Legal
Books and taxes for immigration attorneys.
Flat fees for petitions, USCIS filing fees that pass through the firm, translation costs, and removal cases that run for years. Gus sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February came in at $10,500. The Nazari family paid a lump sum covering three separate petitions, so I split it by petition instead of counting it as one job.
- Nazari family petitions, depositFlat fee petitions
- Removal defense retainer drawRetainer billing
- USCIS filing fee, Nazari I-130Government fee pass-through
- Certified Language ServicesTranslation costs
- Interpreter, consular interview prepTranslation costs
Why your books are different
Immigration books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a deposit and calls it a fee. Your business is a flat fee that sits next to a government filing fee in the same payment, a translation bill on nearly every file, and a removal case that can run for years before it resolves.
-
1
Government filing fees look like the firm's own income
A client often pays the firm's fee and the USCIS filing fee together in one payment, and if that filing fee is not split out, it inflates the firm's income by money that was never the firm's to keep.
What we doSplits the government filing fee out as a pass-through, separate from the firm's own fee, so income reflects only what the firm actually earned. -
2
A family petition is really several jobs at once
A single family payment can cover petitions for a spouse, children, and a parent all at once, and if that lump sum is not broken apart, it is impossible to see which petition types are actually filling the calendar.
What we doSplits a family's combined payment across each petition it covers, so the real mix of work stays visible. -
3
Translation costs get lost in general expenses
Certified translations of birth certificates, marriage records, and foreign documents show up on nearly every case, and buried in general office costs, they disappear as their own real, recurring cost of doing this work.
What we doKeeps translation costs in their own line, so they show up as the steady cost they actually are. -
4
A removal case runs for years on one retainer
Asylum and removal defense cases can take years to resolve, with retainer draws happening in fits and starts, so it is easy to lose track of what a single long case has actually cost to run over time.
What we doKeeps every retainer draw tied to the same matter across years, so a long case shows its true total cost, not just each draw in isolation. -
5
Cash and wire payments need the same discipline as a card swipe
Some clients pay in cash or by international wire rather than card, and without consistent recordkeeping, those payments are easy to under-report or lose track of entirely.
What we doBooks every payment the same way regardless of how it arrived, so cash and wires get the same accounting discipline as a card payment.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an immigration practice.
Set up once for how petitions get paid and what passes through to the government. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Flat fee petitionsVisa, green card, and naturalization petitions billed at a set price.
- Retainer billingHourly work billed against a retainer on removal or asylum defense.
- Consultation feesPaid initial case evaluations.
- Corporate sponsorship feesEmployer-paid work fees for visa sponsorship, when the firm handles that work.
Money out
- Government fee pass-throughUSCIS and other agency filing fees paid on a client's behalf.
- Translation costsCertified translation of foreign documents and records.
- Legal researchImmigration-specific research services and general legal databases.
- Staff and paralegal wagesThe people who prepare filings and track case status.
- Malpractice insuranceAnnual or quarterly professional liability premiums.
- Marketing and referral outreachCommunity outreach and advertising, often in multiple languages.
What we watch for you
- Pass-through share
How much of each deposit is a government fee versus the firm's own earnings.
- Petition mix
Which petition types are actually filling the calendar, worth knowing before adjusting pricing.
- Long case cost
What a multi-year removal case has cost in retainer draws so far, tracked across the whole engagement.
- The set-aside
What the firm will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already know.
Ask Gus
Things immigration attorneys 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 split the government filing fees out as a pass-through and divided the rest across the three petitions, so you can see what each one actually brought in.
No, I book it the same as any other payment once it is deposited, so it gets the same accounting discipline as a card payment.
If you paid them $2,000 or more this year and they are not on your payroll, that is a 1099-NEC due January 31, and I already have them on the running list.
The tax side
The tax side of an immigration practice.
Most of what goes wrong here is treating a government fee like it is the firm's own income, or losing track of a long case across the years it actually takes to resolve.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Government fees are never the firm's incomeA USCIS or other agency filing fee collected from a client and paid to the government is a pass-through, not revenue, and should never be counted as something the firm earned or owes tax on.
- A busy petition year can hit the deduction ceilingMost owners can deduct up to 20 percent of business profit, but law counts as a specified service trade, so a strong year of petition filings can push taxable income above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, where the deduction begins to shrink.
- Contractor 1099s for translators and interpretersA translation service, interpreter, or contract paralegal paid $2,000 or more in 2026 and not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Quarterly estimated taxes on uneven payAn owner without steady payroll withholding typically owes estimated payments on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, which matters most when petition volume swings month to month.
Deductions immigration attorneys miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Bar dues and CLE
- Malpractice insurance
- Legal research subscriptions
- Translation and interpreter fees
- Notary and document authentication costs
- Case management software
- Mileage to consulate and court appointments
- E-filing and PACER fees
- Payment processing fees
- Office rent and utilities
- Multilingual marketing and outreach
- Answering or intake service 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
An immigration year, kept every month.
Petitions move on federal timelines, not the calendar. Gus keeps the set-aside steady either way. 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 translators and contract help is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned around petition volume.
- April
Filed, petitions and all
Your return is filed and signed, whatever mix of petitions and removal defense the year brought. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where the firm stands, how long-running removal cases are progressing, and whether the set-aside still fits.
- October
Before year end
A look at any equipment or software worth buying before December, and a check on retainer balances on long-running cases.
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 immigration attorneys. 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 immigration attorneys ask first.
How does Gus separate our fee from the USCIS filing fee in the same payment?
He books the government portion as a pass-through and the rest as the firm's own earned fee, so the return reflects only what the firm actually kept, not the government's share.
A removal case has been open for two years. How does Gus track it?
Every retainer draw stays tied to the same matter across the whole engagement, so a long case shows its full cost over time rather than a series of disconnected payments.
Some of our clients pay in cash. Is that harder to book?
No. Gus books every payment the same way once it is deposited, whether it arrived as cash, a wire, or a card charge, so the records stay consistent no matter how a client pays.
We handle a lot of family petitions bundled together. Can Gus split those out?
Yes. A combined family payment gets divided across the petitions it covers, so you can see which types of cases are actually filling your calendar.
My caseload is unpredictable month to month. Does that hurt my taxes?
No. The set-aside is built from what actually lands each month, so a slow petition month does not skew what you end up owing come tax time.
Can Gus show us which petition types are actually worth marketing?
Yes, since family petitions get split by the type they cover, you can see over time which categories are actually filling the calendar and worth building outreach around.
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