month, and in a slow stretch those fixed costs can eat a bigger share of income than usual.
What we doTracks software subscriptions as a steady fixed cost, so a slow month shows up as slow income, not runaway spending. -
3
Multiple small clients blur together
Drafting for five or six architecture and engineering firms in a month means five or six small deposits that look identical on a bank statement, even though one client pays reliably and another is always late.
What we doTags each deposit to the firm it came from, so you can see which clients pay on time and which ones do not. -
4
A big equipment year skews the picture
A new workstation, a second monitor setup, or a backup drive system bought all at once can make an otherwise typical month look like a loss.
What we doLogs equipment purchases as their own line and flags them the month they happen, so a gear upgrade does not read as a bad month of work.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a drafting and CAD business.
Set up once for how you bill and what keeps the lights on. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Per-sheet billingFlat fees quoted per drawing sheet for architecture and engineering clients.
- Hourly billingTime-based invoices for firms that pay by the hour instead of per sheet.
- Rush feesExtra charges for turnaround faster than your standard schedule.
- As-built and redline feesConverting field markups into clean final drawings.
Money out
- CAD softwareAutoCAD, Revit, or similar drafting license subscriptions.
- Rendering and plug-in softwareAdd-on tools used for visualization or repetitive drawing tasks.
- EquipmentWorkstations, monitors, and backup storage for drawing files.
- Internet and cloud storageFile sharing and backup for large drawing sets.
- Home office costsA dedicated workspace used only for drafting work.
What we watch for you
- Effective hourly rate
What a flat per-sheet quote actually works out to once real hours are tracked against it.
- Client payment timing
Which firms pay quickly and which ones consistently run late.
- Software cost share
How much of income goes to fixed subscription costs each month.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things drafting and CAD freelancers 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.
I flagged it. That job had three unbilled revision rounds against the flat quote, which is more than your usual pattern. Worth a look before you quote that client again.
Your two annual software renewals both hit in May. It was a fixed cost, not a drop in work.
Usually yes, once you owe more than a small amount for the year. I keep your set-aside running from what you actually earn, so the quarterly payments are not a guess.
The tax side
The tax side of a drafting and CAD business.
Most of what goes wrong here is simple: a fixed software cost mistaken for overspending, and a self-employed drafter not setting enough aside because the income comes in uneven chunks.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Self-employment taxA sole proprietor drafter pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base. It applies whether the work is full time or a side business.
- Home office deductionA workspace used only for drafting can often be deducted as a home office, based on the share of the home it occupies.
- Equipment write-offsA new workstation, monitors, or backup storage can often be written off the year you buy them, under Section 179 or bonus depreciation.
- The pass-through deductionMost self-employed drafters can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income, once profit and expenses are tracked accurately all year.
Deductions drafting and CAD services miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- AutoCAD or Revit subscription
- Rendering plug-in licenses
- External backup storage
- Cloud file sharing service
- Home office square footage
- Second monitor setup
- High-speed internet, business share
- Drafting reference standards
- Professional membership dues
- Continuing education courses
- Computer repairs and upgrades
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 drafting and CAD year, kept every month.
Work comes in waves tied to your clients' own busy seasons, not a season of your own. Gus keeps the set-aside steady no matter how the months bounce. 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, and you get a monthly set-aside based on what you actually earned, so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with income already sorted by client and job type all year.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether your effective hourly rate is holding up across clients.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at any equipment worth buying before December and flags software renewals coming due.
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 drafting and CAD services. 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 drafting and CAD freelancers ask first.
I work for several architecture and engineering firms. Can Gus keep them separate?
Yes. Each deposit gets tagged to the client it came from, so you can see how much work and income each firm actually represents.
Does Gus know the difference between per-sheet and hourly jobs?
Once he sees the pattern in your deposits, yes. He keeps per-sheet and hourly income in separate lines so you can compare how each billing style performs.
My software subscriptions are the same every month. Do they need special tracking?
Gus tracks them as a fixed cost, so a slow income month does not look worse than it is just because the subscriptions kept billing.
I am not incorporated, just a sole proprietor. Does that change anything?
It changes how you are taxed, not how the books are kept. Gus tracks income and expenses the same way, and the accountant handles self-employment tax on the return.
My records are just a folder of invoices right now. Can Gus start from that?
Yes. Send your bank statements and any invoices you have, and Gus starts sorting from there, checked by an accountant as it goes.
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 design & pre-construction
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Home plan & house design sellers
- Landscape architects
- MEP engineering firms
- Outsourced construction estimators
- Permit expediters
- Structural engineers
- Kitchen & bath designers
- Residential architects
- Interior designers
- Barndominium builders
- Church & religious facility builders
- Log home builders
- Shipping container home builders
- Timber frame builders
- Tiny home builders
- Acoustical ceiling contractors
- Architectural millwork & woodworking
- Commercial glaziers & storefront glass
- Commercial kitchen equipment installers
- Concrete cutting & coring
- Crane services
- Directional boring contractors
- Elevator installation & service
- Erosion control contractors
- Fire sprinkler contractors
- Hydro excavation
- Land surveying firms
- Parking lot striping & maintenance
- Pond & lake construction
- Private utility locating
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