DTC brands
Books and taxes for kitchenware brands.
A wedding registry completion discount, a bundled cookware set, a recipe creator's fee, and factory seconds sold at a discount. 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
November came in at $13,000. A recipe creator's video went out this month, so I split her fee from the set we sent, one service cost and one product cost.
- Shopify Payments payoutSite sales
- Wedding registry payoutRegistry sales
- Copper and Cast Foundry invoiceContract manufacturing
- Recipe creator fee and setCreator partnerships
- Pinterest adsAdvertising
Why your books are different
A kitchenware brand's books go wrong around registries, sets, and seconds.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is a registry discount that is really a marketing cost, a five-piece set with five different costs inside it, and factory seconds sold for less. When the books do not know that, margin quietly disappears.
-
1
A registry completion discount is a real cost, not free money for the couple
Many kitchenware retailers give newlyweds a discount to complete their registry after the wedding, and if that markdown is not tied to the specific sale, it looks like a random price cut instead of the marketing cost it actually is.
What we doBooks a registry completion discount as its own line, tied to the sale it applied to, so the real revenue on that order is clear. -
2
A bundled set hides what each piece actually costs
A five-piece cookware set sold as one price is really five different components with five different costs, and if the set is only tracked as one item, it is hard to tell whether a specific pan or lid is dragging the set's margin down.
What we doBreaks a bundled set's cost down to its components, so you can see which piece in the set is actually worth what. -
3
A recipe creator's fee and the product sent are two different costs
Paying a cooking content creator a flat fee for a video and also sending them a full cookware set are two different kinds of spending, one a service and one a promotional product cost, and lumping them together hides what a partnership actually costs.
What we doSplits a creator's fee from the product sent, booking each as the specific kind of cost it is. -
4
Factory seconds sold at a discount are not the same sale as a first-quality piece
A ceramic piece with a minor glaze flaw often gets sold through an outlet or a sale event at a steep discount, and if that sale is not marked apart from full-price sales, the average selling price for the whole line looks lower than it really is.
What we doKeeps seconds and outlet sales in their own category, so your full-price line's real margin does not get dragged down. -
5
Wedding season and the holiday cooking rush do not average into one normal month
Kitchenware sales often spike twice, once around wedding season and once around the holidays, and averaging both spikes with the quiet months between them makes every month look like it is underperforming.
What we doKeeps each seasonal spike visible on its own, so a quiet month between them reads as normal, not as a decline.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a kitchenware brand.
Set up once for how you sell and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Site salesFull-price and promo orders through your own storefront.
- Registry salesWedding and gift registry orders, discounts booked to the sale.
- Wholesale to kitchen retailersSpecialty kitchen store accounts, billed on terms.
- Marketplace salesAmazon or a similar site, if you sell there.
Money out
- Contract manufacturingThe factory or foundry that produces each piece.
- Creator partnershipsA recipe creator's fee and any product sent, kept separate.
- PackagingBoxes, inserts, and gift wrap.
- AdvertisingMeta and Google ad spend driving traffic to listings.
- Card and marketplace feesWhat processors and marketplaces keep before you get paid.
- Product liability insuranceCoverage for cookware used with heat and food.
What we watch for you
- Full-price average
Selling price excluding seconds and outlet sales, so a discount push does not drag down the real number.
- Registry discount cost
What completion discounts add up to, so the registry program's marketing cost is visible.
- Seasonal spike share
How much of sales comes from wedding season and the holidays, so a quiet month reads correctly.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked through both seasonal spikes and the quiet months between.
Ask Gus
Things kitchenware brand 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.
No, I book the discount as its own line tied to that sale, so your real revenue on the order stays clear and the discount shows up as the marketing cost it is.
Two. The fee is a service cost and the set is product, and I keep them separate so you can see what the partnership actually costs in each way.
Not if it is tracked apart from full-price sales, which is what I do. Your full-price line's real margin stays visible instead of getting dragged down by the discounted seconds.
The tax side
The tax side of a kitchenware brand.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels. A discount counted as ordinary revenue, a creator payment lumped with product cost, and a set-aside nobody started until the season slowed down.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsYou deduct the cost of what sold, not what is sitting in the warehouse. A finished run of cookware waiting to ship is an asset until it does, not a write-off the day the factory invoice is paid.
- 1099-K from marketplaces and processorsShopify Payments and any registry or marketplace you sell through report your volume to the IRS once you cross $20,000 and 200 transactions in a year. Every dollar is taxable whether or not the form arrives.
- 1099-NEC for contractorsA freelance recipe creator, photographer, or stylist paid $2,000 or more in a year who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can deduct up to 20 percent of qualified business income, with the deduction phasing down above $201,750 for single filers and $403,500 for joint filers. It only comes out right when registry discounts and bundled sets were tracked accurately.
Deductions kitchenware brands miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Contract manufacturing
- Recipe creator fees
- Packaging and gift wrap
- Meta and Google ad spend
- Product photography and video
- 3PL fulfillment fees
- Gift show booth fees
- Card and marketplace fees
- Trademark and brand registration
- Product liability insurance
- Registry program fees
- Warehouse or storage rent
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 kitchenware brand's year, kept every month.
Wedding season and the holiday cooking rush carry most of the year's sales, with quiet months in between. Your team is on the books every month, busy or quiet. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Cooking rush winds down
The holiday cooking rush winds down, right as last year's return needs to get moving. Gus keeps the set-aside running through the quieter stretch.
- April
Return wrapped
The business return is filed and signed, registry discounts and bundled sets accounted for. The set-aside has been running since January, so nothing surprises you.
- July
Wedding season peaks
Wedding season is in full swing, and registry completions bring their own discount costs. Gus keeps those tied to the sales they came from.
- October
Holiday rush begins
Holiday cooking gear sales start climbing. Gus watches production timing so gift sets are ready before the rush.
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 kitchenware brands. 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 kitchenware brand owners ask first.
How does Gus handle registry completion discounts?
The discount gets booked as its own line, tied to the sale it applied to, so your real revenue on that order stays clear and the discount shows up as the marketing cost it is.
We sell a five-piece set as one price. Does Gus track each piece?
He can break a bundled set's cost down to its components, so you can see whether a specific pan or lid is dragging the whole set's margin down.
We paid a recipe creator a fee and also sent her product. Is that one expense?
No, it is two. The fee is a service cost and the product is a promotional cost, and Gus keeps them separate so you know what a partnership actually costs each way.
We sell factory seconds at a discount through outlet sales. Does that hurt our numbers?
Not if it is tracked apart from full-price sales, which is what Gus does. Your full-price line's real margin does not get dragged down by discounted seconds.
Our sales spike around weddings and again at the holidays. Is that a problem?
No, that is normal for this business. Gus keeps each seasonal spike visible on its own, so a quiet month between them reads correctly, not as a decline.
My books are behind because we just started selling through a specialty kitchen retailer.
Send the retailer's invoices and your bank statements. Gus sorts through the new account 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