Site work & heavy civil
Books and taxes for land surveying firms.
Boundary survey fees, staking payments tied to a build's stages, county recording fees paid on a client's behalf, and the liability coverage your license depends on. Gus sorts every dollar, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
March came in at $15,000. The construction staking payment for the Meridian subdivision got booked against the stage of the job it was for, not lumped with survey fees.
- Meridian staking paymentConstruction staking
- Oakview boundary survey feeBoundary surveys
- County recorder feeResearch and recording fees
- Liability insurance premiumLiability insurance
- CAD software subscriptionSoftware
Why your books are different
Land surveying books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is fees for a licensed opinion, staking payments tied to a construction schedule, and fees paid to the county on a client's behalf. When the books do not know that, real income and recoverable costs get flattened into one number.
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1
Staking payments land out of order with fieldwork
A construction staking contract pays in stages, an initial stake, a respread after grading, and a final as-built, and those payments often clear weeks after the actual field visit, so cash timing can look disconnected from which stage of the project earned it.
What we doTracks each staking payment against the stage of the job it was for, so cash timing lines up with the work that earned it. -
2
Liability coverage disappears into overhead
Coverage that protects against a survey error is one of the largest fixed costs in the business, and lumped in with general insurance nobody can see what protecting your license actually costs against revenue.
What we doKeeps liability and errors and omissions coverage in its own line, so the real cost of that protection is visible year over year. -
3
Courthouse fees get treated like a straight cost
Recording and title research fees paid to the county on a client's behalf are pass-through costs meant to be billed back, but coded as a plain expense they quietly eat into the firm's margin instead of getting recovered on the invoice.
What we doFlags research and recording fees as billable to the client, so pass-through costs get invoiced back instead of absorbed. -
4
Fieldwork and drafting time blur into one project fee
A project fee covers a day in the field with the crew and days of drafting the plat back at the office, and without separating that labor by phase, nobody can tell if the office work is actually priced into the fee.
What we doSplits field labor from office and drafting labor by project, so pricing can be checked against what each phase really costs. -
5
A total station purchase looks like a supply order
A robotic total station or a survey-grade drone can run into five figures, and filed as a supply purchase it never gets tracked as the equipment it is or considered for a write-off.
What we doFlags survey equipment purchases the day they clear, books them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on writing them off. -
6
Expert witness work blends into regular survey fees
Testifying or preparing exhibits for a boundary dispute pays a different, often higher, hourly rate than a standard survey, and mixed in with regular fee income it hides that this is a distinct and more valuable line of work.
What we doKeeps litigation support and expert witness income in its own line, so it shows up as the higher-value work it is.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a land surveying firm.
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
- Boundary survey feesStandard boundary and property line work billed by the project.
- Construction staking contractsStaged payments through a build, from initial stake to final as-built.
- Commercial survey feesLarger site surveys billed for lenders, title companies, and developers.
- Subdivision platting feesPlatting and mapping work for new developments.
- Expert witness feesLitigation support and testimony billed at its own rate.
Money out
- Vehicle fuel and mileageFuel for the field crew traveling between project sites.
- EquipmentTotal stations, GPS rovers, and drones, logged so they get written off right.
- Liability insuranceErrors and omissions coverage that protects your license and your firm.
- Research and recording feesCounty and title costs paid on a client's behalf, meant to be billed back.
- SoftwareCAD and mapping software used to draft plats and exhibits.
- Continuing education and license renewalRequired hours and fees to keep a surveyor's license active.
- Field crew wagesPay for the crew running the total station and rover in the field.
- Printing and plottingLarge-format printing for plats, exhibits, and recorded drawings.
What we watch for you
- Cost per project
Field time, office time, and equipment against the fee, so pricing covers the real work.
- Fees billed back
Research and recording costs actually recovered from clients, not quietly absorbed.
- Insurance cost
Liability coverage against revenue, tracked so it never hides in general overhead.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things land surveying 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 booked it against the January stage it was for, so the cash shows up next to the work that actually earned it, not floating on its own.
That should go on the client's invoice as a pass-through, so it comes back to you. I flagged it so it does not just sit as a cost.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not a supply run, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a land surveying business.
Most of what goes wrong here is pass-through fees nobody billed back and equipment filed as supplies. Get those right and the set-aside was already running.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Total stations and field equipmentSurvey equipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year it goes to work. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, but whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Vehicle mileageA field crew driving between project sites all week can rack up real miles. The business mileage rate is 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents from July, applied once a mileage log is kept.
- Contractor 1099sA subcontracted field crew or drafter not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if you paid them $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list running all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right only when project fees and pass-through costs were tracked correctly all year.
Deductions land surveying firms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Vehicle fuel and mileage
- CAD and mapping software
- Total station repairs
- GPS rover maintenance
- Drone batteries and repairs
- Liability insurance
- License renewal fees
- Continuing education courses
- Printing and plotting supplies
- Unbilled research fees
- Field crew per diem
- Office and field 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 surveying year, kept every month.
Construction staking follows the building season, and license renewals run on their own clock. 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 year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for subcontracted crews is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January, no matter how staking work came in.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this summer's rush of construction staking changed the number for the year.
- October
Before the year closes out
Gus looks at equipment worth buying before December, checks license renewal timing, and gets outstanding invoices and pass-through fees chased down.
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 land surveying 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 land surveying owners ask first.
Can Gus track staking payments that arrive weeks after the fieldwork?
Yes. He books each payment against the stage of the job it was for, so a late-clearing draw shows up next to the work that earned it instead of floating on its own.
Does Gus make sure county fees get billed back to the client?
He flags research and recording fees paid on a client's behalf so they get put on the invoice, instead of quietly eating into your margin as a plain cost.
Do I write off a total station or a drone all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books are behind after a busy stretch of staking work. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Does Gus separate expert witness income from regular survey fees?
Yes. Litigation support and testimony income stays in its own line, so it shows up as the higher-rate work it is instead of blending into standard survey fees.
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