Skin, nails & body art
Books and taxes for piercing studios.
A quick piercing fee, implant-grade jewelry sold separately, a busy walk-in counter, and autoclave logs that never stop. 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 $6,700. Jewelry sales outpaced piercing fees this month, so I kept the two lines apart to show where the real margin is.
- Walk-in piercing feesPiercing fees
- Anatometal jewelry orderJewelry inventory
- Jewelry sale, in-houseJewelry sales
- Autoclave testing kitSterilization supplies
- Counter lease paymentStudio rent
Why your books are different
Piercing studio books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees a walk-in payment and a jewelry invoice. Your business is a piercing fee that is often the smaller half of the ticket, implant-grade jewelry that carries real cost and real margin, and a sterilization routine that runs every single day. When the books do not know that, real per-piercing profit stays hidden.
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1
Piercing fees and jewelry sales get lumped into one ticket
A client pays for the piercing itself and a titanium stud in one transaction, but if both amounts land in the same category, you cannot see whether jewelry margin or piercing volume is actually driving your income.
What we doSplits piercing fees from jewelry sales, so each side of the ticket shows its own margin. -
2
Jewelry inventory gets bought in bulk and skews a month
A large order of implant-grade titanium and gold jewelry from a supplier like Anatometal makes a slower piercing month look expensive and a light-restock month look great.
What we doKeeps jewelry inventory spend in one steady line and flags when a bulk order is the reason a month's costs look high. -
3
Sterilization costs get buried in general supplies
Autoclave testing, sharps disposal, and single-use needles are a real, recurring cost of doing business safely, but lumped in with everything else, an owner cannot see what daily sterilization actually costs.
What we doKeeps sterilization and sharps disposal in their own line, so real compliance cost is visible over time. -
4
A slow walk-in day looks worse than it is
Piercing studios depend heavily on walk-in traffic, and a quiet week can look like a real decline when it is really just normal foot traffic swinging up and down.
What we doTracks income against the weeks around it, so a normal quiet stretch does not read as a crisis.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a piercing studio.
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
- Piercing feesThe service charge for the piercing itself.
- Jewelry salesImplant-grade titanium and gold jewelry, sold separately.
- Jewelry upgrades and changesSwap and downsize appointments for healed piercings.
- Retail salesAftercare spray and saline wound care kits.
Money out
- Jewelry inventoryImplant-grade titanium, gold, and body jewelry stock.
- Sterilization suppliesAutoclave testing, single-use needles, and sharps disposal.
- Studio rentCounter or studio lease.
- Licensing and insurancePiercing license, health permits, and liability insurance.
- Continuing educationBloodborne pathogen certification and piercing technique courses.
- MarketingInstagram ads and local promotion.
What we watch for you
- Jewelry margin
What jewelry costs against what it sells for, kept apart from piercing fees.
- Average ticket
Money in divided by piercings done, so jewelry upsells show up fast.
- Sterilization cost per client
Sterilization spend against piercings done, tracked from your own numbers.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things piercing studio 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.
It happens when clients upgrade to gold or titanium pieces. I kept the two lines separate so you can see jewelry margin clearly against piercing volume.
That order shows up this month, but it gets sold across many future appointments. I flagged it as a stock-up, not a jump in your regular costs.
It comes down to who owns her needles and who sets her hours. That call needs the accountant's eyes, so it gets made carefully.
The tax side
The tax side of a piercing studio.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels. Jewelry sales mixed with service fees, sterilization costs buried, 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.
- Inventory and cost of goods soldJewelry you sell is inventory, and its cost gets matched against the sale, which keeps your real jewelry margin accurate instead of guessed at.
- Equipment write-offsAutoclaves and studio equipment can usually be written off the year they are bought. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sAny true independent piercer or contractor paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Quarterly estimated taxesNothing withholds tax from piercing and jewelry income automatically, so most owners pay estimated taxes April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15.
Deductions piercing studios miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Implant-grade jewelry stock
- Autoclave testing and maintenance
- Single-use needles and sharps disposal
- Barrier film and sanitizing supplies
- Piercing license and health permits
- Bloodborne pathogen certification
- Liability insurance
- Continuing education courses
- Aftercare spray and product samples
- Retail display fixtures
- Marketing and social media ads
- Card processing 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 piercing studio year, kept every month.
Walk-in traffic swings with the season, and jewelry sales follow it. Your team keeps you ahead of both the traffic swings and the tax deadlines. 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 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 summer walk-in traffic changed the number.
- October
Before the holidays
Gift piercing season is close. Gus looks at jewelry stock-ups and equipment worth buying 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 piercing studios. 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 piercing studio owners ask first.
Can Gus split piercing fees from jewelry sales?
Yes. He keeps the two in separate categories, so you can see whether your income is driven by piercing volume, jewelry margin, or both.
Does a big jewelry order hurt my monthly numbers?
It shows up as a cost this month, but Gus flags a bulk buy so it does not read as a spike in your regular spending. That jewelry gets sold across many future appointments.
How does Gus track sterilization and sharps disposal costs?
They get their own line, apart from general supplies, so you can see the real cost of running your studio safely, month to month.
I have another piercer working part time. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Whether she is payroll or a contractor depends on her hours and schedule, and that call goes to the accountant.
My studio's books have never been separated from jewelry inventory tracking. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts piercing fees from jewelry sales, 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