Organic, social & brand marketing

Books and taxes for influencer marketing agencies.

A brand's campaign budget, dozens of small payments out to creators, a management fee on top, and usage rights that get billed separately when a brand wants to run the content as an ad. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
NovemberExample month
$10,800
what you made

November came in at $10,800. The holiday campaign paid twenty-two creators through Tipalti, so I kept those payouts apart from your management fee, that spread is what you actually earned.

  • Campaign budget, holiday launchClient campaign budget
  • Usage rights fee, Client FUsage rights fees
  • Tipalti mass payout, creatorsCreator payouts
  • Grin subscriptionCreator management software
  • Contract e-signature toolClient campaign budget
Money in$62,000
Money out$51,200
Set aside for taxes$3,200
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Influencer agency books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist sees a brand deposit and a batch of payments going out. Your business is a campaign budget that covers dozens of creators, a management fee that is only a slice of what came in, and usage rights that sell separately from the original post. When the books do not know that, your real margin disappears inside someone else's money.

  1. 1

    A campaign budget looks like your revenue

    A brand pays $40,000 for a campaign, and $34,000 of it goes straight out to twenty creators. Booked as agency revenue, the whole $40,000 makes the business look far bigger than what it actually earned.

    What we doBooks the creator share as a pass-through next to the campaign budget, so only the management fee, what the agency actually kept, counts as income.
  2. 2

    Usage rights fees blend into the original campaign

    A brand pays extra later to run a creator's content as a paid ad for another six months. Billed on top of the original campaign invoice, it is hard to tell how much of the agency's income comes from new campaigns versus reselling rights to old ones.

    What we doKeeps usage rights fees in their own category, so you can see how much of the business comes from fresh campaigns versus rights sold on past work.
  3. 3

    A mass payout run hides who actually got paid what

    Paying twenty creators through one batch in Tipalti or PayPal looks like a single expense line, so it is hard to catch when one creator was paid twice or another was missed entirely.

    What we doKeeps creator payout batches broken out by campaign, so mistakes in a mass payment run get caught instead of buried.
  4. 4

    A creator's late deliverable delays the whole invoice

    A brand often will not pay the final invoice until every creator has posted, so revenue for a campaign that mostly wrapped last month can land two months later, making a slow-looking month actually just a late one.

    What we doNotes when a campaign's final payment is tied up in a late deliverable, so a thin month reads as timing, not a drop in business.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for an influencer marketing agency.

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

  • Client campaign budgetThe full amount a brand pays for a campaign, including what goes to creators.
  • Usage rights feesExtra fees when a brand pays to keep running a creator's content as an ad.
  • Strategy and casting feesOne-time fees for planning a campaign or sourcing creators before it launches.
  • Retainer revenueOngoing monthly fees for brands running ongoing creator programs.

Money out

  • Creator payoutsWhat creators are paid for posts, kept separate from your management fee.
  • Creator management softwareGrin, Aspire, or Creator.co for finding and tracking creators.
  • Payout processing feesTipalti, PayPal, or Wise fees for paying many creators at once.
  • Contract and rights softwareE-signature and usage rights tracking tools.
  • Coworking and officeShared office space or a home office setup.
  • Business developmentThe agency's own outreach and proposal tools.

What we watch for you

  • Management fee margin

    What the agency actually kept out of a campaign budget, once creator payouts are set aside.

  • Rights resale revenue

    How much income comes from reselling usage rights versus new campaigns.

  • Creator payout accuracy

    Whether a mass payout matched the campaign roster, since mistakes hide easily in a batch.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month regardless of how a campaign budget moved through the business.

Ask Gus

Things influencer agency 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.

A brand paid us $40,000 for a campaign but most of that goes to creators. Does that count as our income?

No. I book the creator share as a pass-through, so only your management fee, what you actually kept, shows up as agency revenue.

Do the creators we pay need 1099s from us?

Anyone based in the US, not on payroll, paid $2,000 or more this year gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list across every campaign.

One campaign's final invoice is stuck because a creator posted late. Is that going to make this month look bad?

I flagged it as a timing issue, not a drop in business, so you can see the difference when you look at the month.

The tax side

The tax side of an influencer marketing agency.

Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as income. A campaign budget booked whole instead of split, creators owed forms across different countries, and a set-aside nobody started until April.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Creator payouts are mostly pass-throughMoney a brand pays for creators to keep is not agency revenue. It passes through, in and back out, and only the management fee counts as what the agency earned.
  • 1099s for US creatorsAnyone based in the US, not on payroll, paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list across every campaign.
  • Creators outside the USA creator working outside the US usually does not get a 1099-NEC. The accountant collects a different form and decides what applies.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. The accountant checks how much of that still applies once income clears roughly $200,000 single.

Deductions influencer marketing agencies miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Grin or Aspire subscription
  • Tipalti or payout processing fees
  • Contract e-signature software
  • Business liability insurance
  • Coworking space
  • Conference tickets and travel
  • Business phone and internet
  • Website hosting for the agency
  • Accounting and legal fees
  • Proposal and outreach software
  • Media kit design costs

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 influencer agency's year, kept every month.

Campaigns launch and wrap on the brand's calendar, not yours, but tax deadlines do not move. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Line up the year

    Last year's return gets started, the creator 1099 list is ready across every campaign, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Return filed and signed

    Your return is filed and signed. Nothing catches you off guard, since the set-aside has been set apart every month since January.

  3. July

    Midyear standing

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether your management fee margin is holding up across campaigns.

  4. October

    Before holiday campaigns

    Holiday launches bring the year's biggest campaign budgets. Gus looks at cash flow and anything worth doing before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 influencer marketing agencies. 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 influencer agency owners ask first.

A brand's campaign budget mostly goes to creators. Does Gus count all of it as our revenue?

No. Gus books the creator share as a pass-through, so your taxable income only reflects the management fee the agency actually kept.

We pay twenty or thirty creators in one batch through Tipalti. Can Gus track that accurately?

Yes. Gus keeps payout batches broken out by campaign, so a mistake, a creator paid twice or missed entirely, gets caught instead of buried in one lump payment.

Do we need 1099s for creators, and does it matter if some are outside the US?

US creators paid $2,000 or more this year and not on payroll get a 1099-NEC by January 31. Creators outside the US usually need a different form, which the accountant sorts out.

A brand pays extra later to keep running a creator's post as an ad. Is that different from campaign income?

Yes, and Gus tracks it separately. Usage rights fees sit in their own category, so you can see how much revenue comes from new campaigns versus rights resold on past work.

Our books mix campaign budgets, creator payouts, and our own fee in one account right now. Can that get sorted out?

Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus separates what was pass-through from what was your fee, the accountant checks it, and most owners 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.

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We keep books for the business next door too.

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