Indoor entertainment
Books and taxes for indoor playgrounds.
Toddler admission, punch cards, parent coffee sales, and a play structure that needs regular cleaning and repair. 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
January came in at $6,100. Cold weather kept families indoors, so open play admission ran higher than a normal month.
- Punch card salesAdmission
- Birthday party depositParty packages
- Playground supplierStructure and equipment
- Coffee distributorCafe and snacks
- Cleaning serviceSanitizing supplies
Why your books are different
Indoor playground books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees admission and a coffee bar. Your business runs on punch cards paid for once and used over months, a play structure that needs constant cleaning, and parents who spend as much as the kids do. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell what actually keeps families coming back.
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1
Punch cards get counted as income all at once
A family buys a ten-visit punch card in one payment but uses it over several months. Counted as income the day it is sold, the sale month looks stronger than it was and the visit months look thinner than they were.
What we doHolds punch card money as owed visits and moves it into income as each visit gets used. -
2
Cleaning and sanitizing costs get treated as an afterthought
A toddler-heavy indoor playground needs constant deep cleaning of soft play equipment, and the real cost of keeping the place sanitary is easy to underestimate when it is lumped into general supplies.
What we doKeeps cleaning and sanitizing in its own line so the real cost of running a clean facility is visible. -
3
Cafe sales and admission ring through one till
Parents buying coffee and snacks while kids play is real revenue, but mixed with admission fees you cannot tell whether the cafe pays for itself or the play area is carrying it.
What we doKeeps cafe and snack sales apart from admission so each side of the business shows its own number. -
4
Structure repairs get filed as a routine expense
Padding, netting, and slide repairs on a play structure add up to a real capital cost over time, and treating each repair as a small routine bill misses that a bigger structure overhaul should be handled differently.
What we doFlags a large structure repair or rebuild and books it as equipment when it is one, getting the accountant's call on how to write it off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an indoor playground.
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
- AdmissionSingle-visit walk-in fees for open play.
- Punch cards and membershipsMulti-visit passes, counted in as each visit is used.
- Party packagesBirthday party bookings, deposited ahead of the party date.
- Cafe and snack salesCoffee, drinks, and snacks sold to parents.
- Group and school bookingsDaycare groups and school field trips booked by headcount.
Money out
- Structure and equipmentPlay structure padding, netting, and slides.
- Sanitizing suppliesCleaning products and services for a toddler-heavy facility.
- WagesFront desk staff and play area monitors.
- Cafe and snacksCoffee, food, and drink supply for the parent area.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for a facility built around active young children.
- Rent and utilitiesThe building, its flooring, and its climate control.
- MarketingLocal parent group ads and social media promotion.
What we watch for you
- Punch card usage
How many paid visits are still outstanding, so income timing stays accurate.
- Cafe share
Snack and coffee sales against admission, so you know how much parents actually spend while kids play.
- Cleaning cost
Sanitizing spend against visits, since a busy month needs more cleaning, not less.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things indoor playground 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.
Because those visits haven't happened yet. I count punch card income as families actually come in and use it, so it spreads out honestly.
Looks like it tracked with a busier month of visits, which makes sense for a soft play space. I kept it in its own line so you can see the pattern.
If you pay them $2,000 or more this year and they are not on payroll, they get a 1099 by January 31. I keep that list running so it is ready.
The tax side
The tax side of an indoor playground.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing on punch cards and memberships, and missing that a structure overhaul should be written off differently than a routine repair.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Play structure and equipmentA new play structure or a major overhaul can usually be written off up to $2,560,000 under Section 179 in the year bought, and bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA cleaning contractor, party host, or repair technician who is not on payroll and is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Employee or contractorPlay area monitors and front desk staff who work your posted schedule are usually employees, even if part time.
- 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 indoor playgrounds miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Play structure padding and repair
- Sanitizing and cleaning supplies
- Cafe coffee and snack stock
- Liability insurance
- Grip socks for resale
- Party supplies and decorations
- Membership software fees
- Card processing fees
- First aid supplies
- Signage and wayfinding
- Local parent group advertising
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 indoor playground year, kept every month.
Cold and rainy stretches send families indoors, and birthday parties fill weekends year-round. Your team keeps you ahead of both, and of taxes on their own schedule. 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 cleaning and repair contractors 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.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how the outdoor-weather months affected visits.
- October
Before the holiday season
Winter break brings families back indoors. Gus looks at structure upkeep worth doing before the busy season.
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 indoor playgrounds. 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 indoor playground owners ask first.
How does Gus handle punch cards and memberships?
He holds the money as owed visits when the card is sold, then counts it as income as each visit is used, so a big sales month does not overstate what was actually earned.
Can Gus keep cafe sales separate from admission?
Yes. Coffee and snack sales get their own category apart from admission, so you can see how much parents spend beyond the entry fee.
Do I write off a full play structure at once?
Often you can. Equipment and structure purchases can usually be deducted in the year you buy them, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides.
Does Gus track daycare and school group bookings differently?
Yes. Group bookings by headcount get their own category apart from regular walk-in admission, so you can see how much of your revenue comes from each.
My books have never been separated from my personal account. Is that a problem?
It happens often. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most people know where they stand inside 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 indoor entertainment
We keep books for the business next door too.
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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