Hard goods, dealers & local stores
Books and taxes for flooring showrooms.
Sample sales, deposits on carpet and hardwood ordered by the roll, subcontracted installers, and material overage on every job. 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
June came in at $23,400. Two big hardwood jobs closed out this month, so the deposits from May finally moved from owed-out to earned.
- Sample and remnant salesRetail sales
- Order deposit, Hendricks jobCustomer deposits
- Shaw Floors distributor invoiceInventory purchase
- Ramirez Flooring Install pmtInstaller payments
- Material trailer fuelDelivery and fleet
Why your books are different
Flooring showroom books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and vendor bills. Your business is material ordered by the roll or the pallet weeks before it is installed, subcontracted installers paid per job, measure fees billed apart from product, and overage that eats into margin on every order. When the books do not know that, the monthly number lies.
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1
A material deposit gets counted as a finished sale
A customer puts down half of a $6,000 hardwood job before the material is even ordered from the distributor. Counted as income the day it is collected, the month looks bigger than it is and the store still owes a delivered, installed floor.
What we doKeeps deposits as money owed against the job until the flooring is installed and the job closes out, so the sale only counts once it is real. -
2
Subcontracted installers get treated like a plain material cost
An outside installer paid per job looks the same as a vendor bill if the books do not separate labor from material, which hides how much of a job's price actually went to installation versus product, and muddies who needs a 1099 at year end.
What we doKeeps installer payments in their own line apart from material purchases, so labor cost is visible and the 1099 list stays accurate. -
3
Measure fees get folded into product sales
A paid in-home measure appointment gets rung up as part of the eventual flooring sale, so if the customer never buys, that income disappears entirely, and even when they do buy there is no way to see what measuring actually brings in.
What we doKeeps measure and estimate fees in their own line, so you can see what that part of the business is worth on its own. -
4
Material overage quietly eats into every job's margin
Carpet, tile, and hardwood are almost always ordered with extra for cuts, pattern matching, and waste, and that overage cost often gets lost inside one big material invoice instead of being weighed against what the job actually earned.
What we doTracks material cost against each job's price, so a pattern of thin margins from overage shows up before it becomes a habit.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a flooring showroom.
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
- Retail salesIn-stock samples, remnants, and small orders paid at the time of sale.
- Customer depositsDown payments collected on jobs not yet ordered or installed.
- Measure and estimate feesPaid in-home measure and quote appointments.
- Job completion paymentsThe balance collected when a flooring job is finished and signed off.
Money out
- Inventory purchaseCarpet, tile, hardwood, and vinyl bought from distributors like Shaw or Mohawk.
- Installer paymentsPayments to subcontracted flooring installers, kept apart from material cost.
- Delivery and fleetFuel and repairs for delivery vans and material trailers.
- Showroom payrollSales staff and measure appointment schedulers.
- Rent and utilitiesShowroom lease, sample library storage, and warehouse space.
- Signage and local advertisingShowroom signage and local promotions.
- Card and financing feesWhat a financing partner or card processor kept before the sale hit the bank.
What we watch for you
- Open deposits outstanding
Money collected on jobs not yet installed, so it is never counted twice.
- Gross margin by job
Material and installer cost against the price charged, so overage does not quietly eat a job's profit.
- Installer payments owed
What subcontracted installers are owed, tracked so the 1099 list stays accurate all year.
- The set-aside
What the showroom will owe, built up job by job so tax season is never a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things flooring showroom 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.
Not yet. I keep it as money owed against the job until the floor is installed and it closes out, so the sale only counts once it is real.
If you pay him $2,000 or more this year and he is not on payroll, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running all year so it is ready.
Material overage on this one ran higher than usual. I flagged it so you can see it was the overage, not the pricing, that ate the margin.
The tax side
The tax side of a flooring showroom.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and worker classification. A deposit counted too early, an installer treated the wrong way, 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.
- Inventory and cost of goods soldWhat was actually paid for the flooring sold during the year, not just what was spent restocking, is what counts against sales. Ordered material sitting in the warehouse at year end needs a fair value on the books.
- Employee or contractor installersAn installer who works your schedule, uses your trucks, and takes only your jobs is usually an employee, even if paid per job. One who sets their own hours and works for several showrooms is more likely a genuine contractor. Getting it wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
- Contractor 1099sAny subcontracted installer not on payroll who you 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-operators can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income. It only comes out right when deposits, installer pay, and job margins are all sorted correctly through the year.
Deductions flooring showrooms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Delivery van fuel and repairs
- Sample library and display racks
- Measure tools and laser levels
- Financing and card processing fees
- Local advertising and signage
- Business liability insurance
- Damaged or remnant inventory write-downs
- Installer tools kept in-house
- Point of sale and job scheduling software
- Warehouse racking and storage
- Uniforms with your logo
- Trade show and vendor showroom travel
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 flooring showroom year, kept every month.
Jobs open and close on their own timeline all year, not just at tax time. 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 installer 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with the set-aside already covering what the showroom owes.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring remodeling season changed the number.
- October
Before the fall push
Before the fall remodeling season picks up, Gus looks at equipment you might buy 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 flooring showrooms. 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 flooring showroom owners ask first.
How does Gus handle deposits on jobs we have not ordered material for yet?
He keeps a deposit as money owed against the job until the flooring is installed and the job closes out, so your sales are not overstated before the work is done.
We use subcontracted installers. Does that complicate things?
No. Gus keeps installer payments in their own line apart from material cost, and if you pay one $2,000 or more in 2026, he keeps that 1099 list running all year.
Should our measure fees be tracked separately from flooring sales?
It helps. Gus can keep measure and estimate fees in their own line so you can see what that part of the business is worth on its own.
Material overage keeps eating into our margins. Can Gus catch that?
He tracks material cost against what each job actually charged, so a pattern of thin margins from overage shows up before it becomes a habit.
Our books are behind from a busy remodeling season. Is that a problem?
Not usually. Hand over whatever bank statements you have and Gus works through them job by job, with the accountant checking behind him, so you know where the showroom stands 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.
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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