Skin, nails & body art
Books and taxes for lash extension studios.
Full sets, two-week fills, prepaid fill packages, and the adhesive and lash trays that get used up fast. 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 $5,500. Your fill bookings held steady even in a short month, so the studio stayed on pace.
- Boulevard payoutFull sets and fills
- Fill package paymentFill packages
- Lash supply orderLash supplies
- Retail lash serum saleRetail sales
- Lash studio suite rentStudio rent
Why your books are different
Lash studio books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees a booking app deposit and a supply bill. Your business is a full set that turns into a fill every two to three weeks, a tray of lashes that gets used up fast, and clients who prepay for months of fills at once. When the books do not know that, your real fill rate stays invisible.
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1
Prepaid fill packages get counted too early
A client pays $280 upfront for four fills over two months. If the full $280 lands as income the day she pays, that month looks great and the fill months look thin, even though nothing about your schedule changed.
What we doKeeps a running balance of fills still owed on the package, and counts each one as income only when she sits in your chair. -
2
Adhesive and lash trays disappear into one supply line
A case of lash trays, adhesive, and primer bought in bulk from one supplier order gets lumped together, so you cannot see how much product each set or fill actually costs you.
What we doKeeps lash supply spend in its own line and flags when a big restock is the reason a month's costs look high. -
3
Aftercare serum sales disappear into fill revenue
A lash cleanser or growth serum sold at checkout after a fill gets rung into the same total as the fill itself, so retail sales never show up as their own number.
What we doSplits retail product sales from service income, so you can see what retail actually contributes. -
4
A slow fill month gets mistaken for a bad month
Fills naturally cluster on a two to three week cycle, so a five-week month with fewer Saturdays can look like a drop in business when nothing has actually changed.
What we doTracks fills against full sets separately, so a normal scheduling gap does not read as a real decline.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a lash studio.
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
- Full sets and fillsClassic, hybrid, and volume lash appointments booked through Boulevard.
- Fill packagesPrepaid multi-fill packages, counted as income when each fill happens.
- Lash lift and tintNon-extension services kept apart from extension work.
- Retail salesLash cleanser, growth serum, and aftercare kits.
Money out
- Lash suppliesLash trays, adhesive, primer, and tape.
- Retail inventoryProduct bought to resell at checkout.
- Studio rentSuite lease or studio space.
- Booking softwareBoulevard subscription and card processing fees.
- Continuing educationVolume and mega volume certification classes.
- Licensing and insuranceEsthetician or lash license renewal and liability insurance.
What we watch for you
- Fill package balance
Fills clients have paid for but not used yet, so you know what is already owed.
- Cost per set
What lash supplies cost against sets and fills booked, tracked from your spend alone.
- Fill rate
How many fills came from full sets booked earlier, a sign of client retention.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things lash studio 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.
Package payments only count as income when the fill actually happens. Four fills are still sitting on client balances, waiting to be used.
It shows in lash supplies for the month you bought it, but I flagged it as a stock-up so it does not make this month look worse than it is.
That depends on how much control you have over her schedule and clients. That one is above my pay grade, so a real accountant is looking at it.
The tax side
The tax side of a lash studio.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. Package income counted too early, a supply stock-up that skews a month, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Equipment and supply costsLash beds, lighting, and larger equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Chair renters and 1099sA lash artist renting a chair from you who is genuinely independent gets a 1099-NEC if you pay them anything, though most chair renters pay you rent, not the other way around. Anyone you do pay $2,000 or more gets one by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
- Quarterly estimated taxesNothing withholds tax from lash income automatically, so most owners pay estimated taxes April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15.
Deductions lash extension studios miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Lash trays and adhesive
- Primer and under-eye pads
- Lash bed or reclining chair
- Ring light and magnifying lamp
- Continuing education classes
- Lash license renewal
- Liability insurance
- Boulevard subscription
- Retail display fixtures
- Aftercare product samples
- Sanitizing supplies
- 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
A lash studio year, kept every month.
Fills come every two to three weeks all year. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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, 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.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer swim season changed retention on your fills.
- October
Before the holidays
Holiday party bookings pick up. Gus looks at any equipment you might buy and moves worth making 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 lash extension studios. 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 lash studio owners ask first.
Can Gus track prepaid fill packages correctly?
Yes. He keeps a running balance of fills a client has paid for but not used, and only counts income when each fill actually happens, so your monthly number reflects real work done.
I book everything through Boulevard. Do I have to change anything?
No. Keep running your calendar the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do lash supply stock-up orders wreck my monthly number?
They show up the month you buy them, but Gus flags a big restock so it does not read as a bad month. Product gets used steadily even when it was bought all at once.
I rent a second chair to another lash artist. Does that change the books?
Rent she pays you is simple income. Whether her setup makes her an employee instead of independent depends on how much control you have over her schedule, and that call goes to the accountant.
My books are a year behind since I started my studio. Is that a problem?
No. Hand over whatever bank statements you have going back to when you opened. Gus works through the whole backlog, the accountant reviews it, and you will know where the studio stands 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