Performance marketing & lead gen

Books and taxes for pay-per-lead generation agencies.

Exclusive and shared lead sales at different prices, credits for bad leads, and the ad spend you run yourself to generate the leads you sell. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.

Book a call What we handle
  • From $197 a month
  • An accountant on every transaction
  • Cancel whenever
MarchExample month
$11,500
what you made

March came in at $11,500. Your own Meta and Google ad spend to generate solar leads is booked as your cost of getting a sellable lead, not overhead, so your real margin per lead is finally visible.

  • Exclusive lead batch, Coastal SolarExclusive lead sales
  • Shared lead batch, three buyersShared lead sales
  • Bad lead credit, wrong numberLead credits
  • Meta and Google ad spendLead generation ad spend
  • Lead scrubbing softwareSoftware
Money in$48,000
Money out$36,500
Set aside for taxes$3,200
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Pay-per-lead agency books go wrong in the same four places.

A generalist sees deposits and an ad bill. Your business sells the same kind of lead exclusively to one buyer or shared across several at a different price, issues credits for bad leads days later, and spends real ad money up front to create something you have not sold yet.

  1. 1

    Exclusive and shared lead revenue gets blended

    An exclusive lead sold to one buyer for $80 and a shared lead sold to three buyers for $25 each are two different products, and if both land in one lead sales line, you cannot tell which pricing model actually drives your margin.

    What we doKeeps exclusive and shared lead revenue in separate lines, so you can see which model is actually worth running more of.
  2. 2

    Bad lead credits get missed

    A buyer who flags a lead as a wrong number, a duplicate, or outside the service area gets a credit days or weeks after the original sale, and if that credit is never matched back, your real revenue per lead looks higher than it is.

    What we doMatches bad lead credits back to the batch they came from, so your real revenue per lead reflects what actually stuck.
  3. 3

    Your own ad spend is your cost of goods, not overhead

    Money spent on Meta or Google ads to generate leads you plan to sell is not the same as a marketing budget for your own brand. Lumped in with general overhead, it hides what it actually costs you to produce one sellable lead.

    What we doBooks lead generation ad spend as the direct cost of producing a lead, so your margin per lead, not just per month, is visible.
  4. 4

    Unsold leads sit as a sunk cost nobody tracks

    Leads generated but never sold, because a buyer paused or a vertical went quiet, still cost real ad money to produce, and if that spend is not tied to the batch it came from, a slow sales week looks like a spending problem instead of an inventory one.

    What we doTies ad spend to the lead batch it produced, so an unsold batch reads as inventory that did not move, not a mystery cost.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a pay-per-lead agency.

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

  • Exclusive lead salesLeads sold to a single buyer at a premium price.
  • Shared lead salesThe same lead sold to two or more buyers at a lower price each.
  • Setup or onboarding feesOne-time charges for a new buyer's account and delivery setup.
  • Volume rebates from buyersBonus payments for hitting a monthly lead delivery target.

Money out

  • Lead generation ad spendMeta, Google, or other ad spend run to produce leads for sale.
  • Lead credits and refundsAmounts returned to buyers for bad, duplicate, or out-of-area leads.
  • Lead scrubbing and delivery softwareTools used to dedupe, verify, and route leads to buyers.
  • Contractor call verifiersFreelance staff who confirm a lead before it ships.
  • Consent and compliance toolsSoftware used to document consent for outreach to a lead.
  • Payment processing feesWhat a processor keeps before a payment lands.

What we watch for you

  • Margin per lead

    What a lead sells for against what it cost to generate, split by exclusive and shared pricing.

  • Credit rate

    What share of sold leads get refunded as bad, so you can see if a vertical or source is underperforming.

  • Unsold batch cost

    Ad spend tied up in leads generated but not yet sold, so a quiet sales week does not look like wasted spend.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked against your margin per lead every month, so April is a number you already knew.

Ask Gus

Things pay-per-lead agency owners 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.

I sell the same kind of lead exclusive to one buyer and shared to three others. Does that matter for the books?

Yes. I keep exclusive and shared sales in separate lines, so you can see which pricing model is actually worth running more of.

A buyer flagged five leads from last week as bad numbers and wants a credit.

I matched the credit back to that batch, so your real revenue per lead reflects what actually stuck, not the original sale price.

I spent $3,000 on ads generating solar leads that haven't sold yet. Is that just a loss?

Not yet. I tied that spend to the batch it produced, so it reads as unsold inventory, not wasted money, until you know whether it sells.

The tax side

The tax side of a pay-per-lead agency.

Most of what goes wrong here is what a cost actually is and when a sale is really final. Ad spend mistaken for overhead, and credits that never get matched to what they correct.

What your return has to get right

Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.

  • Lead generation ad spend is a direct costAd spend used to produce leads for sale is the cost of the product itself, not general marketing overhead. Keeping it tied to the batch it produced keeps your real margin readable.
  • Contractor 1099sAny US-based verifier or contractor not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list current all year.
  • Foreign contractorsA lead verifier working outside the US usually skips the 1099-NEC. A signed W-8BEN generally stands in for it instead, and the accountant confirms exactly what your setup requires.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when lead generation cost, credits, and sales are all sorted correctly all year.

Deductions pay-per-lead generation agencies miss

Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.

  • Lead generation ad spend
  • Lead scrubbing and delivery software
  • Consent and compliance tools
  • Contractor call verifiers
  • Home office or coworking desk
  • Laptop and monitors
  • Payment processing fees
  • Business phone and internet
  • Data and list subscriptions
  • Industry conference travel

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 pay-per-lead agency year, kept every month.

Buyer demand shifts by vertical more than by season, but taxes still run on a calendar. Your team keeps you ahead of both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Plan the year

    Last year's return gets started, your 1099 list for domestic verifiers is ready, and a monthly set-aside begins so April is already handled.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has tracked your margin per lead every month since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a shift in buyer demand across verticals changed the number.

  4. October

    Before year-end demand

    Some verticals, like home improvement and insurance, often see buyer demand shift heading into the holidays. Before it hits, Gus looks at what's worth buying or setting aside before December.

What you get

Starts at$197a month

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 pay-per-lead generation agencies. 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 pay-per-lead agency owners ask first.

Does it matter for my taxes whether a lead is sold exclusive or shared?

It matters for reading your business, not for the tax rate itself. Gus keeps the two revenue types separate so you can see which pricing model actually earns more once ad cost is subtracted.

How do bad lead credits get handled if they come in weeks after the original sale?

Gus matches the credit back to the original batch, so your real revenue per lead reflects what actually held up, not what was billed on day one.

Is the money I spend on ads to generate leads a regular business expense?

Yes, and a specific kind. Gus books it as the direct cost of producing a sellable lead, not general overhead, so your margin per lead is clear instead of buried in a monthly ad total.

I have leads sitting unsold from a slow week. Does that spend just disappear?

No. It stays tied to the batch that produced it, so it reads as inventory that has not moved yet rather than money that vanished.

Does Gus handle consent or TCPA compliance for the leads I generate?

No. That is above what the subscription covers. Your team keeps your books straight and flags anything that looks off, but compliance software and legal review for outreach consent are on you.

My books are behind since I added a new vertical last quarter. Can Gus catch up?

Yes. Send the bank statements you have, new vertical included. Gus sorts leads and ad spend by vertical from there, the accountant checks it, 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.

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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