Design & pre-construction
Books and taxes for kitchen and bath designers.
A design fee that gets waived if the cabinets are bought through you, a cabinet package margin, a countertop fabricator's invoice, and a showroom lease. 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
May came in at $13,900. The Delacroix job waived its design fee since they bought the full cabinet package through you, so I booked the whole margin as cabinet income, not a design fee.
- Delacroix cabinet packageCabinet package margin
- Renner Bath design feeDesign fees
- Wellborn Cabinet orderCabinet procurement
- Granite Works fabricationCountertop fabrication
- Showroom lease, MayShowroom rent
Why your books are different
A kitchen and bath design business's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business waives its own design fee on some jobs because the cabinet margin covers it, carries a countertop fabricator's invoice against a job that has not closed, and pays showroom rent whether or not a sale happens that month. When the books do not know that, no month tells you the truth.
-
1
A waived design fee looks like lost revenue
A client buys the full cabinet package through you, so the design fee is waived, and it never shows up as income at all. Left alone, the books make it look like you designed the kitchen for free.
What we doBooks the full cabinet package margin as your earned income for that job, so a waived fee does not vanish from the numbers. -
2
Cabinet margin and design fee income get mixed
One job pays a straight design fee, another pays through cabinet markup instead, and a third does both. Lumped together, you cannot tell which part of the business is carrying the month.
What we doKeeps design fees and cabinet package margin in separate lines, so you can see both sides of how the business gets paid. -
3
A fabricator's invoice lands before the job closes
The countertop fabricator bills you for a job in progress, but the client's final payment is not due until installation, weeks later. Read on its own, that month looks like a loss on a job that is actually on track.
What we doMatches the fabrication cost to the job it belongs to, so a mid-project invoice does not read as a bad month. -
4
Showroom rent runs the same whether or not you sell
The lease on your showroom is due every month, sale or no sale, and a slow month can look far worse than it is once that fixed cost is counted against it.
What we doTracks showroom rent as a steady fixed cost, so a quiet month reads as slow sales, not a business in trouble.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a kitchen and bath design business.
Set up once for how each job actually gets paid. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Design feesFlat or hourly fees on jobs where cabinets are not purchased through you.
- Cabinet package marginThe spread between wholesale cabinet cost and what the client pays.
- Countertop and fixture marginMarkup on stone, tile, and fixtures sold as part of the package.
- Referral fees from contractorsFees paid by general contractors who bring you design work.
- Consultation feesStandalone paid consultations that do not lead to a full project.
Money out
- Cabinet procurementWhat you pay manufacturers like Wellborn, KraftMaid, or a local cabinet shop.
- Countertop fabricationStone and solid surface fabricators billing per job.
- Showroom rentLease and utilities on the space clients walk through.
- Design software20-20 Design, Chief Architect, or similar cabinet layout tools.
- Sample and display costsCabinet doors, countertop slabs, and finish samples on the showroom floor.
- Delivery and installation coordinationFreight and crew coordination fees for cabinet delivery.
- Professional liability insuranceThe policy that covers a measurement or design error.
What we watch for you
- Cabinet margin rate
The average spread you keep between wholesale cost and client price across recent jobs.
- Design fee share
How much of your income comes from straight design fees versus cabinet package margin.
- Fixed cost coverage
Whether a typical month's margin covers showroom rent and fixed costs before anything else.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things kitchen and bath designers 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.
No. I booked the full cabinet margin as income for that job, so it shows what you actually earned, even without a separate design fee line.
I matched that cost to the job it belongs to, so it will not throw off this month's number. It evens out once the final payment lands.
Usually not, since that is a purchase of goods, not contract labor. If your supplier relationship looks different from a standard order, I flag it for the accountant.
The tax side
The tax side of a kitchen and bath design business.
Most of what goes wrong here is tracking margin correctly across jobs that get paid different ways. Getting that right changes what your real profit looks like on the return.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goods soldCabinets or countertop material held before a job installs are tracked as inventory until they sell, not expensed the day you order them.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income. It comes out right when cabinet margin and design fees are tracked accurately all year.
- Contractor 1099sAn installer, delivery driver, or freelance drafter paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Equipment write-offsShowroom display fixtures and a design workstation can often be written off the year you buy them, under Section 179 or bonus depreciation.
Deductions kitchen and bath designers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- 20-20 Design software license
- Showroom lease and utilities
- Cabinet and countertop samples
- Trade show admission
- Professional liability premium
- Delivery coordination fees
- Client meeting mileage
- Portfolio photography
- Website and portfolio hosting
- Continuing education courses
- Showroom signage and displays
- Measuring tools and tablets
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 kitchen and bath design year, kept every month.
Spring remodels and pre-holiday kitchen refreshes set your busiest stretches. Your team keeps you ahead of both the season and the taxes. 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 contractor 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, right as spring remodel season starts bringing in new cabinet package jobs.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how this year's cabinet margin compares to your design fee income.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at showroom display upgrades worth buying before December and flags any jobs still owed on.
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 kitchen and bath designers. 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 kitchen and bath designers ask first.
I waive the design fee when clients buy cabinets through me. Does that mess up my income?
No. Gus books the full cabinet package margin as your earned income on that job, so a waived fee still shows up as the work it actually was.
Some jobs pay a design fee and others pay through cabinet margin. Can Gus tell them apart?
Yes. He keeps design fees and cabinet package margin in separate lines, so you can see which side of the business is carrying a given month.
Does Gus track what I paid for cabinets against what I sold them for?
Yes, at the level your bank and supplier statements show it. That margin is what shows up as your cabinet income, not the full sale price.
My showroom rent is a fixed cost every month. Does that throw off the numbers in a slow month?
It will show as a fixed cost regardless of sales, which is accurate. Gus flags when margin is not covering it, so you see a slow month for what it is.
I have never separated design fees from cabinet income in my books. Can Gus untangle that?
Yes. Send your recent bank and supplier statements and Gus starts sorting the two apart from there, checked by an accountant as it goes.
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 design & pre-construction
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Drafting & CAD services
- Home plan & house design sellers
- Landscape architects
- MEP engineering firms
- Outsourced construction estimators
- Permit expediters
- Structural engineers
- Residential architects
- Interior designers
- Barndominium builders
- Church & religious facility builders
- Log home builders
- Shipping container home builders
- Timber frame builders
- Tiny home builders
- Acoustical ceiling contractors
- Architectural millwork & woodworking
- Commercial glaziers & storefront glass
- Commercial kitchen equipment installers
- Concrete cutting & coring
- Crane services
- Directional boring contractors
- Elevator installation & service
- Erosion control contractors
- Fire sprinkler contractors
- Hydro excavation
- Land surveying firms
- Parking lot striping & maintenance
- Pond & lake construction
- Private utility locating
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