Creators, coaches & info products

Books and taxes for Etsy digital download creators.

A payout that already has listing fees, transaction fees, and sometimes an offsite ads fee taken out, on top of sales tax Etsy collects and remits for you in most states. Your own bookkeeper sorts 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
$4,300
what you made

August came in at $4,300. Etsy's offsite ads fee hit two of the bigger sales this month, so I kept that cost visible instead of folding it into a blended fee number.

  • Etsy Payments depositDigital product sales
  • Etsy listing feesMarketplace fees
  • Etsy offsite ads feeMarketplace fees
  • Canva Pro subscriptionDesign software
  • Refund, buyer requestRefunds
Money in$5,400
Money out$1,100
Set aside for taxes$900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

An Etsy digital seller's books go wrong in a few specific spots.

A generalist sees a deposit and calls it revenue. Yours already has listing fees, a transaction fee, a payment processing fee, and sometimes an offsite ads fee taken out before it lands, on top of sales tax that Etsy itself is usually responsible for collecting.

  1. 1

    A payout hides four different fees at once

    A $20 sale can lose a $0.20 listing fee, a percentage-based transaction fee, a payment processing fee, and sometimes a 12 to 15 percent offsite ads fee if the sale came from a Google or social ad, and without breaking those out, it looks like Etsy just pays less than it should.

    What we doBooks the payout as revenue net of Etsy's combined fees, so nothing looks missing, and keeps enough detail that you can see the fee load if you want to check it.
  2. 2

    Etsy already collects sales tax in most states

    Under marketplace facilitator laws, Etsy itself collects and sends in sales tax on most orders, but sellers sometimes worry they owe it again or forget to account for the states where it might work differently.

    What we doKeeps that collected tax visible as separate from revenue, and has the accountant confirm nothing further is owed for the states involved.
  3. 3

    A high-volume, low-price catalog is hard to eyeball

    Selling dozens of $3 to $8 printables a day means constant small transactions that are easy to lose track of individually, even though the combined total is a real business.

    What we doWorks from the combined Etsy payout rather than each sale, so the shop's real monthly total stays clear without tracking every $4 sale by hand.
  4. 4

    Refunds on digital items still count

    Buyers occasionally request a refund on a digital download even after downloading it, and if that refund is not tied back to the original sale, the numbers can look like the shop is losing money for no reason.

    What we doBooks each refund against the sale it came from, so occasional digital refunds read as normal, not as a mystery.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for an Etsy digital shop.

Set up once for how the shop gets paid and what it spends on. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Digital product salesPrintables, SVGs, and templates sold through the Etsy shop.
  • Custom order feesPersonalized or made-to-order digital files.
  • Wholesale or bundle salesBulk licensing deals sold outside individual retail listings.
  • Cross-posted salesThe same products sold on Gumroad or another site alongside Etsy.

Money out

  • Marketplace feesListing, transaction, payment processing, and offsite ad fees Etsy takes.
  • Design softwareCanva Pro, Adobe, or other design tools.
  • RefundsMoney returned to buyers, tracked against the sale it came from.
  • Stock assetsFonts, mockups, and design elements used to build listings.
  • Outside marketingAny promotion run off Etsy, like Pinterest or Instagram ads.

What we watch for you

  • Fee load

    What Etsy's combined fees cost against total sales, since offsite ads add an extra cut on some orders.

  • Refund rate

    What share of sales come back as refunds, even for a digital product.

  • Best-selling listings

    Which listings actually drive most of the shop's sales, worth knowing before adding more inventory.

  • The set-aside

    What will be owed, tracked every month, so a strong sales month does not turn into a surprise bill.

Ask Gus

Things Etsy sellers 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.

My payout seems low compared to what my sales dashboard shows. Is Etsy shorting me?

No, that is listing, transaction, and sometimes offsite ad fees already taken out. I book the payout as what actually landed, so nothing gets missed or double counted.

Do I need to collect and pay sales tax myself on my Etsy sales?

In most states, Etsy already collects and sends in sales tax for you as the marketplace. I keep that visible, and the accountant confirms nothing more is owed.

A buyer asked for a refund after downloading my planner. Is that normal?

It happens sometimes, even for digital products. I book it against that sale so it reads as a normal refund, not a strange drop in income.

The tax side

The tax side of running an Etsy digital shop.

Most of what trips people up here is fees stacked on top of each other, and sales tax that Etsy itself is usually responsible for.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Form 1099-K from EtsyEtsy sends a 1099-K once you cross $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year. Shop income is taxable whether or not a form arrives.
  • Self-employment taxA shop owner not on payroll owes 15.3 percent in self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
  • Marketplace facilitator sales taxEtsy generally collects and remits sales tax on most orders under marketplace facilitator laws. The accountant confirms whether anything is still owed directly in a specific state.
  • The pass-through deductionMost Etsy shop businesses can take up to 20 percent of profit off their taxable income. Above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, the accountant checks how much applies.

Deductions Etsy digital download creators miss

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

  • Canva Pro or Adobe subscription
  • Stock fonts and mockups
  • Design elements and templates
  • Etsy listing and transaction fees
  • Offsite advertising fees
  • Outside marketing costs
  • Business phone and internet
  • Business liability insurance
  • Accounting and legal 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 Etsy digital shop's year, kept every month.

Sales trickle in daily, all year, with no real off season for a printables shop. Your team keeps the books closed every month regardless. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the shop's year

    Last year's return gets started, and a monthly set-aside is planned ahead of the shop's busiest planner season.

  2. April

    Filed, shop still open

    Filed and signed, with nothing owed as a surprise, since a share of every payout has been set aside since January.

  3. July

    Shop performance check

    Where the shop stands, what it will owe, and whether a summer planner season changed the number.

  4. October

    Before holiday planner season

    New Year planners and holiday printables often start selling now. Gus looks at last year's numbers and anything worth doing 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 Etsy digital download creators. 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 Etsy digital sellers ask first.

Do I need to collect sales tax myself on top of what Etsy handles?

Usually not, since Etsy collects and remits it for most orders under marketplace facilitator laws. The accountant can confirm your specific state does not require anything extra.

I sell hundreds of small printables a month. Do I need to track each sale individually?

No. Gus works from your combined Etsy payout, so your shop's real total stays clear without tracking every small sale by hand.

My offsite ads fee only applies to some sales, not all. Does that complicate the books?

No. Gus keeps all of Etsy's fees in one marketplace fee line, so the total cost is visible even though it varies sale to sale.

I also sell the same printables on Gumroad. Can Gus track that separately from Etsy?

Yes. He keeps each site's payouts in their own line so you can see which one actually performs better after fees.

My shop's fees and sales have never been tracked beyond Etsy's own dashboard. Can Gus start from there?

Yes. Send the Etsy payout and bank statements you have. Gus sorts sales from fees, the accountant checks it, and most sellers know where they stand 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.

More in creators, coaches & info products

We keep books for the business next door too.

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