Collision & appearance
Books and taxes for paintless dent repair techs.
Dealer prep work, hail catastrophe jobs, per-panel pay to a helper, and months where the phone never stops next to months where it barely rings. 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
June came in at $18,400. The hail run in three dealer lots carried the month, so I kept that batch of work separate from your regular retail jobs.
- Dealer lot hail contractDealer and catastrophe work
- Customer, card paymentRetail jobs
- Helper pay, per panelPer-panel labor
- Snap-on tool paymentTools and equipment
- Fuel, work vanVehicle and travel
Why your books are different
A dent repair tech's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and calls it income. Your business swings between a flat retail month and a three-week hail catastrophe run that pays for the whole quarter, and pay is often per panel instead of an hourly rate. When the books do not know that, the numbers say nothing useful.
-
1
A hail run looks like one giant outlier month
A three-week catastrophe run through a hail-hit dealer lot can bring in more than the previous four months combined. Counted as an ordinary month, it wrecks any sense of what a normal month looks like and makes the slow months after it look like something went wrong.
What we doTags catastrophe and dealer-lot work as its own batch, so a hail run reads as what it is instead of skewing every other month. -
2
Per-panel pay to a helper hides inside wages
A second tech paid a flat rate per dent or per panel on a big job looks like a regular paycheck once it hits the bank. That buries what a job actually costs to complete against what it billed.
What we doKeeps per-panel pay in its own line, apart from any hourly wages, so job cost against job revenue is visible. -
3
Tool truck financing gets missed as a real cost
Glue pulling kits, light boards, and tabs bought over time from a tool truck or catalog often come out of a card payment plan. Missed in the books, the monthly interest and fees quietly eat into margin.
What we doTracks tool financing payments as their own cost, so the real price of the tool kit is visible, not just the sticker price. -
4
Mileage between lots is the biggest deduction most techs skip
A mobile tech driving between a home shop, three dealer lots, and a customer's driveway in the same week racks up real miles that often go untracked entirely.
What we doKeeps business mileage or vehicle costs in their own line, so the deduction is there when the return gets filed. -
5
A slow month after a hail run looks like a bad month
The month right after a catastrophe run can look thin by comparison, even though the year is strong, and it is easy to worry the business is struggling.
What we doShows the year against itself, not just month to month, so a normal lull after a big run does not read as trouble.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a dent repair business.
Set up once for how work comes in and what it costs to do a job. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Dealer and catastrophe workHail lot contracts and dealer trade-in prep, kept apart from regular retail jobs.
- Retail jobsIndividual customer dents paid directly, by card or invoice.
- Fleet contractsRecurring dent work for rental or delivery fleets.
- Financed jobsLarger repairs paid through a financing company, with its fee booked separately.
Money out
- Per-panel laborWhat helpers or subcontracted techs are paid per dent or panel completed.
- Tools and equipmentGlue pulling kits, light boards, and tabs, whether bought outright or financed.
- Vehicle and travelFuel, tolls, and repairs for the work van moving between lots.
- Lot and territory feesAny fee paid to a dealer or lot operator for access to work their inventory.
- Lodging on catastrophe runsHotel and travel costs when a hail run is out of your home area.
- InsuranceLiability coverage and any bonding a dealer contract requires.
What we watch for you
- Catastrophe share
How much of the year's income came from hail or dealer runs, so slow months are not a surprise.
- Per-panel cost
Helper pay against job revenue, checked when pricing changes on a contract.
- Tool financing cost
What financing fees add to a tool kit's real price, worth knowing before the next one.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things dent repair techs 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 tagged that batch as catastrophe work. You can see June for what it was without it throwing off every other month.
If he is not on payroll and you paid him $2,000 or more this year, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I have been keeping that running total.
The payments do, yes, I am tracking them as a cost each month. Whether to write off the whole kit now is above my pay grade, so I flagged it for the accountant.
The tax side
The tax side of a dent repair business.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and classification. A hail run counted like an ordinary month, a helper paid like a contractor who works like an employee, and mileage nobody tracked.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Mileage between jobsA mobile tech driving between dealer lots and customer locations can usually deduct business mileage at 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July through December 2026.
- Contractor 1099sA helper or subcontracted tech not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Employee or contractorA helper who works your schedule and uses your tools on every job usually looks like an employee, even if paid per panel. Getting that wrong gets expensive.
- Quarterly estimated taxesWithout payroll withholding, a self-employed tech usually owes estimated tax four times a year, on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15.
Deductions paintless dent repair techs miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Glue pulling kits and tabs
- Light boards and reflectors
- Tool truck financing fees
- Vehicle mileage or fuel
- Lodging on catastrophe runs
- Liability insurance
- Lot access or territory fees
- Phone for scheduling jobs
- Uniforms and work gloves
- Trade certification courses
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 dent repair year, kept every month.
Hail does not follow a calendar and neither does a good dealer contract. Your taxes still do. 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 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the spring hail runs changed the number.
- October
Before the tool catalog resets
Before winter slows retail work, Gus looks at any tool purchases worth making before December and what a good hail year means for your set-aside.
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 paintless dent repair techs. 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 dent repair techs ask first.
Can Gus handle a business that is dead quiet half the year and slammed the other half?
Yes. He tracks the year against itself instead of judging one month against another, so a hail run or a slow stretch reads as what it is, not as a surprise.
I get paid through a dealer's accounts payable, not cash on the spot. Does that change anything?
No. Gus works from your bank statement whenever the payment lands, and matches it to the lot or contract it came from.
My helper gets paid per panel, not hourly. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Per-panel pay stays its own line, so you can see what a job cost against what it billed.
Do I write off a new tool kit all at once?
Often you can. Tools and equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy them, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides.
I travel out of state for catastrophe work. Does that complicate my taxes?
It can add a state filing question, which is above my pay grade. Gus tracks the income and travel costs by trip, and flags it so the accountant can sort out what states are involved.
My books are a mess from chasing hail all summer. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them and tags the catastrophe work separately, and most techs 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.
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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