Security & life safety
Books and taxes for private patrol services.
HOA routes, business district rounds, vacation watch requests, and the fuel bill that comes with a fleet on the road all night. 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
November came in at $8,100. Three homeowners paid for extra holiday vacation watch runs, so I kept those apart from the standing HOA route fees.
- Meadowbrook HOA routeRoute contract billing
- Downtown business districtRoute contract billing
- Vacation watch requestsExtra patrol fees
- Circle K fuel, fleet cardsFleet fuel
- Guard1 checkpoint softwarePatrol verification software
Why your books are different
Patrol company books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees route checks and a fuel card bill. Your business is a fleet running all night, routes billed at different rates, and homeowners paying extra for a single vacation watch run. When the books do not separate that, the fleet cost swallows whatever a route actually earns.
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1
Fuel and vehicle costs get lumped with everything else
A roving patrol fleet burns fuel every night a route runs, and mixed in with general expenses it is impossible to see whether a route's fee actually covers what it costs to drive.
What we doKeeps fleet fuel, maintenance, and insurance in their own line against route revenue, so you can price a new route with real numbers. -
2
Extra patrol requests get folded into the base contract
A homeowner pays for an extra vacation watch run or a business asks for a one-time late-night check, and if that gets dumped into the standing HOA fee, you cannot tell how much of your month is one-off work versus the contract you can count on.
What we doBooks extra patrol requests separately from route contracts, so you see the steady money and the occasional money apart. -
3
Checkpoint verification software gets missed as a real cost
Guard1 or similar checkpoint scanning tools are a monthly cost tied directly to proving the routes ran, but treated like a random software subscription it gets lost in the noise.
What we doKeeps patrol verification software with vehicle and route costs, where it actually belongs. -
4
A route price that has not moved in years
Fuel and vehicle costs climb, but a patrol route billed the same flat rate for three years quietly stops paying for itself.
What we doTracks fuel cost against route revenue over time, so a route that has gotten expensive to run shows up before it costs you money.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a patrol service.
Set up once for how you bill and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- HOA route contractsStanding monthly fees for neighborhood and community routes.
- Business district contractsOvernight and after-hours routes for storefronts and office parks.
- Extra patrol requestsVacation watch runs and one-off checks billed apart from the standing route.
- Alarm response feesCharges for driving out on a triggered alarm outside the standard route.
Money out
- Patrol officer wagesPay for drivers running routes and responding to calls.
- Fleet fuelFuel for every vehicle running a route.
- Vehicle maintenance and insuranceRepairs, oil changes, and coverage for the patrol fleet.
- Patrol verification softwareGuard1 or similar checkpoint scanning tools.
- Uniforms and gearUniforms, flashlights, and radios for patrol officers.
- Licensing and bondingState patrol company licensing and officer bonding.
What we watch for you
- Fuel cost per route
Fuel against each route's fee. A route that has gotten expensive to drive needs a price look.
- Extra request share
One-off patrol requests against standing contracts. Shows how much of the month is steady versus occasional.
- Labor share
Officer wages against money in. When it climbs, routes or pricing need a look.
- The set-aside
What you will owe as the routes run, tracked monthly so April is never a scramble.
Ask Gus
Things patrol service 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.
Fuel on that route is running higher against its fee than your other four routes. Worth a rate talk with the HOA before the contract renews.
I keep them on separate lines from the deposit description. Standing routes are the money you can count on, extra requests are the bonus on top.
That is worth the accountant's call on timing and write-off. I flag the purchase and get their take with your whole year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a patrol service.
Most of what goes wrong here is vehicle costs and a rate that has not kept up. Get the fleet expenses tracked and the rest is timing.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Vehicle expenses for the patrol fleetPatrol vehicles can be deducted using the standard mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile January through June 2026 and 76 cents July through December 2026, or actual costs, whichever the accountant finds works out better.
- Equipment and vehicle write-offsA new patrol vehicle or checkpoint scanning system can often be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026, such as a fill-in patrol driver, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, on top of fuel, vehicle, and licensing costs. It comes out right when route revenue and fleet costs are tracked apart all year.
Deductions private patrol services miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fleet fuel
- Vehicle maintenance and repairs
- Patrol vehicle insurance
- Checkpoint scanning software
- Uniforms and flashlights
- Radios and dash cameras
- Officer bonding fees
- State patrol company licensing
- Phone plans for dispatch
- GPS fleet tracking
- Vehicle loan interest
- Winter tires and seasonal maintenance
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 patrol service year, kept every month.
Routes run every night of the year. Your taxes come on a 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
Routes planned for the year
Last year's return gets started, the 1099 list for fill-in drivers is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed while routes keep running
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has been building alongside the routes since January.
- July
A midyear fuel and route check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer vacation watch requests changed the number.
- October
Before winter routes
Vehicle maintenance and winterizing costs come due. Gus looks at what to buy and moves worth making 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 private patrol services. 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 patrol service owners ask first.
Can Gus tell fuel costs apart by route?
Gus tracks total fleet fuel against total route revenue so you can see whether the fleet is earning its keep. Splitting fuel cost by individual route is a call the accountant can help you set up.
I use Guard1 for checkpoint verification. Do I need to change how I run routes?
No. Keep running routes the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
How does Gus handle a one-off alarm response call?
It gets booked as an extra patrol fee, separate from the standing route contract, so you can see how much of your month is steady work versus occasional calls.
Should extra vacation watch requests be taxed differently?
No, they are ordinary business income like any other patrol fee. Gus just keeps them on their own line so you can see the split.
My books are behind from a busy stretch. Is that a problem?
No. Send whatever fuel receipts and bank statements you have piled up. Gus works through them and tells you where each route stands, usually 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