Vocational & certification training
Books and taxes for flight schools.
Flight hour billing, aircraft rental, VA education benefits, and fuel that swings with every lesson all move differently. Gus sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
August came in at $21,000. The overhauled engine for Skyhawk two went in as equipment, not maintenance.
- VA education benefit paymentVA benefits
- Flight hour billing, blockFlight instruction
- Avgas fuel deliveryAircraft fuel
- Hangar rentHangar and tie-down
- Annual inspection, N172 tailMaintenance and inspections
Why your books are different
Flight school books go wrong around the aircraft, not the classroom.
A generalist sees lesson fees and a fuel bill. Your school runs aircraft that need maintenance reserves set aside between overhauls, VA benefits that pay out on their own schedule, and instructors who log hours differently than they get paid.
-
1
Maintenance reserves are not set aside as the plane flies
An engine overhaul due every so many flight hours is a certainty, not a surprise, but many schools only feel it the month the bill arrives, after the cash from those flight hours is long spent.
What we doTracks a running maintenance reserve against hours flown, so the overhaul bill is not a shock when it lands. -
2
VA education benefits pay out weeks after the lesson
A veteran using GI Bill benefits often flies lessons that the VA reimburses the school for later, sometimes a month or more after the flight happened. Booking income only when the check lands hides what the school has actually earned.
What we doKeeps a running list of what has been billed to the VA and what is still outstanding, tied to the student it belongs to. -
3
Instructors are paid by the flight hour, not the lesson block
A certified flight instructor often gets paid per flight hour while the school bills the student in blocks that include ground briefing time, and mixing the two makes it hard to see true labor cost against revenue.
What we doKeeps instructor flight-hour pay separate from lesson block billing, so the real cost of instruction stays visible. -
4
An aircraft purchase gets treated like a big maintenance bill
Buying a training aircraft outright is a different animal than paying for its annual inspection, but both sometimes land in the same maintenance and aircraft cost line.
What we doFlags aircraft purchases the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
5
Fuel cost per hour gets buried in a single fuel line
Avgas prices swing, and without tracking fuel cost against hours actually flown, a school cannot tell whether its per-hour rental rate is still covering the real cost of flying.
What we doKeeps fuel cost visible against hours flown, so pricing can keep up with what fuel actually costs.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a flight school.
Set up once for how the school gets paid and what it costs to keep aircraft flying. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Flight instructionLesson blocks billed by flight hour, including ground briefing time.
- Aircraft rentalSolo or checkout rental income apart from instruction.
- VA education benefitsPayments for veterans using GI Bill benefits for flight training.
- Ground school and exam prepWritten test prep and ground instruction sold apart from flight time.
Money out
- Instructor payPayroll wages and per-hour pay for certified flight instructors, kept in its own line.
- Aircraft fuelAvgas cost, tracked against hours flown.
- Maintenance and inspectionsRoutine upkeep, annual inspections, and reserves set aside for overhauls.
- Hangar and tie-downRent for aircraft storage and parking.
- Aircraft purchasesTraining aircraft bought outright, logged so they get written off right.
- InsuranceAircraft hull and liability coverage.
- Marketing and leadsGoogle ads, local listings, and any lead-generation spend.
What we watch for you
- Maintenance reserve balance
What has been set aside against hours flown, so an overhaul bill is never a surprise.
- VA receivable
What is billed to the VA but not yet paid, by student.
- Fuel cost per flight hour
What avgas actually costs against what the school charges per hour.
- The set-aside
What the school will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is not a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things flight school 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.
Yes. I have been tracking a reserve against the hours it has flown, so this is not coming out of nowhere. I will show you where that balance stands.
No. I book it as billed and still owed, so it shows up as earned even while the payment is in transit.
I track fuel cost against hours flown so you can see that in real time, and this month it is worth a look at your rental rate.
The tax side
The tax side of a flight school.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing around aircraft and funding. An overhaul that looks sudden, VA money booked too late, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Aircraft depreciationTraining aircraft bought for the school can usually be written off over time or partly in the year bought, depending on the aircraft and the year you are having. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Instructor classificationA flight instructor who teaches your curriculum, in your aircraft, on your schedule is usually an employee, even paid per flight hour. Getting it wrong gets expensive, so Gus flags it before it becomes a habit.
- Contractor 1099sA guest instructor or outside help paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated schools 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 flight schools miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Avgas and fuel
- Hangar and tie-down rent
- Aircraft maintenance reserves
- Annual inspection costs
- Aircraft insurance
- Headsets and flight bags for instruction
- Instructor certification renewal
- Ground school materials
- Weather and flight planning software
- Marketing and leads
- Ramp and fuel truck fees
- Uniforms with the school's name
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 flight school year, kept every month.
Flying happens most months. Taxes and maintenance reserves 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 is ready, and the school gets a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
The return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where the school stands, what it will owe, and whether VA reimbursements are keeping pace with flight hours.
- October
Before winter maintenance
Gus looks at upcoming inspections, an aircraft purchase worth making, and anything else 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 flight schools. 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 flight school owners ask first.
Can Gus track our maintenance reserve so an overhaul doesn't blindside us?
Yes. He tracks a running reserve against hours flown, so you can see the balance building and the overhaul bill is not a surprise when it lands.
Our VA payments come in weeks after the flights happen. Does that mess up the numbers?
No. Gus books VA income as billed and still owed, so it counts as earned when the flight happened, not just when the check arrives.
Our instructors are paid per flight hour, not per lesson. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Gus keeps instructor pay in its own line and flags anyone paid like a contractor who works like staff.
Do we write off a new training aircraft all at once?
Sometimes, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call depending on the year you are having. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
Our books are a year behind. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Does Gus handle VA program approval or FAA certification paperwork?
No. Gus keeps the books ready and tracks what the VA still owes, but the approval and certification paperwork stays with the school.
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