Home, hobby & lifestyle retail
Books and taxes for hobby shops.
A backordered kit paid for months ahead, a repair bench full of RC cars, a race day table at the track, and a club membership renewal. Your own bookkeeper keeps it straight, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
June came in at $6,800. The race day table at the local track was your best single day this year, so I kept that apart from a regular shop day.
- Register batch, weeknight counterIn-store sales
- Horizon Hobby wholesale invoiceWholesale inventory
- Race day table salesEvent sales
- Repair bench payout, DelgadoRepair and service
- Club membership renewalsMembership fees
Why your books are different
A hobby shop's books go wrong the same handful of ways.
A generalist bookkeeper sees a register total and a supplier bill. Your shop takes a deposit on a backordered kit that might not arrive for months, runs a repair bench alongside retail sales, and sets up a table at the local track on race day. When the books do not separate that, your real numbers stay a guess.
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1
A backorder deposit gets counted as a sale too soon
A customer pays for a specialty RC kit or a hard to find locomotive model that will not ship for weeks or months. Booked as a sale the day the deposit lands, that month's numbers get ahead of what actually happened.
What we doHolds the deposit until the kit actually ships, so the sale lands in the month it really happens. -
2
Repair bench work hides inside retail sales
Fixing a customer's RC transmitter or repainting a model train car is labor, not a product sale, but lumped into register totals, you cannot tell how much the repair bench is really worth to the shop.
What we doKeeps repair and service work in its own line, separate from retail sales of new kits and parts. -
3
Race day and swap meet sales get lost in a normal week
A Saturday spent at the local track selling parts and kits out of a folding table brings in real money, but blended into the week's register total, you cannot see whether events like that are worth the time.
What we doTracks event and off-site sales separately so you can see what a race day or swap meet actually contributes. -
4
Club memberships and event fees get missed
Membership dues and race entry fees collected on behalf of a local club can look like ordinary shop income if they are not kept apart, even though some of that money is not really yours to keep.
What we doKeeps membership and pass-through fees in their own line so what belongs to the shop and what belongs to the club stays clear.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a hobby shop.
Set up once for how you sell and service. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- In-store salesRegister sales of kits, parts, and paint.
- Repair and serviceBench work on customer RC cars, planes, and model train layouts.
- Event salesRace day tables, swap meets, and off-site selling.
- Membership feesClub dues collected through the shop, kept apart from shop income.
Money out
- Wholesale inventoryOrders from distributors like Horizon Hobby and model railroad suppliers.
- Repair parts and suppliesSmall parts, paint, and solder used for bench repairs.
- Store rent and utilitiesThe lease, power, and water for the shop.
- Event table feesEntry fees for race day tables and swap meets.
- Card processing feesWhat Square or your gateway keeps on every sale.
- Local advertisingClub sponsorships, local ads, and paid social.
What we watch for you
- Backorder balance
Deposits collected for kits not yet shipped, so you know what customers still expect.
- Repair bench margin
What the repair bench brings in against the parts and time it costs, tracked apart from race day sales.
- Event day return
How much a race day or swap meet actually nets after table fees and travel.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on both retail sales and the repair bench, tracked every month.
Ask Gus
Things hobby shop 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.
This month does. I hold the deposit until the kit actually ships, so the sale lands when it really happens, not when the payment came in.
I keep repair and service work in its own line, so I can tell you exactly what the bench brought in versus retail sales of kits and parts.
Mostly no. I keep pass-through club fees apart from your own sales, so only what you actually keep shows up as shop income.
The tax side
The tax side of running a hobby shop.
Most of what trips up a hobby shop is timing and mixed money: a backorder deposit, repair labor next to retail sales, and club fees that pass through the shop without being the shop's income.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Cost of goods soldWhat you paid for the kits and parts you actually sold this year reduces your taxable income, not what is still backordered from a distributor.
- Backorder depositsA deposit on a backordered kit is a liability until the kit ships, not revenue the day it is collected.
- Service and repair incomeRepair bench work is ordinary business income, tracked separately so you can see what the bench itself is worth alongside retail sales.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated hobby shops can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income. It comes out right when backorders, repairs, and events are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions hobby shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Repair bench tools and supplies
- Event table and race entry fees
- Club sponsorship costs
- Card processing fees
- Storefront signage
- Local advertising
- Business insurance
- Storage for backordered stock
- Shelving and display fixtures
- POS software subscription
- Travel to swap meets
- Cleaning and maintenance
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 hobby shop's year, kept every month.
Race season and the holiday gift rush both matter, and the books stay open every month between them. 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, right after the holiday gift rush winds down.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since race season planning started back in January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether race season and summer builds changed the picture.
- October
Before the gift rush
Backorders, holiday stock, and any equipment worth buying before the year's biggest gift-buying months hit.
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 hobby shops. 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 hobby shop owners ask first.
Can Gus handle deposits on backordered kits that take months to arrive?
Yes. He holds the deposit as a liability until the kit actually ships, so the sale counts in the month it really happens instead of when the customer first paid.
I run a repair bench alongside the retail counter. Does that get tracked differently?
Yes. Repair and service work is kept in its own line so you can see exactly what the bench brings in, separate from kit and parts sales at the register.
I collect race entry fees for the local track club. Is that my income?
Mostly not. Gus tracks pass-through club fees apart from your own sales, so only what your shop actually keeps counts as shop income.
How does a race day table at the track get counted?
Gus tracks it as event sales separate from your regular register total, so you can see whether a race day is actually worth the table fee and the time.
My books are behind after a busy race season. Can you catch up?
Send what you have. Gus sorts through register sales, repairs, and backorders, and most owners know where they stand 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.
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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