Campgrounds, RV parks & glamping
Books and taxes for farm stay and boondocking hosts.
An RVer parks overnight for free and buys a dozen eggs and a jar of honey on the way out, a Hipcamp guest pays a small site fee, and the farm keeps running underneath it all. Gus sorts hosting income from farm income, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September came in at $4,600. Farm store purchases from overnight guests are climbing, so I kept that split from your regular produce stand sales to show you.
- Hipcamp payoutCamping fees
- Farm store, overnight guestsGuest store sales
- Farm store, regular customersFarm stand sales
- Portable toilet serviceGuest site amenities
- Gravel for parking padGuest site maintenance
Why your books are different
Farm stay hosting books go wrong where camping meets the farm.
You are running a working farm that also hosts overnight RVers, and the two kinds of income do not behave the same way at tax time. When the books do not separate them, hosting income muddies your farm numbers and your farm income muddies your hosting numbers.
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1
Guest store purchases mix with regular farm sales
An overnighting RVer buying eggs and honey on the way out rings up through the same farm store register as your regular Tuesday market customers, so you cannot tell how much hosting guests actually add to store sales.
What we doKeeps guest store purchases in their own line so you can see what hosting genuinely adds to your farm store income. -
2
Camping fees get filed as farm income
A small overnight fee from Hipcamp or a similar site is lodging income, not agricultural income, and filing it as farm income can affect how your whole return is treated.
What we doKeeps camping and hosting income in its own category, separate from crop, livestock, or produce sales. -
3
Guest parking pad costs look like general farm upkeep
Grading a gravel pad or running a portable toilet for RV guests is a hosting cost, not a farming cost, but it is easy for it to disappear into the same maintenance line as fence repair and equipment upkeep.
What we doKeeps guest site costs in their own line so the real cost of hosting is visible next to what it brings in. -
4
A quiet hosting month looks like a failing side business
Boondocking and farm stay traffic can be unpredictable, tied to travel season and word of mouth rather than a set calendar, and a slow month can look alarming without the fuller season in view.
What we doKeeps a running seasonal view so a quiet month reads as normal rather than as a sign to quit hosting.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a farm stay host.
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
- Camping feesOvernight fees from Hipcamp or direct bookings.
- Guest store salesFarm store purchases made by overnighting guests.
- Farm stand salesRegular produce, egg, and honey sales, kept apart from guest sales.
- Agritourism activitiesFarm tours, u-pick, or tastings offered to visitors.
Money out
- Guest site maintenanceGravel, leveling, and upkeep for the parking area.
- Guest site amenitiesPortable toilets or dump access offered to campers.
- Hosting liability insuranceCoverage added specifically for overnight guests.
- Signage for guestsDirectional and welcome signage for arriving campers.
- Farm operating costsFeed, seed, and equipment, kept separate from hosting.
What we watch for you
- Guest store sales share
How much hosting guests add to total farm store income.
- Nights hosted
How often the sites are actually used, month to month.
- Hosting cost per guest
What it really costs to host a night once maintenance and insurance count.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is not a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things farm stay hosts 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 keep it as hosting income, separate from your crop and produce sales, since it is really lodging, not farming.
About $380 this month came from guests specifically. I split it out so you can see it apart from your regular customers.
I keep it in its own hosting line rather than general farm insurance, so the real cost of hosting is clear on its own.
The tax side
The tax side of farm stay and boondocking hosting.
Most of what goes wrong here is keeping hosting income and expenses cleanly apart from the farm's regular agricultural business.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Hosting income is not farm incomeCamping fees and guest store purchases tied to hosting are generally treated separately from agricultural income, even though they happen on the same property.
- Lodging or occupancy taxSome states and counties apply lodging tax to overnight camping fees, even a small boondocking charge. Whether it applies can depend on the amount and how guests pay.
- Contractor 1099sA gravel or grading contractor for the guest parking area paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Self-employment taxAn owner-operator not structured as an S corp pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, on wages up to the $184,500 Social Security base.
Deductions farm stay and boondocking hosts miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Gravel for the parking pad
- Portable toilet service
- Hosting liability insurance
- Guest signage
- Farm store guest bags or packaging
- Dump station access fees
- Site leveling equipment
- Welcome basket supplies
- Business liability insurance
- Listing photography
- Guest wifi or cell booster
- Directional signage
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 farm stay hosting year, kept every month.
Hosting traffic follows the travel season, and the farm has its own calendar underneath it. Gus keeps the tax side steady through both. 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, the contractor 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside for the year ahead.
- April
Filed and done
Your return is filed and signed, with no surprise bill because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether hosting traffic is adding up the way you expected this travel season.
- October
Before travel season slows
A look at what hosting brought in this year and whether the guest site setup is worth expanding.
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 farm stay and boondocking hosts. 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 farm stay hosts ask first.
Do I need to keep hosting income totally separate from my farm's books?
It should at least be tracked in its own category. Gus keeps camping fees and guest store purchases apart from your regular farm income so both are reported correctly.
We do not charge guests anything directly, they just buy from our farm store. Is there still something to track?
Yes. Gus keeps guest purchases separate from your regular customer sales so you can see what hosting adds, even without a direct nightly fee.
Hosting is pretty unpredictable for us. Will slow months look bad?
No. Gus keeps a running seasonal view so a quiet month reads as normal travel patterns rather than as a problem.
We only have two RV sites and no hookups. Is this still worth tracking closely?
Yes, even a small hosting operation has income and costs worth getting right, and Gus tracks it the same way regardless of size.
Does hosting change how our farm's tax return gets filed?
It usually means an additional income category rather than a different kind of return, and the accountant makes sure hosting and farm income are both reported the right way.
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