Home, hobby & lifestyle retail

Books and taxes for lighting showrooms.

A builder account billed net 30 on a new construction job, a special order chandelier on backorder for weeks, and a showroom fixture that has been wired and displayed for months. Your own bookkeeper keeps it straight, 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
MarchExample month
$11,800
what you made

March came in at $11,800. A builder account for a new subdivision closed out on a net 30 invoice from February, so that landed here, not last month.

  • Register batch, retail sideBuilder sales
  • Progress Lighting wholesale invoiceWholesale inventory
  • Register batch, retail counterIn-store sales
  • Special order chandelier depositSpecial order sales
  • Showroom fixture rewiringDisplay fixtures
Money in$48,200
Money out$36,400
Set aside for taxes$3,400
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A lighting showroom's books go wrong the same handful of ways.

A generalist bookkeeper sees a sale and a supplier bill. Your showroom bills builders on 30 or 60 day terms for whole-house jobs, takes deposits on special order fixtures that can take weeks to arrive, and keeps working showroom displays wired and lit for months before they ever sell. When the books miss that, your real numbers stay a guess.

  1. 1

    Builder accounts get billed weeks before they are paid

    A homebuilder orders fixtures for an entire subdivision on 30 or 60 day terms, so the sale happens long before the cash actually arrives. Treated like a same-day retail sale, your cash picture and your sales picture tell different stories.

    What we doTracks builder accounts so you can see what is sold versus what has actually been collected.
  2. 2

    A special order deposit is not the whole sale

    A customer pays a deposit on a custom chandelier that will not arrive for six or eight weeks. Booked as a full sale the day the deposit lands, that week's numbers get ahead of the actual delivery.

    What we doHolds the deposit until the fixture is delivered, so the sale lands in the month it actually happens.
  3. 3

    Showroom fixtures do not stay fresh inventory

    A chandelier wired and lit on the showroom floor for months, then finally sold at a markdown, throws off cost tracking if it is treated the same as a fixture straight from the box.

    What we doFlags long-held display fixtures separately so their eventual markdown does not distort regular margin.
  4. 4

    Freight damage on fragile fixtures gets missed

    Glass and crystal fixtures arrive broken more often than sturdier goods, and a carrier credit for the damage can land weeks after the loss, unconnected to the order it is actually covering.

    What we doTies each carrier credit back to the specific shipment it covers, so a broken fixture and its reimbursement read as one event, not two.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a lighting showroom.

Set up once for how you sell to retail and builder customers. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • In-store salesRetail fixture sales paid at the counter.
  • Builder salesWhole-house and subdivision orders on net terms.
  • Special order salesCounted when the fixture is delivered, not when the deposit lands.
  • Freight and damage creditsReimbursements from carriers, matched to the order they cover.

Money out

  • Wholesale inventoryOrders from fixture manufacturers and regional lighting distributors.
  • Freight and shippingWhat it costs to get fixtures, especially fragile ones, to the showroom.
  • Showroom rent and utilitiesThe lease, power, and water for the floor.
  • Card processing feesWhat your card processor keeps on every non-account sale.
  • MarketingBuilder relationships, local ads, and paid social.
  • Display fixturesShowroom wiring and staging, logged separately.

What we watch for you

  • Builder receivables

    What builder accounts owe but have not paid yet, so cash flow stays predictable.

  • Special order backlog

    Deposits collected for fixtures not yet delivered, so you know what is still owed to customers.

  • Freight loss rate

    How often fragile fixtures arrive damaged, tracked against what carriers actually credit back.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe across builder accounts and retail sales together, tracked every month.

Ask Gus

Things lighting showroom 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.

A builder ordered fixtures for a whole subdivision but pays on 60 day terms. Do I owe taxes on that before I'm paid?

The sale is tracked when it happens, but I flag what has actually been collected so you can see the gap between the order and the cash landing later.

A customer put down a deposit on a custom chandelier that won't arrive for two months. Which month is that sale?

The month it is actually delivered. I hold the deposit until then, so the sale reflects what really happened, not when the check cleared.

A crate of pendant lights arrived shattered and the carrier finally credited me. Where does that go?

I matched it back to the original order so the loss and the credit read as one story instead of two unrelated numbers.

The tax side

The tax side of running a lighting showroom.

Most of what trips up a lighting showroom is timing: a builder account paid on terms, a special order deposit, and a showroom fixture that should not be priced like it came straight from the box.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Cost of goods soldWhat you paid for the fixtures you actually sold this year reduces your taxable income, not what is still on order for a builder job.
  • Sales tax collectedSales tax on a sale belongs to the state the moment it is collected, whether the sale was retail, a builder account, or a special order.
  • Equipment and fixture write-offsShowroom fixtures and display equipment can usually be written off in the year they are bought, with bonus depreciation back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated showrooms can take up to 20 percent of qualified business income off their taxable income. It comes out right when builder accounts, deposits, and freight are tracked correctly all year.

Deductions lighting showrooms miss

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

  • Freight and shipping fees
  • Showroom wiring and staging
  • Card processing fees
  • Storefront signage
  • Builder relationship marketing
  • Business insurance
  • Storage for backordered stock
  • POS software subscription
  • Trade show travel
  • Cleaning and maintenance
  • Packaging materials
  • Delivery vehicle costs

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 lighting showroom's year, kept every month.

Building season and retail traffic both matter, and the books stay open every month between them. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled, right as builder accounts from the prior season settle up.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since builder accounts were still settling back in January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer building season changed the picture.

  4. October

    Before the holiday push

    Showroom fixtures and any equipment worth buying before the year's biggest gift and remodel season starts.

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 lighting showrooms. 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 lighting showroom owners ask first.

Can Gus track builder accounts that pay on 30 or 60 day terms?

Yes. He tracks what is sold versus what has actually been collected, so you can see the gap between a builder order and the cash landing weeks later.

I take deposits on special order fixtures that can take months to arrive. Does that complicate the books?

No. Gus holds the deposit until the fixture is actually delivered, so the sale lands in the month it really happens, not when the deposit was collected.

My showroom fixtures stay wired and displayed for months before they sell. Does that skew my numbers?

It should not once it is tracked separately, and Gus keeps showroom fixture sales in their own line so a display markdown does not quietly drag down regular margin.

Fragile fixtures arrive broken more than I'd like. Does that hurt my books?

Gus matches any freight credit back to the damaged order, so the loss and the reimbursement show up as one clear story instead of two unrelated entries.

My books are behind after a busy building season. Can you catch up?

Send what you have. Gus sorts through retail sales, builder accounts, and wholesale invoices, 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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We keep books for the business next door too.

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