Pet health
Books and taxes for mobile veterinarians.
House call fees collected in the driveway, fuel for a full route, a van stocked with vaccines, and clients who pay three different ways. 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 $7,200. The new portable ultrasound came through, so I logged it as equipment, not supplies.
- Square reader depositHouse call fees
- Scratchpay payoutFinanced procedures
- Patterson VeterinaryVan drug stock
- Shell fuel, mobile unitFuel and mileage
- Antech DiagnosticsOutside lab fees
Why your books are different
A mobile practice's books go wrong in places a clinic never sees.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is a van, a route, no waiting room, and clients paying you standing in their driveway. When the books do not know that, fuel and drive time eat your margin without you noticing, and the return misses what it should catch.
-
1
Route fuel gets treated like a minor cost
Driving to eight houses across a county in one day burns real fuel and real hours that a fixed clinic never spends. Lumped in with general expenses, it hides how much drive time is actually costing you per visit.
What we doKeeps fuel and mileage in their own line, separate from other costs, so you can see what your route is really costing against what each visit brings in. -
2
The van build-out looks like a repair
Shelving, a generator, refrigeration for vaccines, and the drug lockbox in your mobile unit can run into the thousands. Filed as vehicle maintenance, it muddles what you can write off.
What we doFlags mobile unit build-out costs the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
3
A financed procedure deposits short in the driveway
A client finances a $650 dental cleaning with Scratchpay right there in their driveway, and the payout lands lower than the invoice. Booked as the deposit, your revenue looks smaller than what you actually did.
What we doBooks the full procedure as revenue and the financing company's cut as its own fee, so your numbers and the real cost of offering it both show up honest. -
4
A vaccine restock swings a thin month
You cannot restock the van one house at a time, so a single bulk order from Patterson Veterinary for vaccines and parasite preventatives can make one month look terrible and the next one look flush.
What we doKeeps van drug stock in one steady line and tells you when a restock, not a slow week, is why a month looks thin. -
5
House call fees hide the real travel cost
A flat house call fee looks the same whether the visit was five minutes away or forty, so it is easy to lose track of which parts of your service area are actually worth the drive.
What we doKeeps house call fees in their own line so you can watch them against fuel and mileage over a season, not just guess.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a mobile veterinary practice.
There is no front desk on your route, so Gus builds the categories around what lands in the bank feed after each stop.
Money in
- House call feesExams and vaccines paid in the driveway through a phone card reader like Square.
- Financed proceduresWhat the client owed for the visit, with Scratchpay's cut booked separately as a fee.
- Pharmacy sold on the visitParasite preventatives and prescriptions handed over at the house call.
- Euthanasia and end-of-life visitsIn-home end-of-life appointments, kept apart from routine care.
Money out
- Fuel and mileageFuel, tolls, and vehicle wear for the route.
- Van drug stockVaccines, sedatives, and preventatives from Patterson Veterinary or Covetrus.
- Vehicle build-out and equipmentShelving, refrigeration, generator, and the drug lockbox, logged so they get written off right.
- Outside lab feesBloodwork and pathology sent to Antech or IDEXX.
- Vehicle loan or leaseThe payment on the mobile unit itself.
- InsuranceMalpractice and commercial auto coverage for the van.
- Financing and card feesWhat Scratchpay or Square kept for handling the payment before it reached you.
What we watch for you
- Fuel share
Fuel and mileage against house call revenue. It tells you if your route is still worth the miles.
- Van stock cost
Drug and supply cost against revenue. Watch it after a restock.
- Financing volume
The share of visits paid through Scratchpay, and what its fee actually costs you.
- The set-aside
What to put back for taxes, updated every month so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things mobile veterinarians 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.
Fuel ran $1,100 against $7,900 in house call fees. That is a normal share for you, but if it climbs again next month I will flag it.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not vehicle repair, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
That is a pricing call worth a real look with your whole route in view, so I flagged it for the accountant instead of guessing.
The tax side
The tax side of a mobile veterinary practice.
Most of what goes wrong here is vehicle costs and timing. A build-out filed as a repair, mileage undercounted, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Vehicle and mileage deductionsYou can deduct 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile after that, or track actual fuel, repairs, and depreciation on the van instead. Gus keeps both numbers so the accountant can pick whichever comes out ahead.
- Mobile unit equipmentRefrigeration, a generator, and the drug lockbox built into your van can usually be written off in the year installed. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA relief vet or a bookkeeper's assistant paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Self-employment taxA solo mobile vet not paid through payroll owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax on profit, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
Deductions mobile veterinarians miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fuel and vehicle repairs
- Van drug stock
- Refrigeration and generator
- Mobile phone and card reader
- Malpractice insurance
- Commercial auto insurance
- Continuing education travel
- State license renewal
- Marketing and website costs
- Card and financing fees
- Scrubs and clinical supplies
- Reference lab 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 practice's year, kept every month.
Your route runs whatever the weather allows. 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, your relief and contractor 1099s get listed, and a monthly set-aside is set so April never catches you between stops.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return goes in filed and signed, no scramble between house calls, because the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer travel-season calls changed the number.
- October
Before winter routes
Before weather makes the route harder, Gus looks at any vehicle upgrades worth making and anything worth doing 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 veterinarians. 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 veterinarians ask first.
How does Gus handle my mileage without a fixed office?
He works from your bank statement and fuel receipts, and tracks fuel and vehicle costs in their own category so the real cost of your route stays visible.
Can Gus tell me if I should raise my house call fee?
That is above his pay grade. He can show you fuel and drive cost against what house calls bring in, and a real accountant can help you think through pricing.
I take payment with a Square reader at the house. Does that change anything?
No. Gus works from your bank statement, whatever reader or app you use, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do I write off the van build-out all at once?
Often you can. Equipment built into the vehicle can usually be deducted in the year it is installed, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags it and the accountant decides.
I do end-of-life visits too. Do those get tracked differently?
Yes. Gus keeps euthanasia and end-of-life visits in their own line, apart from routine house calls, so you can see both parts of your practice clearly.
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 pet health
We keep books for the business next door too.
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- Reptile shops & breeders
- Service dog trainers
- Board-and-train programs
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