Pet services
Books and taxes for protection dog trainers.
High-ticket trained dog sales, deposits held for months of development, decoy and helper day rates, and imported dogs bought from European breeders. 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
March came in at $16,700. The Belgian import that landed this month came with real customs and transport costs, so I kept that dog's full cost separate from routine training expenses.
- Trained dog sale, wireTrained dog sales
- Deposit, dog in developmentDevelopment deposits
- Import broker, customs feesDog acquisition and import
- Decoy day rate, contractorDecoy and helper pay
- Bite suit and sleeves orderTraining equipment
Why your books are different
Protection dog training books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees a big wire transfer and calls it a good month. Your business is dogs bought young and developed for a year or more, decoys paid by the day, and sales that can run into five figures. The books need to track the whole arc.
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1
A dog's acquisition cost gets lost in the sale price
You buy a young dog from an overseas breeder for $6,000, spend a year developing it, then sell it finished for $35,000. If the original cost never gets tracked against that dog, you cannot tell what a year of development actually returned.
What we doTracks each dog's acquisition and import cost against its eventual sale, so you know what development work is really worth. -
2
Development deposits get counted as a completed sale
A client puts down a deposit on a dog still a year from being finished. Book the full deposit as a sale and the month looks stronger than the work actually delivered so far.
What we doHolds development deposits as owed work until the dog is finished and delivered, so income reflects real progress. -
3
Decoy and helper pay gets mixed with your own income
Day rates paid to decoys and helpers for training sessions look like any other outgoing payment, and without a clear line you cannot see what a training day actually costs to run.
What we doKeeps decoy and helper pay on its own line, separate from equipment and your own draw, so session costs are visible. -
4
Import and customs costs get buried in supplies
Customs fees, import health certificates, and international transport for an imported dog get lumped in with ordinary training gear, hiding what bringing in a working dog actually costs.
What we doKeeps import and customs costs on their own line, tied to the dog they belong to.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a protection dog training business.
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
- Trained dog salesFinished dogs sold to clients, tied back to that dog's development cost.
- Development depositsHeld as owed work until a dog is finished and delivered.
- Board and continued trainingOngoing work maintaining a dog already sold to a client.
- Consulting and evaluationsPaid assessments of client-owned dogs.
Money out
- Dog acquisition and importPurchase price, customs, health certificates, and transport for each dog.
- Decoy and helper payDay rates for training sessions, kept separate from your own draw.
- Training equipmentBite suits, sleeves, e-collars, and long lines.
- Veterinary and healthVet care and health testing for dogs in development.
- Facility and field rentalSpace used for training and decoy work.
- TravelTrips to evaluate imports or deliver finished dogs to clients.
What we watch for you
- Per-dog margin
Acquisition and development cost against sale price, so you know which dogs are actually worth the year they take.
- Deposit balance
Development deposits held for dogs not yet finished, so you know what is truly owed.
- Decoy pay share
What decoy and helper day rates cost against income, to see if session pricing covers it.
- Import cost per dog
What customs and transport actually add to a dog's total cost before sale.
Ask Gus
Things protection dog trainers 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.
I tie the sale back to that dog's original cost, so you can see what a year of development actually returned, not just the wire that came in.
Not yet. I hold it as owed work until the dog is finished, so your books show real progress instead of one big number too early.
That's above my pay grade to settle alone. Cash pay to regular help usually still needs to be tracked and reported, so the accountant should walk through it with you.
The tax side
The tax side of a protection dog training business.
High-dollar sales, imported dogs, and contract help make cost tracking and worker classification the two things that matter most here.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Cost basis on imported dogsA dog's purchase price, import fees, and health certification usually count toward its cost basis, which offsets the sale price when it is finally sold as a trained dog.
- Deposits are not income yetA development deposit is money you owe finished work for, not profit you have earned. Gus tracks the balance so income reflects dogs actually delivered.
- Decoy and helper classificationA decoy who works your schedule with your equipment on a regular basis may look more like an employee than a contractor, even if paid a day rate. Gus flags this for the accountant.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when per-dog costs and sale income are tracked accurately all year.
Deductions protection dog trainers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Dog acquisition and import fees
- Bite suits and sleeves
- E-collars and training tools
- Decoy and helper day rates
- Veterinary care and health testing
- Field and facility rental
- Travel to evaluate or deliver dogs
- Liability insurance
- Vehicle costs for training and delivery
- Continuing education and seminars
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 protection dog training year, kept every month.
Dogs move through your program on their own timeline, not a calendar. Your taxes come on a fixed 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
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, and a set-aside is planned around the sales you expect to close this year.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether a big sale this year changed the number.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at import costs and equipment worth buying before December, and flags any dogs still in development at year end.
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 protection dog trainers. 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 protection dog trainers ask first.
I sold a dog for far more than I paid for it. What actually gets taxed?
Generally the profit, meaning the sale price minus what the dog cost you to acquire and develop, not the full sale amount. Gus tracks each dog's cost so that number is accurate when the return gets filed.
Does a large deposit on a dog still in training count as income right away?
No, Gus holds it as owed work until the dog is finished and delivered. That keeps a single big deposit from making one month look far stronger than the training actually completed.
I pay my decoy help in cash. Can Gus still work with that?
Yes, send what you paid and Gus logs it as a cost. Whether that help should be on payroll instead of paid as a contractor is a separate question the accountant should weigh in on.
Can I write off the cost of importing a dog from Europe?
The purchase price, customs fees, and transport usually become part of that dog's cost basis, which reduces the taxable profit when the dog is eventually sold.
My income swings wildly month to month depending on when a dog sells. Is that a problem?
No. Gus expects it and tracks each dog's cost against its eventual sale, so the swings make sense instead of looking random, and your set-aside is planned around the year, not one month.
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