Farms, ranches & agritourism
Books and taxes for microgreens growers.
A weekly delivery run to three restaurants, a tray of sunflower shoots sold at Saturday market, and a grow room running lights and fans around the clock. 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
March came in at $3,600. The new seed order for pea shoots and radish went in as growing supplies, kept apart from the LED fixture repair.
- Restaurant delivery route invoicesRestaurant sales
- Saturday market tray salesFarmers market sales
- Microgreens seed orderSeed and growing media
- LED grow light fixture repairGrow room equipment
- Delivery van fuelDelivery costs
Why your books are different
Microgreens books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a small farm with a light electric bill. Your business runs indoors on a tight crop cycle, selling to restaurants on invoice terms and to market customers in cash, with lights and fans running whether a tray sells or not. When the books do not separate those, you cannot tell what a crop cycle actually costs to run.
-
1
Restaurant invoices and market cash get mixed together
A chef who orders trays weekly on a 15 or 30 day invoice pays very differently than a market customer handing over cash for a single container, but both often land in the same sales line.
What we doKeeps restaurant invoice sales separate from market and direct sales, so you can see which channel is actually paying the bills. -
2
Grow room electricity gets buried in a general utility bill
Lights, fans, and climate control running around the clock for a small indoor operation can be a bigger cost than the seed itself, but lumped into one household or building electric bill, that cost disappears into overhead nobody looks at closely.
What we doFlags grow room utility costs as a specific line so you can see what it actually costs to run the lights against what a crop cycle brings in. -
3
A seed order gets treated like a one-time buy
Microgreens seed and growing media get ordered on a tight, repeating cycle, sometimes weekly, and treated as one-off supply purchases, the books lose the pattern that shows whether input costs are creeping up.
What we doKeeps seed and growing media in its own steady category, so a rising cost per cycle shows up early instead of getting lost in noise. -
4
Grow lights and racking get filed as supplies
LED grow light fixtures, vertical racking systems, and climate control units can cost thousands and run for years, but on a bank statement they can look like just another growing supply purchase.
What we doFlags grow light and racking equipment the month it shows up and logs it as equipment, not supplies. -
5
Unsold trays disappear instead of showing up as a loss
A batch that does not sell before it turns has to be tossed, and without a note, a bad week just looks like lower sales instead of a spoilage cost that is worth tracking.
What we doNotes spoilage and unsold batches when the owner flags them, so a rough week reads as a growing issue, not a mystery.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a microgreens grower.
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
- Restaurant salesInvoiced weekly deliveries to chefs and restaurant accounts.
- Farmers market salesCash and card sales of trays and containers at a weekend market.
- Direct and online ordersLocal delivery or pickup orders sold straight to households.
- Wholesale salesBulk trays sold to a small grocer or co-op.
- Seed and starter kit salesGrowing kits or trays sold to hobbyists as a side product.
Money out
- Seed and growing mediaSeed, coconut coir, and other growing media ordered on a repeating cycle.
- Grow room equipmentLED lights, racking, and climate control, logged so they get written off right.
- Grow room utilitiesElectricity for lights, fans, and climate control, tracked apart from general overhead.
- PackagingClamshells, trays, and labels for restaurant and market sales.
- Delivery costsFuel and vehicle upkeep for the restaurant delivery route.
- Farmers market feesStall fees and table setup for weekend market sales.
- Sanitation suppliesCleaning and sanitizing supplies for trays and grow surfaces.
What we watch for you
- Restaurant vs. market mix
How much comes from invoiced restaurant accounts versus market and direct sales, so you know where growth is coming from.
- Cost per crop cycle
What seed, media, and utilities cost per cycle, so a rising input cost shows up early.
- Spoilage rate
How much unsold product gets tossed each cycle, tracked from what gets flagged as a loss.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things microgreens growers 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.
Yes. I keep grow room utilities in their own line, so you can see what running the lights actually costs against what a crop cycle brings in.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not growing supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
Flag it when it happens and I'll note it, so a rough week reads as a growing issue, not just lower sales for no reason.
The tax side
The tax side of a microgreens business.
Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as overhead. Grow room electricity buried in a utility bill, equipment filed like supplies, and a set-aside nobody started until tax season.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Schedule F farm incomeGrowing microgreens to sell generally lands on Schedule F instead of the Schedule C a typical small business files, which changes how income and certain costs are handled.
- Grow room equipmentLED lights, racking, and climate control systems can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099s for delivery helpAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for delivery or harvest help gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, and it comes out right when the books stay right all year.
Deductions microgreens growers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Microgreens seed
- Growing media and coconut coir
- LED grow light bulbs
- Clamshells and trays
- Delivery vehicle fuel
- Farmers market stall fees
- Sanitizing supplies
- Racking repair parts
- Grow room electric
- Package labels
- Cooler and refrigeration repair
- Business liability insurance
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 microgreens year, kept every month.
Your crop cycles run every week, all year. Your taxes come on their own 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 delivery help 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so a busy delivery month does not surprise you in April.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed with no gap in your weekly crop cycle or delivery route.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at midyear, and whether restaurant accounts are keeping pace with what the grow room can produce.
- October
Before the holidays
Gus looks at grow room equipment worth adding before the holiday catering season and what this year's numbers say about pricing.
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 microgreens growers. 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 microgreens growers ask first.
Can Gus track my grow room electric bill separately from the rest of my costs?
Yes. He keeps grow room utilities in their own category, so you can see what running lights and fans actually costs against what a crop cycle brings in.
I sell to restaurants on invoice and at market for cash. Can both be tracked in one place?
Yes. Gus keeps restaurant invoice sales and market cash sales in separate categories, so you can see which channel is actually paying the bills.
Do I have to change how I invoice restaurants or sell at market?
No. Keep invoicing restaurants and selling at market the same way. Gus reads your bank deposits, and a tray sale he cannot immediately place gets a single question instead of guessing.
A batch spoiled before I could sell it. Does that show up anywhere?
Flag it for Gus when it happens, and he notes it, so a rough week reads as a growing issue rather than a mystery in the numbers.
Is a new LED grow light setup written off all at once?
Usually. Grow lights bought to run the racks typically count as equipment eligible for a full write-off the year you buy them, though some seasons favor spreading it out. Gus flags it for the accountant to decide.
My income is small and steady every week. Is it still worth having books like this?
Yes. Even a small, steady grow business benefits from seeing which channel actually pays and what a crop cycle costs, and the set-aside keeps April from being a surprise.
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