Commercial facility services
Books and taxes for interior plantscaping companies.
Monthly plant care visits, a lobby installed with leased greenery, replacement plants after a bad stretch by a sunny window, and a design job billed once. 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
February came in at $6,700. The new fiddle leaf figs for the hotel lobby install went on as leased plant stock, not a routine replacement.
- Monthly care contractsRecurring care accounts
- Hotel lobby design installOne-time installs
- Greenhouse plant orderPlant stock and soil
- Care route van fuelVehicle and route
- Replacement figs, hotel lobbyLeased plant replacement
Why your books are different
Interior plantscaping books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business leases living inventory that sits in someone else's lobby, dies sometimes no matter how well it is cared for, and sells design work once while billing care every month. When the books do not know that, replacement cost gets invisible.
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1
Leased plants are a real asset that quietly dies
A ficus or palm placed on a lease at an office lobby is company inventory, and when it declines from bad light or gets damaged, replacing it is a real cost that usually just gets folded into the next plant order with no record of why.
What we doKeeps a running list of leased plants placed at accounts, so replacement cost shows up as a trackable expense tied to a specific account. -
2
Design installs and monthly care contracts blur together
A one-time lobby redesign and the monthly care visits that follow land in the same revenue line, so you cannot tell whether the steady care accounts or the occasional big install is really carrying the month.
What we doKeeps recurring care billing apart from one-time design and install invoices, so you can see the dependable base under a big project month. -
3
A greenhouse stock-up wrecks the monthly number
Buying a season's worth of replacement plants, soil, and pots from a wholesale greenhouse all at once makes that month look expensive and the following months look artificially light.
What we doKeeps plant stock in one steady category and flags stock-up months, so a bulk order does not read as a bad month. -
4
Seasonal displays get priced like standing accounts
Holiday displays and seasonal color rotations are short, one-time jobs, but if they get billed and booked the same way as a year-round lease account, the real cost of the labor and stock behind them disappears.
What we doKeeps seasonal display work in its own line, so its real cost and margin are visible apart from standing lease accounts.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an interior plantscaping company.
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
- Recurring care accountsMonthly watering, pruning, and plant care billed to office and hotel accounts.
- One-time installsDesign and installation jobs for a new lobby or office redesign.
- Seasonal displaysHoliday and seasonal color rotations billed as a project.
- Plant salesOutright plant sales to customers who do not want a lease.
Money out
- Plant stock and soilWholesale plants, soil, pots, and fertilizer from a greenhouse supplier.
- Leased plant replacementReplacement of plants on lease accounts that decline or get damaged.
- Vehicle and routeFuel, insurance, and repairs for the care route.
- Care technician wagesRoute technicians who water and prune, kept apart from design staff.
- Design and install laborLabor for one-time installs, tracked apart from recurring care.
- Bid and marketing costsProposals and mockups for prospective lobby and office accounts.
- Insurance and licensingGeneral liability and any local landscaping licenses required.
What we watch for you
- Plant replacement rate
How much leased stock has to be replaced each month, so a bad batch or a bad location is caught early.
- Care contract share
Care contract income against total income, so you know how much of the month is steady versus a project.
- Care revenue by account
Care billing against accounts served, so you can see which accounts are worth the route stop.
- Design job margin
What a one-time install actually cleared after plant stock and labor, tracked separately from ongoing care.
Ask Gus
Things interior plantscaping 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.
I logged it as leased plant replacement tied to that account, not a general plant order, so you can see if that lobby keeps needing replacements.
The install is booked separately from your recurring care accounts, and the plant stock for it landed this month while the invoice is still going out. Give it a few weeks to even out.
If you pay her $2,000 or more this year and she is not on payroll, she gets a 1099 by January 31. I keep that list running as the projects come in.
The tax side
The tax side of an interior plantscaping business.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and timing. Replacement stock filed like a routine order, a subcontracted designer paid like a contractor who works like an employee, and a set-aside nobody started until the return was due.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Leased plants as inventory versus equipmentLiving plant inventory is treated differently from equipment like vans or tools. Gus tracks what is placed and replaced, and the accountant sorts out how the year’s plant costs are handled.
- Contractor 1099sA subcontracted designer paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list current all year.
- Employee or contractorA technician who runs your route on your schedule with your equipment is usually an employee. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
- The pass-through deductionA profitable plantscaping owner can usually take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income under the pass-through deduction, once the books are right all year.
Deductions interior plantscaping and plant leasing companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Plant stock and soil
- Pots and planters
- Fertilizer and pest treatment
- Service van fuel and maintenance
- Pruning tools and shears
- Grow lights for low-light accounts
- Uniforms with your logo
- Design mockup software
- Storage or greenhouse rent
- Phone and tablet for route scheduling
- Liability insurance
- Card processing 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 interior plantscaping year, kept every month.
Care accounts bill steady while design work and holiday displays swing with the calendar. 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 growing year
Last year's filing gets underway, the designer's 1099 is confirmed if one was used, and a monthly set-aside begins building for the year ahead.
- April
Signed and settled
The return is filed and signed this month, with no scramble, since the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Midyear plant check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether new lobby accounts this year changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday displays
As seasonal display season ramps up, Gus looks at plant stock worth ordering 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 interior plantscaping and plant leasing companies. 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 interior plantscaping owners ask first.
Can Gus track the plants I have leased out to different offices?
Yes. He keeps a running list of leased plants placed at accounts, so replacement cost shows up as a real expense tied to that account.
A design install and my recurring care accounts get billed differently. Does that matter?
Yes. One-time installs are kept separate from recurring care billing, so you can see which part of the business is the dependable base under a big project month.
Do plant losses actually count for anything on the return?
Often they do. Replacement of leased plant stock is a real cost of the business. Gus tracks it, and the accountant sorts out how it is handled on the return.
A big greenhouse order made this month look bad. Is that normal?
It happens whenever a bulk stock purchase lands ahead of the care billing it supports. Gus keeps plant stock in its own line so a stock-up month does not read as a loss.
My books have not been touched since last season. Is that a problem?
No. Send whatever statements you have, even a season's worth of care billing. Gus sorts it, the accountant checks it, and you will know 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.
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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