Wellness & recovery services
Books and taxes for herbalists and apothecaries.
Raw herbs turned into tinctures sold three different ways, a wholesale account with a local shop, and a Saturday farmers market table paid mostly in cash. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September came in at $4,300. The wholesale order for the shop downtown was bigger than usual, so I checked that it lines up with your production batch before counting it as a normal month.
- Etsy payout, retail tincturesOnline retail
- Wholesale order, local shopWholesale sales
- Farmers market cash salesMarket sales
- Bulk dried herb orderRaw ingredients
- Bottles and labelsPackaging
Why your books are different
An herbalist runs a small manufacturer, not just a shop.
Raw herbs get turned into finished tinctures and teas through your own production process, sold at three different price points depending on the channel. A bookkeeper used to a simple retail shop misses the manufacturing step entirely, and cost per bottle stays a mystery.
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1
Raw herbs are not the same cost as a finished tincture
A pound of dried herb turns into dozens of bottles after steeping, straining, and bottling, and if the herb cost alone is treated as the cost of the product, the real cost of a finished tincture, including your time and packaging, gets badly understated.
What we doTracks raw ingredient cost separately from packaging and other production costs, so real cost per batch stays visible. -
2
Wholesale and retail are two different prices for the same product
A shop buying your tinctures wholesale pays much less per bottle than a retail customer does, and blended into one sales number, it is impossible to tell whether wholesale accounts are actually worth the discount.
What we doKeeps wholesale and retail sales in separate lines, so each channel's real contribution is visible. -
3
Farmers market cash sales are easy to undercount
A Saturday market table taking mostly cash does not generate the same clean record as an online sale, and without a habit of logging it, market income is one of the easiest things to lose track of.
What we doAsks for market cash sales to be logged the same day, so that income counts accurately alongside online and wholesale sales. -
4
Selling online across states raises the sales tax question
Selling tinctures and teas through a site like Etsy or Shopify to customers in many different states means sales tax obligations can start applying in places you have never set foot, once sales in a state cross a certain volume.
What we doFlags growing sales in new states so the accountant can check whether a sales tax obligation has started there.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an herbalist's business.
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
- Online retailDirect-to-customer sales through Etsy, Shopify, or a similar site.
- Wholesale salesBulk orders sold to shops and other practitioners at a lower price.
- Market salesFarmers market and pop-up sales, often cash.
- ConsultationsHerbal consults sold separately from products.
Money out
- Raw ingredientsDried herbs, roots, and other raw materials.
- PackagingBottles, labels, jars, and tea bags.
- Market and event feesTable fees and booth costs for markets.
- Online selling feesEtsy or Shopify fees taken before payout.
- Testing and lab feesPotency or contaminant testing, where applicable.
What we watch for you
- Cost per batch
Raw ingredients and packaging divided by bottles produced, so pricing reflects the real cost of a run.
- Wholesale versus retail mix
How much revenue comes from each channel, so discounts and volume commitments make sense.
- Market sales logged
Cash income from markets, tracked from what is reported, so nothing goes uncounted.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things herbalists 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 checked it against your last production batch, and the numbers line up. It looks like a real order, not a pricing mistake.
Try logging it the same day, even a rough total. Market cash is one of the easiest things to lose track of, and I want it counted as real income for you.
I am watching that. Once sales in a state grow enough, you may owe sales tax there, and I will flag it so the accountant can check before it becomes a problem.
The tax side
The tax side of an herbalist's business.
Most of what trips up an herbalist is treating a manufacturing process like a simple retail markup, and multi-state online sales creating obligations that sneak up over time.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsRaw herbs, packaging, and finished tinctures are all inventory at different stages, and their cost is deducted as products sell, not all at once when ingredients are bought.
- Self-employment taxWorking for yourself means paying both halves of Social Security and Medicare, 15.3 percent total, on top of income tax. The set-aside is built to cover it.
- Multi-state sales taxSelling online to customers across many states can eventually create a sales tax obligation in states where you have no physical presence, once sales there cross a certain volume.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions herbalists and apothecaries miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Raw herbs and botanicals
- Bottles, labels, and packaging
- Market and event table fees
- Online selling fees
- Potency and lab testing
- Business liability insurance
- Continuing education in herbalism
- Website and online store costs
- Mileage to markets and suppliers
- Scale and production equipment
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
An herbalist's year, kept every month.
Harvest season, market season, and cold and flu season all pull production and sales in different directions. Your team keeps you ahead of the tax calendar through all 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, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, even with sales split across online, wholesale, and market channels.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether market season sales changed the number.
- October
Before cold season
Cold and flu season often brings a rush of tincture orders. Gus looks at whether a bigger production run is worth planning 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 herbalists and apothecaries. 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 herbalists ask first.
How does Gus track the cost of making my products?
He keeps raw ingredients and packaging costs separate, so you can see the real cost per batch, not just what the herbs alone cost.
Should wholesale and retail sales be tracked differently?
Yes, and Gus does it automatically. It is the only way to see whether your wholesale accounts are actually worth the lower price per bottle.
I forget to log cash from farmers markets sometimes. What happens then?
Only what gets logged can be counted, so it is worth building a habit of reporting it the same day. Gus will fold it into income as soon as you send it over.
I sell online to customers in a lot of different states. Is that a problem?
It can eventually create a sales tax obligation in states where your sales grow large enough. Gus flags growing state sales so the accountant can check before it becomes an issue.
My income varies a lot between market season and the rest of the year. Is that normal?
Yes. Gus tracks income by channel and season, so a summer market rush or a quiet winter both read as real patterns, not bookkeeping problems.
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