Funeral, memorial & aftercare
Books and taxes for independent funeral homes.
At-need service fees, preneed contracts, insurance assignments, and casket and vault sales. Your own bookkeeper stays on the books all year, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
January made $37,500. The Homesteaders payment on the Hendricks preneed contract stayed out of income, since that service has not happened yet.
- Passare service feesAt-need services
- Homesteaders preneed depositPreneed contracts
- Batesville casket orderMerchandise costs
- Wilbert vault orderMerchandise costs
- Champion Co. suppliesPrep room supplies
Why your books are different
An independent funeral home's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is preneed contracts, insurance checks that arrive short, and merchandise that has its own cost. When the books do not separate those, you cannot tell what a month actually earned, and the return can miss what it should catch.
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1
Preneed payments book as income too soon
A family signs an $8,500 preneed contract and pays through a trust-funded policy. Booked as income the day it lands, the month looks stronger than it is for a service that might not happen for years.
What we doKeeps preneed receipts separate from at-need revenue, and flags the balance so the accountant can confirm when it should count as earned. -
2
Insurance assignments arrive short
A family assigns a $6,200 life insurance policy to cover the bill, but the carrier deducts an outstanding loan first and pays less. Booked as a straight payment, it looks like $400 vanished.
What we doTracks the assignment as owed until the carrier pays, and books any shortfall as its own cost so nothing looks unexplained. -
3
Merchandise costs hide inside service fees
A casket and vault sold with a service get bundled into one number with the arrangement fee. Blended together, you cannot tell whether the merchandise markup or the service itself is what pays the bills.
What we doSplits merchandise sales and their cost from service fees, so each shows its own margin. -
4
A used hearse or new cooler throws off the month
A $34,000 used hearse or a mortuary cooler replacement can cost more than a slow month brings in. Filed as a regular expense, it makes the month look like a loss.
What we doLogs major equipment as a fixed asset the day it is bought and gets the accountant's call on how much to write off this year.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an independent funeral home.
Set up once for how the home gets paid and what it spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- At-need service feesArrangement conferences, viewings, and services billed to the family.
- Preneed contractsPayments collected ahead of time through Homesteaders or Forethought policies, kept apart from at-need revenue.
- Insurance assignmentsLife insurance policies signed over to cover the bill, tracked until the carrier pays.
- Merchandise salesCaskets, urns, and vaults sold with or without a service.
- Cremation referralsCases sent to a partner crematory or received from one, billed at a set rate.
Money out
- Merchandise costsCaskets, urns, and vaults from Batesville, Matthews Aurora, or Wilbert.
- Prep room suppliesEmbalming chemicals, cosmetics, and disposables.
- Vehicles and fuelThe hearse, flower car, and family car.
- Facility and utilitiesChapel, viewing rooms, and the office.
- Licensing and E&O insuranceFuneral director and embalmer license renewal, plus liability coverage.
- Obituary and tribute feesNewspaper notices and services like Passare or Tukios for tribute pages.
- Contract laborOn-call drivers, organists, and part-time embalmers.
- Preneed trust feesWhat the trust or insurance custodian charges to administer preneed funds.
What we watch for you
- Preneed backlog
The total owed on contracts signed but not yet served, so you know what is already committed.
- Merchandise margin
What caskets and vaults sell for above their cost. It moves with supplier pricing.
- At-need vs preneed mix
How much of the month is service happening now versus contracts signed years back.
- The set-aside
What the year's taxes will cost, built up a little every month so April never needs a scramble.
Ask Gus
Things funeral home 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.
The policy had a loan against it, so the carrier deducted that first. I booked the full charge and the loan as its own cost, so nothing looks like it vanished.
Not yet, usually. It sits as preneed until the service happens. I flagged it so the accountant can confirm the timing on your return.
Often the whole thing. I put the hearse down as equipment rather than an expense, and the accountant sets the exact write-off against your full year.
The tax side
The tax side of an independent funeral home.
Most of what trips up a funeral home is timing and labels: preneed counted too early, merchandise not treated as inventory, and equipment filed wrong.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Merchandise is inventory, not an expenseCaskets, urns, and vaults held for sale are inventory. What is sold in a year counts as a cost against that year's merchandise sales, not written off the day it is bought.
- Preneed funds usually are not income yetMost states require preneed payments to sit in a trust or be held by an insurance policy until the service happens. Exactly when it counts as earned depends on state law and the contract.
- Equipment can usually be written off this yearA hearse, embalming table, or mortuary cooler can often be expensed the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contract help needs a 1099An on-call driver, organist, or part-time embalmer paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions independent funeral homes miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Embalming chemicals
- Prep room supplies
- Hearse fuel and repairs
- Chapel utilities
- Obituary notice fees
- Tribute website fees
- Director license renewal
- E&O insurance
- On-call driver pay
- Uniforms and attire
- Mortuary cooler upkeep
- Preneed trust admin 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
A funeral home year, kept every month.
Cold weather can bring a busier winter and a quieter summer, but preneed contracts turn into service work on their own schedule. Your team stays on the books through 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 contract help is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Signed and filed
The accountant files and signs your business return. Nothing about the bill is a surprise, since the monthly set-aside has been covering it since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the winter's call volume changed the number.
- October
Before year end
A look at any equipment worth buying and moves worth making before December, ahead of the colder months.
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 independent funeral homes. 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 independent funeral home owners ask first.
How does Gus handle a preneed contract funded through a trust?
He keeps the payments in their own category, separate from at-need revenue, and flags the balance so the accountant can advise on when it should count as earned under your state's trust rules.
We use Passare for case management. Do we have to change how we work?
No. Keep using Passare the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and if a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do you separate merchandise sales from service fees?
Yes. Casket, urn, and vault sales get their own line with their own cost, so you can see what merchandise actually contributes apart from the arrangement fee.
Can Gus track what we owe into the perpetual care or trust fund?
He can flag when a preneed sale creates a trust obligation and keep a running total, so you always know what is committed. He does not hold or invest the trust funds themselves.
Our embalmer works two other homes on call. Does that change anything?
It usually means she is a contractor, not an employee, and gets a 1099-NEC if you pay her $2,000 or more this year. Gus keeps that list running so January is not a scramble.
My books are a year behind. Is that a problem?
No. Hand over the bank statements and case files you have on hand. Gus works through the backlog, the accountant checks it, and most homes are caught up 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.
More in funeral, memorial & aftercare
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Casket & urn retailers
- Celebration-of-life planners
- Crematories
- Death doulas & end-of-life planners
- Estate cleanout companies
- Funeral removal & transport services
- Green & natural burial grounds
- Memorial jewelry & keepsake makers
- Monument & headstone dealers
- Preneed insurance agents
- Private cemeteries
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