Legal
Books and taxes for legal document preparers.
Flat fees for divorce paperwork, simple wills, and business filings, a state bond that renews every year, and court fees that pass straight through to the client. Gus sorts it, 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 $6,700. Two clients needed forms filed in different counties with different fees, so I kept those court costs apart from the document preparation fee itself.
- Uncontested divorce packet, RuizFlat fee document prep
- LLC formation paperwork, OseiFlat fee document prep
- County filing fee, RuizCourt fee pass-through
- State bond renewalBonding and licensing
- Document assembly softwareDocument prep software
Why your books are different
Legal document preparation books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a fee and assumes it is legal work. Your business fills out and files paperwork at a client's own direction, for a flat fee per document type, never giving legal advice, with a state bond and court costs that are not part of that fee.
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1
Court filing fees are not your fee
A county filing fee collected from a client to submit their paperwork is a pass-through cost, not something the business earned, and if it is not split out, the books make the business look like it charges more than it actually does for the document work itself.
What we doBooks court filing fees as a pass-through, separate from the document preparation fee, so income reflects only what the business actually kept. -
2
Different document types carry very different value
An uncontested divorce packet, a simple will, and an LLC formation filing take different amounts of time to prepare and carry different flat fees, and lumped into one general income line, it is hard to see which document types are actually worth the most.
What we doKeeps each document type's fees in view separately where the bank data allows it, so pricing decisions rest on real numbers. -
3
The state bond and licensing fee is a steady annual cost
Many states require a bond or license to operate as a document preparer, and that renewal fee is easy to treat as a one-off cost instead of the predictable, recurring cost of staying eligible to do this work.
What we doKeeps bonding and licensing costs in their own line, so this steady cost of doing business stays visible year to year. -
4
A referral out of scope is not a lost sale
When a client's situation turns contested or otherwise falls outside what a document preparer can help with, the business has to refer them to an attorney rather than continue, and if that is not understood as a normal part of the work, it can look like a client who simply walked away.
What we doTracks completed document work as its own category, so a referral out for a matter beyond the business's scope does not read as a loss. -
5
A slow month can be a normal month here
New clients come in waves tied to life events like a divorce filing or a new business idea, not a fixed season, so a quiet stretch between clients can look worse than it actually is next to a busy one.
What we doTracks the set-aside against the year as a whole, not one slow month, so a quiet stretch does not throw off what should be set aside.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a document preparation business.
Set up once for how each document type gets paid and what passes through to the court. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Flat fee document prepDivorce packets, wills, business filings, and other document types billed at a set price.
- Consultation feesPaid initial meetings, when charged separately from the document fee.
- Notary feesStandalone notarization services, when offered apart from document prep.
- Document completion checksA flat fee to check that a client's self-prepared paperwork is complete before it is filed.
Money out
- Court fee pass-throughFiling fees paid to the court on a client's behalf.
- Bonding and licensingState bond and license renewal fees required to operate.
- Document prep softwareForm assembly and document generation tools.
- Office rent and utilitiesSpace where clients come in to complete paperwork.
- MarketingAdvertising and referral outreach to build new client volume.
What we watch for you
- Pass-through share
How much of each deposit is a court fee versus the business's own earnings.
- Document type mix
Which document types are actually filling the calendar, worth knowing before adjusting pricing.
- Referral-out rate
How often clients need to be referred to an attorney, worth tracking as a normal part of the business, not a loss.
- The set-aside
What the business will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already know.
Ask Gus
Things document preparers 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 book the county fee as a pass-through and only the rest counts as your own income, so the numbers reflect what the business actually earned on the document work.
No, I track completed document work on its own, so a referral out for something beyond what you handle just does not show up as income, rather than reading as a client the business lost.
If you paid them $2,000 or more this year and they are not on your payroll, that is a 1099-NEC due January 31, and I have kept a running tally since they started helping out.
The tax side
The tax side of a document preparation business.
Most of what goes wrong here is treating a court fee like income, or losing track of a recurring bond cost that is easy to forget between renewals.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Court fees are never the business's incomeA filing fee collected from a client and paid to the court is a pass-through, not revenue, and should never be counted as something the business earned or owes tax on.
- Self-employment tax on document feesA sole proprietor document preparer owes self-employment tax of 15.3 percent on net earnings, on top of regular income tax, which the monthly set-aside plans for as flat fees come in.
- Contractor 1099s for part-time helpA part-time notary or contract assistant paid $2,000 or more in 2026 and not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Quarterly estimated taxes on document feesA document preparer without payroll withholding typically owes estimated payments on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, based on what actually gets collected each quarter.
Deductions legal document preparers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- State bond and licensing renewal fees
- Document assembly software
- Notary bond and supplies
- Office rent and utilities
- Court filing fees on the business's own matters
- Mileage to courthouses
- Payment processing fees
- Marketing and advertising
- Printing and copying
- Professional association dues
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 document preparation year, kept every month.
New clients come in waves tied to life events, not the calendar. Gus keeps the set-aside steady either way. 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 part-time help is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned around expected document volume.
- April
Filed, pass-throughs sorted out
Your return is filed and signed, with every court fee pass-through separated from the business's own earnings for the year. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where the business stands, which document types are selling, and whether the set-aside still fits.
- October
Before year end
A look at the bond and license renewal date, and any software worth buying 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 legal document preparers. 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 legal document preparers ask first.
How does Gus separate our fee from the court's filing fee in the same payment?
He books the court's portion as a pass-through and only the rest as the business's own earned fee, so the return reflects what you actually kept, not the court's share.
We had to refer a client to an attorney partway through. Does that hurt our numbers?
No. Completed document work is tracked on its own, so a referral out for something beyond your scope does not show up as a loss, just as work that was never part of the business to begin with.
Our state bond renews every year and I sometimes forget about it. Can Gus track that?
Yes, bonding and licensing costs stay in their own line, so this recurring cost stays visible instead of getting lost between renewals.
We prepare several different document types at different flat fees. Can Gus show which ones sell best?
Where the bank data allows it, yes. Keeping fees visible by document type helps show which ones are actually filling the calendar.
New clients come in waves tied to life events, not a season. Does that hurt our taxes?
No. The set-aside is built around what actually lands each month, so a quiet stretch between clients does not leave the business owing more than expected.
Can Gus show me whether our bond and licensing costs are worth it against what we bring in?
Yes. Bonding and licensing costs stay in their own line against total document fees, so over time you can see that steady cost next to what the business actually earns.
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