Home maintenance & specialty services
Books and taxes for fine art and specialty movers.
Private collector moves, gallery and auction house contracts, custom crates built per piece, and insurance sized to what is actually on the truck. Gus sorts all of it, and an accountant checks every transaction.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
October came in at $9,000. The oversized painting for the gallery show needed a custom crate that cost more than most jobs, so I tied that cost to the job instead of your general supplies.
- Private collector moveDirect art moves
- Gallery contract paymentGallery and auction house jobs
- Custom crate materialsCrating materials
- Fine art insurance riderFine art insurance
- Climate-controlled truck leaseSpecialty vehicle
Why your books are different
Fine art mover books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and a materials bill. Your business handles pieces that can be worth more than a house, gallery contracts paid on a slow clock, and a crate built fresh for nearly every job. When the books do not track those apart, one unusual piece can throw off the whole month.
-
1
Every crate is a different cost, tied to a different piece
A custom wood crate built for an oversized painting or a fragile sculpture can cost far more than the standard packing on a typical job. Lumped into general supplies, that one piece makes the whole month's material cost look out of line.
What we doTies crating material costs to the specific job, so an expensive crate does not distort your usual numbers. -
2
Gallery and auction house work pays on a slow clock
Galleries and auction houses often settle accounts net-30 or net-60, sometimes bundling several jobs into one payment. The work happens in one month and the money lands in another, which can make a busy month look empty.
What we doTracks gallery and auction house income against the jobs it covers, so a payment lag does not read as a slow month. -
3
A condition report fee gets mixed with the move fee
Clients sometimes pay separately for a condition report or appraisal-adjusted handling before the move itself, but if that fee is not split out, you cannot see how much of your income is coming from documentation versus the actual move.
What we doKeeps condition report and appraisal-related fees in their own line, separate from the move fee. -
4
Vault storage is a different service than the move
Pieces held in a climate and humidity-controlled vault between a pickup and an installation date carry their own monthly or per-piece fee, and folding that into the move price hides whether storage is actually worth offering.
What we doKeeps vault storage fees and costs in their own category, apart from the move itself.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a fine art moving business.
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
- Direct art movesPrivate collector jobs booked and paid directly.
- Gallery and auction house jobsContracted work, often settled net-30 or net-60.
- Interior designer referralsInstallation and hanging jobs sent by designers.
- Condition reports and appraisal handlingDocumentation fees kept apart from the move fee.
- Vault storageClimate and humidity-controlled storage between moves.
Money out
- Crating materialsCustom wood, foam, and climate-sealed materials, tied to each job.
- Fine art insuranceAppraisal-based coverage sized to what is being moved.
- Specialty vehicleClimate-controlled truck lease, fuel, and maintenance.
- Packing materialsAcid-free tissue, museum wrap, and padding.
- Subcontracted art handlersExtra trained hands brought in for larger installs.
- Vault storage rentFacility cost for climate-controlled storage space.
What we watch for you
- Crating cost per job
What a custom crate actually cost against what the job was quoted.
- Gallery payment lag
How long gallery and auction house work takes to land after the job is done.
- Documentation revenue
Condition report and appraisal fees, tracked apart from move fees.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things fine art movers 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 tied that crating cost to the job, so you can look at whether the quote covered it before you price a piece that size again.
I track gallery payments against the jobs they cover, not just the day they land, so the months you actually worked show the income they earned.
Likely not a mistake. Coverage on fine art moves with the appraised value of what is on the truck, so a higher-value job can raise the premium. I keep it in its own line so it is easy to see why.
The tax side
The tax side of a fine art moving business.
Most of what goes wrong here is tying costs to the right job: a custom crate, an appraisal-based premium, and income that lands months after the work.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Specialty vehicle and equipmentA climate-controlled truck and rigging equipment can usually be written off in the year you buy them, up to the Section 179 limit, with 100 percent bonus depreciation on property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026, such as a subcontracted art handler, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Worker classification for regular handlersAn art handler who works your schedule and drives your truck on most jobs usually counts as an employee, not a contractor, even if paid by the job.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions fine art and specialty movers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Custom crating materials
- Acid-free tissue and museum wrap
- Climate-controlled truck lease and fuel
- Fine art insurance premiums
- Vault storage rent
- Subcontracted art handler fees
- Condition report photography equipment
- Continuing education in art handling
- Phone and tablet for documentation
- Card processing fees
- Small tools under the expensing threshold
- Marketing to galleries and designers
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 fine art mover's year, kept every month.
Auction season and gallery openings cluster in the fall and spring, and 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, the 1099 list for any subcontracted handlers is 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 spring gallery and auction work changed the number.
- October
Before auction season
As fall auctions and gallery shows ramp up, Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything 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 fine art and specialty movers. 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 fine art movers ask first.
Can Gus tie a custom crate's cost to the specific job it was built for?
Yes. Crating materials get tracked against the job they were built for, so an unusually expensive crate does not distort your general supply costs.
A gallery pays me two months after I did the work. How does that get booked?
Gus tracks gallery and auction house income against the jobs it covers, not just the day the payment lands, so the work shows up in the right month.
Does a condition report fee count as part of the move price?
Not if you want to see it separately, and Gus can keep it in its own line so you know how much of your income is documentation versus the move itself.
My insurance premium varies a lot job to job. Is that a books problem?
No, that is normal for appraisal-based fine art coverage. Gus keeps it in its own line so the swings make sense instead of looking like a random cost.
My books are a mix of personal cards and a business account. Can Gus sort that out?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most people know where they stand inside a week.
Do I need to 1099 the handlers I bring in for bigger installs?
If you pay any of them $2,000 or more in the year and they are not on payroll, yes. Gus keeps that running total so it is ready by January 31.
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