Funeral, memorial & aftercare
Books and taxes for funeral removal and transport services.
Per-call removal fees that differ by funeral home, long-distance transport billed by the mile, and on-call drivers paid by the run. Your own bookkeeper stays on the books all year, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February made $10,000. The long-distance transfer to the coast billed at its mileage rate, kept apart from your flat local removal fee.
- Removal fee, Hargrove HomeLocal removal fees
- Long-distance transport feeLong-distance transport
- Van fuel, fleetVehicles and fuel
- Answering serviceDispatch and answering
- On-call driver payContract drivers
Why your books are different
A removal and transport service's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a deposit and a fuel bill. Your business runs different rates for different funeral home contracts, bills long hauls by the mile, and pays drivers who work calls for more than one service. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which contracts or which routes actually pay.
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1
Contract rates blend into one average
One funeral home pays $150 a call under contract and another pays $185 on a one-off basis. Lumped into a single removal fee category, you cannot tell which relationships are worth the most.
What we doKeeps each funeral home's rate visible in the notes on every removal, so your real average by client stays clear. -
2
Long-distance transport hides inside local removal fees
A three-hour transfer billed by the mile brings in a lot more than a local call, but if both land in the same category, you cannot tell whether long hauls are actually worth the extra time and fuel.
What we doKeeps long-distance transport in its own category, separate from local removal fees, so mileage-billed work shows its own margin. -
3
On-call drivers who work multiple services look like employees
A driver who takes calls for your company and two others, using his own schedule, is usually a contractor. Paid like staff without the paperwork, it gets expensive to sort out later.
What we doFlags drivers who look like they are drifting toward employee status and keeps the 1099 total running so January is not a scramble. -
4
Night and weekend surcharges go untracked
A 2 a.m. call brings in more than a daytime one, but if the surcharge is not tracked apart from the base fee, you cannot tell how much your premium hours actually add.
What we doKeeps surcharges in their own line so the value of overnight and weekend work is visible, not buried in the base rate.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a removal and transport service.
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
- Local removal feesFlat per-call fees from funeral home contracts.
- Long-distance transportTransfers billed by the mile for longer trips.
- Surcharge feesOvernight, weekend, or holiday premiums on top of the base rate.
- Hospital and county contractsStanding agreements with hospitals, coroners, or county programs.
Money out
- Vehicles and fuelFuel, repairs, and insurance for the removal van fleet.
- Contract driversOn-call drivers paid by the run, tracked toward any 1099 owed.
- Dispatch and answeringThe 24-hour answering service and dispatch software.
- Cot and equipment upkeepCots, straps, and transport equipment maintenance.
- Licensing and permitsState transport licensing and vehicle permits.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for the vehicles and the transport work itself.
What we watch for you
- Average fee per call
What a typical call actually brings in once contract rates and surcharges are counted.
- Local vs long-distance mix
How much of the month is mileage-billed transport versus flat local calls.
- Contract driver cost
What on-call drivers cost against how many calls they ran.
- The set-aside
What call fees owe in taxes, tracked every month so a busy winter never turns into an April scramble.
Ask Gus
Things removal service 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 does for knowing which relationships are worth the most. I keep each funeral home's rate visible so you can see it clearly, not just one blended average.
Yes, worth its own line. I keep surcharges apart from the base fee so you can see how much overnight work actually adds.
Usually, yes. If you pay one of them $2,000 or more this year, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31, and I keep that running total.
The tax side
The tax side of a removal and transport business.
Most of what matters here is keeping contract rates and mileage work visible, and getting driver paperwork right.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Vans can usually be written off this yearA removal van can often be expensed the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- On-call drivers usually need a 1099A driver who works calls for more than one service and sets his own schedule is usually a contractor. Paid $2,000 or more in 2026, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Mileage adds up on long transfersThe standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents after that, worth tracking on any miles not already billed directly to a client.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated removal services can take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions funeral removal and transport services miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Van fuel and repairs
- Cot and stretcher upkeep
- Answering service fees
- Dispatch software
- On-call driver pay
- Vehicle insurance
- Uniforms and gloves
- Phone and pager service
- Licensing and permits
- Tires and maintenance
- GPS tracking service
- Continuing education
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 removal and transport year, kept every month.
Cold weather can bring more calls, but the phone rings on its own schedule all year. Your team stays on the books through every part of it. 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 contract drivers is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Return signed
Your return is filed and signed. Because the set-aside has been building from every call since January, the bill is not a surprise.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether winter call volume changed the number.
- October
Before winter
A look at fleet upkeep and any equipment worth buying before colder months bring more calls.
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 funeral removal and transport services. 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 removal service owners ask first.
We have contracts with several funeral homes at different rates. Does Gus track each one?
Yes. Each funeral home's rate stays visible in your books, so you can see which contracts bring in the most, not just one blended number.
Do you separate long-distance transport from local removal calls?
Yes. Mileage-billed transfers get their own category, so you can see if long hauls actually earn what they should against fuel and driver time.
Our drivers are on call and take shifts for other companies too. Does that change anything?
It usually means they are contractors, not employees. Gus tracks pay toward the 1099 total and flags it if the pattern starts to look more like employment.
Do overnight and weekend surcharges get counted differently?
Yes. They get their own line apart from the base removal fee, so the value of that extra-hours work does not get buried in the average.
We're paid by several funeral homes on different schedules. Is that hard to track?
No. Gus reconciles every payment against your bank statement, whichever funeral home or schedule it came from, so nothing gets missed or counted twice.
Our books are behind after a busy winter. Can you catch up?
Send whatever bank and call log records you have. Gus works through the backlog and the accountant checks it, usually 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.
More in funeral, memorial & aftercare
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Casket & urn retailers
- Celebration-of-life planners
- Crematories
- Death doulas & end-of-life planners
- Estate cleanout companies
- Green & natural burial grounds
- Independent funeral homes
- Memorial jewelry & keepsake makers
- Monument & headstone dealers
- Preneed insurance agents
- Private cemeteries
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