Tutoring, test prep & alternative schools
Books and taxes for microschools.
A dozen or so students across mixed ages, tuition paid partly by families and partly through a state education savings account, one or two guides on staff, and a lease on a small storefront or house. Gus sorts 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 brought in $5,500. The ESA payments landed two weeks after family tuition this month, so I kept them apart until both cleared.
- State ESA disbursementESA and voucher funds
- Family tuition, direct payFamily tuition
- Guide monthly payGuide wages
- Small-space leaseFacility lease
- Learning materials orderCurriculum and supplies
Why your books are different
Microschool books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees tuition and a small lease. Your school runs on two different payers on two different schedules, a guide who does far more than teach, and mixed-age enrollment that changes month to month. When the books do not know that, cash flow becomes a guessing game.
-
1
ESA payments and family tuition get mixed together
A student's tuition might come half from a state education savings account and half from the family directly, on two different schedules, and if both land in one undivided tuition line, you cannot tell what depends on state timing versus family payment.
What we doKeeps ESA and voucher funds in their own category, separate from family-paid tuition, so each source reconciles on its own. -
2
The guide's pay gets treated as a flat monthly bill
A guide who teaches, manages enrollment, and handles state paperwork often gets paid an inconsistent amount depending on the month, and if it is never split by role, it is hard to see whether the school can actually afford to grow.
What we doTracks guide pay consistently against enrollment so growth decisions are based on real numbers, not a rough guess. -
3
A slow ESA disbursement looks like a bad month
State education savings account payments sometimes lag behind the school year they cover, and a month where the state payment has not landed yet can look like a shortfall when the money is simply on its way.
What we doFlags ESA timing gaps so a delayed state payment reads as a timing issue, not a real drop in revenue. -
4
Shared materials for mixed-age classrooms get filed as one supply cost
A microschool teaching several grade levels in one room buys materials across a wide range at once, and lumped together, it is hard to see whether spending matches actual enrollment by age group.
What we doKeeps curriculum and materials spending in one steady line and flags any purchase big enough to matter for tax purposes.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a microschool.
Set up once around your two funding sources. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- ESA and voucher fundsState education savings account or voucher disbursements paid on the state's schedule.
- Family tuitionThe portion of tuition families pay directly, outside any state program.
- Registration feesOne-time enrollment fee collected at signup.
- Extended care feesBefore or after-school care billed separately from core tuition.
Money out
- Guide wagesPay for the lead teacher or guide running daily instruction.
- Facility leaseRent for the storefront, house, or shared space the school operates from.
- Curriculum and suppliesMixed-age learning materials and classroom consumables.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for the facility and daily operations.
- Background check feesScreening for guides and any additional staff.
- Enrollment and ESA management softwareThe tool tracking enrollment and state program compliance.
What we watch for you
- Enrolled students
The base your tuition and ESA revenue rest on. A steady count beats one strong month.
- ESA share of revenue
How much of income depends on a state payment schedule rather than family timing.
- Guide pay against enrollment
What running the school actually costs against how many students it serves.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things microschool founders 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 flagged it as a timing gap, not a real drop. Once it lands it will show up in the ESA line right where it belongs.
Not for me. I keep ESA funds and direct family tuition in separate categories from day one, so each reconciles cleanly on its own.
If she's on payroll, no separate form is needed beyond her W-2. If you pay her as a contractor, $2,000 or more this year means a 1099-NEC by January 31. I track it either way.
The tax side
The tax side of a microschool.
Most of what goes wrong here is two funding sources landing on different schedules and a guide's pay never split by role. Fix the tracking and the rest follows.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- ESA and voucher fund trackingState-specific rules govern what education savings account and voucher funds can pay for and how a school gets approved to accept them. Gus keeps the funds tracked separately so they reconcile against the state's payment system.
- Guide classificationA guide who works a set schedule under the school's direction is usually an employee, not a contractor, even at a very small school with only one or two staff.
- Self-employment taxA founder who also teaches and takes profit directly, without running payroll, owes self-employment tax of 15.3 percent on top of regular income tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
- Nonprofit and for-profit structuresSome microschools organize as nonprofits and some as for-profit businesses, and the choice affects what filings apply. Form 990 and audited financial statements sit with the accountant, outside what monthly bookkeeping covers on its own.
Deductions microschools miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Facility lease
- Curriculum and learning materials
- Guide wages and benefits
- Liability insurance
- Background check fees
- Enrollment and compliance software
- Classroom furniture
- Marketing and family referrals
- Cleaning and facility upkeep
- Card and processing fees
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 microschool year, kept every month.
Enrollment runs on the school calendar and state ESA windows. Gus keeps both organized alongside the tax calendar. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Spring term underway
Last year's return gets started and the monthly set-aside gets planned around both tuition sources.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
A halfway check on where the year stands, including whether ESA disbursement timing changed what you will owe.
- October
Before winter enrollment
Many state ESA renewal windows fall around this time. Gus looks at any facility or staffing moves worth making 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 microschools. 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 microschool founders ask first.
Half our families pay through a state ESA and half pay us directly. Can Gus handle both?
Yes. Each source gets its own category from the start, so you can always see what depends on the state's payment schedule versus a family's own timing.
We're not sure if we should be a nonprofit or a regular business. Does that affect the books?
It affects what filings apply on top of the books, which is a conversation for the accountant. Gus keeps clean books either way, so that conversation starts from good numbers.
Our guide teaches, handles enrollment, and does the state paperwork. Is her pay complicated to track?
No. Gus tracks her total pay consistently month to month, so you can see the real cost of running the school against how many students it serves.
State ESA money is delayed most months. Will that make my books look bad?
No. Gus flags a delayed disbursement as a timing gap rather than a shortfall, so a normal lag in state payments does not read as a real drop in revenue.
We just started and our records are a handful of bank transfers with no notes. Can Gus start from there?
Yes. Send what you have and he sorts it into clean categories from day one. Most founders 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.
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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