Pet products & breeding
Books and taxes for raw pet food brands and stores.
Subscription payouts, farmers market cash, wholesale orders to local boutiques, and a meat bill that moves every week. 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
June came in at $14,000. Beef prices jumped again this month, so I flagged it before it quietly ate into your margin.
- Recharge subscription payoutSubscription orders
- Saturday market card salesFarmers market sales
- Regional meat supplier invoiceMeat and bone
- Refrigerated van fuelDelivery route
- Frozen pouch packaging orderPackaging
Why your books are different
A raw pet food business's books go wrong in a few specific places.
A generalist sees deposits and a big meat bill. Your business runs on cold chain costs, a subscription that renews and sometimes refunds, and a wholesale account that pays differently than a home delivery customer. When the books do not separate those, the real margin disappears.
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1
Cold storage costs hide in the utility bill
Walk-in freezer rent, dry ice, and blast chiller power often get lumped into a general utilities line, so nobody can see what it actually costs to keep the product safe to sell before it ever reaches a customer.
What we doKeeps cold storage and packaging in their own line, so the real cost of getting product out the door is visible. -
2
Subscription refunds get lost in the payout
A subscription tool like Recharge auto-renews customers and processes refunds separately, so a payout that looks like a strong month can actually include cancellations that will need to be backed out later.
What we doNets subscription refunds against the payout as they happen, so recurring revenue reflects what actually stuck. -
3
Wholesale and direct orders get priced and booked the same
A boutique buying cases at a wholesale discount on net 30 terms is a different sale than a customer paying full price for home delivery, and mixing the two makes it hard to see whether wholesale is actually worth the discount.
What we doKeeps wholesale invoices separate from direct sales and tracks what boutiques still owe. -
4
Meat prices swing and the margin follows
Beef, chicken, and organ meat prices move week to week with the commodity market, and if that cost is not tracked closely against what a batch sold for, a business can be losing money on its best-selling recipe without knowing it.
What we doTracks meat cost against sales by category, so a price jump gets caught before it becomes a habit. -
5
Spoiled or expired product disappears from the books
Frozen inventory that does not sell before its date has to be pulled and destroyed, and if that loss is not recorded, the cost of goods on what actually sold looks better than it really is.
What we doBooks spoiled and expired stock as a real loss, so the margin on what sold reflects the truth.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a raw pet food business.
Set up once for how the business gets paid and what it spends. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Subscription ordersRecurring payouts from Recharge or a similar subscription tool, net of refunds.
- Farmers market salesCash and card sales from the weekend market booth.
- Wholesale accountsNet 30 invoices to boutiques, groomers, and vet clinics.
- Direct website ordersOne-time orders through the brand's own site.
Money out
- Meat and boneBeef, chicken, organ, and bone from the meat supplier.
- Cold storageWalk-in freezer rent, dry ice, and blast chiller power.
- PackagingFrozen pouches, vacuum bags, and insulated shipping boxes.
- Delivery routeRefrigerated van fuel, maintenance, and insurance.
- Food safety testingLab testing and pathogen screening on batches.
- Registration and labelingState feed registration and label approval fees.
- Payment processingWhat Recharge and the card processor keep before the payout lands.
What we watch for you
- Meat cost per batch
Meat cost against what a batch sold for, so a price jump gets caught before it eats the margin.
- Subscription churn
Cancellations against active subscriptions, tracked so recurring revenue is the real number.
- Spoilage loss
Product pulled before it sold, as a share of what was made, so waste does not creep.
- Wholesale share
How much of total sales comes from wholesale accounts against the discount they get.
Ask Gus
Things raw pet food 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.
I track meat cost against what each recipe sold for, so you can see a jump like this before it eats the margin for the whole quarter.
Against the month they happen. I net them out of the payout as they land, so the recurring number stays honest.
Yes, that is a real loss and I book it as one. Whether it changes anything on the return depends on the details, so I flagged it for the accountant to look at.
The tax side
The tax side of a raw pet food business.
Most of what matters here is timing and equipment. Meat and packaging bought to make product are not deductions until the product sells, and a freezer or blast chiller is its own kind of write-off.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsMeat, bone, and packaging bought to produce inventory are not deductible when purchased. They become a cost when the product sells, which is why an accurate frozen inventory count matters at tax time.
- Freezers and cold chain equipmentA walk-in freezer or blast chiller can often be written off in the year it is bought. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for equipment acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Marketplace reportingRecharge or a card processor sends a 1099-K once sales cross $20,000 and 200 transactions, but every dollar sold is taxable whether or not a form arrives.
- The pass-through deductionMost profitable owner-operated food makers can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions raw pet food brands and stores miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Dry ice and cold packs
- Walk-in freezer rent or repair
- State feed registration fees
- Label design and printing
- Food safety lab testing
- Vacuum sealer bags
- Delivery van maintenance
- Insulated shipping totes
- Farmers market booth fees
- Business liability insurance
- Delivery route mileage
- Freezer thermometers and monitors
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 raw pet food year, kept every month.
Meat prices and orders both move all year long. Your team keeps you ahead of the cost side and the calendar. 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, feed registration renewals are checked, 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.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether rising meat costs have changed your real margin.
- October
Before the freezers fill
Ahead of holiday gift orders and stocking for winter, Gus looks at cold storage costs and any equipment worth buying before 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 raw pet food brands and stores. 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 raw pet food owners ask first.
Can Gus track my cold storage costs separately from other bills?
Yes. Freezer rent, dry ice, and blast chiller power get their own line, so you can see what it actually costs to keep product safe before it sells.
How does Gus handle subscription refunds and cancellations?
He nets them against the payout in the month they happen, so your recurring revenue number reflects what actually stuck, not the full renewal amount.
I sell wholesale to a few boutiques on net 30. Does that work differently?
Yes. Those invoices are kept separate from direct sales, and Gus tracks what each account still owes so nothing slips past its terms.
Meat prices keep moving. Can Gus tell me if a recipe is still profitable?
He tracks meat cost against what each recipe sold for, so a price jump on beef or organ meat gets caught before it quietly eats the margin.
What happens to the books when I have to toss expired product?
It gets booked as a real loss against that batch, not left blended into what sold. That keeps your margin on active inventory honest.
My books have never separated wholesale from direct sales. Can Gus fix that going forward?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and Gus will start splitting them out this month. The accountant checks the work, and most owners see it clearly within a cycle.
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 pet products & breeding
We keep books for the business next door too.
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- Cat breeders
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- Reptile shops & breeders
- Custom pet portrait businesses
- Pet apparel brands
- Pet supply boutiques
- Canine fitness & dog swimming pools
- Canine massage & rehab
- Cat groomers
- Dog agility & sport training facilities
- Dog behaviorists
- Invisible & electric dog fence installers
- Off-leash dog parks with bars
- Pet cremation & aftercare
- Pet photographers
- Pet relocation services (international)
- Pet taxi & pet transport
- Protection dog trainers
- Service dog trainers
- Exotic animal vets
- Holistic & integrative vets
- In-home pet euthanasia services
- Low-cost spay/neuter & vaccine clinics
- Veterinary dental specialists
- Veterinary rehab & hydrotherapy
- Board-and-train programs
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