Site work & heavy civil
Books and taxes for private utility locating companies.
Locate fees, rush calls that unblock a stalled crew, a mapping report that takes six weeks to invoice, and the liability coverage a missed mark can trigger. Gus sorts every dollar, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
May came in at $12,000. The rush locate for the stalled Meridian excavation crew got billed and booked at the premium rate, not the standard one.
- Meridian Engineering locateLocate fees
- SUE report, Oakview projectMapping report fees
- GPR equipment paymentEquipment
- Shell fuel accountVehicle fuel
- Errors and omissions premiumLiability insurance
Why your books are different
Private utility locating books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist bookkeeper sees deposits and bills. Your business is small jobs spread across a wide territory, a rush call that pays more than a scheduled one, and liability that a single missed mark can trigger. When the books do not know that, real risk and real premium work get flattened into one number.
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1
Liability insurance disappears into overhead
A missed or mismarked line can trigger a damage claim, so errors and omissions coverage is one of the largest costs in the business, but lumped in with general insurance nobody can see how much that protection is actually costing against revenue.
What we doKeeps liability and errors and omissions coverage in its own line, so the real cost of insuring the work is visible. -
2
A day of small jobs looks like one big trip
A technician can drive to six different sites in a single day across a wide territory, and if fuel and trip costs are not tracked against which jobs they served, nobody can tell which clients or areas are actually worth the drive.
What we doKeeps fuel and trip costs visible against the jobs run each day, so cost by client or territory is a real number. -
3
A rush locate gets billed like a regular one
A same-day emergency locate that unblocks a stalled excavation crew commands a premium over a scheduled locate, but out of habit it is easy to invoice it at the standard rate and leave money on the table.
What we doFlags rush and emergency work so it gets billed and booked at the premium rate it earned. -
4
A subcontracted pothole crew hides inside the job cost
Verifying a deep utility often means bringing in a hydrovac crew to expose it, and if that cost is not kept separate from the locate fee itself, nobody can see it as the pass-through cost it really is.
What we doKeeps subcontracted verification work in its own line, separate from the locate fee, and flags the 1099 the crew is owed. -
5
A mapping report pays in one lump sum
A subsurface utility mapping project can run for weeks before one invoice goes out, so the month the check clears looks flush while the months of fieldwork that earned it look thin.
What we doTracks work performed against what has actually been billed, so a big invoice does not read as a windfall out of nowhere.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a private utility locating company.
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
- Locate feesStandard fee-per-locate work for contractors, homeowners, and title companies.
- Mapping report feesSubsurface utility mapping projects billed as one deliverable at the end.
- Rush and emergency locate feesSame-day work billed at a premium over a scheduled locate.
- Mobilization and trip chargesA flat charge for rural or out-of-territory jobs.
- Retainer contractsEngineering firms or GCs paying a standing monthly rate for repeat work.
Money out
- Vehicle fuelFuel for the trucks that carry technicians between small jobs all day.
- EquipmentGPR units and electromagnetic locators, logged so they get written off right.
- Marking paint and flagsConsumables used up on every job, restocked constantly.
- Liability and errors and omissions insuranceCoverage that protects against a missed or mismarked line.
- Subcontracted potholing crewsHydrovac or dig crews hired to verify a locate's depth.
- Software and mapping subscriptionsThe tools used to build subsurface mapping reports.
- Technician certification and trainingLocating certification and ongoing field training.
- Cell phone and tabletField devices used to log and report every locate.
What we watch for you
- Cost per locate
Fuel, materials, and time against what each locate billed, so pricing stays honest.
- Trip cost per job
Fuel and drive time against the jobs it served, so a spread-out day still pencils.
- Rush fee revenue
What premium work is actually bringing in, so it never gets billed like a regular job.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things private utility locating 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.
Yes, I flagged it and booked it at the premium rate, not the standard one. Worth checking every rush job lands the same way.
If you pay them $2,000 or more this year and they are not on payroll, they get a 1099 by January 31. I am keeping that list running.
That invoice covers work spread across six weeks. I show it against when the fieldwork actually happened, so it does not read as a random windfall.
The tax side
The tax side of a private utility locating business.
Most of what goes wrong here is small mileage and rush fees that never get their own line. Get those right and the set-aside was already running.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Vehicle mileageA technician driving between small locate jobs all day can rack up serious miles. The business mileage rate is 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents from July, applied once a mileage log is kept.
- GPR and locating equipmentEquipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year it goes to work. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025, but whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Contractor 1099sA hydrovac crew or a hired technician not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if you paid them $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that list running all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right only when locate fees and rush work were tracked correctly all year.
Deductions private utility locating companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Fuel and vehicle mileage
- Marking paint and flags
- GPR unit maintenance
- EM locator calibration
- Errors and omissions insurance
- General liability insurance
- Mapping software subscriptions
- Technician certification fees
- Cell phone and tablet
- Vehicle maintenance
- Safety vests and gear
- Shop and storage rent
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 locating year, kept every month.
Locate calls track the construction season around you. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the tax deadlines 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, the 1099 list for potholing crews is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January, no matter how the locate calls came in.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this summer's rush of construction-season locates changed the number.
- October
Before it slows down
Locate calls tend to thin out as construction season winds down. Gus looks at equipment worth buying before December and gets outstanding invoices chased down.
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 utility locating companies. 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 utility locating owners ask first.
Do you track mileage since I am driving all day between jobs?
Gus keeps fuel and vehicle costs visible from your statements. Keep a mileage log for your drives between jobs, and the accountant applies the standard mileage rate using it at tax time.
Can Gus tell rush jobs apart from scheduled ones?
Yes. When you flag a job as rush or emergency work, he books it at the premium rate it earned so that revenue never blends into your regular locate fees.
Do I write off a GPR unit all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted 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 books are behind after a busy construction season. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
How does Gus handle a mapping report that gets invoiced weeks after the fieldwork?
He tracks the work as it happens and the invoice when it clears separately, so a big check does not read as a windfall and the months of fieldwork behind it still count.
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 site work & heavy civil
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Directional boring contractors
- Erosion control contractors
- Hydro excavation
- Land surveying firms
- Pond & lake construction
- Aggregate & dirt hauling
- Asphalt paving contractors
- Demolition contractors
- Excavation contractors
- Grading contractors
- Barndominium builders
- Church & religious facility builders
- Log home builders
- Shipping container home builders
- Timber frame builders
- Tiny home builders
- Acoustical ceiling contractors
- Architectural millwork & woodworking
- Commercial glaziers & storefront glass
- Commercial kitchen equipment installers
- Concrete cutting & coring
- Crane services
- Elevator installation & service
- Fire sprinkler contractors
- Parking lot striping & maintenance
- Scaffolding contractors
- Sheet metal contractors
- Waterproofing & caulking contractors
- Drafting & CAD services
- Home plan & house design sellers
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