Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for freight forwarders.
Ocean and air carrier costs booked apart from your markup, foreign agent fees, documentation charges, and payments that clear in different currencies on different schedules. Your own bookkeeper keeps your margin visible, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September brought in $20,700 in margin. A shipment moved through a foreign agent for the first time, so I logged their fee apart from your own markup.
- Client freight paymentFreight billed to clients
- Ocean carrier paymentCarrier and transport costs
- Foreign agent feeAgent and partner fees
- Documentation fee, bill of ladingDocumentation and filing fees
- Wire transfer feeBanking and currency fees
Why your books are different
A forwarder's books go wrong around margin, not shipments.
A generalist sees a client payment and a carrier bill. Your business earns the markup between what you charge a client and what the ocean or air carrier actually charges you, often working through foreign agents on the other end. When the books do not separate those, your real margin disappears.
-
1
The full freight bill looks like your revenue
A client pays $18,000 to move a container, of which $15,200 goes to the ocean carrier. Booking the full $18,000 as income makes the business look far bigger than it is and buries what you actually kept.
What we doKeeps carrier and transport costs separate from your markup, so the books show what the forwarding actually earned on each shipment. -
2
Foreign agent fees hide inside carrier costs
A destination agent handling the shipment on the other end takes their own cut, and lumped in with the carrier bill, you cannot see what working through that agent network actually costs you.
What we doKeeps foreign agent fees in their own category, so you can see the real cost of each trade lane and each partner. -
3
Currency and wire timing muddies the month
Payments in different currencies clearing on different schedules can make a month look like money is missing when it is actually just still in transit through the bank.
What we doNotes when a payment is still clearing, so a timing gap does not get mistaken for a loss. -
4
Documentation fees disappear into overhead
Bill of lading, airway bill, and filing fees are a real cost of every shipment, but lumped into general office expenses, you lose sight of how they add up across your volume.
What we doKeeps documentation and filing fees in their own line, so the real cost per shipment stays visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a freight forwarder.
Set up once for how clients pay you and what moving their freight actually costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Freight billed to clientsThe full amount a client pays for a shipment you arranged.
- Handling and documentation feesFees billed for paperwork and coordination separate from freight.
- Warehousing and consolidation feesFees for holding or combining cargo before it ships.
- Insurance placement feesAny fee earned for arranging cargo insurance on a shipment.
Money out
- Carrier and transport costsWhat you pay the ocean or air carrier that actually moves the cargo.
- Agent and partner feesWhat a foreign agent or destination partner keeps for their part of the move.
- Documentation and filing feesBill of lading, airway bill, and related filing costs.
- Banking and currency feesWire fees and currency conversion costs on international payments.
- Warehousing and drayageLocal storage and short-haul trucking to and from the port or terminal.
- Bonds and licensingAny required surety bond or forwarder licensing costs.
What we watch for you
- Margin per shipment
What you keep after paying the carrier and agent. It tells you which lanes are worth prioritizing.
- Agent fee share
What foreign agents keep across your shipments, so you know the real cost of each partner network.
- Days to collect
How long clients take to pay against how fast carriers need to be paid. A widening gap strains cash.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things freight forwarders 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.
That is the full freight bill hitting your account before you pay the carrier. I split it into carrier costs and your markup, so you see what you actually kept.
No, I noted it as still clearing, so it will not look like a loss. It shows up once the funds actually land.
I keep agent fees in their own line, so you can see exactly what that partnership is costing you lane by lane.
The tax side
The tax side of running a freight forwarding business.
Most of what trips up a forwarder is treating the gross freight bill as income instead of the markup, and losing track of fees paid to foreign partners.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Markup, not gross freight, is the real incomeOnly the spread you keep after paying the carrier and any agents is business income for tax purposes, not the full amount a client paid. Clean books that separate the two make return preparation far more accurate.
- 1099s for domestic contractorsA domestic contractor helping with drayage, warehousing, or filing who is not on payroll and is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Foreign agents paid outside the country are handled differently, and the accountant confirms what applies.
- Bonds and licensing costsAny required surety bond or licensing fee to operate as a forwarder is a deductible cost of doing business, tracked the year it is paid.
- The pass-through deductionMost forwarding business owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when markup, not gross freight, is what the books track.
Deductions freight forwarders miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Documentation and filing fees
- Warehousing and drayage costs
- Surety bond premiums
- Software for tracking shipments
- Wire and currency conversion fees
- Cargo insurance placement costs
- Office space and phone
- Travel to visit clients or agents
- Continuing education for staff
- Professional liability insurance
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 forwarder's year, kept every month.
International freight moves on shipping schedules that rarely slow down, and your taxes move on their own. Your team stays on both, not just at filing time. 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 domestic contractors is finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside built from real margin, not gross freight.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether shipping volume and currency swings changed the margin picture.
- October
Before the peak shipping season
Import volume climbs ahead of the holidays. Gus looks at whether your bonds and licensing are current and what still needs 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 freight forwarders. 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 freight forwarders ask first.
Do you book my markup as income or the whole freight bill?
Your markup. Gus keeps carrier and agent costs in their own lines and books only the spread you keep as revenue, so your numbers reflect what the business actually earned.
I work with agents in several countries. Can the books keep that straight?
Yes. Agent fees are tracked by partner, so you can see what each relationship costs you and compare it across your trade lanes.
Payments in foreign currency sometimes take weeks to clear. Does that confuse the books?
No. Gus notes when a payment is still in transit through the bank, so a timing gap does not get read as missing money.
Do documentation fees like bill of lading charges count as a real cost?
Yes, they are a real cost of every shipment. Gus keeps them in their own category so you can see the true cost per shipment, not just the carrier rate.
I use a mix of W-2 staff and contracted help for drayage and filing. Is that a problem?
No. Wages and contractor payments are kept separate, and Gus flags anyone paid enough domestically to need a 1099, so nothing gets missed at filing time.
My books have never separated carrier costs from my own margin. Can you fix that?
Yes. Send the statements you have. Gus sorts carrier and agent costs from your markup going forward, and most owners see a clear picture within a few weeks.
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 freight, trucking & delivery
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Box truck businesses
- Car haulers
- Cold storage warehouses
- Customs brokers
- Expedited freight (sprinter vans)
- Final-mile delivery companies
- Furniture delivery & white glove delivery
- Heavy haul & oversize transport
- Hot shot trucking
- Livestock haulers
- Local courier services
- Medical courier services
- 3PL warehouses
- Amazon delivery service partners (DSPs)
- Owner-operator truckers
- Small fulfillment centers
- Small trucking fleets
- Truck dispatch services
- Freight brokers
- Aerial applicators & crop dusters
- Aircraft detailing
- Aircraft maintenance shops (MRO)
- Aircraft sales brokers
- Airport shuttle services
- Boat detailing & bottom cleaning
- Boat repair & marine mechanics
- Boat shrink wrapping services
- Boat transport companies
- Charter bus companies
- Drone inspection & mapping services
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