Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for white glove furniture delivery.
Per-delivery fees from furniture retailers and interior designers, two-person crew wages, packaging removal and debris haul-away, and damage claims on pieces worth real money. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
April came in at $9,800. A dining set arrived with a scuffed leg and had to be reported before the retailer's claim window closed, so I flagged that cost apart from routine crew pay.
- Furniture retailer contract paymentRetailer and designer contracts
- Room-of-choice placement feePlacement and assembly fees
- Two-person crew payrollCrew wages
- Damage claim deductibleDamage claims
- Moving blankets and strapsProtective supplies
Why your books are different
White glove books go wrong around crews and claims.
A generalist sees a settlement deposit and payroll. Your business runs two-person crews into people's homes to place, assemble, and unbox furniture worth real money, then hauls away the packaging, all under contracts with retailers and designers who expect it done right. When the books do not separate crew time, upcharges, and claims, you cannot tell which contracts actually pay for the work involved.
-
1
Placement and assembly fees blur into base delivery pay
Carrying a piece up three flights and assembling it in a specific room takes far more time than a curbside drop, but if every delivery lands in one revenue line, you cannot tell whether the extra fee actually covers the extra labor.
What we doKeeps placement and assembly fees in their own category, separate from base delivery pay, so you can see what the extra work is really worth. -
2
A damage claim on a high-value piece looks like routine loss
A scratched dining table or a torn upholstered piece can mean a real deductible or replacement cost before a retailer's claim clears, and lumped into routine expenses, it can make one bad delivery look like a spending pattern.
What we doKeeps damage claim costs in their own line, so one costly delivery does not get mistaken for a trend. -
3
Debris removal and packaging haul-away disappear into overhead
Hauling away boxes and packaging is part of what makes a delivery white glove, but the dump fees and disposal costs that come with it get lost in general expenses if they are not tracked on their own.
What we doKeeps debris removal and disposal costs in their own category, so the real cost of the full white glove service is visible. -
4
Crew wages and protective supplies get mixed together
Moving blankets, straps, and floor protection are a real recurring cost specific to handling expensive furniture, and mixed in with crew wages, you cannot see what protecting each delivery actually costs.
What we doKeeps protective supplies in their own line, separate from crew pay, so each cost is visible on its own.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a white glove delivery company.
Set up once for how contracts pay you and what running crews into people's homes actually costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retailer and designer contractsBase delivery pay from furniture retailers and interior designers.
- Placement and assembly feesUpcharges for room-of-choice placement and assembly.
- Debris removal feesCharges for hauling away packaging and old furniture.
- Storage and staging feesFees for holding a client's furniture before a scheduled delivery date.
Money out
- Crew wagesPay for the two-person delivery and placement crews.
- Damage claimsDeductibles or replacement costs for damaged furniture.
- Protective suppliesMoving blankets, straps, and floor protection.
- Truck and fuel costsFuel and upkeep on delivery trucks.
- Debris disposal feesDump and disposal costs for packaging and old furniture.
- InsuranceCargo coverage sized for high-value furniture, plus liability.
What we watch for you
- Cost per delivery
Crew time, supplies, and fuel against what a delivery pays. It tells you if a contract's rate still holds up.
- Damage claim rate
How often a delivery ends in a claim. A rising rate points to training or handling worth a look.
- Placement fee share
How much of your revenue comes from assembly and room-of-choice work versus base delivery.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things white glove delivery 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.
I keep placement and assembly fees separate from base delivery pay, so once you have a few months of data, that answer becomes clear.
I kept it in its own damage claims line, apart from routine costs, so it shows up as what it was instead of looking like ordinary overspending.
Yes, they are ordinary supplies for this work. I keep them in their own category so you can see what protecting each delivery actually costs.
The tax side
The tax side of running a white glove delivery business.
Most of what trips up a white glove delivery company is treating a damage claim like routine overspending and losing track of what placement work really costs.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Writing off delivery trucksA delivery truck bought for the business can often be written off in full the year it is bought, since the lower $32,000 heavy SUV cap does not apply to a truck used for delivery. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Worker classification for crew membersA crew member who runs your truck, follows your schedule, and delivers under your contracts usually counts as an employee, not a contractor, no matter what the pay arrangement is called.
- 1099s for contracted crewsAny crew member not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost white glove delivery owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when contracts, crew pay, and claims are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions furniture delivery and white glove delivery companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Delivery truck fuel and repairs
- Moving blankets and straps
- Crew wages
- Damage claim deductibles
- Cargo and liability insurance
- Debris disposal and dump fees
- Uniforms and gloves
- Dollies and hand trucks
- Route and scheduling software
- Storage or staging space rent
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 white glove delivery year, kept every month.
Furniture deliveries run every week of the year, with a real push around moving season and the holidays. 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 contracted crews is finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- 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 new retailer or designer contracts this year changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday delivery surge
Furniture delivery volume climbs before the holidays. Gus looks at whether adding a crew makes sense before the busiest stretch hits.
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 furniture delivery and white glove delivery companies. 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 white glove delivery owners ask first.
Can the books tell me which retailer contract is actually worth the crew time it takes?
Yes. Contract pay, placement fees, and claims are tracked separately, so you can see the real economics of each relationship, not just a combined total.
How do you handle a damage claim on an expensive piece of furniture?
It gets logged in its own damage claims line, separate from routine costs, so it shows up as what it was instead of looking like normal month-to-month spending.
My crews are a mix of employees and people I pay per delivery. Is that a problem?
It can matter for taxes more than for the books. Gus keeps crew wages and per-delivery contractor pay in separate lines, and flags anyone paid enough to need a 1099 so the accountant can confirm the setup is right.
Do room-of-choice and assembly fees need separate invoicing?
No, keep billing however your contracts already work. Gus tags the upcharge amounts within your income so they show up separately in your numbers.
We just started taking on interior designer clients in addition to retailers. Does that change anything?
No, Gus tracks revenue by client relationship either way, so you will be able to see how designer work compares to retailer contracts once you have a few months of data.
Our records have always just been retailer settlement statements we never organized. Can you catch us up?
Yes. Send what you have. Gus sorts it out, the accountant checks it, and most owners know where they stand within a couple 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.
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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