Freight, trucking & delivery
Books and taxes for livestock haulers.
Per-head pay for cattle and hog runs to the sale barn or the packer, mortality claims when an animal does not survive the trip, and the trailer wash-out between loads. Your own bookkeeper 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
October came in at $5,600. Fall run to the sale barn was steady, and one mortality claim on a hog load got booked apart from your regular hauling costs.
- Sale barn haul paymentPer-head load pay
- Packer contract paymentContract hauling
- Trailer wash stationTrailer cleaning and sanitation
- Diesel, fuel stopFuel
- Mortality claim payoutMortality and injury claims
Why your books are different
Livestock hauling books go wrong around the animals, not just the truck.
A generalist sees a load payment and a fuel bill. Your business hauls live animals that need feed and water stops, trailers that have to be cleaned out between loads for disease control, and the real risk that an animal does not survive the trip. When the books do not separate those, you cannot see what actually drives a good or a rough month.
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1
A mortality or injury claim looks like a random loss
An animal that does not survive a haul or is injured in transit can mean a real payout to the owner before any insurance settles, and without tracking it, one bad load can look like the business had a terrible month for no clear reason.
What we doKeeps mortality and injury claim payouts in their own line, separate from routine costs, so one hard load does not get read as a spending problem. -
2
Trailer cleaning gets buried in routine maintenance
Washing out a cattle pot between loads for disease control is a real recurring cost specific to this work, but lumped in with general trailer upkeep, it disappears into the noise.
What we doKeeps trailer cleaning and sanitation in its own category, so the real cost of doing it right stays visible. -
3
Per-head pricing gets averaged into one flat number
A load paid by the head can vary a lot depending on how many animals actually loaded, and if every haul gets recorded as one flat revenue figure, you lose the ability to see whether a specific run is actually worth the miles.
What we doTracks load pay against head count where you report it, so you can see the real per-head economics of a run. -
4
A new stock trailer wrecks one month's numbers
A livestock trailer built for animal transport costs as much as a semi tractor, and filed as a plain expense it makes a normal month look like a loss.
What we doFlags a trailer purchase the day it posts, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how it gets written off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a livestock hauler.
Set up once for how you get paid and what hauling live animals actually costs. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Per-head load payHauls billed by the animal to a sale barn or auction.
- Contract haulingStanding arrangements with a packer, feedlot, or rancher.
- Detention payReimbursement for wait time loading or unloading at a facility.
- Backhaul feed or grain runsReturn-trip loads that keep the trailer earning both ways.
Money out
- FuelDiesel for hauling a loaded stock trailer.
- Trailer cleaning and sanitationWash-out and disinfecting costs between loads.
- Mortality and injury claimsPayouts when an animal does not survive or is injured in transit.
- Truck and trailer paymentLoan or lease payment on the truck and stock trailer.
- Feed and bedding for stopsFeed, hay, or bedding needed on longer hauls.
- InsuranceCargo coverage for livestock, liability, and physical damage.
What we watch for you
- Cost per head hauled
Fuel, cleaning, and wear against how many animals moved. It tells you if a run is worth the trip.
- Claim rate
How often a haul ends in a mortality or injury claim. A rising rate is worth a real look at routes or loading.
- Contract revenue share
How much of your income is steady contract hauling versus one-off sale barn runs.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so filing season is a number already known.
Ask Gus
Things livestock haulers 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 kept that payout in its own claim line, separate from your regular costs, so one hard load does not get mistaken for a bad month overall.
Yes, it is a real recurring cost of this work. I keep it in its own category so you can see what doing it right costs across the year.
Usually a good chunk of it can. I logged it as equipment and flagged it, and the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of running a livestock hauling business.
Most of what trips up a livestock hauler is treating a mortality claim like a routine loss and missing the write-off a stock trailer usually qualifies for.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Writing off the truck and stock trailerA truck and a livestock trailer bought for the business can often both be written off in the year they are bought, since the lower $32,000 heavy SUV cap does not apply to hauling equipment. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Self-employment taxAs an independent livestock hauler, net profit from your runs owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500. Gus tracks a set-aside from your hauls and contract income each month.
- Mortality and injury claim payoutsA payout you make to an animal's owner for a mortality or injury during transit is usually a deductible cost of doing business, tracked separately from routine expenses.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when hauls, cleaning costs, and claims are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions livestock haulers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fuel
- Trailer wash-out and disinfecting supplies
- Truck and trailer loan interest
- Feed and bedding for stops
- Cargo insurance for livestock
- Mortality and injury claim payouts
- Tolls and scale fees
- Load board or sale barn listing fees
- Uniforms and boots
- Phone and dispatch 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 livestock hauling year, kept every month.
Sale barn and auction runs follow their own seasonal rhythm 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 built from real hauls and claims, so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a busy summer of contract hauling changed the number.
- October
Before the fall run
Sale barn volume climbs hard in fall. Gus looks at whether a trailer upgrade makes sense before the busiest weeks hit.
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 livestock haulers. 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 livestock haulers ask first.
How do you handle a load where an animal does not survive the trip?
It gets logged as its own mortality claim line, separate from routine hauling costs, so it shows up as what it was instead of looking like a bad month overall.
I get paid per head, and the count changes load to load. Can the books keep up?
Yes. Load pay is tracked against the head count you report, so you can see the real economics of a run instead of one flat average.
Does trailer wash-out between loads count as a legitimate write-off?
Yes, it is an ordinary and necessary cost of hauling live animals safely, and Gus keeps it in its own category so the accountant can confirm what applies to your return.
I haul under contract for a packer most of the year and pick up sale barn runs otherwise. Does that mix complicate things?
No. Contract hauling and per-head sale barn runs are tracked in separate categories, so you can see how each part of your business is actually performing.
Do agricultural exemptions change how my books work?
Some hours of service and licensing rules differ for agricultural hauling, but that does not change how income and expenses are tracked. Gus keeps the books the same either way, and the accountant can speak to any exemptions that apply.
My records are just a stack of sale barn settlement slips. Can you work with that?
Yes. Send what you have. Gus sorts it out, the accountant checks it, and most haulers know where they stand within a week or two.
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