Creative & production services

Books and taxes for event marketing agencies.

A trade show booth deposit, a fabrication vendor paid on a client's budget, event staffing for a three-day activation, and an AV rental that ran over. Gus 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
SeptemberExample month
$17,300
what you made

September came in at $17,300. The Bramwell Foods trade show budget covered fabrication, staffing, and shipping, all real client costs, so I kept those as pass-through expenses against the management fee you actually kept.

  • Bramwell Foods activation budgetClient event budgets
  • Management fee, 3 clientsManagement fee income
  • Booth fabrication vendorClient pass-through costs
  • Event staffing agencyClient pass-through costs
  • AV rental overageClient pass-through costs
Money in$88,500
Money out$71,200
Set aside for taxes$5,900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Event marketing agency books go wrong at the client budget and the vendor payment.

A generalist sees a big deposit and calls it all revenue. Your business runs client event budgets through your account to pay fabrication, staffing, and AV vendors, and only keeps a management fee on top. When the books count the whole budget as income, both your real size and your tax bill get overstated.

  1. 1

    A client's event budget gets counted as agency revenue

    When a client hands you $60,000 for a trade show activation and you keep a 15 percent management fee, booking the full $60,000 as sales makes the business look far bigger than it is and overstates what is owed at tax time.

    What we doBooks the management fee as income and vendor payments as client pass-through costs, so the top line reflects what you actually keep.
  2. 2

    Vendor deposits get paid months before the event

    A venue or fabrication deposit often goes out months before an activation happens, which can make an early month look like a loss when it is really just timing.

    What we doKeeps deposits tied to the specific event they are for, so a big early payment reads as normal event prep, not a loss.
  3. 3

    Event staffing gets mixed with your own payroll

    Temporary event staff hired through a staffing agency for a three-day activation are a client cost, not your own labor expense, and mixing the two hides what your actual overhead looks like.

    What we doKeeps event staffing costs in the client pass-through category, separate from your own team's payroll or contractor pay.
  4. 4

    An AV rental overage looks like a budgeting mistake

    Extra AV or staging costs that come up on-site during an activation are a normal part of event production, but if they are not tracked against the specific event, they can look like an unexplained cost spike.

    What we doTies overage costs to the event that caused them, so a normal on-site adjustment does not look like a mistake.
  5. 5

    Multiple activations running at once blur together

    Running three activations in the same month for different clients means dozens of vendor payments landing close together, which can make it hard to see which event actually made money.

    What we doKeeps costs tagged by event so you can see the real margin on each activation, not just the month as a whole.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for an event marketing agency.

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

Money in

  • Client event budgetsFull budgets clients hand over for an activation, most of which is a pass-through cost.
  • Management fee incomeWhat you keep for planning and running a client's event.
  • Creative and design feesBooth design and concept work billed apart from execution.
  • Rush feesCharged when an activation is booked on a compressed timeline.

Money out

  • Client pass-through costsFabrication, staffing, AV, and venue costs paid on a client's behalf.
  • Your own staff and contractorsYour team's pay, kept separate from client-side event staffing.
  • InsuranceEvent liability coverage for activations.
  • Travel and logisticsShipping, freight, and travel for staff working on-site.
  • SoftwareEvent planning, budgeting, and project management tools.

What we watch for you

  • Real revenue share

    Your management fees against total money moved, so client budgets never get mistaken for your income.

  • Event margin

    What each activation actually nets after vendor and staffing costs, tracked event by event.

  • Deposit backlog

    Vendor deposits paid on events not yet run, so you know what is really committed and what is free cash.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe on your real fees, not client event budgets, tracked monthly ahead of April.

Ask Gus

Things event marketing agency 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.

A client handed me $60,000 for a trade show budget. Is that all my revenue?

No, I book your management fee as income and the vendor payments as pass-through costs, so your real revenue and your tax bill both stay accurate.

I paid a venue deposit two months before the actual event. Will that make this month look bad?

No, I keep it tied to that specific event, so it reads as normal prep for an upcoming activation rather than a loss this month.

Three activations ran at once this month with vendors everywhere. Can you tell me which one actually made money?

Yes, I tag costs by event, so you can see the real margin on each activation separately, not just one blended number for the month.

The tax side

The tax side of an event marketing agency.

Most of what goes wrong here is client budgets counted as revenue and vendor timing confused with real losses.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Contractor 1099s for event helpAny freelancer or contractor not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus tracks the total across every activation they help staff.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated event agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when management fees are tracked apart from client budgets.
  • Worker classification for event crewsStaff who work your schedule and take direction on-site usually look like employees, not contractors, even if hired for a single event.
  • Self-employment tax for solo ownersA one-person agency pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside covers both, calculated only against your real fees, not client budgets.

Deductions event and experiential marketing agencies miss

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

  • Event planning software
  • Travel and shipping for staff
  • Insurance for events
  • Booth design and concept costs
  • Continuing education courses
  • Coworking or office rent
  • Payment processor fees
  • Client contract tools
  • Marketing and portfolio costs
  • Accounting and legal fees
  • Business association dues
  • Computer and equipment 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

An event marketing agency's year, kept every month.

Trade show and conference calendars drive the year. Your books stay current no matter the season, and the return follows. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, the contractor 1099 list is ready, and clients start booking spring trade show activations.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed, based on your real management fees, not client event budgets. The set-aside has covered it since January, so there is no surprise bill.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and how spring conference season activations performed.

  4. October

    Before fall conference season

    Fall trade shows and conferences drive a rush. Gus looks at equipment worth buying and 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 event and experiential marketing agencies. 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 event marketing agency owners ask first.

Does a client's full event budget count as my taxable income?

Only your management fee counts as income. Gus books the client's vendor and staffing costs as pass-through expenses, so your real revenue and your tax bill both stay accurate.

I pay venue deposits months before an event actually happens. Does that distort my books?

No. Gus ties deposits to the specific event they are for, so an early payment reads as normal prep, not a loss in the month it went out.

I run several activations at once for different clients. Can Gus tell me which one is actually profitable?

Yes, costs get tagged by event, so you can see the real margin on each activation separately instead of one blended monthly number.

My event staff are hired through a staffing agency just for the activation. Does that change anything?

That cost stays in your client pass-through category, separate from your own team's pay, so your real overhead stays clear.

My books have never separated client budgets from my own revenue. Can Gus fix that?

Yes. Send what you have, even a year of client budgets mixed with your own fees. Gus separates the two, and most owners know 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.

More in creative & production services

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