Passenger transportation

Books and taxes for private jet charter brokers.

Client payments that mostly pass through to the aircraft operator, your markup on each trip, empty leg deals, and FBO fees. Gus sorts all of it, 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
DecemberExample month
$21,500
what you made

December came in at $21,500. Holiday travel filled the calendar, and I kept the operator's share of each trip apart from what the brokerage actually earned.

  • Client wire, Hensley tripClient trip payments
  • Avinode bookingClient trip payments
  • Aircraft operator payoutOperator pass-through
  • FBO handling fee, TeterboroFBO and handling fees
  • Errors and omissions premiumBroker insurance
Money in$184,000
Money out$162,500
Set aside for taxes$6,900
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A jet charter broker's books go wrong in the same few places.

A generalist sees large deposits and large payouts. Your business is almost entirely pass-through money for a chartered flight, with a markup that is the actual income, plus empty leg deals that price differently than a booked trip. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell what the brokerage actually earned.

  1. 1

    The whole trip price gets booked as income

    A client wires $48,000 for a chartered flight, but most of that money passes straight through to the aircraft operator who actually flies the trip. Booking the full amount as brokerage income overstates what the business earned by a wide margin.

    What we doSeparates the broker's markup or commission, which is real income, from the operator's fee, which is a pass-through cost, so the books show what the brokerage actually kept.
  2. 2

    Empty leg deals price differently than a booked charter

    A discounted empty leg trip, sold to fill an aircraft's repositioning flight, often carries a smaller markup than a fully booked charter, and if both are recorded the same way, margins look inconsistent from trip to trip.

    What we doKeeps empty leg trips in their own category, so a thinner margin on a repositioning flight does not read as a pricing mistake.
  3. 3

    FBO fees and operator costs blur together

    Fixed base operator handling fees, de-icing, and catering can get billed alongside the operator's flight cost, making it hard to see what the brokerage is actually spending to service a trip beyond the flight itself.

    What we doKeeps FBO and handling costs in their own line, separate from what is paid to the aircraft operator.
  4. 4

    A slow-paying client trip looks like a loss

    A corporate client who books on account and pays weeks after the flight can make a month look thin even though the trip already flew and the operator has already been paid.

    What we doTracks what clients have been billed against what has actually been collected, so a payment lag does not read as a bad month.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a jet charter brokerage.

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

  • Client trip paymentsThe full amount clients pay for a chartered flight, booked through Avinode or arranged directly.
  • Broker markupThe portion of each trip price that is the brokerage's actual earnings.
  • Empty leg bookingsDiscounted trips sold on an operator's repositioning flight.
  • Corporate account tripsStanding client relationships billed on account rather than trip by trip.

Money out

  • Operator pass-throughThe portion of each trip price paid to the aircraft operator who flies it.
  • FBO and handling feesFixed base operator fees, de-icing, and ground handling at each airport.
  • Broker insuranceErrors and omissions coverage specific to arranging charter flights.
  • MarketingOutreach to corporate and high-value clients.
  • Booking marketplace feesWhat Avinode or a similar marketplace charges to search and book flights.
  • Catering and concierge costsIn-flight catering and ground arrangements booked on a client's behalf.

What we watch for you

  • Broker margin

    Markup kept against the full trip price, so you know what each booking actually earns.

  • Client receivables

    What corporate accounts owe against trips already flown, so a payment lag is visible.

  • Empty leg margin

    Markup on discounted repositioning trips against full-price charters, tracked separately.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe on your markup, tracked every month, so April is no surprise.

Ask Gus

Things jet charter brokers 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.

A client wired $48,000 for a trip, but most of that goes to the operator. Does that count as our income?

No. I keep your markup as the real income and the operator's payout as a pass-through cost, so the books show what the brokerage actually kept.

We sold an empty leg trip at a much thinner margin than usual. Does that mess up the monthly number?

No, I keep empty leg deals in their own category, so a thinner margin there reads as exactly what it is, not a pricing problem.

A corporate client still has not paid for a flight from three weeks ago. How do I see that?

I track what has been billed against what has been collected, so you can see exactly what that account still owes.

The tax side

The tax side of a jet charter brokerage.

Most of what goes wrong here is treating pass-through operator money as brokerage income. Getting the markup isolated is what makes the rest of the return make sense.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Broker markup versus pass-through costOnly the markup or commission a brokerage keeps on a chartered flight is business income. The portion paid to the aircraft operator is a cost of doing business, not revenue, once properly separated.
  • Self-employment tax for owner-brokersAn owner who also books and manages trips personally pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on the profit from brokering, on top of income tax.
  • Contractor 1099sAnyone helping book or manage trips who is not on payroll, paid $2,000 or more in 2026, 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, which comes out right once markup and pass-through costs are separated correctly.

Deductions private jet charter brokers miss

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

  • Errors and omissions insurance
  • Booking marketplace fees
  • Client entertainment
  • Marketing to corporate clients
  • Phone and dispatch tools
  • Travel to meet clients
  • FBO handling fees passed through poorly
  • Concierge and catering arrangement fees
  • Office and software subscriptions
  • Professional licensing fees

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 jet charter brokerage year, kept every month.

Corporate travel and holiday charter demand run on their own rhythm, and your team stays on the books through every swing. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Set the year up right

    Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for anyone helping book trips is ready, and a monthly set-aside gets planned for the year ahead.

  2. April

    Filed, margin clean

    Your return is filed and signed with markup and pass-through costs already separated, so there is no scramble to sort them out at the last minute.

  3. July

    Midyear margin check

    A look at how broker margin is tracking against the trip volume booked, what you will owe, and whether empty leg deals are pulling their weight.

  4. October

    Before holiday demand

    Holiday charter demand is coming. Gus looks at receivables from corporate accounts and anything worth doing 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 private jet charter brokers. 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 jet charter brokers ask first.

We do not own any aircraft. Does that change how the books work?

Yes, and Gus is built for it. Almost everything a client pays is a pass-through to the operator, so the books focus on isolating your actual markup as income.

We book most trips through Avinode. Do we need to change anything?

No. Keep booking the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and if a payment is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.

How does Gus tell an empty leg deal apart from a regular charter?

He keeps them in separate categories from the start, so a thinner margin on an empty leg reads as expected, not as a pricing mistake.

A corporate client pays us weeks after the flight. Does that skew the monthly number?

No. Gus tracks what has been billed against what has been collected, so a payment lag shows up clearly instead of looking like a bad month.

Do we need a bookkeeper who understands aviation specifically?

Gus does not need to be a pilot to keep the books right, he needs to know the difference between your markup and the operator's pass-through fee, which he tracks from day one.

Our books have not separated markup from pass-through money at all. Can Gus fix that?

Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts out the markup from the pass-through amounts, the accountant checks it, 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.

More in passenger transportation

We keep books for the business next door too.

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