Campgrounds, RV parks & glamping
Books and taxes for private campgrounds.
Nightly tent sites, RV hookups, firewood at the gate, and a season pass sold in March for a stay in July. 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
July came in at $18,100. Six of those site nights were paid back in March as part of a season pass, so I only counted the July slice.
- Campspot payoutSite bookings
- Gate store cash depositCamp store sales
- County treasurer, lodging taxOccupancy tax remitted
- Valley Propane refillCamp store inventory
- Riverside Mowing CoGrounds keeping
Why your books are different
Private campground books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is tent sites, RV hookups, a gate store, and season passes sold months before anyone camps. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell whether July paid for itself or whether March already did.
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1
A season pass gets counted twice
A family pays $900 in March for ten weekend stays through the summer. Booked as March income, June and July look thinner than they were. Booked again when they check in, the season looks inflated.
What we doKeeps season pass money against the stays it covers, so each month shows only the nights that happened in it. -
2
The gate store looks like site revenue
Firewood, ice, and s'mores kits get rung up on the same tablet as site fees. Lumped together, you cannot tell if the store earns its keep or just covers what you paid to stock it.
What we doKeeps camp store sales in their own line next to site fees, so you can see both clearly. -
3
Occupancy tax spends like it is yours
The lodging tax added to every camper's bill is not campground income, it belongs to the county. Booked as regular revenue, it gets spent on a new fire ring set and then owed anyway in April.
What we doBooks occupancy tax collected as its own line the day it comes in, so it is never mistaken for money you get to keep. -
4
A new bathhouse looks like a repair
Rebuilding the shower house or adding six new pull-through sites shows up on the statement the same way as a plumbing fix, but it is a capital project that should be written off over years, not one month.
What we doFlags large property projects the month they happen and gets the accountant's call on how to capitalize them. -
5
Cash at the gate is easy to undercount
A Friday night walk-up who pays cash for a tent site can slip past if there is no consistent way that cash gets logged before it goes toward Saturday's firewood order.
What we doWorks from the bank deposit and whatever gate log you send, and asks when a weekend's cash looks light.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a private campground.
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
- Tent and RV site bookingsNightly and weekend stays through Campspot or your own site.
- Season passesThe full amount, tracked against the nights it covers.
- Camp store salesFirewood, ice, propane, and snacks at the gate.
- Day-use feesSwimmers and picnickers who never stay the night.
- Group and event rentalsFamily reunions and scout troop weekends billed as a block.
Money out
- Grounds keepingMowing, tree removal, and gravel for the site roads.
- UtilitiesElectric, water, and septic for the whole property.
- Camp store inventoryFirewood, propane, ice, and packaged goods.
- Occupancy tax remittedWhat was collected from campers and passed on to the county.
- Campspot and booking feesWhat Campspot or similar sites keep before you get paid.
- InsuranceProperty and liability coverage for the season and beyond.
- Seasonal payrollGate attendants and grounds help for the busy months.
What we watch for you
- Occupancy rate
Nights booked against nights available, month by month.
- Store sales per site
Whether the gate store earns its keep or just breaks even.
- Season pass float
How much of this month's income was really earned in a prior month.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already know.
Ask Gus
Things private campground 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.
It is not low, it is honest. Most of that March money already got counted in March. July only shows the nights that actually happened in July.
Keep collecting it the way the county requires. I keep it in its own line so you always know what is yours and what is owed, though filing it is not part of what I do.
Probably not all at once, a project that size usually gets written off over several years. I flagged it and the accountant will make the call with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a private campground.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels: pass money counted too early, a capital project filed as a repair, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Lodging or occupancy taxMost states and many counties tax overnight stays. It is collected from campers and is not part of your income, and it is usually filed separately from your business tax return.
- Land improvementsNew roads, pads, or utility lines can sometimes be depreciated faster than the campground buildings themselves. Whether a project qualifies depends on what it is.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026, like a fall grading contractor, 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 lands right when the books are right all year.
Deductions private campgrounds miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Firewood and propane inventory
- Mower and trimmer repair
- Gravel for site roads
- Wifi service for the office
- Camp store shelving and coolers
- Fire ring and picnic table repair
- Campspot and booking fees
- Staff uniforms
- Directional and safety signage
- Pest control service
- Playground equipment upkeep
- Business liability insurance
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 private campground year, kept every month.
Your busiest months run May through September. Your tax deadlines do not move for that. 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 before opening
Last year's return gets started, the contractor 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside before the season pass money starts arriving.
- April
Filed well before summer
Your return is filed and signed while you are still getting the grounds ready, not during your busiest weekend.
- July
Midseason check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether season pass sales came in ahead of or behind last year.
- October
Before you close for winter
A look at what you spent readying the park this year and any equipment worth buying before the season ends.
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 private campgrounds. 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 private campground owners ask first.
We collect lodging tax at the gate. Does Gus file it?
No. Gus tracks what you collect and keeps it separate from your income so you always know what is owed, but filing state and local lodging tax is not part of the subscription.
How does Gus handle a season pass sold in the spring?
He books it against the nights it covers rather than the day it was paid, so no single month looks better or worse than it really was.
We run our reservations through Campspot. Does that matter to Gus?
No. Keep booking the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a payout is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Our books have never separated the camp store from site fees. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Send what you have, even messy. Gus sorts it going forward and can usually clean up recent months so the split is clear.
We're adding ten RV pads next spring. Will that mess up this year's taxes?
It should not, if it is tracked as it happens. Gus flags the spending as a capital project and the accountant decides how it gets written off.
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