Equipment & specialty rentals

Books and taxes for portable toilet rental companies.

Construction site routes, weekend event contracts, ADA unit rentals, and pump-out charges. Gus keeps every route and every contract straight, 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
JuneExample month
$13,300
what you made

June came in at $13,300. Three wedding weekends filled the event side, so I split those contracts out from the standing construction route income.

  • Construction route billingLong-term route contracts
  • Event weekend contract, payoutEvent and festival rentals
  • Septic disposal facility feePump-out and disposal
  • Service truck fuelTrucks and fuel
  • Unit deodorizer and suppliesServicing supplies
Money in$47,500
Money out$34,200
Set aside for taxes$3,200
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

Portable toilet books go wrong in the same four places.

A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business runs standing construction routes billed monthly, one-weekend events, ADA units that cost more to place, and a pump-out schedule that never stops. When the books blur those together, you cannot tell which side of the fleet is actually paying.

  1. 1

    Route billing and event billing blur together

    A construction site pays monthly for the same units sitting there all quarter, while a festival pays one lump sum for a weekend. Mixed into one pile, you lose sight of how much of next month is already guaranteed by standing routes.

    What we doSplits long-term route contracts from one-off event and festival income, so you can see how much of the month is already spoken for.
  2. 2

    Pump-out costs get buried in general supplies

    Septic disposal facility fees change with fuel prices and how full a route runs, and lumped in with deodorizer and hand sanitizer restocks, you cannot see whether a route's disposal cost still makes sense.

    What we doKeeps pump-out and disposal costs in their own line so route pricing can be checked against what it actually costs to service.
  3. 3

    ADA units look the same as standard units in the books

    An ADA-compliant unit costs more to buy, place, and service than a standard unit, but if every unit's revenue lands in one bucket, you cannot tell whether ADA pricing actually covers the extra cost.

    What we doFlags ADA and standard unit income separately when the bank statement shows it, so pricing can be checked unit type by unit type.
  4. 4

    A fleet-wide unit purchase reads like one bad month

    Buying fifteen new units at once to grow the fleet is a real equipment purchase, not a supply expense, but filed wrong it flattens a good quarter and skips the write-off equipment gets.

    What we doFlags a bulk unit purchase the day it shows up, logs it as equipment, and routes the write-off decision to the accountant.
  5. 5

    Late event payments get missed as slow months

    A festival or wedding vendor sometimes pays thirty or sixty days after the event, so the month the units were on site can look thin even though the work already happened.

    What we doNotes which event jobs are still waiting on payment so a slow-looking month is not mistaken for a slow one of actual work.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a portable toilet rental company.

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

  • Long-term route contractsMonthly billing for construction sites and standing job accounts.
  • Event and festival rentalsWeekend and one-time contracts for weddings, fairs, and festivals.
  • ADA unit rentalsThe higher-priced accessible units, kept apart from standard units.
  • Hand-washing station rentalsSink and sanitizer station add-ons billed alongside units.
  • Extra service call feesOff-schedule pump-outs a customer requests between routes.

Money out

  • Pump-out and disposalSeptic facility fees and route servicing costs.
  • Trucks and fuelFuel, maintenance, and insurance for the vacuum truck fleet.
  • Unit purchases and repairsNew units, latches, tanks, and cracked panels.
  • Servicing suppliesDeodorizer, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant.
  • Delivery laborWages for the crew that drops off and picks up units.
  • Marketing and bidsConstruction bid site listings and local event vendor fairs.
  • InsuranceFleet and general liability coverage for units placed on customer sites.

What we watch for you

  • Route revenue share

    Standing routes against event income. It shows how much of next month is already guaranteed.

  • Disposal cost per route

    Pump-out costs against route income. A rising number often means it is time to check pricing.

  • ADA unit margin

    What ADA units bring in against what they cost to place and service.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe in taxes, tracked route by route, so filing season never depends on a guess.

Ask Gus

Things portable toilet 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.

We picked up a big festival job that pays in sixty days. Does that count as this month's income?

For your books, I count it as income once the work is done, even if the check lands later. I also note the job as unpaid so a thin-looking month makes sense.

Just bought fifteen new units to grow the route side. Does that all write off this year?

Often it can. I logged the purchase as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.

Do I owe anything different for the ADA units versus regular ones?

Not on the tax side, they are treated the same as any other rental equipment. I do keep them in their own category so you can see if the pricing on them actually covers what they cost.

The tax side

The tax side of a portable toilet rental business.

Most of what goes wrong here is a fleet purchase filed as a supply run and a delivery crew paid like contractors who work like employees.

What your return has to get right

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

  • The unit fleet and service trucksUnits, hand-washing stations, and vacuum trucks are usually depreciable equipment. Section 179 and 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025 are often available, and the accountant decides the timing.
  • Delivery crew classificationA crew member who drives your truck, follows your route schedule, and services units the way you require usually counts as an employee, no matter how the pay is arranged.
  • Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll, such as a fill-in driver for a busy weekend, gets a 1099-NEC if paid $2,000 or more in 2026, due January 31.
  • The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.

Deductions portable toilet rental companies miss

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

  • Vacuum truck fuel and repairs
  • Septic disposal facility fees
  • Deodorizer and sanitizing supplies
  • Unit latches and panel repairs
  • Hand sanitizer station stock
  • Construction bid site fees
  • Event vendor fair booth costs
  • Delivery crew uniforms
  • Route dispatch software
  • Truck and liability insurance
  • Phone for route dispatch
  • Trailer and hitch maintenance

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 portable toilet year, kept every month.

Construction routes run all year. Event weekends stack up fast in warm months. Your team keeps you ahead of both, and of your taxes. 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, the 1099 list for any fill-in route drivers is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already covered.

  2. April

    Filed. Done.

    Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.

  3. July

    Halfway check

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the run of spring and summer weddings and festivals changed the number.

  4. October

    Before the slow season

    Event bookings thin out heading into winter in most regions. Gus looks at unit purchases and any moves worth making 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 portable toilet rental companies. 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 portable toilet owners ask first.

I bill construction sites monthly and events all at once. Does Gus keep those separate?

Yes. Long-term route contracts and one-time event or festival income are kept in their own categories, so you can see how much of a month is guaranteed versus one-off.

Do I need to track pump-out costs separately from truck expenses?

It helps, and Gus does it automatically from your bank statement. Keeping disposal costs apart from fuel and repairs makes it easier to see whether a route is still priced right.

Can I write off new units the same year I buy them?

Often yes. Equipment bought for the business, including new toilet units and hand-washing stations, can usually be written off in the year you buy it. The accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.

My crew is paid partly on commission for extra service calls. Does that change anything?

It changes where the money is tracked, not what you do. Commission pay through payroll stays payroll. Gus keeps it visible so you can see labor against what the routes actually brought in.

A festival client still owes me from an event two months ago. How does that show up in my books?

Gus counts the income when the work was done and flags the payment as still outstanding, so a slow-looking month does not get mistaken for a slow one of actual work.

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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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