Apparel, resale & collectibles
Books and taxes for men's clothing stores and tailors.
Suit sales, made-to-measure deposits, alterations billed by the hour, and a wedding party ordering eight suits on one ticket. 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
May came in at $9,000. Two wedding parties closed out their balances this month, so I moved those deposits from money owed into finished sales.
- Register sales, off the rackRetail sales
- Wedding party balanceCustom orders
- Alterations laborAlterations
- S&S Activewear invoiceWholesale inventory
- Tailoring shop supply orderAlterations supplies
Why your books are different
Men's shop books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a register total. Your business is suits sold off the rack, custom orders paid in a deposit and a balance months apart, alterations billed as labor, and a groomsman order that runs on its own schedule. When the books do not know that, a big deposit month looks like a windfall and the balance due later looks like it came from nowhere.
-
1
Made-to-measure deposits count as a sale too early
A custom suit takes a deposit at the fitting and a balance eight weeks later when it arrives. Booked as a full sale at the deposit, the month looks stronger than it is and the shop still owes a finished garment.
What we doKeeps the deposit as money owed until the suit is delivered and the balance is paid, so the sale only counts once it is real. -
2
Alterations labor gets buried inside retail sales
A hem, a taper, or a full recut gets rung through the same ticket as the suit itself. Lumped together, an owner cannot tell whether the bench or the racks are actually paying for themselves.
What we doKeeps alterations labor in its own category, separate from garment sales, so each side of the shop shows its real number. -
3
A wedding party order runs on a different clock
Eight groomsmen suits, ordered together and fitted individually over several visits, generate deposits, balances, and rush alteration fees spread across two or three months.
What we doTracks a group order as one job, so the deposits and balances that come in over months read as one complete sale, not scattered noise. -
4
A seasonal suiting buy wrecks the monthly number
A spring or fall suiting order from a wholesale line often lands as one large invoice, even though the suits will sell over the next several months.
What we doKeeps wholesale suiting buys visible against what has actually sold from them, so a big order does not read as a bad month.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a men's clothing store.
Set up once for how you sell and how the bench bills. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retail salesOff the rack suits, shirts, and accessories rung through Square or a POS.
- Custom ordersMade-to-measure and group orders, tracked as deposit plus balance.
- AlterationsHems, tapers, and recuts billed separately from the garment.
- Rental feesTuxedo or formalwear rental, for shops that carry it.
Money out
- Wholesale inventorySuiting, shirting, and accessories bought from mill reps or wholesale showrooms.
- Alterations suppliesThread, buttons, and lining kept for the tailoring bench.
- Payroll and tailor wagesSales staff and on-staff tailors, kept apart from owner draw.
- Contract tailoringOutside tailors paid per garment during a busy stretch.
- Rent and utilitiesThe storefront and the fitting room space.
- MarketingLocal ads and wedding show booth fees.
- Card processing feesWhat the card processor keeps before payout.
What we watch for you
- Alterations share
Bench labor against total sales. It tells you if the tailoring side is pulling its weight.
- Deposit backlog
What is owed on custom orders not yet delivered, so it is never mistaken for spendable cash.
- Sell-through on seasonal buys
How much of a suiting order actually sold before the next one is placed.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things men's 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.
Only the piece that is actually delivered and paid off counts as a sale. I am holding the rest as deposits owed until each suit ships.
That sounds like a genuine contractor relationship, but I flagged it for the accountant to confirm before it becomes a habit either way.
Two big custom orders are still sitting as deposits, not finished sales. Once they are delivered, they will show up as real income.
The tax side
The tax side of a men's clothing store.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing between a deposit and a finished sale. Get that right and the rest of the year follows.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsWhat was paid for suits and shirting actually sold during the year, not just what was spent buying, is what counts against sales. Unsold seasonal stock at year end changes what the return shows as profit.
- Contract tailor 1099sAny outside tailor not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Worker classification for tailorsA tailor who works your hours on your bench with your equipment is usually an employee, even if paid per garment. One who sets their own schedule and brings their own tools is more likely a genuine contractor.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when custom order income is counted in the right month.
Deductions men's clothing stores and tailors miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Tailoring shears and tools
- Thread, buttons, and lining
- Fitting room mirrors and pedestals
- Steamers and pressing equipment
- Wedding show booth fees
- Local print and radio ads
- Card processing fees
- Storefront rent and utilities
- Garment bags and hangers
- Delivery and shipping to customers
- Business liability insurance
- Continuing tailoring education
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 men's shop year, kept every month.
Wedding season and the holiday suiting rush come every year on their own schedule. Your taxes come on a schedule too. 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 for contract tailors 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.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring wedding season sold through the way it was supposed to.
- October
Before the holiday rush
Holiday suiting orders and gifting start soon. Gus looks at what to buy before December and what the season will owe.
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 men's clothing stores and tailors. 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 men's shop owners ask first.
How does Gus handle a made-to-measure deposit?
He keeps it as money owed against the order, not a finished sale, until the suit is delivered and the balance is paid. That way a busy fitting week does not read as a sales spike that is not real yet.
My tailor is paid per garment, not an hourly wage. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Gus keeps contract tailoring pay in its own category and flags the working relationship for the accountant to weigh in on.
Do I need separate books for alterations and retail sales?
Gus keeps them in separate categories inside the same set of books, so you can see what the bench brings in against what the racks do without running two systems.
A wedding party's order spans three months of deposits. How does that get tracked?
Gus tracks the group order as one job, so the deposits and the final balance read as one complete sale when it is finished, not scattered income across the months in between.
My books have not been touched since last wedding season. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send the statements from however far back things got away from you. Gus sorts custom orders and alterations out from the noise, the accountant checks the work, and most owners are caught up 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.
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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