Local media & publishing

Books and taxes for local radio stations.

Commercial ad flights sold across weeks, underwriting reads for local businesses, a yearly ASCAP and BMI bill, and contest prizes you give away on air. Gus 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
SeptemberExample month
$10,500
what you made

September brought in $10,500. The BMI bill landed this month too, so I flagged it as a yearly cost instead of letting it read like a rough month.

  • Local Ford dealer, fall flightCommercial ad sales
  • Underwriting, downtown clinicUnderwriting spots
  • BMI annual licenseMusic licensing fees
  • Tower site leaseTransmitter and tower costs
  • Contest prize, gift card giveawayContest and promotion costs
Money in$41,000
Money out$30,500
Set aside for taxes$2,300
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A local radio station's books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist sees ad income and a lease payment. Your station sells ad time in flights that run over several weeks, reads underwriting spots that are not quite the same as a commercial, pays a yearly music license bill, and gives away real prizes on air. Miss any of that and the wrong month looks like the good one.

  1. 1

    An ad flight is sold now and aired for weeks

    A car dealer books a four-week fall ad flight and pays for it up front, but if the whole payment counts as income the day it clears, the first week looks strong and the rest of the flight looks like the account went quiet.

    What we doSpreads a multi-week ad flight across the weeks it actually airs, so income matches the spots that ran.
  2. 2

    Underwriting reads differently than a commercial

    An underwriting spot for a local clinic sounds different from a straight ad and is sometimes billed at a different rate, and folding it into general commercial revenue hides how much of the schedule is underwriting versus paid ads.

    What we doKeeps underwriting income in its own line, apart from commercial ad sales, so you can see the real split.
  3. 3

    The music license bill lands once and looks brutal

    An ASCAP or BMI bill can arrive once or twice a year as one large charge covering everything played on air for months, and booked as a single month's expense it can make an otherwise solid month look like a loss.

    What we doFlags the annual licensing bill as a yearly cost, so one invoice does not wreck the trend.
  4. 4

    Contest prizes are a real cost, not a wash

    A cash giveaway or a trip you hand out on air is real money leaving the business, but stations often treat it like a marketing write-off with no tracking, so nobody knows what the promotion actually cost against what it brought in.

    What we doLogs contest and prize costs in their own line, so you can weigh what a promotion cost against the ad sales it helped land.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a radio station.

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

  • Commercial ad salesStandard ad flights sold to local businesses across weeks.
  • Underwriting spotsSponsor reads billed at their own rate, kept apart from commercials.
  • Remote broadcast feesPayments from businesses booking a live remote or street team appearance.
  • Syndicated programming ad shareThe station's cut of ad time sold within a syndicated national show.

Money out

  • Music licensing feesASCAP, BMI, SESAC, and SoundExchange bills.
  • Transmitter and tower costsTower site lease, transmitter maintenance, and equipment.
  • On-air talent payHosts and DJs, kept apart from ad sales commissions.
  • Contest and promotion costsCash, gift cards, and trips given away on air.
  • Remote broadcast equipmentMobile mixers, generators, and a broadcast vehicle.
  • FCC filing and license feesFederal license renewal and filing costs.

What we watch for you

  • Ad flight backlog

    How many weeks of booked ad flights are still owed on air, so income lines up with what actually ran.

  • Underwriting share

    Underwriting against straight commercial sales, so you know which one is growing.

  • Licensing cost per year

    What music licensing actually runs for the year, tracked apart from any single bill.

  • Promotion cost

    What a contest or giveaway cost against the ad sales it helped bring in.

Ask Gus

Things radio station 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 car dealer paid for a four-week flight up front. How does that get counted?

I spread it across the four weeks it actually airs, so the income shows up alongside the spots that ran, not all in week one.

Our BMI bill just came in and it's a big number. Is that going to make the month look bad?

Not on my end. I flag it as a yearly licensing cost, so it does not read as one rough month.

We gave away a $2,000 trip on the morning show. Does that count as a real expense?

Yes. I logged it as a promotion cost, so you can see what that giveaway cost against the ad sales it brought in.

The tax side

The tax side of a local radio station.

Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. An ad flight booked all at once, a license bill hitting one month hard, 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.

  • On-air talent, employee or contractorA host who works your schedule and uses your studio is usually an employee, not a contractor, no matter how the pay is billed. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
  • Transmitter and equipment write-offsTransmitters, mixing boards, and broadcast vehicles bought for the business can usually be written off in the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
  • The pass-through deductionCommercial ad sales, underwriting, and remote broadcast fees all count toward the up to 20 percent of business profit most owner-operated stations 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 a strong ad flight or a run of remote broadcasts, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.

Deductions local radio stations miss

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

  • Music licensing fees
  • Tower site lease
  • Transmitter maintenance
  • Broadcast vehicle costs
  • Contest and prize giveaways
  • On-air talent pay
  • Remote broadcast equipment
  • FCC filing fees
  • Business liability insurance
  • Studio soundproofing and repairs
  • Mileage for remote broadcasts
  • Advertising sales commissions

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 radio station's year, kept every month.

Ad flights come and go all year, and the license bill does not wait for a slow month. The books close every month, whichever ones those happen to be. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the broadcast year

    Last year's return gets started, on-air talent and contractor 1099s are finalized, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed before the spring flight rush

    Your return is filed and signed before spring ad flights start booking heavy, and there's no surprise bill because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Summer airwaves check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer remote broadcasts brought in what they were supposed to.

  4. October

    Before the holiday flight rush

    Fourth quarter ad flights start booking heavy. Gus flags equipment worth buying and anything to do 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 local radio stations. 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 radio station owners ask first.

How does Gus handle an ad flight that runs for several weeks?

He spreads the payment across the weeks it actually airs, so income matches the spots that ran instead of piling into the week the check cleared.

Do underwriting spots need to be tracked differently than regular commercials?

Yes. Gus keeps underwriting in its own line so you can see the real split between sponsor reads and straight commercial sales.

Our music licensing bill is huge and only comes once a year. Will that tank a month?

No. Gus flags it as a yearly cost, so a single large invoice does not read as one bad month.

We give away cash and trips in on-air contests. Does that count as a write-off?

Yes, a real business cost. Gus logs it as a promotion expense so you can see what a giveaway cost against the ad sales it helped bring in.

I haven't looked at the station's books since last quarter. Is that a problem?

No. Send whatever bank statements you have piled up. Gus works through the backlog, flags the licensing bills and ad flights along the way, 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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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