Staffing, recruiting & HR services
Books and taxes for IT staffing firms.
Hourly contractor billings, statement-of-work projects, subcontracted developers, and VMS invoices with a client's own payment cycle. Gus sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
October came in at $29,700. The Meridian Systems project closed out under its statement of work, so I booked the final milestone apart from your regular hourly contract billings.
- Meridian Systems payoutSOW project billings
- Fieldglass VMS payoutContract billings
- Gusto payroll runContractor wages
- Subcontracted developer splitFee split payments
- LinkedIn Recruiter seatsSourcing costs
Why your books are different
IT staffing books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and payroll. Your business runs on hourly contract billings, fixed-fee project work, and a bench of subcontracted developers paid a split of what the client pays. When the books don't know that, you can't tell whether a project actually paid or just broke even.
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1
Statement-of-work projects get billed like hourly contracts
A fixed-fee project to build out a client's data pipeline pays in milestones, not hours, but if it's booked the same way as an hourly contractor's weekly invoice, you lose track of what percentage of the project is actually done versus paid.
What we doKeeps statement-of-work project billings separate from hourly contract billings so project margin and progress stay clear. -
2
Subcontracted developer splits look like ordinary bills
Paying an outside developer a split of what the client pays for a contract is common when your own bench is full, but if it's coded like a regular vendor invoice, the 1099 for that developer gets missed at year end.
What we doFlags every subcontracted developer paid a fee split who isn't on payroll, so a 1099 is ready if the year crosses the threshold. -
3
VMS fees quietly shrink the invoice
A vendor management system like Fieldglass often takes a cut before the client payment even reaches you, so the deposit that lands is already smaller than the rate you actually billed.
What we doBooks the full billed rate and the VMS fee as its own cost, so your real bill rate and true margin per contractor stay visible. -
4
Bench time between contracts disappears
A contractor between assignments still draws pay while you look for their next placement, and if that cost gets buried in general wages, you lose sight of what an idle bench is actually costing you.
What we doFlags wages paid during bench time separately so you can see the real cost of keeping talent on standby.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an IT staffing firm.
Set up once for hourly contracts, fixed-fee projects, and a bench of contractors. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Hourly contract billingsWeekly or biweekly invoices for placed developers and engineers, often through a VMS like Fieldglass.
- SOW project billingsFixed-fee or milestone-based project work, kept apart from hourly contracts.
- Direct hire placement feesA percentage of first-year salary when a client hires a candidate directly.
- Contract-to-hire conversion feesWhat a client owes when a contractor is hired on permanently.
- Rush placement premiumsShort-notice fills for urgent technical roles.
Money out
- Contractor wages and payroll taxesW-2 pay for placed developers and engineers on the agency's own payroll.
- Subcontracted developer fee splitsPayments to outside developers or sourcers paid a share of a contract, tracked for 1099s.
- VMS and MSP feesWhat a vendor management system or managed service provider keeps from each billing.
- Job board and sourcing costsLinkedIn Recruiter, technical job boards, and recruiter seat licenses.
- Background checksPer-candidate screening for placed technical staff.
- Workers comp and liability insuranceCoverage for placed staff, generally lower risk than field-based trades.
- Staffing and applicant tracking softwareThe system running requisitions, timesheets, and client invoicing.
What we watch for you
- Margin by contractor
Bill rate minus wage cost, per placement. Shows which contracts are actually worth renewing.
- Bench time cost
Wages paid while a contractor waits for their next assignment. A rising number means sourcing needs to speed up.
- Project completion percentage
How much of a fixed-fee project is billed against how much is done. Keeps a long project from quietly running at a loss.
- The set-aside
What you'll owe across contracts and projects, tracked every month, so April doesn't compete with a client deadline.
Ask Gus
Things IT staffing 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 VMS takes its cut before it pays out. I booked the full billed rate and the VMS fee separately so you can see your real margin, not just what landed.
If she's not on your payroll and gets $2,000 or more this year, she'll need a 1099-NEC. I'm keeping that flagged so it's ready in January.
It's running a solid margin so far based on what's billed against hours logged, but I'd check with the accountant before the final milestone closes to be sure the numbers hold.
The tax side
The tax side of an IT staffing firm.
Most of what goes wrong here is classification and timing. A subcontracted developer treated like a vendor, and project revenue booked before it's actually earned.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Worker classificationA developer working a client's schedule under a client's direction is usually a W-2 employee, not a 1099 contractor billed like a vendor, even on a technical role.
- Form 1099-NEC for subcontracted developersAny outside developer or sourcer paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for a fee split who isn't on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Multi-state payroll taxA remote contractor working from a different state than the client or the agency can create a payroll tax obligation in that worker's state.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, a benefit that comes out right when margin per contractor is tracked all year.
Deductions IT staffing firms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Staffing and applicant tracking software
- Technical job board postings
- LinkedIn Recruiter seats
- Background check fees
- VMS and MSP fees
- Workers comp premiums
- Professional liability insurance
- Recruiter travel to client sites
- Phone and laptop for recruiting staff
- Home office costs for remote recruiters
- Card processing fees on client payments
- Referral bonuses for candidate leads
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 IT staffing year, kept every month.
Projects run on their own milestones and contracts run on their own renewal dates. Your taxes run on a fixed schedule, and your team keeps you ahead of all three. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Reset contracts and books
Last year's return gets started, W-2s and subcontractor 1099s go out, and a monthly set-aside begins so April isn't competing with a renewal cycle.
- April
Filed while projects ship
Your return is filed and signed without pulling focus from active contracts. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
A midyear margin read
Where margin by contractor and project stands, and whether summer hiring freezes changed what you'll owe.
- October
Before Q4 budget cycles
Clients often rush to spend remaining budget before year end. Gus looks at pipeline and bench cost before the push.
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 IT staffing firms. 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 IT staffing owners ask first.
Can Gus handle both hourly contract billings and fixed-fee project work?
Yes. He keeps SOW project billings separate from hourly contract billings, so a milestone project and a weekly contract each show their own margin instead of blending into one number.
We use subcontracted developers on some projects. Does that complicate things?
It just needs the right tracking. Gus flags anyone paid a fee split who isn't on your payroll so a 1099 is ready when the year crosses the threshold, and wages stay separate from those splits.
Why does our VMS payout look smaller than what we billed?
The vendor management system usually takes a fee before paying out. Gus books the full billed rate and that fee as its own cost, so your true margin per contractor stays visible.
Do remote contractors in other states change our tax picture?
Often, yes. A contractor working from a different state can create a payroll obligation there. Gus flags it so the right registration happens before it becomes a problem.
How does bench time between contracts get handled?
Gus keeps wages paid during bench time in their own line, so you can see what it actually costs to keep a contractor on standby between assignments.
Our books are a mess after a fast growth year. Can we catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements and payroll records you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they 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