Land recreation & adventure
Books and taxes for fly fishing guides and shops.
Guided float and wade trips booked months out, retail flies and rods sold at the counter, and a boat and trailer that need their own upkeep budget. Gus sorts it as it lands, 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 $15,100. A run of guided trips booked back in February finally happened this month, so I counted them now instead of when the deposits landed.
- Guided trip balances, walk-up clientsGuided trip income
- Retail fly and gear salesRetail sales
- Umpqua Feather Merchants orderRetail inventory
- Drift boat trailer repairBoat and gear upkeep
- Sub-guide day ratesGuide pay
Why your books are different
Fly fishing books go wrong between the deposit and the day on the water.
A client books and pays a deposit for a trip months before the season's best hatch even starts, and your shop sells everything from a two dollar fly to a thousand dollar rod. A generalist counts every deposit the day it lands. Your books need to know a booking is not a completed trip.
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1
Trip deposits get counted before the client shows up
A client books a guided trip in February for a June float, paying a deposit up front, and if that money counts as February income, June looks thin even though that is when the trip, and most of the cost, actually happens.
What we doHolds trip deposits as money owed until the trip happens, then counts the income that day. -
2
Retail inventory spans wildly different price points
A shop wall of flies, tippet, and rods ranges from a two dollar item to a thousand dollar rod, and lumping all retail spend together hides which categories actually make money after wholesale cost.
What we doKeeps retail inventory purchases matched to sales by category, so you can see which parts of the shop wall are worth the shelf space. -
3
Sub-guides paid a day rate look like a payroll mess
Busy season means bringing in other guides for overflow trips, and if their day rate pay blends into your own guide income, you cannot tell what a trip actually nets after paying the guide who ran it.
What we doKeeps sub-guide day rates in their own line, tied to the trips they ran, separate from your own guide pay. -
4
Boat and trailer upkeep gets buried in general supplies
A drift boat, motor, and trailer need real, recurring maintenance, and if that cost blends into general shop supplies, you cannot see what the boat itself costs to keep running against the trips it supports.
What we doKeeps boat and trailer upkeep in its own line, separate from shop and retail supplies.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a fly fishing guide service and shop.
Set up once for how trips, retail, and licenses get paid. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Guided trip incomeFloat and wade trip fees, recognized the day the trip happens.
- Retail salesFlies, tippet, rods, and gear sold at the shop counter.
- Fly tying and casting lessonsInstructional income separate from guided trips.
- License and permit salesState fishing licenses sold on behalf of the state.
- Repair and rod serviceRod and reel repair work done in-shop.
Money out
- Retail inventoryFlies, tippet, rods, and gear bought wholesale for resale.
- Guide payYour own guiding income, kept apart from sub-guide day rates.
- Sub-guide day ratesOther guides brought in for overflow trips during busy season.
- Boat and trailer upkeepDrift boat, motor, and trailer maintenance and repair.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for guided trips on the water.
- Shop rent and utilitiesRent, power, and water for the storefront.
- Marketing and trip booking feesAds and any booking site's cut of online reservations.
- Access fees and permitsRiver access, land use, or float permits tied to guiding water.
What we watch for you
- Deferred trip deposit balance
How much trip deposit money is still owed in trips not yet run.
- Retail margin by category
What flies, tippet, and hard goods actually net after wholesale cost, useful for stocking decisions.
- Sub-guide cost per trip
What bringing in another guide actually costs against what that trip brought in.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things fly fishing guide and shop 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.
It's held as money owed to them in a trip they hadn't taken yet. I counted it in June, the day the float actually happened, so the report matches the real work.
I keep his day rate pay separate from your own guiding income, tied to the specific trips he ran, so you can see what each of those trips actually netted.
Usually yes, since you are collecting most of that money on the state's behalf rather than earning it as shop income. I keep it in its own category so the accountant can confirm exactly how it should be handled.
The tax side
The tax side of a fly fishing guide service and shop.
Most of what trips up a guide and shop business is timing trip deposits and keeping retail inventory separate from guiding and boat costs.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Trip deposits are earned at the tripMoney collected for a guided trip booked ahead of time is deferred income, recognized only when the trip actually happens.
- Boat and equipment depreciationA drift boat, motor, and trailer are capital equipment, and bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Sub-guide or employeeA sub-guide who uses your boat, follows your booking calendar, and works your trips is often an employee rather than a contractor, and that call matters before busy season staffing gets set.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, which comes out right when trip and retail income are tracked accurately all year.
Deductions fly fishing guides and shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Drift boat and trailer maintenance
- Fly tying materials for shop stock
- Liability insurance premiums
- Sub-guide day rates
- River access and float permits
- Rod and reel repair parts
- Shop rent and utilities
- Booking site fees
- Waders and guiding gear
- Fuel for the guide vehicle and boat
- Marketing and trip listings
- Uniforms and branded shop gear
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 fly fishing guide and shop year, kept every month.
Trip bookings and hatch season peak at different times than tax deadlines. 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, and a monthly set-aside is planned based on how last season's trips and retail sales actually landed.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed as spring trip bookings pick up.
- July
Peak season check
Where you stand at the busiest stretch, and whether sub-guide costs are keeping pace with trip income.
- October
Before the season winds down
Boat maintenance, retail restocking, and equipment worth buying before the off season.
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 fly fishing guides and shops. 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 fly fishing guide and shop owners ask first.
Clients book and pay deposits for trips months in advance. How does Gus handle that timing?
He holds trip deposits as money owed until the trip actually happens, so the income lands the day you're on the water, not the day the deposit was paid.
Our shop sells everything from cheap flies to expensive rods. Can Gus tell what's actually profitable?
Yes. He keeps retail inventory matched to sales by category, so you can see which parts of the shop wall are worth the shelf space and which are not.
I bring in sub-guides during peak season. Does their pay mess up my own guiding income numbers?
No, sub-guide day rates stay in their own line, tied to the trips they ran, so your own guiding income stays clear and separate.
I sell state fishing licenses at the shop counter. Does that count as my income?
Usually most of that money passes through to the state rather than counting as shop revenue, and Gus keeps it in its own category so the accountant can confirm exactly how it is handled.
My boat needed a major repair this year that ate into profit. Can that be planned for better?
Yes. Gus keeps boat and trailer upkeep in its own line, so you can see the real running pattern of that cost and plan for it instead of being surprised.
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