Auto repair & maintenance
Books and taxes for mobile mechanics.
House call fees, driveway diagnostics, van mileage between jobs, and the tools riding in the back. 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
September came in at $8,500. Gas for the van ran higher than usual with all the driveway calls, so I kept fuel separate from the tool line to show what driving to every job actually costs.
- Wrench app payoutsHouse calls
- Shell fuel, service vanVan and mileage
- AutoZone commercialParts and materials
- Cash job, brake padsHouse calls
- Van insurance premiumVan and mileage
Why your books are different
Mobile mechanic books go wrong on the van, not the wrench.
You have no shop rent, but the van is your shop, and every mile you drive between a driveway job and an apartment complex is a real cost a stationary shop never sees. A generalist bookkeeper skips the mileage entirely or lumps it into fuel and misses what it's actually costing you to reach every job.
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1
Mileage between jobs is a real cost, not a freebie
Driving from a house call across town to the next one racks up miles that don't show up on a repair order the way parts do, and skipped in the books, it looks like driving costs nothing when it's often one of your biggest expenses.
What we doTracks miles driven between jobs against the standard mileage rate, so the true cost of reaching every customer shows up. -
2
Tools carried in the van are still shop equipment
A portable lift, a diagnostic scan tool, and a full set of hand tools riding in the back of the van cost the same as a shop's, but bought for a van instead of a building, they sometimes get treated like personal purchases instead of business equipment.
What we doFlags tool and equipment purchases the day they show up, logs them as business equipment, and brings big ones to the accountant for the depreciation call. -
3
House call fees get mixed into labor
A flat fee to come to the customer, separate from the repair itself, is common with mobile work, and mixed into ordinary labor income it hides what customers are actually paying just for the convenience of not driving to a shop.
What we doKeeps the house call fee on its own line, apart from repair labor, so you can see what the convenience charge actually earns. -
4
Parts bought on the spot skip the books
Running to a parts store between jobs to grab a part for a driveway repair is common, and a quick cash or personal card purchase can get missed entirely if it doesn't run through the same account as everything else.
What we doAsks about any purchase on an unfamiliar card or receipt, so a parts run between jobs doesn't disappear from the books.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a mobile mechanic.
Set up once for house calls and van costs, you never pick a category, an accountant checks every one.
Money in
- House callsRepair and diagnostic work billed at the customer's location.
- Booking app payoutsWrench, YourMechanic, or similar app payouts, net of their fee.
- Cash and card jobsDirect payments not run through a booking app.
- Fleet and landlord accountsProperty managers or small fleets billed net 30.
Money out
- Parts and materialsAutoZone, O'Reilly, and other commercial account purchases.
- Van and mileageFuel, van insurance, repairs, and loan or lease payments.
- Tools and equipmentPortable lifts and scan tools, logged so they get written off right.
- Booking app feesWhat Wrench or a similar app keeps before you're paid.
- Phone and dispatchThe phone and any scheduling software used to book jobs.
- InsuranceGeneral liability coverage for working at a customer's home.
What we watch for you
- Cost per mile
What driving between jobs actually costs, tracked against what house calls bring in.
- Effective hourly rate
What each job nets after parts, mileage, and app fees, not just the labor charged.
- App fee cost
What booking apps keep on jobs booked through them, worth watching each month.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things mobile mechanics 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 tracked your miles between jobs against the standard mileage rate, so the real cost of reaching every customer shows up, not just what you spent on gas.
I logged it as equipment, not a supply run, and flagged it so the accountant can decide how it gets written off with your whole year in view.
That depends on your state, and it's above my pay grade to say for sure. I flagged it so the accountant can tell you what applies where you work.
The tax side
The tax side of a mobile mechanic business.
Most of what goes wrong here is mileage nobody tracks and tools bought for the van filed like personal purchases.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Standard mileage for the vanMiles driven between job sites can be deducted at 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July through December 2026, or by tracking the van's actual costs, whichever works out better for the year.
- Tools and portable equipmentA portable lift, diagnostic scan tool, or full tool set bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA helper or another mechanic you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 who isn't on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list running all year.
- 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 are right all year.
Deductions mobile mechanics miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Van fuel and repairs
- Portable tool insurance
- Diagnostic scan tool fees
- Phone and dispatch software
- Booking app fees
- General liability insurance
- Tool box and van shelving
- Uniform and work gloves
- Business cards and van signage
- ASE certification 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 mobile mechanic's year, kept every month.
House calls come in all year with a summer bump from road trip breakdowns. 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, mileage for the year gets totaled up, and you get a monthly set-aside so April isn't a surprise.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January and matched what you actually made.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer road trip breakdowns changed the number this year.
- October
Before winter calls
Cold weather brings a wave of battery and no-start calls. Before it hits, Gus looks at tools worth buying and 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 mobile mechanics. 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 mobile mechanics ask first.
Does Gus track my mileage between jobs?
Yes. He tracks miles driven between job sites against the standard mileage rate, so the real cost of getting to every customer shows up in the books, not just what you paid for gas.
Can Gus handle jobs booked through an app and cash jobs I book myself?
Yes. He sorts both from your bank statement, keeping app payouts and their fees separate from direct cash and card jobs, so you can compare what each is actually worth.
I don't have a shop. Do I still need separate categories for equipment?
Yes. Tools and a portable lift riding in the van are still business equipment, and Gus logs them that way so they get written off right instead of disappearing into personal spending.
Can I write off the house call fee I charge separately?
The fee itself is income, not a write-off, but Gus keeps it visible on its own line so you can see what customers are paying just for the convenience of a house call.
My books are a mess from doing them myself. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside 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 auto repair & maintenance
We keep books for the business next door too.
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- Junkyards & auto salvage yards
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- Motorcycle repair & custom shops
- Motorcycle training schools
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