Pet services
Books and taxes for pet photographers.
Session booking fees, print and album package upsells, studio rental for indoor shoots, and camera gear bought and upgraded over time. 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
November came in at $7,200. Holiday mini sessions brought in a lot of small bookings, so I counted each one as its own session instead of one lump batch.
- Square, session booking feeSession fees
- Print and album orderPrint and product sales
- Studio rental, half dayStudio rental
- Adobe subscriptionEditing software
- Camera lens purchaseCamera gear
Why your books are different
Pet photography books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees a booking fee and a gear purchase. Your business is sessions that turn into print sales weeks later, studio time rented by the hour, and a camera bag that keeps growing. The books need to track all of it.
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1
Print sales get counted with the original session fee
A client books a $150 session, then a month later orders $400 in prints and an album. If both payments land in one bucket, you cannot tell whether sessions or print sales actually drive your income.
What we doKeeps session fees and print or product sales in separate lines, so you can see which part of the business actually earns. -
2
Studio rental costs get buried in general overhead
Renting studio space by the hour for indoor shoots is a real, variable cost tied to specific sessions, but if it gets lumped into general expenses, you cannot see whether a studio session actually pays for the space it uses.
What we doKeeps studio rental on its own line, tied to the sessions that use it, so you can price studio time accurately. -
3
A new lens gets filed the same as a memory card
A $1,800 lens and a $30 memory card both get bought on the same camera store trip, and if they land in one supply category, a real equipment purchase gets lost among routine consumables.
What we doFlags camera gear purchases separately from consumables, so equipment gets logged and written off the way it should be. -
4
Deposits for future bookings count as income too early
A client pays a deposit to hold a spring outdoor session date, and if that deposit counts as income the day it is paid, the month the session actually happens looks understated.
What we doHolds session deposits as owed work until the shoot happens, so income lines up with sessions actually delivered.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a pet photography business.
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
- Session feesBooking fees for studio or on-location shoots.
- Print and product salesPrints, albums, and canvases sold after a session.
- Session depositsHeld as owed work until the shoot happens.
- Digital file packagesBundles of edited digital images sold to clients.
Money out
- Studio rentalHourly or half-day rental for indoor sessions.
- Camera gearLenses, bodies, and lighting equipment.
- Editing softwareAdobe or similar subscriptions used to edit sessions.
- Print lab and product costsWhat you pay a lab to produce prints, albums, and canvases.
- MarketingWebsite hosting, social ads, and portfolio printing.
What we watch for you
- Print attach rate
How often a session turns into a print or album sale on top of the booking fee.
- Studio cost per session
What studio rental actually costs against what a studio session brings in.
- Deposit balance
Session deposits held for shoots that have not happened yet.
- Gear spend
How much goes into camera equipment each quarter, tracked separately from routine costs.
Ask Gus
Things pet photographers 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, the print order counts when it happens, kept separate from the original session fee, so you can see how much print sales add on top of booking a shoot.
I logged it as camera gear, not a routine supply purchase, so it is flagged for the accountant to look at how it gets written off.
Bring the accountant in on that one. Someone shooting on your schedule with your gear usually looks like an employee, not a freelancer you just pay per session.
The tax side
The tax side of a pet photography business.
Camera gear and the gap between booking a session and selling prints are the two places worth getting right here.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Camera gear as equipmentLenses, camera bodies, and lighting equipment can often be written off in the year you buy them, with Section 179 expensing available up to $2,560,000 and 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Session deposits are not income yetA deposit taken to hold a future session date is money you owe work for, not profit you have earned. Gus tracks the balance so income reflects sessions actually delivered.
- A second shooter on your teamSomeone shooting sessions on your schedule using studio space and gear you provide usually looks like an employee, not an independent contractor, even if paid per job.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when session fees, print sales, and gear are tracked accurately all year.
Deductions pet photographers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Camera bodies and lenses
- Lighting and studio equipment
- Editing software subscriptions
- Studio rental fees
- Print lab and product costs
- Website hosting and portfolio site
- Props and backdrops
- Liability insurance
- Vehicle mileage to on-location shoots
- Marketing and social ads
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 pet photography year, kept every month.
Holiday minis and spring outdoor sessions shape your busiest months. Your taxes come on a schedule of their own. 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, and a monthly set-aside is planned around your typical booking pace.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring outdoor sessions changed the number.
- October
Before holiday minis
Holiday mini sessions usually fill your calendar fast. Gus looks at gear worth buying before December and moves worth making.
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 pet photographers. 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 pet photographers ask first.
Do print sales get counted the same as my session booking fee?
No, Gus keeps them separate, since a print order can come in weeks after the session itself. That lets you see whether sessions or print sales are actually driving your income.
Can I write off a new camera or lens the year I buy it?
Usually yes. Gear like this can often be written off in the year you buy it, and Gus logs equipment purchases separately from routine supplies so the accountant can make that call.
I take deposits to hold a session date. When does that count as income?
When the session actually happens, not the day the deposit is paid. That keeps a busy deposit week from making your books look stronger than the sessions you have actually delivered.
I rent studio space by the hour for some sessions. Does that matter for pricing?
It should. Gus tracks studio rental against the sessions that use it, so you can see whether your studio session pricing actually covers the space.
My books mix session fees, print sales, and gear purchases together. Can Gus untangle that?
Yes. Send what you have and Gus sorts it into clear categories going forward. Most photographers get a clean picture of what their business actually earns within a couple of months.
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