Creators, coaches & info products

Books and taxes for keynote speakers.

A deposit paid at booking and a balance paid after the event, a speaker bureau taking its cut, travel billed back to the client, and books sold at the back of the room. Your own bookkeeper 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
OctoberExample month
$22,800
what you made

October came in at $22,800. Two events booked through a bureau paid net of their commission, so I logged the fee, not just the smaller deposit that landed.

  • Speaking fee, direct bookingSpeaking fees
  • Speaking fee, bureau bookingSpeaking fees
  • Bureau commissionBooking commissions
  • Flight and hotel, event travelEvent travel
  • Book sales, back of roomMerchandise sales
Money in$34,000
Money out$11,200
Set aside for taxes$6,800
An example month. Yours will have your numbers.

Why your books are different

A speaker's books go wrong in a few specific spots.

A generalist sees a deposit and calls it the fee. Yours is really a full contract split into a deposit and a balance, sometimes booked through a bureau that keeps a cut before you ever see it, plus travel that may or may not get billed back separately.

  1. 1

    A bureau booking pays out net of its cut

    A $10,000 keynote booked through a bureau at a 20 percent commission means only $8,000 lands in your account, and if the full fee is not tracked somewhere, your real speaking rate looks lower than it is.

    What we doBooks the full contracted fee as revenue and the bureau's cut as its own cost, so your real rate and the cost of booking through a bureau both stay visible.
  2. 2

    A deposit and balance split across months

    A contract signed in March for an event in September often pays half at booking and half after, so the two payments can land five or six months apart and look unrelated to the same engagement.

    What we doMatches the deposit and balance to the same event, so you can see what a single engagement actually paid, even when the money arrives in two pieces.
  3. 3

    Travel reimbursement gets mixed with speaking income

    When a client pays for flights and hotel as part of the fee rather than billing them directly, that reimbursement can look like extra income when it is really just a pass-through of a cost you already paid.

    What we doKeeps travel reimbursement separate from the actual speaking fee, so income and pass-through costs do not get confused.
  4. 4

    Back-of-room book sales get lost in the fee

    Selling books or workbooks after a keynote brings in cash or card payments that easily get mixed in with the speaking fee itself, hiding how much of your income actually comes from merchandise.

    What we doKeeps book and merchandise sales in their own line, separate from speaking fees, so both sides of the business are visible.

Your categories

The categories Gus keeps for a speaking business.

Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend on. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.

Money in

  • Speaking feesDeposits and balances from direct and bureau-booked engagements.
  • Merchandise salesBooks and workbooks sold at or after events.
  • Virtual event feesFees for remote keynotes and webinars.
  • Consulting add-onsWorkshops or consulting sold alongside a keynote.

Money out

  • Booking commissionsThe cut kept by a speaker bureau on booked events.
  • Event travelFlights, hotels, and ground transport for engagements.
  • Presentation productionSlide design, video, and AV equipment.
  • Book printingPrinting costs for books sold at events.
  • Marketing and websiteA speaker reel, website, and demo materials.

What we watch for you

  • Bureau share

    How much of total fees goes to commission against what you keep, so you can weigh direct bookings against bureau ones.

  • Cost per event

    What travel and production cost against what a single engagement actually paid.

  • Book sale margin

    What printing costs against back-of-room sales revenue.

  • The set-aside

    What you will owe, tracked every month, so a strong booking season does not turn into a surprise bill.

Ask Gus

Things speakers 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.

My bureau took a cut before I got paid. Should my books show the full fee or just what landed?

I book the full contracted fee as your revenue and the bureau's cut as a separate cost, so you can see your real rate, not just what showed up in the bank.

I got a deposit in March for an event that isn't until September. Does that count as income now?

I keep it matched to that event either way, so when the balance lands in September you will see the full picture for that one engagement.

The client paid for my flight directly instead of reimbursing me. Does that matter for my books?

Not much if it never touches your account. If it does pass through your books, I keep it separate from your actual fee so it does not look like extra income.

The tax side

The tax side of running a speaking business.

Most of what trips people up here is a fee that gets split three ways, between a bureau, travel, and the actual speaking income.

What your return has to get right

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

  • Self-employment taxA speaker not on payroll owes 15.3 percent in self-employment tax on top of income tax, up to the Social Security wage base of $184,500.
  • The S corp questionOnce profit clears well above a reasonable salary, an S corp election can lower the self-employment tax bill. The accountant runs the numbers on actual profit.
  • Travel deductionsTravel booked and paid by you for a speaking engagement is generally deductible. Gus keeps it visible so nothing gets missed at tax time.
  • The pass-through deductionMost speaking businesses can take up to 20 percent of profit off their taxable income. Above $201,750 single or $403,500 joint, the accountant checks how much applies.

Deductions professional and keynote speakers miss

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

  • Event travel and lodging
  • Presentation slide design
  • Video and AV equipment
  • Book printing costs
  • Speaker reel production
  • Website and demo materials
  • Bureau commissions
  • Business phone and internet
  • Business liability insurance
  • Accounting and legal 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 speaking business's year, kept every month.

Bookings come in year-round on a client's calendar, not yours. Your team keeps the books closed every month, all year. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.

  1. January

    Book out the year

    Last year's return gets started, contractor 1099s are prepared, and a monthly set-aside is planned so April is no scramble.

  2. April

    Filed between flights

    The return is filed and signed between bookings, no scramble for cash, since the set-aside has been building since January.

  3. July

    Season halfway tally

    Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a busy spring conference season changed the number.

  4. October

    Before conference season peaks

    Fall is often the busiest booking season. Gus looks at what is on the calendar 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 professional and keynote speakers. 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 keynote speakers ask first.

Do I report the full fee or just what I received after the bureau's cut?

The full contracted fee is your revenue, with the bureau's commission booked as a cost. Gus keeps both sides visible so the return reflects the real numbers.

A client paid me a cancellation fee when they postponed an event. How does that get booked?

As speaking income, since it is compensation for the engagement even though the event did not happen as planned.

I sell books after almost every keynote. Does that change my business structure?

Not usually. Gus just keeps merchandise sales in their own line so you can see that income apart from your speaking fees.

I do a mix of paid keynotes and pro bono talks for causes I care about. Does that affect my books?

No fee means no income to record for that engagement. Gus still tracks any travel costs tied to it, which the accountant can review for how they are treated.

My invoices and bureau statements have never been organized in one place. Can Gus help?

Yes. Send the contracts, bank statements, and bureau statements you have. Gus sorts them by event, the accountant checks it, and most speakers 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.

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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