Local media & publishing
Books and taxes for local event guides and directories.
Directory listing renewals, festival sponsor packages, vendor booth fees, and the affiliate ticket commissions that pay out weeks late. 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
July came in at $14,000. The beer festival vendor deposits I took back in April finally counted as income this month, once the festival actually happened.
- Riverfront Beer Fest vendor feesEvent vendor fees
- Eventbrite affiliate payoutTicket affiliate commissions
- Directory listing renewalDirectory listings
- Tent and stage rentalEvent production costs
- Facebook ads, festival promoMarketing and ads
Why your books are different
An event guide's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business collects sponsor money and vendor fees months before an event happens, gets affiliate commissions that pay out on their own delayed schedule, and sometimes has to refund an entire festival when the weather turns. Miss any of that and the wrong month looks like the good one.
-
1
Vendor fees collected months before the festival
A summer beer festival can take vendor booth deposits starting in April, and if the whole amount counts as income the day it lands, spring looks flush and July, when the event actually happens and the tent rental bill arrives, looks thin by comparison.
What we doHolds vendor and sponsor money as unearned until the event happens, so the income and the cost of putting it on land in the same month. -
2
Affiliate ticket commissions pay out late
A ticketing referral through Eventbrite or a similar site often pays its commission thirty to sixty days after the event, so the month the tickets sold and the month the commission actually arrives rarely match.
What we doNotes which month's event a late affiliate payout actually belongs to, so it does not read as a random deposit with no explanation. -
3
A rained-out event means real refunds
A festival cancelled for weather can mean refunding vendor fees and sponsor packages you already booked as income weeks earlier, and if the refund just looks like a random loss, the month reads far worse than what actually happened.
What we doTies a refund back to the original booking it reverses, so a cancelled event reads as what it is, not as an unexplained hit. -
4
Annual directory listings renew on their own schedule
A business paying $300 for a year-long featured listing shows up as $300 the month they pay, even though the listing runs for the next twelve months, which can make one quiet renewal month look like a spike.
What we doSpreads a yearly listing fee across the months it actually covers, so no single renewal push distorts the trend.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an event guide.
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
- Directory listingsMonthly or annual featured listing fees from local businesses.
- Event vendor feesBooth and table fees collected for festivals and markets you run.
- Sponsor packagesCash sponsorships sold to businesses backing a specific event.
- Ticket affiliate commissionsReferral payouts from Eventbrite or a similar ticketing site.
- Banner and display adsSite ads sold direct or run through Google Ad Manager.
Money out
- Event production costsTent, stage, sound, and portable restroom rentals for events you run.
- Marketing and adsFacebook and Instagram ad spend promoting an upcoming event.
- Site hosting and directory softwareHosting and the tool that runs the searchable listing database.
- Event insuranceLiability coverage required by the venue or the city permit.
- Permits and city feesStreet closure permits and vendor licensing fees paid to the city.
- Freelance photographers and writersCoverage of the events the guide features.
What we watch for you
- Listing renewal rate
How many businesses rebook their directory listing, which predicts next quarter's revenue.
- Vendor fee growth
What each event's booth fees bring in year over year, once refunds are backed out.
- Affiliate payout lag
How long a ticketing commission takes to arrive, so a late deposit is not mistaken for a slow month.
- Event production cost
What one event actually costs to put on, against what it brought in.
Ask Gus
Things event guide 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.
Not until July, when the festival actually happens. I held it as unearned so the income lines up with the event, not the deposit date.
I traced it to the spring craft fair. Those payouts run thirty to sixty days behind, so I flag them when they finally arrive.
No. I tied the refunds back to the original bookings, so the month reads as a cancelled event, not an unexplained loss.
The tax side
The tax side of an event guide business.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. Vendor money booked before the event happens, a listing renewal spread wrong, and a set-aside started too late.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Freelance coverage 1099sAny photographer or writer not on staff paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the running list all year.
- Event equipment write-offsTents, sound gear, and signage bought outright for the business can usually be written off in the year you buy them, rather than only what you rent per event.
- The pass-through deductionVendor fees, sponsor packages, and directory listing revenue all count toward the up to 20 percent of business profit most owner-operated guides can deduct from their taxable income. Above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, the accountant checks how much applies.
- Self-employment taxA solo owner not paid through payroll owes 15.3 percent in self-employment tax on top of income tax, whether the year's profit came from one big festival or steady listing renewals, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
Deductions local event guides and directories miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Event insurance premiums
- City permits and street closure fees
- Tent and stage rentals
- Freelance photographer fees
- Facebook and Instagram ad spend
- Directory hosting and software
- Portable restroom rentals
- Signage and banners
- Business liability insurance
- Mileage to scout event sites
- Vendor and sponsor contract printing
- Website domain and hosting
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
An event guide's year, kept every month.
Listings renew year-round and festival season brings its own rush. The books close every month, whether an event is two weeks out or the calendar is quiet. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Plan the event year
Last year's return gets started, every freelance photographer's 1099 is finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed ahead of festival season
Your return is filed and signed well before the summer festival rush hits full swing, with no surprise bill because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midsummer check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer festival income is landing the way the vendor deposits promised.
- October
Before winter markets
Fall and holiday market sponsor packages start selling. Gus flags equipment worth buying before the season and anything to do 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 local event guides and directories. 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 event guide owners ask first.
We collect vendor deposits months before an event. Does that count as income right away?
No. Gus holds it as unearned until the event actually happens, so income shows up alongside the costs of putting the event on.
How does Gus handle Eventbrite or ticketing affiliate payouts that arrive late?
He traces a late payout back to the event it belongs to, so a commission that lands two months after the fact does not read as an unexplained deposit.
An event got rained out and we refunded every vendor. Will that wreck our numbers?
No. Gus ties the refunds back to the original bookings, so the month reads as a cancelled event rather than a mystery loss.
Do annual directory listings need to be tracked differently than monthly ones?
Yes. Gus spreads a yearly listing fee across the months it covers, so a renewal push in one month does not distort your trend.
My books are behind by a couple of events. Is that a problem?
No. Send whatever bank statements you have since the last event you ran. Gus works through the backlog and traces vendor fees back to the events they belong to, and the accountant checks it before anything is final.
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