Lodging & short-term rentals
Books and taxes for farm stays.
A guest cabin booked through Airbnb, egg and produce sales at the farm stand, feed and vet bills for animals guests come to see, and a season that runs opposite of your neighbors in town. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $4,600. Farm stand egg and produce sales are climbing with spring, and I kept them separate from cabin bookings so you can see the farm side is pulling its weight too.
- Airbnb payout, cabinsLodging income
- Farm stand cash salesFarm product sales
- Tractor Supply, feedAnimal care
- Vet visit, barn animalsAnimal care
- Cabin cleaning suppliesLodging supplies
Why your books are different
A farm stay's books go wrong in the same few places.
You are running a working farm and a lodging business at the same time, and guests are paying partly to be near animals and crops that also have their own costs. A generalist sees one deposit and a pile of feed receipts. Your business needs lodging and farm income kept apart, or neither side tells you anything useful.
-
1
Farm product sales are not lodging revenue
Egg, produce, or honey sales at the farm stand are a different business than renting out the cabin, with their own costs and margins, and mixing them into one number hides which one actually supports the household.
What we doKeeps farm product sales on their own line, separate from lodging income, so each side of the business shows its real performance. -
2
Animal care costs are shared between two purposes
Feed, vet bills, and fencing serve animals that are both part of the working farm and part of what guests come to see, and figuring out how much belongs to the lodging business is easy to get wrong.
What we doTracks animal care costs as they happen and flags the split for the accountant, so the lodging side is not over- or under-charged for animal expenses. -
3
Guest cabins and farm buildings depreciate differently
A guest cabin, a barn, and farm equipment all have different useful lives, and lumping them into one property number misses how each should be written off.
What we doFlags larger property and equipment purchases separately by what they are used for, so the accountant sorts depreciation correctly. -
4
The busy season may not match a typical short-term rental
A farm stay's peak season often follows planting, harvest, or a specific crop's calendar rather than summer vacation timing, which can look odd compared to other lodging businesses if nobody accounts for it.
What we doTracks bookings against your farm's actual season, not a generic vacation calendar, so a quiet month reads as expected.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a farm stay.
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
- Lodging incomeCabin or room bookings through Airbnb, Vrbo, or direct.
- Farm product salesEggs, produce, honey, or other goods sold to guests and locals.
- Farm experience feesTours, animal feedings, or workshops charged separately from a stay.
- Event bookingsWeddings or gatherings hosted on the farm, when it applies.
Money out
- Animal careFeed, vet visits, and supplies for animals on the farm.
- Lodging suppliesLinens, cleaning supplies, and guest amenities for the cabins.
- Farm equipment and repairsTractors, fencing, and tools used for the working farm.
- UtilitiesElectric and water across the guest cabins and farm buildings.
- Booking site feesCommissions from Airbnb or Vrbo on cabin bookings.
- InsuranceFarm liability and short-term rental coverage together.
What we watch for you
- Occupancy rate
Booked cabin nights against nights available, tracked against your farm's own season.
- Farm stand margin
What farm product sales bring in against what feed and supplies cost, tracked apart from lodging.
- Animal care cost split
How much of animal-related spending is fairly a lodging cost versus a farm cost, flagged for the accountant.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things farm stay 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 farm product sales on their own line since they come from a different part of the business. That way you can see if the farm stand is pulling its weight apart from lodging.
That is a fair split between the two, and it is above my pay grade to set the exact percentage. I flagged the cost and the accountant can help you land on a reasonable split.
No, I track your bookings against your own farm's season, not a generic vacation calendar, so a quiet July or a busy October both read the way they should for your farm.
The tax side
The tax side of running a farm stay.
Most of what goes wrong here is splitting a working farm from a lodging business that shares the same land and animals. The return misses what it should catch when the two are not kept apart.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Farm income and lodging income are treated differentlyIncome from selling farm products and income from renting cabins are generally reported and treated differently, and mixing them into one number can misstate both sides on the return.
- Depreciation on cabins, barns, and equipmentGuest cabins, farm buildings, and farm equipment each often qualify for different depreciation treatment, including bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025 on qualifying purchases.
- Contractor 1099sA farmhand, cleaner, or repair contractor not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost profitable farm stay owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, with limits above $201,750 taxable income single or $403,500 joint. It comes out right when farm and lodging income are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions farm stays miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Animal feed and supplies
- Veterinary care
- Fencing and barn repairs
- Cabin linens and cleaning supplies
- Booking site commissions
- Farm stand signage
- Farm liability insurance
- Mileage for feed and supply runs
- Guest welcome baskets
- Well and septic maintenance
- Photography for listings
- Local agritourism permit 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
A farm stay year, kept every month.
Planting, harvest, and guest bookings all run on their own calendar. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, contractor 1099s are ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this year's bookings and farm stand sales are running ahead of last year.
- October
Before harvest wraps up
Before the season winds down, Gus looks at equipment or cabin upgrades worth doing 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 farm stays. 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 owners ask first.
Do our farm stand sales get taxed the same as cabin bookings?
They are generally treated as separate kinds of income, so Gus keeps them on separate lines from the start. That keeps both the books and the return accurate for each side of the business.
How does Gus split animal care costs between the farm and the cabins?
He tracks the costs as they happen and flags them for the accountant, who helps land on a fair split since guests benefit from animals that also serve the working farm.
Our busy season is planting and harvest, not summer. Does Gus account for that?
Yes. Bookings are tracked against your own farm's season rather than a generic vacation calendar, so the months that matter to your farm are the ones the numbers get compared against.
We host the occasional wedding on the property. Does that change our books?
Event bookings are tracked on their own line, separate from lodging and farm sales, so you can see whether hosting weddings is worth the extra staff time.
Our books mix farm expenses with our own household spending. Can Gus untangle that?
Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus sorts business from personal and splits farm from lodging, the accountant checks it, and most owners 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 lodging & short-term rentals
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Bed & breakfasts
- Country inns & lodges
- Event venues with on-site lodging
- Hostels
- Independent motels
- Mid-term rental operators (travel nurses)
- Wellness & retreat centers
- Airbnb co-hosting businesses
- Boutique hotels
- Extended stay & corporate housing
- Luxury villa rentals
- Short-term rental hosts (Airbnb / VRBO)
- Short-term rental property managers
- Vacation rental management (beach / mountain)
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