Gyms & fitness studios
Books and taxes for powerlifting and strongman gyms.
Monthly dues, a competition lifting deck and a set of atlas stones bought outright, a meet you host and charge lifters to enter, and a coach paid to prep competitors. Gus sorts all of it, and an accountant checks every transaction.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $6,600. Your spring meet brought in entry fees from thirty lifters, and I kept that income and the sanctioning fee you paid out in their own line, apart from regular dues.
- Zen Planner dues batchMembership dues
- Meet entry fees collectedMeet hosting income
- Rogue Fitness equipment orderEquipment
- Sanctioning body feeMeet hosting costs
- Competition prep coachingCoach pay
Why your books are different
A powerlifting gym's books go wrong around meets and specialty gear.
A generalist sees dues and a rent bill. Your gym owns competition-grade equipment worth real money, hosts sanctioned meets that collect entry fees and pay sanctioning costs, and pays a coach specifically to prep lifters for competition. When the books miss that, hosting a meet looks like it either made or lost money for reasons nobody can explain.
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1
Meet hosting income and costs get mixed with regular dues
Entry fees from thirty lifters at a hosted meet, plus the sanctioning body fee and referee pay that go with it, are a distinct event with its own economics, and blended into regular gym income, you can't tell if hosting the meet was worth it.
What we doKeeps meet entry fees and hosting costs in their own lines so you can see whether hosting a meet actually pays for itself. -
2
Competition-grade equipment reads as a routine buy
A competition lifting deck, specialty bars, and atlas stones can cost as much as a used car, but filed the same as chalk and collars, that scale of purchase gets lost instead of written off the way real equipment should be.
What we doFlags major equipment buys the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
3
Competition prep coaching hides inside regular coach pay
A coach paid specifically to prep lifters for an upcoming meet, on top of regular class coaching, shows up as one lump payroll number, which buries what competition prep actually costs against class instruction.
What we doKeeps competition prep pay in its own line, separate from regular class coaching, so each role's cost stays visible. -
4
A year of dues booked in a single month
A lifter who pays for a full year of dues up front hands you money that belongs to twelve future months, not one. Counted the day it lands, that month looks like your best ever and every month after it looks like a slump.
What we doSplits a year of prepaid dues across the months it actually covers, so a big signup doesn't distort the months that follow.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a powerlifting or strongman gym.
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
- Membership duesMonthly EFT drafts through Zen Planner or a similar system.
- Meet hosting incomeEntry fees collected from lifters competing at a hosted meet.
- Competition prep coachingFees for one-on-one meet preparation, sold separately from dues.
- Drop-insVisiting lifters paying for a single training session.
Money out
- Coach payRegular class coaching and competition prep, kept apart.
- EquipmentLifting decks, specialty bars, and stones, logged so they're written off right.
- Meet hosting costsSanctioning fees, referees, and equipment rental for hosted meets.
- Rent and utilitiesThe building and the power a full training floor runs on.
- SoftwareZen Planner or a similar gym management system.
- InsuranceGeneral liability, given the loads and equipment involved.
- MarketingLocal ads and referral incentives for new members.
What we watch for you
- Meet hosting margin
Whether entry fees actually covered sanctioning and referee costs for a hosted meet.
- Active member count
The base the dues number rests on, since a strength gym often runs on a steady roster.
- Equipment spend
What's going toward competition-grade gear each quarter, so a big buy doesn't surprise you.
- The set-aside
What you'll owe in taxes, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things powerlifting gym 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.
Close to it. Entry fees brought in $2,850 and sanctioning plus referee pay ran $2,400, so it came out ahead. I track both sides so you always know.
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.
If they're not on payroll and you pay any one of them $2,000 or more this year, yes, by January 31. I keep that list running so it's ready.
The tax side
The tax side of running a powerlifting or strongman gym.
Most of what trips up this business is timing and labels. Meet hosting mixed with dues, and major equipment filed the wrong way.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Lifting decks, bars, and stonesCompetition-grade equipment can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you're having.
- Coach or contractorA coach who trains your class schedule with your equipment usually counts as an employee, not a contractor, no matter what the pay arrangement is called. Gus flags it before it becomes a habit.
- Contractor 1099sA referee or guest coach not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when dues, meet hosting, and equipment are tracked correctly all year.
Deductions powerlifting and strongman gyms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Bars, plates, and specialty equipment
- Chalk and grip supplies
- Zen Planner or gym software fees
- Sanctioning body fees
- Liability insurance
- Coach certifications
- Flooring reinforcement
- Business phone and booking line
- Marketing and referral incentives
- Meet referee pay
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 powerlifting gym's year, kept every month.
Meets come a couple times a year. Your taxes come on a fixed schedule. Your team keeps you ahead of both. 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 the January signup wave doesn't turn into an April surprise.
- 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'll owe, and whether this year's hosted meets came in ahead of budget.
- October
Before year-end
Before the calendar closes, Gus looks at 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 powerlifting and strongman gyms. 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 powerlifting gym owners ask first.
Can Gus tell me if hosting a meet actually pays off?
Yes. Entry fees and hosting costs like sanctioning fees and referee pay are tracked in their own lines, separate from regular dues, so you can see clearly whether the meet covered itself.
Do I write off a new competition lifting deck all at once?
Often you can. Competition-grade equipment can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My coach preps lifters for meets on top of regular classes. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Gus keeps competition prep pay apart from regular class coaching so you can see what each role costs.
I run everything through Zen Planner. Do I have to change anything?
No change needed. Gus pulls from your bank statement and Zen Planner's EFT batch as they are, and if something doesn't add up, he asks you once instead of guessing.
My books are behind ever since we opened. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Whatever statements you have since opening the gym are enough to start. Gus sorts through the backlog, the accountant checks his work, and you'll know where things 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