Route, vending & coin-op assets
Books and taxes for micro market operators.
Open shelf grab and go, self-checkout kiosk taps, cooler restocks, and the shrinkage that comes with an honor system. Your own bookkeeper tracks it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
September came in at $8,800. The new open cooler at the tech building went in as equipment, not supplies, so it will be written off right.
- 365 Retail Markets payoutKiosk sales
- Building fee, Harborview LoftsLocation commissions
- US Foods fresh orderFresh and grab and go
- Sysco snack and drink orderShelf-stable inventory
- Kiosk software feeKiosk and software fees
Why your books are different
Micro market books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a distributor bill and a kiosk deposit. Your business is open shelves nobody watches, fresh food that spoils if it sits, and a shrinkage number every location produces whether you like it or not. When the books do not separate all of that, you cannot tell if a market is actually making money.
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1
Shrinkage gets ignored instead of tracked
An open-shelf market loses a percentage of its inventory to unpaid items every month, and an owner who never puts a number on it cannot tell whether one office is worse than another or whether it is getting better.
What we doCompares what was stocked against what the kiosk actually rang up, so shrinkage shows up as its own line instead of vanishing into cost of goods. -
2
Fresh food spoilage gets buried in the food bill
Sandwiches and salads that do not sell by their date get pulled and tossed, and if that loss is never separated from the fresh order itself, the food cost line looks worse than the actual selling is.
What we doKeeps fresh food purchases and spoilage write-offs in separate lines, so you can see what sold against what got thrown out. -
3
The building fee looks like rent
An apartment complex or office building often takes a straight monthly fee or a cut of sales for hosting the market, and booked as generic rent, that cost disappears into overhead instead of showing what each location is really costing you.
What we doBooks each building's fee as its own commission line, so you can compare what every market location actually nets. -
4
The kiosk hardware looks like a supply purchase
A self-checkout kiosk and an open cooler for a new office can run several thousand dollars, and filed as a supply cost it never gets treated as the equipment it is.
What we doLogs kiosk hardware and coolers as equipment the day they arrive, so they get the write-off treatment equipment is due. -
5
A big fresh food order swings the month
A large order ahead of a slow week at one building makes that month's food cost look bad, while the following month looks unusually strong once the stock works through.
What we doKeeps fresh and shelf-stable purchases in steady lines and flags stock-up weeks, so one order does not read as a bad month.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a micro market.
Set up once for how each market gets paid and what it costs to run. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Kiosk salesSelf-checkout taps through the 365 Retail Markets or Vengo app, booked before fees.
- Vending salesAny coin or cashless machines placed alongside the open shelves.
- Catering and bulk ordersOffice catering pulled from market inventory, when a building asks for it.
- New location startup feesA one-time charge to a building for stocking a market when it first opens.
Money out
- Location commissionsThe building fee or sales cut paid to the office or apartment complex.
- Fresh and grab and goSandwiches, salads, and other perishable items from a fresh food distributor.
- Shelf-stable inventorySnacks, chips, and drinks from Sysco or a wholesale club.
- ShrinkageStocked items that never got paid for, tracked separately from what sold.
- Kiosk and cooler equipmentSelf-checkout units, open coolers, and shelving.
- Kiosk software feesWhat the market app keeps for running the checkout.
- Delivery and route costsFuel and vehicle costs for restocking runs.
What we watch for you
- Shrinkage rate
What was stocked against what actually got paid for, so a problem building gets caught early.
- Revenue per building
Shows which locations pull their weight and which cost more to stock than they return.
- Fresh food waste
Spoiled inventory against fresh sales, so ordering can be tightened before it becomes a habit.
- The set-aside
What you will owe across all your buildings, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things micro market 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.
I compare what gets stocked against what the kiosk rings up for every location, so I can show you that building's shrinkage next to the others. Worth a look before you decide anything.
Usually yes. I logged it as equipment, not a supply cost, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
No filing there, that is above my pay grade to promise anyway. I just keep spoiled fresh food separate from what sold, so your food cost tells the real story.
The tax side
The tax side of a micro market.
Most of what goes wrong here is what a number is hiding. Shrinkage folded into cost of goods, a kiosk filed as supplies, and a building fee nobody separated out.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Kiosks and coolersSelf-checkout kiosks and open coolers usually qualify as equipment that can be written off in the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Sales tax on prepared and grocery itemsStates often tax prepared fresh food differently than shelf-stable groceries sold from the same market, so the same building can owe two different rates on two different items.
- Contractor 1099sA restocker or delivery driver paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll usually needs a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when shrinkage and spoilage are tracked instead of buried in the food cost.
Deductions micro markets miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Kiosk hardware and software fees
- Open cooler purchases
- Fresh food spoilage write-offs
- Delivery van fuel and repairs
- Building commission fees
- Shelving and market fixtures
- Insulated delivery bags
- Liability insurance
- Health department permits
- Card processing fees
- Cleaning supplies for kiosks
- Security camera equipment
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 micro market year, kept every month.
Buildings restock every week of the year. 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
Set the market year up
Last year's return gets started, the contractor 1099 list is ready, and your monthly set-aside begins, built around what your buildings bring in, so April is already handled.
- April
Filed, no surprises
Your business return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been tracking every building's kiosk sales since January.
- July
Midyear building check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer's slower office traffic changed the number.
- October
Before holiday catering
Office buildings often ask for holiday catering and party trays. Gus looks at whether new equipment is worth buying 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 micro markets. 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 micro market owners ask first.
How does Gus handle shrinkage from an open shelf market?
He compares what gets stocked against what the kiosk actually rings up, so shrinkage shows up as its own number for each building instead of hiding inside your food cost.
Do I owe sales tax on the fresh sandwiches I sell?
Often at a different rate than shelf-stable snacks, and it depends on your state. Gus flags which items and buildings are taxable and the accountant walks you through filing.
My market runs through 365 Retail Markets. Do I need to change how I use it?
No. Keep running the kiosk the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement and payout reports, and asks once if a deposit is unclear, then remembers the answer.
Can I write off spoiled fresh food?
Yes, spoiled inventory that never sold is a real cost. Gus keeps it separate from what did sell so your food cost line tells the truth about each building.
I run markets in both an office building and an apartment complex. Does that change the books?
It changes the commission structure, not the process. Gus books each building's fee as its own line so you can see which type of location earns more for the effort.
My books are behind by a few months across six locations. Can that get sorted?
Yes. Send the bank and kiosk statements you have. Gus works through them by location, and most owners know where every building stands within a week or two.
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