Home maintenance & specialty services
Books and taxes for home inspectors.
Buyer-paid inspections, radon and sewer scope add-ons, new construction warranty visits, and one big insurance bill a year. 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
May came in at $7,500. Your errors and omissions premium renewed this month, so I flagged it against your usual expenses instead of letting it look like a random spike.
- Buyer inspection feeInspection fees
- Radon test add-onAncillary inspections
- Spectora subscriptionReport software
- State E&O premiumInsurance
- Shell fuelTruck and fuel
Why your books are different
Home inspector books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and a software bill. Your business runs on a base inspection fee, add-on tests, a big annual insurance premium, and a closing calendar that moves in bursts. When the books do not track those separately, the wrong month gets blamed for a bad one.
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1
The annual insurance premium lands as one lump
Errors and omissions insurance is usually paid once a year, and it can run into real money. Paid in one month, it makes that month look terrible even though it covers the whole year ahead.
What we doFlags the annual premium the day it posts and keeps it in its own line, so one big payment does not distort how the month actually went. -
2
Add-on tests get buried in the base fee
Radon tests, sewer scope inspections, and termite or WDI reports are often invoiced together with the base home inspection as one number. Bundled that way, you cannot see which add-ons customers actually want or which ones pay for themselves.
What we doKeeps ancillary inspections in their own category, separate from the base inspection fee. -
3
Per-report fees stack on top of the subscription
Some report software charges a monthly subscription plus a fee for every report generated. A busy month with more inspections quietly costs more in software fees, and it looks like the subscription price changed when it did not.
What we doKeeps report software costs in one line so you can see the subscription and the per-report charges together. -
4
A cancellation fee is not a full inspection
When a sale falls through the day before closing, a cancellation or reschedule fee sometimes gets charged, but it is a fraction of the full inspection price. Counted the same as a completed job, it inflates how many inspections you actually did.
What we doKeeps cancellation and reschedule fees separate from completed inspection income.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a home inspection 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
- Inspection feesThe base fee for a standard buyer or seller inspection.
- Ancillary inspectionsRadon, sewer scope, termite or WDI, and mold sampling, kept apart from the base fee.
- New construction warranty inspectionsVisits ordered near a builder's one-year warranty deadline.
- Cancellation and reschedule feesPartial fees when a closing falls through, kept separate from completed jobs.
Money out
- Report softwareSpectora, HomeGauge, or similar subscription and per-report charges.
- InsuranceErrors and omissions and general liability premiums.
- Inspection toolsMoisture meters, thermal cameras, ladders, and sewer scope cameras.
- Truck and fuelFuel, repairs, insurance, and loan payments for the vehicle.
- Continuing educationASHI or InterNACHI membership dues and course fees.
- Lab and lead vendor feesRadon lab analysis and any subcontracted specialty testing.
- State license feesLicense renewal in states that require one.
What we watch for you
- Add-on attach rate
How often ancillary inspections get added to a base job, tracked against completed inspections.
- Cancellation rate
How much of your income each month is cancellation fees instead of full inspections.
- Software cost per report
Subscription plus per-report fees, divided by inspections done.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things home inspectors 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.
No. That is a once-a-year payment covering the whole year ahead. I kept it in its own line so it does not make this month look worse than it was.
I keep those separate from your base inspection fee, so you can see it whenever you want instead of guessing.
No, I keep cancellation fees in their own line so your completed inspection count stays honest.
The tax side
The tax side of a home inspection business.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing: a yearly insurance bill treated like a monthly cost, and equipment purchases that get missed at write-off time.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inspection tools and equipmentThermal cameras, sewer scope cameras, and similar equipment can usually be written off in the year you buy them, up to the Section 179 limit, with 100 percent bonus depreciation on property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Vehicle expensesMileage between inspections can be deducted using the standard mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents after, or by tracking actual costs.
- State licensing variesHome inspector licensing and insurance requirements differ a lot by state. Gus tracks the cost, the accountant can speak to what your state specifically requires.
- 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 home inspectors miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Truck fuel and repairs
- Errors and omissions insurance
- Report software subscription and fees
- Moisture meters and thermal cameras
- Sewer scope camera equipment
- Ladders and safety gear
- ASHI or InterNACHI dues
- Continuing education courses
- State license renewal fees
- Radon lab analysis fees
- Phone and tablet for reports
- Marketing to real estate agents
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 home inspection year, kept every month.
Closings bunch up in the spring and summer, and your taxes come on a schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of 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, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled before spring closing season hits.
- 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 the spring closing rush changed the number.
- October
Before the slower season
Closings often slow down in the colder months. Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything worth doing 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 home inspectors. 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 home inspectors ask first.
Can Gus keep my radon and sewer scope add-ons separate from my base inspection fee?
Yes. Ancillary inspections get their own category, so you can see which add-ons customers are actually paying for, separate from the standard inspection.
My E&O insurance is one big annual payment. Will that mess up my monthly numbers?
No. Gus flags it as a yearly cost the day it posts, so it does not make the month it lands in look worse than it really was.
I use Spectora for reports. Do I need to change anything?
No. Keep using it the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a charge is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do cancellation fees count the same as a full inspection in my books?
No. Gus keeps cancellation and reschedule fees separate from completed inspections, so your numbers reflect what actually got done.
My books are a mess from a few years of doing it myself. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most people know where they stand inside a week.
Does my state's licensing rule affect how Gus handles my books?
Not the day-to-day bookkeeping, no. Gus tracks your license and insurance costs as expenses, and the accountant can speak to what your specific state requires.
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