Cannabis, hemp & botanicals
Books and taxes for functional mushroom brands.
Shopify payouts, wholesale orders to health food stores, subscription boxes, and the potency testing every extract batch needs. Your own bookkeeper keeps it sorted, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
January made $14,000, the year's biggest month so far on new wellness resolutions. The co-manufacturer's minimum order fee for the reishi extract run got kept apart from the ingredient cost itself.
- Website store payoutEcommerce sales
- Amazon FBA payoutMarketplace sales
- Mushroom extract purchaseIngredient cost
- Beta-glucan potency testLab testing
- Instagram ad spendMarketing
Why your books are different
A mushroom brand's numbers ride on a January spike and a slow summer.
Lion's mane, reishi, and cordyceps sell hardest when people are making New Year resolutions and slowest in the middle of summer. A generalist smooths every month into one average. This brand needs its ingredient cost, its testing, and its seasonal swing all kept honest.
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1
Potency testing gets treated as a minor supply cost
A batch of extract has to be tested for its beta-glucan or active compound content before it can legally claim potency on the label, and that testing is not optional paperwork, it is what lets the batch be sold as labeled.
What we doKeeps potency testing tied to the batch it cleared, so the real cost of each product line is visible, not buried in supplies. -
2
A co-manufacturer's minimum order skews a month
A contract manufacturer often requires a minimum batch size, so a brand orders more extract or capsules than it needs right now to hit a price break. Expensed the day it was ordered, that month looks far worse than the months it will actually sell into.
What we doHolds a large batch order against the inventory it becomes, so one big order does not wreck a single month's number. -
3
A January spike gets blended into an average
Wellness resolutions drive a rush of sales in January that a summer month cannot match. Averaged together, the owner cannot tell if a slow July is actually a problem or just the normal shape of the year.
What we doKeeps months compared against the same month last year, not each other, so a slow summer reads as normal, not a warning sign. -
4
Wholesale and direct sales blur into one number
A case sold to a health food store at wholesale price carries a different margin than a bottle sold direct through the website, once shipping and discounts are counted. Blended together, it is hard to tell which channel is actually worth growing.
What we doSplits health food store wholesale, marketplace, and direct website sales into their own lines, so it is clear which one is actually worth growing. -
5
Subscription cancellations look like lost sales
A subscriber canceling their monthly capsule shipment reduces future revenue, not this month's, but a spike in cancellations can get confused with a sales problem if it is not tracked on its own.
What we doTracks active subscriptions and cancellations separately from one-time sales, so a cancellation spike is seen for what it is.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a mushroom brand.
Set up once for how the brand sells and what a batch actually costs. You never pick a category, he does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Ecommerce salesShopify or a similar storefront's direct-to-consumer orders.
- Wholesale salesOrders through Faire or direct accounts with health food and specialty stores.
- Subscription salesRecurring monthly capsule, powder, or tincture shipments.
- Marketplace salesOrders sold through an online marketplace listing.
Money out
- Ingredient costMushroom extract, mycelium, or fruiting body powder bought from a supplier.
- Contract manufacturingA co-manufacturer producing capsules, gummies, or tinctures to the brand's formula.
- Lab testingPotency and contaminant testing required on every batch.
- Packaging and labelsBottles, pouches, and labels that meet supplement labeling rules.
- MarketingPodcast sponsorships, wellness influencer partnerships, and paid social ads.
- Fulfillment and shippingPick, pack, and carrier costs for subscription boxes and marketplace orders.
What we watch for you
- Cost per batch
Ingredient and testing cost against what a batch actually sold for.
- Channel margin
What is actually left after shipping and discounts, direct site against wholesale and marketplace.
- Subscription cancellations
How many recurring orders canceled, tracked apart from one-time sales.
- Same-month last year
This month against the same month a year ago, since the season swings so much.
Ask Gus
Things mushroom brand 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 doesn't have to. I held that order against the inventory it becomes instead of expensing it all on delivery, so this month reads honestly against the months it will actually sell into.
Probably not. I compare July to last July instead of to January, since wellness resolutions drive a real seasonal swing here. That is the better read on whether something actually changed.
Yes. I keep potency testing tied to the batch it cleared, so you can see what it actually costs to get a product line to market with a label you can stand behind.
The tax side
The tax side of a functional mushroom brand.
This is a federally legal supplement brand, taxed under ordinary business rules, with the main complications coming from batch costing and season.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Ordinary deductions apply hereA functional mushroom brand is taxed like any other supplement or consumer product brand. Manufacturing, marketing, and shipping costs are deductible the normal way, with no special restriction on what can be written off.
- Cost of goods sold and inventoryExtract, capsules, and finished bottles sitting in a warehouse are inventory until sold, not an expense the day they were made or bought from a manufacturer.
- The pass-through deductionAn owner-operator running the brand through a pass-through entity can generally take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off taxable income, phasing out above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, once the year's real profit is known.
- Contractor 1099s for outside helpA product photographer, recipe developer, or podcast host paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for a sponsorship or shoot, who is not on payroll, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions functional mushroom brands miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Mushroom extract and mycelium cost
- Co-manufacturer batch fees
- Beta-glucan potency testing
- Supplement-compliant bottles and labels
- Podcast and influencer sponsorships
- Marketplace referral and storage fees
- Pick and pack fulfillment costs
- Sample bottles for reviewers
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 mushroom brand's year, kept every month.
January runs hot and summer runs slow, every year. Your team keeps the books current through both, not just at tax 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 contractors is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned around the year's biggest sales month.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with channel margins and batch costs documented clearly, as the spring slowdown sets in.
- July
Halfway check
Where the brand stands, what it will owe, and whether the summer slowdown is running normal against last year's numbers.
- October
Before the winter rush
Before the wellness resolution season ramps back up, Gus looks at any inventory order worth placing 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 functional mushroom brands. 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 mushroom brand owners ask first.
Is a functional mushroom brand taxed differently than a regular supplement company?
No. This is an ordinary consumer product business for tax purposes, taxed the same as any supplement or wellness brand. Manufacturing, marketing, and shipping are deductible the normal way, with nothing special restricting it.
Our sales spike hard every January and crash every summer. Is that a problem?
Usually not. Gus compares a month against the same month a year ago instead of against the month before it, since this business runs on a real seasonal pattern tied to wellness resolutions, not a warning sign of a slowdown.
Do potency test results count as a real cost of our product?
Yes. Testing that confirms a batch's active compound content gets tied to that batch's cost, since it is what lets you claim potency on the label at all, not an optional add-on.
We sell through our own site, a marketplace, and a subscription box. Can that all live in one place?
Yes. Each channel gets its own category, so you can see which one actually carries a decent margin instead of one blended number covering for the others, month over month.
Does Gus deal with supplement label claim rules?
No. Gus keeps the books and flags testing costs tied to compliance, but label claims and marketing rules are outside a bookkeeping and tax subscription. That is worth checking with someone who specializes in it.
Our subscription cancellations spiked last quarter. Can Gus tell me if that is a real problem?
Yes. Cancellations get tracked apart from one-time sales, so a spike shows up on its own instead of getting read as a general drop in revenue, and you can see whether it lines up with a price change or something else.
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