Specialty food makers & markets
Books and taxes for popcorn shops.
Storefront flavor sales, holiday gift tins, wholesale gift shop accounts, and school fundraiser orders. 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 $6,300. A school fundraiser order was your biggest single sale of the month, so I kept it apart from your regular storefront sales.
- Storefront register totalRetail sales
- School fundraiser orderFundraiser sales
- Popcorn kernel and oil supplierIngredients
- Gift tin orderPackaging and tins
- Storefront rentShop rent
Why your books are different
A popcorn shop's books go wrong around flavor and shelf life.
You are not selling one product with one cost. A dozen flavors each use different ingredients, gift tins spike hard around the holidays, and a fundraiser order works nothing like a walk-in sale. When the books do not track that, you cannot tell which flavors or channels are worth the effort.
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1
Flavor costs get blended into one ingredient line
A caramel corn batch and a simple butter batch use very different ingredients at very different costs, but combined into one line, you cannot tell which flavors actually carry the best margin.
What we doKeeps ingredient purchases sorted by what you report, so flavor cost differences stay visible instead of averaged away. -
2
Fundraiser orders get counted like storefront sales
A school fundraiser usually pays a wholesale-style price and sometimes gives the school a cut, which is a very different deal than a walk-in customer buying a bag at full price.
What we doKeeps fundraiser sales in their own category and books any school cut as a cost, so storefront and fundraiser margins do not get confused. -
3
Holiday gift tin buys distort the rest of the year
Ordering tins and gift packaging ahead of the holidays in one large batch makes that month look expensive and the quieter months look artificially cheap.
What we doFlags large seasonal packaging buys and keeps them in their own line so a holiday stock-up does not wreck the monthly picture. -
4
Unsold popcorn going stale is never written off
Flavored popcorn has a short shelf life, and bags that go stale on the shelf get tossed without ever being subtracted from the books as the loss they are.
What we doTracks stale or unsold product as its own cost so the real waste rate from a slow week is visible, not hidden.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a popcorn shop.
Set up once for how you sell and what you buy. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retail salesStorefront and online orders across the year.
- Fundraiser salesSchool and organization fundraiser orders, kept apart from retail pricing.
- Wholesale ordersGift shops and boutiques buying tins by the case.
- Gift tin and holiday salesCorporate gifting and seasonal gift tin orders.
Money out
- IngredientsPopcorn kernels, oils, sugar, caramel, and flavor seasonings.
- Packaging and tinsBags, boxes, and decorative gift tins, heaviest before the holidays.
- Shop rentStorefront lease and utilities.
- Fundraiser partner shareThe cut paid to a school or organization on a fundraiser order.
- Equipment maintenancePoppers, kettles, and packaging machine repairs.
- Marketplace and card feesWhat Shopify or Square kept before you got paid.
What we watch for you
- Margin by flavor
What each flavor costs against what it sells for, useful for deciding which to feature.
- Fundraiser margin
What is left after a school's cut, so you know whether fundraiser volume is actually worth it.
- Stale product loss
What gets tossed each month from short shelf life, a real cost worth watching.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things popcorn shop 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.
Its ingredient cost runs higher than your plain butter flavor, and right now the margin is thinner. Worth a look at the price if you want it to carry its weight.
After the school's cut, the margin was slimmer than a normal storefront sale, but the volume made up for it. I kept it split so you can see both sides.
Based on what you have logged as stale or tossed, it is a small but steady cost. If it climbs, that is worth a look at how much you are popping ahead of demand.
The tax side
The tax side of a popcorn shop.
Most of what matters here is keeping flavors, fundraisers, and holiday packaging honest, since each behaves differently in the books and on the return.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goods soldOnly the ingredients and packaging that went into what you sold this year count as cost of goods. Unsold tins on a shelf stay inventory until they sell or go stale.
- Equipment write-offsPoppers, kettles, and packaging equipment can usually be written off in the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA seasonal helper not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can deduct up to 20 percent of business profit before it is taxed. It comes out right only when retail, fundraiser, and wholesale sales are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions popcorn shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Popcorn kernels and oils
- Flavor seasonings and caramel
- Gift tins and boxes
- Storefront rent
- Popper and kettle repairs
- Fundraiser order packaging
- Shopify and Square fees
- Sample bags for tastings
- Storefront signage
- Seasonal helper wages
- Label design
- Delivery mileage for fundraiser drop-offs
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 popcorn shop year, kept every month.
Holiday gift tins, fundraiser season, and everyday storefront sales all pull the calendar in different directions. Your team keeps you ahead of the deadlines through all of it. 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 for seasonal helpers is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your business return is filed and signed, well ahead of the next holiday gift season.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how storefront sales compare to last year's summer stretch.
- October
Before the gift tin rush
Holiday gift tin orders are the biggest sales push of the year. Gus looks at packaging supply needs before it hits.
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 popcorn shops. 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 popcorn shop owners ask first.
Can Gus tell me which flavors are actually worth making?
Yes. He keeps ingredient costs sorted by what you report, so you can compare a flavor's cost against what it sells for instead of guessing.
How does Gus handle school fundraiser orders?
They get their own category, with any share paid to the school booked as a cost, so fundraiser margin does not get confused with your regular retail pricing.
My gift tin orders spike hard every November. Does that mess up the books?
No. Gus flags large seasonal packaging buys so a holiday stock-up shows up as what it is, not a normal month's expense.
Do I need to track stale or unsold popcorn?
It is worth it. Gus tracks tossed product as its own cost, so you can see your real waste rate instead of it disappearing into a general supply cost.
My books are behind from a busy holiday season. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and he sorts them by flavor, channel, and season. Most owners know where they stand within 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