Small manufacturers & fabricators
Books and taxes for powder coating shops.
A rack of parts from a fabrication shop, a per-piece retail job, powder and masking supplies, and a gas bill for the cure oven. Your own bookkeeper stays on it all year, 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 $9,600. The rush job for Delgado Fabrication got its own rush fee line, so the rest of the month's batch work stays easy to read.
- Delgado Fabrication, rack 14Batch coating jobs
- Retail wheel job, walk-inRetail and one-off jobs
- Powder supplier orderPowder and coatings
- Blast media orderPrep and blasting supplies
- Natural gas, cure ovenOven fuel
Why your books are different
Powder coating books go wrong between the rack and the oven.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your shop bills by the rack or the piece, blasts and masks before every batch, and burns gas or electricity heating an oven that runs whether it is half full or packed. When the books do not track batches and changeovers, a slow week and a busy one look the same on the bank statement.
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1
Batch jobs and one-off retail jobs blend together
A rack of fifty brackets for a fabrication shop and a single custom wheel for a walk-in customer both hit the same deposit line, but they price and cost completely differently.
What we doKeeps batch coating work separate from retail and one-off jobs, so each shows its true margin. -
2
A color changeover looks like unexplained downtime
Switching booths from one color to another means purge time, cleaning, and lost run time between jobs, and without tracking it, a light week just looks slow with no clear reason.
What we doFlags changeover time against the jobs it ran between, so slower stretches have a real cause attached. -
3
Oven fuel cost hides in general utilities
A cure oven burns roughly the same gas or power whether it is half loaded or packed, and if that cost sits in general utilities, you cannot see when batch sizes are too small to be worth running.
What we doTracks oven fuel on its own so batch efficiency is visible instead of buried in the electric bill. -
4
Powder and prep supplies get bought ahead of the job
Buying powder and blast media in bulk for a price break can make one month look expensive and the next look great, when the material is really just sitting in inventory.
What we doKeeps powder and prep supplies in one steady line and flags when a bulk order is the reason a month looks thin.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a powder coating shop.
Set up once for how batches and one-off jobs get billed and what it costs to run the booth and oven. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Batch coating jobsRack or per-piece work for fabrication and manufacturing customers.
- Retail and one-off jobsIndividual pieces for walk-in or small customers.
- Rush feesThe premium charged for a quick-turn job.
- Sandblasting and prep onlyPrep work billed separately from coating.
Money out
- Powder and coatingsPowder stock across the colors you keep on hand.
- Prep and blasting suppliesBlast media, masking tape, and plugs.
- Oven fuelGas or electric cost of curing, tracked apart from general utilities.
- Equipment loan or leasePayments on the booth, oven, and blast cabinet.
- Shop rent and utilitiesBuilding costs apart from oven fuel.
- Waste disposalOverspray powder and spent blast media hauling.
- PayrollPrep, hanging, and coating labor.
What we watch for you
- Margin by batch
What a rack brought in against powder, prep, and oven time, the real test of a quote.
- Changeover time
How much run time color switches actually cost, so scheduling can group colors when possible.
- Oven cost per batch
Fuel cost against batch size, so an underloaded oven run gets caught.
- Powder inventory value
What is sitting on the shelf in powder stock, so a bulk buy is not mistaken for a bad month.
Ask Gus
Things powder coating 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.
Not quite. I flagged three color changeovers this week that ate into run time. The work was there, the switching just cost you hours.
That bulk buy is the reason. I flagged it, and the powder sits in stock for future jobs, so it is not really a loss this month.
If he is not on payroll and you pay him $2,000 or more this year, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I keep that list running as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of a powder coating shop.
Most of what goes wrong here is keeping oven and powder costs visible instead of buried in general overhead.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Booths and ovensA coating booth, cure oven, or blast cabinet can usually be written off, often in the year it is bought. Section 179 covers up to $2,560,000 and bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Powder and media on handPowder stock and blast media bought ahead and sitting in the shop at year end get valued and matched to what actually sold, rather than expensed the day they were bought.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026, including part-time blasters or coaters, gets a 1099-NEC by 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 powder cost and changeover time are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions powder coating shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Powder stock
- Blast media
- Masking tape and plugs
- Oven gas or electric cost
- Booth filters
- Hooks and racking
- Respirators and safety gear
- Waste and overspray disposal
- Shop uniforms
- Small hand tools
- Freight for large piece pickup
- Trade certifications
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 powder coating year, kept every month.
Batches come in from fabricators on their own schedule, not a season. Your taxes still run on one. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Batches planned
Year end powder and media on hand get valued, last year's return gets started, and your monthly set-aside is planned so April is already handled.
- April
Batch return signed
The accountant files and signs your return. Because the set-aside has been running since January, a stretch of slow batch weeks does not turn into a scramble in April.
- July
Midyear batch check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether new fabrication accounts changed the number.
- October
Before December closes
Gus looks at any booth or oven buy worth making before December and flags it for the accountant's call on depreciation.
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 powder coating 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 powder coating owners ask first.
Can Gus separate batch work from one-off retail jobs?
Yes. They price and cost differently, so keeping them apart shows which kind of work is actually paying for the shop.
Do we have to change how we bill by the rack or the piece?
No. Keep billing the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Can Gus show us what color changeovers actually cost?
He flags the time and material a changeover uses against the jobs it ran between, so a slow-feeling week has a real reason behind it.
We buy powder in bulk to save money. Does that mess up the books?
No. Gus flags a bulk buy so it does not read as a bad month, since the powder is just sitting in stock for future jobs.
Our books are behind after picking up two new fabrication accounts. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts batch and retail work alike, the accountant checks the result, and most shops know where they stand within a week.
Do I write off a new cure oven all at once?
Often you can. A cure oven or booth bought for the business can usually be deducted the year it is bought, though sometimes spreading it out fits a shop's year better. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
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