Site work & heavy civil
Books and taxes for hydro excavation companies.
Day-rate exposure jobs, spoil tanks that need dumping at an approved site, water fill-ups all day, and a rush call that pays more than a routine one. Gus sorts every dollar, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
August came in at $20,000. The new hydrovac truck financed through the dealer got logged as equipment, not a fleet vehicle.
- Meridian Boring day rateHydrovac billing
- City utility exposure jobMunicipal contracts
- Disposal facility, spoil tankDisposal fees
- Shell fuel accountFuel
- Vacuum pump repairTruck maintenance
Why your books are different
Hydro excavation books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is a truck that costs more than most fleets, spoil tanks that need dumping somewhere approved, and hours billed differently than they are worked. When the books do not know that, real costs and real premium work get flattened into one number.
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1
Disposal fees ride along with fuel
Every job fills a spoil tank that has to be dumped at an approved facility, and the fee changes a lot between clean dirt and contaminated material. Lumped in with fuel, nobody can see the true dump cost of a job.
What we doKeeps disposal fees in their own line, separate from fuel, so the real cost per job includes what it actually took to get rid of the spoil. -
2
Portal-to-portal hours do not match hours on site
A hydrovac day rate often includes travel time to and from the yard, and if that is not tracked apart from time working on site, an invoice can get shorted against the crew's own job log.
What we doKeeps billed hours visible against what the job log says, so travel time never quietly disappears from an invoice. -
3
Water fill costs get ignored
A full tank empties fast, and refilling from a hydrant or municipal source several times a day can come with its own usage fee, a real recurring cost that is easy to write off as nothing.
What we doKeeps water fill and usage fees in their own line, so a cost that feels small on any one day shows up honest over a month. -
4
The truck gets treated like a regular work truck
A hydrovac truck can cost several times what a standard dump truck runs, and lumped into a general fleet vehicle category, it never gets tracked or depreciated as the major equipment purchase it actually is.
What we doBooks each hydrovac truck as its own piece of equipment, so it gets written off right instead of buried in fleet costs. -
5
A rush exposure call gets billed at the standard rate
When a boring crew or a GC needs an emergency dig to expose a hit or suspected line, that premium work is easy to invoice out of habit like a routine day job.
What we doFlags rush and emergency exposure work so it gets billed and booked at the rate it earned. -
6
Boiler fuel hides in the regular fuel line
Cold-weather work needs a boiler running to keep water from freezing in the tank, and that burns its own fuel on top of the truck's diesel, a cost that blends into one fuel line if nobody separates it.
What we doKeeps boiler fuel apart from truck fuel, so winter jobs show their real cost instead of an inflated fuel number.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a hydro excavation company.
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
- Hydrovac day-rate billingStandard exposure and potholing work billed by the hour or the day.
- Subcontracted exposure workJobs run for a directional boring company or a general contractor.
- Municipal and utility contractsWork billed straight to a city, county, or utility company.
- Debris and catch basin cleaningVacuum work beyond utility exposure, billed separately.
- Rush and emergency callsSame-day exposure work billed at a premium.
Money out
- FuelDiesel for the hydrovac truck and support vehicles.
- Boiler fuelFuel burned keeping water from freezing on cold-weather jobs.
- EquipmentHydrovac trucks, logged separately so each gets written off right.
- Water fill and usage feesRefills from hydrants or municipal sources through the day.
- Disposal and dump feesSpoil tank dumping at an approved facility, billed by the load.
- Truck maintenance and pump repairVacuum pump service and the wear that comes with daily use.
- InsuranceCoverage on a truck worth several times a standard work vehicle.
- CDL and driver costsLicensing and drug testing for the drivers running the trucks.
What we watch for you
- Disposal cost
What dumping spoil tanks actually costs by job, so bids account for it.
- Fuel share
Diesel and boiler fuel against revenue. When it climbs, a bid needs to move with it.
- Hours billed
What went on the invoice against what the job log says, so nothing gets shorted.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things hydro excavation 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.
Yes, I flagged it and booked it at the premium rate, not a routine day rate.
I logged it as equipment tied to that truck. Whether to write it all off this year or spread it out is the accountant's call, made with your whole year in view.
I have been tracking disposal separate from fuel all year, so I can show you the trend by job instead of a guess.
The tax side
The tax side of a hydro excavation business.
Most of what goes wrong here is a truck filed like a fleet vehicle and disposal costs nobody separated. Get those right and the set-aside was already running.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Hydrovac trucksEquipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year it goes to work. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, but whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Contractor 1099sA hired operator or a subcontracted crew not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if you paid them $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list running all year.
- Employee or contractorA driver who runs your truck, works your schedule, and takes direction on site is usually an employee, not a sub. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right only when disposal costs and day-rate billing were tracked correctly all year.
Deductions hydro excavation companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Diesel and boiler fuel
- Water fill and usage fees
- Disposal and dump fees
- Vacuum pump repairs
- Debris tank maintenance
- Equipment insurance
- CDL renewal fees
- Safety gear and PPE
- Truck washdown and cleaning
- Two-way radios
- Shop and yard rent
- Cold-weather boiler parts
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 hydro excavation year, kept every month.
Utility work and frozen ground both shape when the calls come in. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the tax deadlines 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 subcontracted crews is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January, no matter how the exposure jobs came in.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this summer's run of exposure and boring support work changed the number.
- October
Before winter trucks come out
The last weeks before boilers go back on the trucks for cold-weather work. Gus looks at equipment worth buying before December and gets outstanding invoices chased down.
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 hydro excavation companies. 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 hydro excavation owners ask first.
Can Gus separate disposal fees from fuel costs?
Yes. Dump and disposal fees are kept in their own line, apart from fuel, so you can see what getting rid of spoil actually costs on top of running the truck.
Does Gus track boiler fuel separately in the winter?
Yes. Boiler fuel for keeping water from freezing gets its own line, so a cold-weather job does not read as a fuel cost spike with no explanation.
Do I write off a hydrovac truck all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books are behind after a busy season of boring support work. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Can Gus tell rush exposure calls apart from routine day-rate work?
Yes. When you flag a job as rush or emergency work, he books it at the premium rate it earned so it never blends into your regular day-rate billing.
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 site work & heavy civil
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Directional boring contractors
- Erosion control contractors
- Land surveying firms
- Pond & lake construction
- Private utility locating
- Aggregate & dirt hauling
- Asphalt paving contractors
- Demolition contractors
- Excavation contractors
- Grading contractors
- Barndominium builders
- Church & religious facility builders
- Log home builders
- Shipping container home builders
- Timber frame builders
- Tiny home builders
- Acoustical ceiling contractors
- Architectural millwork & woodworking
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- Scaffolding contractors
- Sheet metal contractors
- Waterproofing & caulking contractors
- Drafting & CAD services
- Home plan & house design sellers
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