Personal & lifestyle services

Books and taxes for errand running businesses.

A grocery run booked through TaskRabbit, a direct client paying by Venmo, tips added after a good delivery, and a car that racks up miles all day. Your own bookkeeper stays on 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
AugustExample month
$3,200
what you made

August brought in $3,200. TaskRabbit tasks made up most of it this month, and I kept the marketplace fee it took out in its own line so you can see your real per-task rate.

  • TaskRabbit task payoutsMarketplace task income
  • Direct client Venmo paymentsDirect client income
  • Client tipsTips
  • TaskRabbit service feeMarketplace fees
  • Shell fuel, daily runsVehicle and mileage
Money in$4,800
Money out$1,600
Set aside for taxes$550
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Errand runner books go wrong in the same four places.

A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is task fees from an app that takes a cut before paying you, direct clients who pay you the full amount, tips that come and go, and a car that puts on real miles every single day. When the books do not know that, the monthly number is a guess.

  1. 1

    Marketplace fees get missed as their own cost

    An app like TaskRabbit pays out only after taking its service fee, so what lands in your account is already less than what the client actually paid for the task, and if that gap goes untracked, your real per-task rate looks smaller than it is.

    What we doBooks the full task price as income and the marketplace fee as a separate cost, so your pricing shows up honest.
  2. 2

    Marketplace and direct client income blur together

    Tasks booked through an app pay differently than a direct client who found you by referral and pays you Venmo or cash, and lumped together you cannot tell which is actually worth chasing more of.

    What we doKeeps marketplace task income and direct client income in separate lines so you can see which side pays better after fees.
  3. 3

    Tips get left off the books entirely

    Cash or app tips added on top of a task fee are easy to skip when they are small and irregular, but left off, they understate real income and still count as taxable whether or not they get tracked.

    What we doKeeps tips in their own line so they get counted the same as any other income, without needing a receipt for every one.
  4. 4

    Mileage between tasks goes untracked

    Running four or five errands a day across town racks up real mileage that is a legitimate write-off, but if nobody logs it, it disappears every year.

    What we doPrompts for mileage or fuel records regularly and keeps vehicle costs separate so the deduction does not get lost among task fees.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for an errand running business.

Set up once for how tasks get booked and paid. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Marketplace task incomeThe full task price from an app, before its service fee.
  • Direct client incomeClients who book and pay you directly.
  • TipsCash or app tips added to a task.
  • Standing errand accountsRegular weekly clients paying on a set schedule.

Money out

  • Marketplace feesWhat an app keeps before paying you out.
  • Vehicle and mileageFuel, maintenance, and insurance for running tasks.
  • Supplies for tasksItems purchased on a client's behalf and reimbursed, kept separate from your fee.
  • Marketing and profile feesApp profile boosts and local advertising.
  • Business insuranceLiability coverage for in-home and errand work.

What we watch for you

  • Marketplace versus direct share

    How much of revenue comes through an app's fee versus direct clients. It shows where you keep more of what a task pays.

  • Mileage cost per task

    Fuel and vehicle cost against tasks completed. It flags when driving time is eating into a task's real value.

  • Tip share

    Tips against base task fees. It shows how much of your income depends on service quality versus set pricing.

  • The set-aside

    What taxes will run this year, updated monthly, so April is a familiar number.

Ask Gus

Things errand runners 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.

Why does my TaskRabbit payout look smaller than the price the client saw?

The app takes its service fee before paying out. I book the full task price as income and the app's cut as a cost, so your pricing still shows up honest.

Are direct clients actually worth more than app tasks after fees?

Right now, yes, direct clients net you more per task since there is no marketplace fee. Worth thinking about as you grow your referral base.

Do I need to track every dollar of tips?

A running total is enough. I keep tips in their own line so they count the same as any other income without you saving every receipt.

The tax side

The tax side of an errand running business.

Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as income and untracked mileage. Marketplace fees hidden in payouts, tips left off the books, and a set-aside nobody started until April.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Self-employment tax on task incomeFor an errand running business, self-employment tax runs 15.3 percent on top of regular income tax when the owner is not paid through payroll, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
  • Mileage for task runsDriving between tasks can be deducted at 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July through December 2026.
  • Form 1099-K from marketplace appsA task marketplace may issue a 1099-K once payouts cross $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year. Every dollar, including tips, is taxable whether or not a form ever arrives.
  • The pass-through income deductionFor an errand running business, the pass-through deduction lets an owner take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income, a figure that only comes out right when the books are kept right all year.

Deductions errand runners miss

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

  • Vehicle mileage or fuel and repairs
  • Marketplace and app fees
  • Phone and data plan for task apps
  • Business insurance
  • Parking and tolls for tasks
  • Reusable bags and task supplies
  • Profile boosts and local advertising
  • Background check fees
  • Vehicle maintenance and cleaning
  • Task management or scheduling apps
  • Business cards for direct clients
  • Cold weather or safety gear for outdoor tasks

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

An errand runner's year, kept every month.

Task volume shifts with the seasons, and mileage adds up every week of the year. Your team keeps you ahead of both the workload and the tax deadlines. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Start the year running

    For an errand running business, last year's return gets started in January, and a monthly set-aside means April is already handled.

  2. April

    April is handled

    For an errand running business, the return is filed and signed in April, with no surprise bill since the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Summer checkpoint

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer task volume changed the number.

  4. October

    Before holiday errands pick up

    Holiday errands and gift pickups often bring more task requests. Gus looks at any moves worth making 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 errand runners. 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 errand runners ask first.

Can Gus handle tasks booked through an app like TaskRabbit?

Yes. He books the full task price as income and the app's fee as a cost, so your sales are not understated and the fee still counts against your taxes.

Do I need to log mileage exactly to the mile?

An estimate or running log is enough to work with. Gus keeps vehicle costs in their own line so the mileage write-off does not get missed.

Do tips count as taxable income even if they are small?

Yes. All tips are taxable whether or not a form ever arrives. Gus keeps them in their own line so nothing gets missed.

Some clients pay me directly instead of through an app. Does that change anything?

Just how it is tracked. Direct client income is kept in its own line, apart from marketplace payouts, so you can compare which pays better after fees.

My books are behind from running tasks all day. Is that a problem?

Yes, it is fixable. Send the statements you have and Gus catches things up, with the accountant checking every transaction, usually inside 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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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