Small manufacturers & fabricators
Books and taxes for machine shops.
Net 30 invoices from OEM customers, tooling and insert orders, raw metal stock, and a machine loan payment every month. Your own bookkeeper stays on it all year, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February came in at $14,500. The mill loan payment posted on its own line, so it did not get lost inside the regular shop bills.
- Acme Corp, job 4471Customer invoices
- Ridgeline Tool progress pmtMilestone payments
- MSC IndustrialTooling and inserts
- Steel service centerRaw material
- CNC mill loan paymentEquipment loan
Why your books are different
Machine shop books go wrong where the job clock and the bank statement disagree.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your shop is stock bought in one month, machine time spent in another, and a part invoiced weeks after that. When the books do not track the job itself, a slow-looking month can hide a job that is actually running fine, and a fast one can hide one that is losing money.
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1
A job spans two statements
Steel gets bought and a part gets machined in one month, then shipped and invoiced the next. Looked at cash only, the first month looks like a loss and the second looks like a windfall, and neither number tells you what the job actually made.
What we doTracks what is in progress apart from what shipped, so a heavy buying month does not read as a bad one. -
2
Tooling gets buried with supplies
A set of indexable inserts and a new fourth axis fixture both show up as an MSC Industrial charge, but one is a consumable and the other can be worth thousands and depreciated on its own.
What we doFlags equipment and larger fixtures the day they post, so the accountant decides how they get written off. -
3
Scrap parts disappear into the material line
A batch that comes out of tolerance means new stock, more machine time, and a part that never gets invoiced, but on the bank statement it looks like ordinary material spend.
What we doKeeps scrap and rework in their own line so a rising rate shows up before it eats a quarter's margin. -
4
Net 30 customers hide when you actually get paid
A shop can ship a full month of work and still owe payroll before the first invoice clears, because most customers pay 30 or 60 days out, not on delivery.
What we doKeeps invoiced work separate from cash received, so you know what is coming and what has actually landed. -
5
A steel price jump never reaches the quote
A job quoted in January can cost more to run by summer once the price of bar stock moves, and if nobody is watching, that job quietly pays less than it used to.
What we doTracks material cost as a share of what came in, so a price jump gets caught before a year of quotes falls behind it.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a machine shop.
Set up once for how the work comes in and what it costs to run. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Customer invoicesNet 30 or net 60 payments from OEM and industrial customers.
- Milestone paymentsProgress payments on longer production runs, kept apart from finished jobs.
- Rush and expedite feesThe premium charged for a quick-turn job.
- Prototype and one-off feesSingle-part or short-run work billed apart from production quantities.
Money out
- Tooling and insertsCutters, inserts, and holders from MSC Industrial or Grainger.
- Raw materialSteel, aluminum, and specialty alloy stock from a service center.
- Coolant and cutting fluidFluids and filters kept apart from general shop supplies.
- Equipment loan or leasePayments on mills, lathes, and other machine debt.
- Shop rent and utilitiesBuilding costs and the power draw of running machines.
- PayrollMachinists, programmers, and quality inspectors.
- Calibration and gauge certificationGauge blocks, calipers, and CMM checks kept current.
- FreightIncoming stock and outgoing finished parts.
What we watch for you
- Gross margin by job
What a job brought in against its material and machine time, the real test of a quote.
- Material cost share
Materials as a percent of sales. A jump means stock prices moved and quotes need a look.
- WIP balance
The value of jobs started but not shipped, so a heavy buying month is not mistaken for a bad one.
- Days to get paid
How long invoices sit before a net 30 or net 60 customer actually pays.
Ask Gus
Things machine shop 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.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not a shop bill, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
That invoice is still outstanding, not lost. Your books show what you shipped and what is still owed, so the number is honest either way.
If he is not on payroll and you pay him $2,000 or more this year, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of running a machine shop.
Most of what trips up a shop's return is timing and labels, not the rate itself. Equipment filed as supplies, stock on hand at year end, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Machine and tooling depreciationA CNC mill, lathe, or fourth axis setup can usually be written off, often in the year it is bought. Section 179 covers up to $2,560,000 and bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Raw stock and work in processSteel and aluminum on the shelf, and jobs partway through, get valued at year end and matched to what actually sold rather than expensed the day they were bought.
- Credit for new tooling or process workTime spent developing a new fixture, a faster setup, or solving a real tolerance problem can sometimes earn a credit. The accountant looks at what the work actually involved.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated shops can take up to 20 percent of profit off taxable income. It comes out right when job costs and material are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions machine shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Cutting inserts and holders
- Coolant and cutting fluid
- Gauge blocks and calipers
- CMM calibration fees
- CAD and CAM software
- Shop rags and degreaser
- Freight on incoming stock
- Safety glasses and hearing protection
- Machine maintenance parts
- Trade certifications
- Fixture materials
- Coveralls and shop uniforms
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 machine shop year, kept every month.
Jobs come in on their own schedule all year, not a season. Your taxes still run on one. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Jobs planned ahead
Year end stock and work in process get valued, last year's return gets started, and your monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Job return filed
Your return is filed and signed by the accountant. The set-aside has been building since January, so a busy quarter of jobs never turns into a surprise bill.
- July
Midyear job check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether that spring run of RFQs changed the number.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at any machine or tooling buy worth making before December and flags it for the accountant's call on depreciation.
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 machine shops. 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 machine shop owners ask first.
Can Gus handle jobs billed with milestone or progress payments?
Yes. He keeps progress payments apart from finished jobs so you can see what a job has actually earned against what it has cost so far.
We run jobs out of a shop management system. Do we have to change how we quote?
No. Keep quoting and tracking jobs the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Some of our tooling is owned by the customer, not us. Does that change the books?
It changes what counts as your asset, not what you do. Gus keeps customer-owned tooling reimbursements apart from your own equipment spend so nothing gets mixed up.
Do I write off a new lathe all at once?
Often you can. A mill or lathe bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, though spreading it out sometimes suits a shop better. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant makes that call with your whole year in view.
Our books are a mess from switching bookkeepers twice this year. Can you sort that out?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have, even if it has been a few months. Gus sorts through them job by job, the accountant checks the result, and most owners see where they actually stand within a week.
We do some short prototype runs alongside production work. Should those be tracked separately?
It helps. Gus keeps prototype and one-off billing apart from production invoices so you can see whether the quick-turn work is actually worth the rate you charge for it.
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