Aviation & marine services
Books and taxes for marine canvas and upholstery shops.
Custom bimini tops, cushion sets stuffed with new foam, a bolt of Sunbrella that covers three boats, and a spring rush before the season opens. 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
March came in at $10,600. The bolt of Sunbrella that covers three different cushion jobs got logged as one order, not split across each customer.
- Custom bimini top, sailboatCustom canvas jobs
- Cushion reupholstery setUpholstery and cushion work
- Sunbrella fabric orderFabric and materials
- Marine-grade foam orderFabric and materials
- Snap and zipper hardwareHardware and notions
Why your books are different
A marine canvas shop's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees fabric bills and finished jobs. Your business orders material in bulk that covers several customers, spends real time on measuring visits before a needle ever gets threaded, and lives through a spring rush that can carry the whole year. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell which jobs actually pay for the shop's time.
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1
A fabric order covers three jobs at once
A full bolt of Sunbrella or a roll of marine vinyl often gets cut across several customers' jobs, and if the whole order lands as a cost on the first invoice it touches, that job looks overpriced while the others look free.
What we doKeeps fabric and materials in one steady line and flags a bulk buy so it does not distort which job actually used it. -
2
Measuring and template visits get billed for free
A trip to the marina to measure a boat for a custom bimini top or cushion set takes real time before any sewing starts, and if that time is not accounted for separately, quotes quietly eat the cost of every site visit.
What we doKeeps measuring and template time visible against the finished job, so site visits are not invisible costs eating your quote. -
3
A spring rush looks like an ordinary month
Most boat owners want new canvas or cushions before the season opens, and that spring surge gets averaged into the whole year, hiding how much of your income depends on those few weeks.
What we doKeeps spring rush work visible on its own so the busy season reads as the real shape of your year, not an average. -
4
Foam and hardware get mixed with fabric
Marine-grade foam, snaps, and zippers cost differently than the fabric itself, and lumping them together hides which part of a cushion job actually drives the cost.
What we doKeeps foam and hardware in their own line, separate from fabric, so the real cost breakdown of a cushion job is visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a marine canvas shop.
Set up once for how you bill and what you buy. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Custom canvas jobsBimini tops, dodgers, and covers, billed per project.
- Upholstery and cushion workCushion reupholstery and foam replacement, billed separately from canvas.
- Measuring and template visitsSite visits billed on their own or built into a quote.
- Repair and restitchingSmaller repair jobs on existing canvas and covers.
Money out
- Fabric and materialsSunbrella, marine vinyl, and foam bought in bulk.
- Hardware and notionsSnaps, zippers, thread, and fasteners.
- Shop equipmentIndustrial sewing machines and cutting tables.
- Vehicle and fuelThe van used for measuring visits and deliveries.
- Shop rent and utilitiesSpace for cutting, sewing, and storing fabric rolls.
What we watch for you
- Material cost per job
What fabric, foam, and hardware actually cost against what a job billed.
- Spring rush share
How much of the year's income lands in the pre-season rush, useful for planning cash through slower months.
- Site visit time
How much measuring and template work goes into a job before any sewing starts.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things marine canvas 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.
No. I keep fabric in one steady line, so a bulk order reads as what it is, not a cost dumped on whichever job happened first.
I keep measuring and template time visible against the job, so a site visit is not an invisible cost your quote quietly ate.
No, I keep that rush visible on its own, so it reads as the real shape of your year instead of getting averaged away.
The tax side
The tax side of a marine canvas shop.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing on bulk material orders and separating the real cost drivers of a job. Getting that right matters more than any single deduction.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Sewing equipment and cutting tablesIndustrial sewing machines and shop equipment can often be expensed the year you buy them under Section 179, up to $2,560,000. Bonus depreciation is currently 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sAny outside seamstress or measuring help you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- Vehicle and travel costsBusiness driving to measuring visits can be deducted at 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents from July, or through actual costs, whichever fits your year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when fabric, foam, and labor are booked right all year.
Deductions marine canvas and upholstery shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Sunbrella and marine vinyl fabric
- Marine-grade foam
- Snaps, zippers, and thread
- Industrial sewing machine maintenance
- Cutting table and shop equipment
- Vehicle fuel for measuring visits
- Shop rent and utilities
- Liability insurance
- Pattern paper and templates
- Sample and display fabric
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 marine canvas shop's year, kept every month.
Canvas and cushions get ordered whenever an owner wants them fresh. 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, the 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January, right through the spring rush.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the spring rush changed the number more than usual.
- October
Before slow season
Fewer boats mean fewer canvas orders. Gus looks at equipment worth buying and anything worth doing 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 marine canvas and upholstery 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 marine canvas shop owners ask first.
Can Gus track material cost separately for each job even from a bulk order?
He keeps fabric and materials in one steady line rather than splitting a bulk order job by job, and flags when a stock-up, not a single project, is why a month's costs look high.
Do I need to change how I quote measuring visits?
No. Keep quoting the way you do. Gus keeps site visit time visible against the finished job so that cost is not invisible in your numbers.
My spring season is short but carries the whole year. Does that skew things?
No, Gus keeps that rush visible on its own, so it reads as the real shape of your year instead of getting averaged into every month.
Do I write off a new industrial sewing machine all at once?
In most cases, yes. A new machine or cutting table usually qualifies for a full write-off the year it is bought, but the accountant looks at your whole year before deciding whether that or spreading it out fits better.
My books are behind from a busy spring. Is that a problem?
No. Once the rush eases up, send along whatever bank statements piled up. Gus catches up the backlog and most shops know exactly 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.
More in aviation & marine services
We keep books for the business next door too.
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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