Tutoring, test prep & alternative schools
Books and taxes for adult ESL schools.
Rolling enrollment that lets a new student start any week, a mix of tuition-paying students and a workforce or community grant covering others, part-time instructors paid per class, and placement testing for every new arrival. Gus 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
April brought in $7,700. A workforce development grant payment landed this month, so I kept it separate from tuition since it came with its own reporting requirements.
- Rolling tuition paymentsTuition
- Workforce grant disbursementGrant funding
- Instructor pay, part-time rosterInstructor pay
- Placement test materialsAssessment materials
- Classroom space rentFacility rent
Why your books are different
Adult ESL school books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees tuition and a lease. Your school runs on rolling enrollment where a student can start any week, a mix of grant money and tuition, and instructors paid a wide range of hours depending on how many students sign up. When the books do not know that, grant reporting becomes guesswork.
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1
Grant funding gets mixed with tuition income
A workforce development or community grant paying for some students' classes often comes with its own reporting rules, and if it lands in the same category as regular tuition, the school cannot easily show a grant provider how that money was used.
What we doKeeps grant funds in their own category from the day they arrive, so they reconcile separately and stay ready for grant reporting. -
2
Rolling enrollment tuition gets counted the day it is paid
A student who enrolls mid-month and pays for eight weeks of class does not finish those weeks in the month they paid, and booking the whole payment as that month's income misstates both months involved.
What we doSpreads rolling enrollment tuition across the weeks of class it actually covers, even when start dates land mid-month. -
3
Part-time instructor hours swing with enrollment and get treated as one flat cost
An instructor's paid hours might double or shrink depending on how many students enrolled that cycle, and if the pay is not tracked against enrollment, the school cannot tell whether staffing matches demand.
What we doTracks instructor pay against enrollment cycles so staffing costs make sense against how many students are actually being taught. -
4
Placement testing fees get folded into tuition
An intake placement test that determines a student's level often gets billed the same as regular tuition, making it hard to see what assessment work brings in against ongoing classes.
What we doKeeps placement testing fees in their own category, separate from tuition revenue.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an adult ESL school.
Set up once around rolling enrollment and grant funding. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- TuitionStudent-paid tuition on a rolling, cycle-based enrollment schedule.
- Grant fundingWorkforce development or community grant payments covering some students.
- Placement testing feesThe intake assessment that places a new student's class level.
- Materials feesTextbooks and workbooks charged apart from tuition.
Money out
- Instructor payPart-time and full-time instructor wages, tracked against enrollment cycles.
- Facility rentThe classroom or community space the school operates from.
- Assessment materialsPlacement and progress testing materials and licensing.
- Curriculum and textbooksESL course materials and workbooks for each level.
- Scheduling and enrollment softwareThe tool tracking rolling start dates and student progress.
- Marketing and community outreachLocal ads, flyers, and partnerships with community organizations.
What we watch for you
- Active enrollment
The base your rolling tuition rests on, tracked cycle by cycle rather than by a fixed term.
- Grant share of revenue
How much of income depends on grant funding versus tuition, since reporting rules differ.
- Instructor pay against enrollment
Whether staffing costs are keeping pace with how many students are actually enrolled.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things adult ESL school 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.
No, I keep grant funds in their own category so they reconcile separately and stay ready if the grant provider asks for a report.
I spread it across the eight weeks of class, not the day it was paid, so the month she started and the months after both show what actually happened.
Not the paperwork itself. If she's on payroll it stays a W-2 either way. If you pay her outside payroll and it hits $2,000 or more this year, that's a 1099-NEC by January 31. I track her hours either way.
The tax side
The tax side of an adult ESL school.
Most of what goes wrong here is grant money mixed with tuition and rolling enrollment counted too early. Fix the tracking and the rest follows.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Grant fund trackingGrant money often comes with reporting requirements distinct from ordinary tuition revenue, and keeping it in its own category from the start makes year-end reporting to a grant provider straightforward.
- Deferred rolling tuitionTuition paid for a cycle that starts mid-month is not fully earned the day it is paid, and good books recognize it across the weeks of class it actually covers.
- Instructor classificationA part-time instructor who teaches a set curriculum on the school's schedule is usually an employee, even when paid a flat rate per class or per cycle.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when tuition and grant funds are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions ESL schools for adults miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Placement and assessment materials
- Facility rent
- Curriculum and textbooks
- Scheduling software
- Liability insurance
- Marketing and community outreach
- Instructor training and development
- Classroom furniture and supplies
- Interpretation or translation tools
- Card processing 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
An adult ESL school year, kept every month.
Enrollment rolls in every few weeks, but the tax calendar stays fixed. 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 cycle, new plan
A new enrollment cycle begins. Last year's return gets started and the monthly set-aside gets 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
A halfway check on where the year stands, including whether grant funding changed what you will owe.
- October
Before winter enrollment
Gus looks at instructor staffing 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 ESL schools for adults. 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 adult ESL school owners ask first.
We receive a workforce development grant for some students. Can Gus keep that separate?
Yes. Grant funds get their own category from day one, so they reconcile on their own and stay ready if the grant provider ever asks for a breakdown.
Our enrollment is rolling, so students start on different weeks. Does that complicate the books?
No. Gus recognizes each student's tuition across the weeks of class it actually covers, regardless of when in the month they started.
Some of our instructors work very different hours month to month. Is that hard to track?
Not for Gus. Instructor pay is tracked consistently against enrollment, so you can always see whether staffing matches how many students are being taught.
Does Gus handle the reporting our grant provider requires?
Gus keeps grant funds tracked separately and ready to reference, but preparing a specific report for a grant provider is outside the subscription.
We've never kept the grant money separate from tuition and now everything looks tangled. Can Gus untangle it?
Yes. Send over your bank statements and whatever grant paperwork you have, and he splits the two apart from your very next month forward. Most owners see 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