Funeral, memorial & aftercare
Books and taxes for green and natural burial grounds.
Natural burial site fees, biodegradable shroud and casket sales, and the land stewardship work that keeps the grounds wild. 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
September made $7,800. The native plant order from Prairie Moon Nursery is logged as land stewardship, not grounds supplies.
- Natural burial site feeSite fees
- Biodegradable shroud saleMerchandise sales
- Prairie Moon Nursery orderLand stewardship
- GPS marker systemSite marking equipment
- GBC certification renewalCertification and dues
Why your books are different
A natural burial ground's books go wrong in a few particular spots.
A generalist sees a burial fee and calls it a day. Your ground restores native habitat, tracks graves by GPS instead of headstones, and sells shrouds instead of caskets. When the books do not know that, land stewardship gets lost inside mowing costs and shroud sales get lost inside the site fee.
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1
Land stewardship gets folded into grounds upkeep
Native seed, controlled burns, and invasive species removal are a different cost than mowing a lawn, but they often land in the same generic grounds line. That hides how much restoration work actually costs against what site fees bring in.
What we doKeeps land stewardship work in its own category, separate from routine grounds upkeep, so the real cost of restoration is visible. -
2
Shroud and casket sales sit inside the site fee
A family pays one price that includes the burial site and a biodegradable shroud. Booked as one number, you cannot tell whether the shroud itself makes money or just breaks even.
What we doSplits merchandise like shrouds and caskets from the site fee, so each shows its own cost and margin. -
3
The GPS marking system reads as an ordinary expense
A ground that marks graves by coordinates instead of headstones relies on a mapping and GPS system that can cost several thousand dollars. Filed as a supply purchase, it disappears into a slow month.
What we doLogs the marking system as equipment the day it is bought and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off. -
4
Conservation easement fees look like a one-time cost
Monitoring fees tied to a conservation easement or land trust partnership happen every year, but the first payment sometimes gets filed as a one-off legal cost and then forgotten the next year.
What we doKeeps easement and land trust fees in a recurring category, so the cost is expected every year, not a surprise.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a natural burial ground.
Set up once for how the ground gets paid and what it spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Site feesNatural burial plots sold and marked by GPS coordinate.
- Merchandise salesBiodegradable shrouds and caskets sold with or without a site.
- Memorial tree sponsorshipsFamilies who sponsor a native tree or plant in memory of someone.
- Education and tour feesGuided tours or workshops held on the grounds.
Money out
- Land stewardshipNative seed, controlled burns, and invasive species removal from suppliers like Prairie Moon Nursery.
- Site marking equipmentThe GPS and mapping system used to locate graves without headstones.
- Merchandise costsShrouds and biodegradable caskets held for sale.
- Conservation easement feesAnnual monitoring fees tied to a land trust or easement agreement.
- Certification and duesGreen Burial Council certification and related membership dues.
- Liability insuranceGeneral liability coverage for the grounds.
What we watch for you
- Sites sold
How many natural burial sites sold this month, tracked from the books.
- Stewardship cost share
What land restoration work costs against what site fees bring in.
- Merchandise margin
What shrouds and caskets sell for above their cost.
- The set-aside
What site fees and merchandise sales owe in taxes, building every month so April is already covered.
Ask Gus
Things natural burial ground 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.
Not really. A shroud gets booked as merchandise the same way a casket would. The difference is there is no embalming supply line to track at all.
Usually, yes. I logged it as equipment and flagged it, so the accountant decides how much to write off with your whole year in view.
It gets its own recurring line, so it shows up every year the same way instead of looking like a one-time cost that catches you off guard.
The tax side
The tax side of running a natural burial ground.
Most of what trips up a natural burial ground is treating land stewardship and mapping equipment differently than routine upkeep, and shrouds and caskets as the merchandise they are.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Shrouds and caskets are inventoryBiodegradable shrouds and caskets held for sale are inventory. What is sold in a year counts as a cost against that year's merchandise sales, not written off the day they arrive.
- Mapping and site equipment can usually be written off this yearA GPS marking system or restoration equipment can often be expensed the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contract restoration labor needs a 1099A contractor hired for land restoration or controlled burns paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated natural burial grounds can take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions green and natural burial grounds miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Native seed and plant stock
- Controlled burn contractors
- GPS marking system upkeep
- Conservation easement fees
- Certification and dues
- Liability insurance
- Small utility vehicle fuel
- Signage and trail markers
- Office and phone service
- Continuing education
- Land survey fees
- Accounting and legal fees
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 natural burial ground's year, kept every month.
Restoration work follows the growing season and burials happen on their own schedule. Your team stays on the books through 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, the 1099 list for restoration contractors is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Return signed
The accountant files and signs your return. The set-aside has been building since January, so the bill is not a surprise.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring restoration spending changed the number.
- October
Before fall stewardship
A look at fall seeding and controlled burn costs, and any equipment worth buying before winter.
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 green and natural burial grounds. 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 natural burial ground owners ask first.
Do you separate land stewardship costs from regular grounds upkeep?
Yes. Native seed, controlled burns, and invasive species removal get their own category, apart from routine mowing and maintenance, so you can see what restoration actually costs.
How does Gus handle shroud and casket sales?
They are booked as merchandise with their own cost, split from the site fee, the same way any inventory item would be, so you can see what they contribute on their own.
We pay an annual conservation easement monitoring fee. Where does that go?
It gets its own recurring category so it shows up as an expected yearly cost, not something that looks new or unexplained each time it is paid.
We get sponsorship payments for memorial trees. Is that income?
Yes. It is booked as its own income line, separate from site fees, so you can see how much sponsorship work brings in.
We track graves by GPS coordinate instead of headstones. Does that change the books?
The mapping system itself gets logged as equipment when you buy or upgrade it. Otherwise your books work the same as any burial ground's.
Our books are behind. Can you catch up?
Send whatever bank records you have on hand. Gus works through the backlog and the accountant reviews it, usually inside 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
- Funeral removal & transport services
- 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