Waste, recycling & environmental services
Books and taxes for residential trash haulers.
Curbside routes, missed pickup credits, bulk item fees, and the transfer station bill that swings every load. Your bookkeeper keeps all of 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
September brought in $9,200. The transfer station raised its per ton rate mid-month, so I flagged it before it quietly ate your margin.
- Route billing batchRoute subscriptions
- Fall cleanup jobsSpecial pickups
- County transfer stationTipping fees
- Valley Fuel fill upsTruck fuel
- Toter Inc bin orderCarts and bins
Why your books are different
Residential trash books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and a fuel bill. Your business is one or two trucks, a route full of monthly subscribers, and a transfer station that bills you by the ton every time you dump. When the books do not separate those, you cannot tell whether a route is worth running.
-
1
Tipping fees swing with the load
The transfer station charges by the ton, and a heavy week of bulk pickups or yard waste can double what you pay to dump compared to a normal week. Lumped into one dump fee line, a heavy week looks like the business got worse.
What we doTracks tipping fees against tonnage hauled that month, so a heavy dump week reads as heavier loads, not a bad month. -
2
Extra pickup fees get lost in the batch
Extra bags, bulk item pickups, and a fall cleanup job often get billed apart from the regular route subscription, sometimes cash left on the truck. Mixed into one deposit, you lose track of which stops are worth more than the base rate.
What we doKeeps route subscriptions and extra pickup fees on separate lines, so you can see what add on work is actually worth. -
3
A new truck looks like a repair bill
A used rear loader or a new run of carts for a growing route can run tens of thousands of dollars. Filed the same as a routine repair, it wrecks that month's number and misses a real write off.
What we doFlags a truck or cart purchase the day it shows up, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off. -
4
Missed pickup credits vanish into the route
A missed stop credited back to a customer looks like ordinary route income until it gets subtracted, and a bad week of missed pickups can quietly shave real money off a route's subscription total.
What we doTracks credits issued for missed pickups on their own, so you can see if a route needs a schedule fix, not just a lower number.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a residential trash route.
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
- Route subscriptionsRecurring monthly or quarterly billing from regular curbside customers.
- Extra pickup feesBulk items, extra bags, and one time jobs billed apart from the base route.
- Seasonal cleanup jobsSpring cleanup and fall leaf season work billed as its own job.
- New customer sign up feesOne time fees for adding a stop and a bin to the route.
Money out
- Tipping feesWhat the transfer station or landfill charges by the ton.
- Truck fuel and maintenanceFuel, oil changes, tires, and repairs for the route truck.
- Driver and helper wagesPay for anyone riding the route with you.
- Carts and binsNew and replacement carts for customers on the route.
- InsuranceCommercial auto and general liability for the truck and the route.
- Route billing softwareWhat keeps subscriptions and stops organized.
- MarketingDoor hangers, local ads, and referral cards that bring in new stops.
What we watch for you
- Cost per stop
Fuel, tipping fees, and time against what each stop pays, so you know which routes actually work.
- Tipping fee share
What the transfer station takes as a share of route income, worth watching before a rate hike eats margin.
- Missed pickup credits
How much goes back to customers each month, a sign of where the schedule needs a fix.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on route income, tracked every month, so April lands as a number you saw coming.
Ask Gus
Things residential trash haulers 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.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not a repair, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
Transfer station tonnage jumped with the cleanup loads. I kept that in its own line, so it reads as heavier dumping, not a slow month.
It does. Paid regularly for route work, he is usually an employee, not a helper you tip. I flagged it so the accountant sorts the right way to pay him.
The tax side
The tax side of a residential trash route.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. Tipping fees that swing with tonnage, a truck filed like a repair, and a helper paid like it does not count.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Trucks and cartsA rear loader, a new run of carts, or bin repair equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Helper worker classificationAnyone who rides your route on your schedule, even a relative paid cash, is usually an employee, not a casual helper. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus flags it 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 when the books are right all year.
- Quarterly estimated taxWith no employer withholding your pay, taxes are due April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. Gus tracks the set-aside monthly so none of those dates come as a surprise.
Deductions independent residential trash haulers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Truck fuel and oil changes
- Tire replacement
- Carts and bin repair
- Transfer station fees
- Commercial auto insurance
- Route billing software
- Door hangers and local ads
- Phone for route dispatch
- Work gloves and uniforms
- CDL license renewal
- DOT physical exams
- Pressure washer supplies
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 residential trash year, kept every month.
Routes run every week of the year. 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 route year
Last year's return gets started and you get a monthly set-aside, so April is already handled before the first cold snap hits the route.
- April
Filed and signed
Your return goes out signed and on time. Nothing owed catches you off guard, because the route has been setting money aside since January.
- July
Midyear route check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer bulk pickups changed the number.
- October
Before leaf season
Fall cleanup jobs and leaf pickups are coming. Gus looks at equipment you might need 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 independent residential trash haulers. 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 residential trash haulers ask first.
Can Gus track tipping fees separately from my other costs?
Yes. Tipping fees get their own line against tonnage hauled, so a heavy dump week reads as more tonnage, not a bad month.
I bill customers through an app on my phone. Does that change anything?
No. Keep billing the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
My nephew helps on the truck sometimes and I pay him cash. Is that a problem?
It can be. Paid regularly for route work, he is usually an employee, not a casual helper. Gus flags it so the accountant sorts the right way to pay him.
Do I write off a new truck all at once?
Often the whole thing comes off the year you buy it, though sometimes spreading it out works out better for your taxes. Gus flags the purchase the day it shows up, and the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
My books are a mess from doing this myself for years. Is that fixable?
Yes. Hand over whatever bank records and route logs you have, messy or not. Gus works through the backlog, the accountant checks it, and you will know exactly where you 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.
More in waste, recycling & environmental services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Air quality & mold inspectors
- Composting services
- Dirt & fill brokers
- Hazardous waste haulers
- Medical waste disposal
- Oilfield service companies
- Phase I environmental site assessment firms
- Recycling centers
- Scrap metal recyclers
- Stormwater compliance services
- Tire recycling
- Used cooking oil collection
- Water testing labs
- Wetland & environmental permitting consultants
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