Brokerage, lending & investing

Books and taxes for hard money lenders.

Fund capital deployed across a dozen active loans, a referral fee paid to the broker who sent the deal, interest on your own warehouse line, and a reserve set aside for a loan gone bad. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
NovemberExample month
$32,700
what you made

November brought in $32,700 across the active loan book. I split every payment into interest and principal, and the broker referral fee on the new Grant Avenue loan came out as its own cost, not a discount on the loan.

  • Loan payments, 9 activeInterest income
  • Loan payments, principalPrincipal repayment
  • Broker referral, Grant AveBroker referral fees paid
  • Warehouse line interestCost of capital
  • Loan servicing softwareLoan servicing costs
Money in$94,000
Money out$61,300
Set aside for taxes$8,200
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Hard money books go wrong at the scale a private lender never sees.

Running a dozen or more active loans at once, often with broker relationships bringing in deals and a warehouse line funding part of the capital, means the books have to track more moving parts than a single lender working with their own cash. When a payment, a referral fee, or a borrowing cost gets blended in, the fund's real margin disappears.

  1. 1

    The cost of your own capital gets ignored

    When part of the money you lend out comes from a warehouse line or your own borrowed capital, the interest you pay on that line is a real cost of doing business, and if it is not tracked, your margin looks bigger than it actually is.

    What we doTracks interest paid on a warehouse line or other borrowed capital as its own cost, so your real spread between what you earn and what you pay is visible.
  2. 2

    A broker referral fee looks like a discount on the loan

    Paying a mortgage broker or referral partner for bringing you a borrower is a real cost of originating that loan, and if it is netted against the loan amount instead of booked as its own expense, both the loan balance and your actual cost look off.

    What we doBooks broker referral fees as their own cost, separate from the loan principal, so the loan balance and your real origination cost both stay accurate.
  3. 3

    A dozen active loans blend their interest and principal together

    With many loans paying at once, it becomes easy for interest and principal across the whole book to blur into one deposit total, losing the ability to see which loans are performing and which are not.

    What we doSplits every loan's payment into interest and principal at the loan level, so you can see performance loan by loan, not just as one fund-wide number.
  4. 4

    A reserve set aside for bad loans looks like spendable cash

    Setting aside capital as a reserve against loans that might default is a prudent practice, but if that reserve sits in the same account as everything else with no distinction, it can quietly get spent like it is available.

    What we doFlags reserved capital as held against risk, separate from cash actually available to deploy into new loans.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a hard money lender.

Set up once for how a loan book actually performs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Interest incomeThe interest portion of every borrower payment across the loan book.
  • Principal repaymentReturn of capital lent out, kept apart from interest.
  • Points and origination incomeFees collected when a loan funds.
  • Extension and late feesFees charged for extending a loan term or a late payment.

Money out

  • Broker referral fees paidFees paid to brokers who bring borrowers to the fund.
  • Cost of capitalInterest paid on a warehouse line or other borrowed funding source.
  • Loan servicing costsSoftware and staff for collecting payments and tracking loan balances.
  • Underwriting and appraisal costsCosts to evaluate a borrower and their collateral before funding a loan.
  • Foreclosure and default costsLegal and administrative costs tied to loans that stop performing.

What we watch for you

  • Net interest margin

    Interest earned against the cost of capital used to fund it, the real measure of the fund's return.

  • Loans in default

    Which loans have stopped performing and what it is costing to pursue them.

  • Broker referral cost per loan

    What each loan actually cost to originate through a broker relationship.

  • The set-aside

    What the fund will owe on its interest and fee income, tracked every month.

Ask Gus

Things hard money lenders 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 am paying interest on my warehouse line every month. Does that eat into what I report as earned?

Yes, and I track it that way. That interest is a real cost of the capital you are lending out, so your true margin is interest earned minus what you paid to fund it.

I paid a broker two points to send me a borrower. Does that come out of the loan amount?

No, I book it as its own cost, separate from the loan principal, so the loan balance stays accurate and your real cost to originate that deal is visible.

One of my dozen active loans just went into default. How do I see what that is costing me specifically?

I flag it and track any legal or servicing costs against that one loan, so it does not get lost in the performance of the other eleven.

The tax side

The tax side of hard money lending.

Most of what matters here is the spread between what you earn and what your own capital costs, and keeping each loan's performance visible on its own.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Interest income, not principalOnly the interest portion of a borrower's payment is taxable income, across every loan in the book. Principal repayment is a return of capital, not taxed again.
  • Cost of capital as a deductionInterest paid on a warehouse line or other borrowed funds used to make loans is usually a deductible business cost, offsetting the interest income the fund earns.
  • Broker referral fee 1099sA broker or referral partner not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
  • Quarterly estimated paymentsWith interest income landing across many loans on different schedules, estimated payments due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 need a real look at the loan book's expected performance.

Deductions hard money lenders miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Interest paid on a warehouse line
  • Broker referral fees
  • Loan servicing software and staff
  • Underwriting and appraisal costs
  • Foreclosure and default legal costs
  • Loan document preparation and title costs
  • Compliance and licensing fees
  • Travel to inspect collateral properties
  • Accounting and tax preparation costs
  • Errors and omissions or lender liability insurance
  • Office space or a shared suite
  • Bank and wire transfer 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 hard money lender's year, kept every month.

A loan book with a dozen or more active loans moves on its own schedule all year. Your team keeps you ahead of what it means for taxes. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, broker 1099s go out, and a monthly set-aside is planned around the loan book's expected interest income.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether any loans paid off, extended, or went into default this year.

  4. October

    Before the book slows for winter

    Broker deal flow often eases up going into winter as fewer flips get listed. Gus looks at the loan book's expected payoffs before December and what the reserve needs before the slower months.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 hard money lenders. 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 hard money lenders ask first.

Can Gus track a dozen or more active loans without losing the details on each one?

Yes. Every loan's payment is split into interest and principal at the loan level, so you can see how each one is performing, not just one number for the whole book.

How does Gus handle interest I pay on my own warehouse line?

It is tracked as a real cost of the capital you lend out, offset against the interest you earn, so your true margin is visible, not just gross interest income.

I pay several brokers referral fees for bringing me deals. Does Gus keep that list for 1099s?

Yes. Any broker or referral partner paid $2,000 or more in a year gets tracked toward a 1099-NEC due January 31.

One of my loans went into default and I am pursuing the collateral. Is that cost tracked separately?

Yes. Legal and servicing costs tied to a defaulted loan are kept against that specific loan, so it does not blend into the performance of the rest of your book.

I hold a reserve fund against potential defaults. Does that count as available cash?

Gus flags reserved capital separately from cash available to deploy into new loans, so it does not get treated as spendable by mistake.

My loan book has grown fast and my records have not kept up. Can Gus catch up?

Yes. Send the bank statements and loan records you have. Gus sorts every payment by loan, and most lenders know where they stand within a couple of 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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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