Paint, craft & maker studios
Books and taxes for pottery wheel and ceramics studios.
Six-week wheel throwing series, open studio memberships, firing fees charged by the shelf, and clay bought by the pallet. 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
January made $6,500. Three new six-week series filled up, and I split that tuition across the weeks it covers instead of counting it all the day people signed up.
- Series enrollment, Winter IClass tuition
- Open studio membershipsMembership fees
- Highwater Clay orderClay and glaze
- Kiln element replacementFiring costs
- Studio rentRent and utilities
Why your books are different
A ceramics studio's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees tuition and supply bills. Your business is clay sold by the pound, firing charged separately from the class, and members who pay monthly for wheel time whether they show up twice or twenty times. When the books do not track that, a full series looks like one big deposit instead of six weeks of work.
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1
Six-week tuition gets counted all at once
A student pays for an entire wheel throwing series the day it starts, but the classes run over six weeks. Booked as income all in week one, the rest of that series looks like it earned nothing while it is still being taught.
What we doSpreads class series tuition across the weeks it actually covers, so the revenue lines up with the classes as they happen. -
2
Firing fees hide inside clay costs
Members pay a separate fee per shelf or per piece to get their work bisque fired and glaze fired, but if that fee gets lumped in with clay and glaze purchases, you cannot see whether firing actually covers what it costs to run the kilns.
What we doKeeps firing fee income in its own line, next to the electric and gas cost of running the kilns, so you can see if firing pays for itself. -
3
A clay order distorts one month
A pallet order from a supplier like Highwater or Laguna can cover three or four months of studio use, but if the whole bill lands in one month's books, that month looks like a loss while the clay is still on the shelf.
What we doKeeps clay and glaze purchases in one steady line and flags a bulk order so a heavy-buying month is not mistaken for a bad one. -
4
Open studio memberships get treated like flat income
A member paying $120 a month for unlimited wheel time is easy money to book, but if usage and no-shows are not tracked at all, an owner has no way to know whether the studio has room for more members or is already over capacity.
What we doKeeps membership revenue visible against how many active members you carry, so growth decisions are based on real numbers. -
5
A new wheel or slab roller gets filed as a supply
A replacement pottery wheel, a slab roller, or an extruder can run into the thousands. Filed as a studio supply, it muddles a normal month and never gets the equipment treatment it should on the return.
What we doFlags large equipment purchases the day they show up and logs them as equipment, not supplies.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a ceramics 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
- Class tuitionMulti-week wheel throwing and hand-building series.
- Membership feesOpen studio access sold monthly.
- Firing feesCharged per shelf or per piece for members' own work.
- Private lessonsOne-on-one wheel or glazing instruction.
- Retail finished wareStudio-made pieces sold in the front room.
Money out
- Clay and glazeStoneware, porcelain, and glaze materials from suppliers like Highwater or Laguna Clay.
- Firing costsKiln electric or gas for bisque and glaze firing.
- Wheel and equipment maintenanceWheel motors, slab roller belts, and kiln shelves and elements.
- Instructor payClass series teachers and private lesson instructors.
- Studio rent and utilitiesSpace, water, and power for wheels and kilns.
- InsuranceGeneral liability and equipment coverage.
- MarketingLocal ads and class listing fees.
- Card processing feesWhat Square or Stripe keeps before you get paid.
What we watch for you
- Clay cost per pound sold
What clay actually costs against what members are charged for it.
- Active membership count
How many paying members are using the studio against how many wheels you have.
- Firing cost coverage
Whether firing fees actually cover the electric or gas it takes to run the kilns.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things ceramics 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.
No, I split it across the six weeks the series runs, so each week's classes show the income they actually earned instead of dumping it all in week one.
This month, close. Firing fees brought in $410 and the kiln electric bill was $460. Worth a look if that gap keeps showing up.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a ceramics studio.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. Class tuition counted too early, clay treated like a monthly bill instead of inventory, and equipment filed as supplies.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Clay and glaze as inventoryClay and glaze bought in bulk are inventory until used, then they become the cost of the pieces made. Tracking roughly what is on the shelf keeps the return accurate.
- Wheel and kiln depreciationPottery wheels, kilns, slab rollers, and extruders can usually be written off in the year they are bought, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Instructor 1099sA class series teacher or private lesson instructor not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Sales tax on retail wareFinished pieces sold in your front room are usually taxable as retail goods, separate from class tuition and firing fees, though the exact split depends on your state.
Deductions pottery wheel and ceramics studios miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Clay and glaze materials
- Kiln elements and shelves
- Wheel motor repairs
- Slab roller and extruder parts
- Instructor pay
- Studio rent and utilities
- Liability insurance
- Local ads and class listings
- Card processing fees
- Aprons and studio towels
- Tools that live on the wheel bench
- Cleaning and clay trap supplies
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 ceramics studio year, kept every month.
New Year enrollment, spring gift-making classes, and a holiday retail push all pull differently. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the return both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
New series, new plan
Winter series enrollment fills the calendar, last year's return gets started, and a monthly set-aside is planned 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 how membership counts and firing fees have tracked so far.
- October
Before holiday retail
Gus looks at retail ware inventory, kiln capacity for the gift rush, and any 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 pottery wheel and ceramics 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 ceramics studio owners ask first.
How does Gus handle tuition paid for a multi-week series?
He spreads it across the weeks the series covers, so a full six-week payment does not show up as one giant week and five empty ones on your books.
Do firing fees and clay purchases get mixed together?
No. Firing fee income and clay or glaze purchases are kept in separate lines, so you can see whether what you charge for firing actually covers the electric or gas.
My members pay monthly whether they come in or not. Does that matter for the books?
It is steady, predictable revenue either way. Gus keeps it visible against your active member count so you know if the studio has room to grow.
Is a bulk clay order going to make a month look bad?
Gus keeps clay purchases in a steady monthly line and flags a big stock-up, so a heavy-buying month is not read as a slow one when you check your numbers.
Can Gus tell if a new wheel is worth buying?
That call is yours. What Gus does is flag the purchase and log it as equipment so the accountant can tell you how it is written off, whether all at once or over time.
My books are behind from running everything off a sign-up sheet. Can Gus still help?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, 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