Personal & lifestyle services

Books and taxes for laundromats.

Coin vault counts, card and app payments, vending sales, and a water heater that dies without warning. Your own bookkeeper sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
AugustExample month
$6,750
what you made

August cleared $6,750. The water heater repair went in as a repair, not new equipment, since it was the same unit fixed, not replaced.

  • Cents app payoutCard and app revenue
  • Coin vault countCoin revenue
  • Vend-Rite restock invoiceVending supplies
  • PG&E utility billUtilities
  • Speed Queen parts orderMachine repair
Money in$22,150
Money out$15,400
Set aside for taxes$1,350
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Laundromat books go wrong in the same four places.

A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is a coin vault, a card reader network, a bank of machines that break on their own schedule, and a water and gas bill that swings with every wash cycle. When the books do not know that, the monthly number is a guess.

  1. 1

    Coin and card revenue never get added up together

    Quarters counted out of the vault land in one pile and Cents or PayRange card payouts land in the bank account on their own schedule days later. Left apart, nobody can say what a Tuesday actually brought in.

    What we doPulls coin counts and card payouts into one monthly revenue line, so you see total machine income in one place.
  2. 2

    A washer or dryer replacement gets buried in repairs

    A single commercial washer can run $3,000 to $9,000. Filed the same way as a $40 coin mechanism fix, it flattens the month it was bought in and misses the tax treatment new equipment gets.

    What we doFlags any machine purchase over a routine repair, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how it gets written off.
  3. 3

    Utility bills swing and nobody knows why

    Water, gas, and electric can jump 30 percent in a hot or humid month with heavier dryer use, and an owner staring at one bill cannot tell a normal swing from a leak or a failing water heater.

    What we doKeeps utilities in their own line month over month, so a real jump stands out instead of getting lost in general expenses.
  4. 4

    Vending income and vending restocking get mixed together

    Snack, soap, and drink machines bring in cash or card revenue, but the restocking invoice from a vending supplier looks like just another bill if it is not tied back to that income.

    What we doKeeps vending sales and vending restocking apart, so you can see whether the machines are actually worth the shelf space.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a laundromat.

Set up once for how the machines get paid and what keeps the doors open. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Coin revenueQuarters counted out of the vault on your collection schedule.
  • Card and app revenuePayouts from Cents, PayRange, or a similar card reader network.
  • Vending salesSnack, soap, and drink machine income.
  • Drop-off or wash-and-fold counterIf you run a small counter service alongside self-service machines.

Money out

  • UtilitiesWater, gas, and electric, the biggest swing cost in the business.
  • Machine repair and partsSpeed Queen, Dexter, or Maytag parts and service calls.
  • EquipmentNew or replacement washers and dryers, logged so they get written off right.
  • Vending suppliesSnacks, drinks, and soap restocked from a vending supplier.
  • Rent and building costsLease payments, signage, and storefront upkeep.
  • Card processing feesWhat Cents, PayRange, or the card network keeps before you get paid.
  • Attendant wagesAnyone staffing the counter or overseeing the floor.

What we watch for you

  • Utility cost per load

    Water and gas against machine cycles run. It flags a leak or a failing heater before the bill does.

  • Machine repair spend

    Rising repair costs on the same machine often mean replacement is cheaper than the next fix.

  • Vending margin

    Vending sales against restocking cost. He tells you if the machines are worth the floor space.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things laundromat 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.

Gas bill was $600 higher this month. Is that normal?

Not for you. Your last three summers ran $80 to $120 higher, not $600. Worth a look at the water heater before it fails outright.

I replaced two dryers this month. Does that all come off this year?

Usually it can. I logged both as equipment, not repairs, and flagged the purchase so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.

My nephew helps me empty machines on weekends. Do I owe him anything at tax time?

If you pay him $2,000 or more this year and he is not on payroll, he gets a 1099 by January 31. I keep that running as we go.

The tax side

The tax side of a laundromat.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. A washer filed like a repair, utility swings nobody tracks, 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.

  • Washers, dryers, and equipmentBusiness 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. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
  • Self-employment tax on the profitFor a laundromat, self-employment tax runs 15.3 percent on top of regular income tax when the owner is not paid through payroll, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
  • Contractor or helper 1099sAnyone helping with the floor, repairs, or collections who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026.
  • The pass-through deductionFor a laundromat, the pass-through deduction lets an owner take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income, a figure that only comes out right when the books are kept right all year.

Deductions laundromats miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Water, gas, and electric
  • Machine parts and repairs
  • Card and app processing fees
  • Vending restock supplies
  • Security camera system
  • Signage and storefront upkeep
  • Coin counting and vault service
  • Change machine maintenance
  • Cleaning supplies for the floor
  • Pest control for the building
  • Business insurance
  • Attendant wages

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 laundromat year, kept every month.

The machines run every day of the year, whether it is the middle of summer or the week after New Year's. Your team keeps up with both the utility swings and the tax calendar. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    For a laundromat, last year's return gets started in January, and a monthly set-aside means April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    For a laundromat, the return is filed and signed in April, with no surprise bill since the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer's heavier dryer use changed the utility picture.

  4. October

    Before the cold sets in

    Before heating season raises the gas bill, Gus looks at any equipment worth buying and moves worth making before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 laundromats. 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 laundromat owners ask first.

Can Gus tell coin revenue apart from card revenue?

Yes. Coin vault counts and card or app payouts from Cents or PayRange are kept in their own lines, so you can see both without adding it up by hand.

I use a route service to empty and restock vending machines. Do I track that separately?

You do not have to. Send the statement and Gus keeps vending sales apart from the restocking bill, so you can see whether the machines pay for themselves.

Do I write off a new washer all at once?

Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted in 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 utility bill jumped and I don't know why. Can Gus catch that?

He watches the utility line every month against your history, so a real jump in water or gas gets flagged before it turns into a bigger repair.

My books are a mess from running this solo for years. 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.

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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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