Waste, recycling & environmental services
Books and taxes for recycling centers.
Baled cardboard, aluminum, and plastic sold by the pound, cash payouts to walk-in customers, and a municipal contract that pays by the ton. Your bookkeeper keeps it straight, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
June cleared $12,800. Aluminum prices dipped mid-month, so I kept can sales in their own line instead of blending them into one commodity number.
- Pratt Industries settlementCardboard sales
- Novelis can settlementAluminum sales
- Buy-back payoutsPublic buy-back
- Baler wire and partsEquipment supplies
- Landfill, contaminationDisposal fees
Why your books are different
Recycling center books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and a fuel bill. Your business buys cans and cardboard from the public, bales it, and sells it to mills at a price that moves weekly, while a municipal contract pays by the ton on its own schedule. Blend all of that together and you cannot tell which stream is paying you.
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1
Buy-back payouts look like payroll
Cash paid to walk-in customers for cans and scrap adds up fast on a busy Saturday, and lumped in with wages, it hides what you are really paying for material versus paying your own crew.
What we doKeeps buy-back payouts to the public in their own line, separate from crew wages, so you can see what material actually costs you. -
2
Commodity prices swing and get blended
Cardboard, aluminum, and plastic each sell at a different price that moves weekly. Blended into one commodity sales line, a bad week for plastic can hide a good week for aluminum, and you never see which material is carrying the month.
What we doKeeps each material's sales in its own line, so a price swing in one shows up as that material, not the whole business. -
3
Contamination costs hide inside tipping income
Non-recyclable trash pulled out of loads before baling has to go to the landfill, and that cost often gets buried in the same line as the tipping fees you collect for accepting the load.
What we doSplits contamination disposal costs from tipping fee income, so you can see what a dirty load really costs you. -
4
The baler looks like a repair bill
A vertical baler or a new conveyor can run well into six figures. Filed as facility maintenance, it wrecks that month's number and misses a real write off.
What we doFlags a baler or conveyor purchase the day it shows up, logs it as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a recycling center.
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
- Cardboard salesBaled OCC sold to paper mills, settled by the ton against the day's price.
- Aluminum and metal salesCans and scrap sold to smelters, settled by weight.
- Plastic salesBaled plastic bottles and jugs sold to reclaimers.
- Processing contract feesWhat a municipality or hauler pays per ton for curbside recyclables.
Money out
- Buy-back payoutsCash paid to the public for cans, scrap, and other drop-offs.
- Baler and conveyor maintenanceWire, belts, and repairs for the equipment doing the sorting.
- Forklift and loader fuelFuel and upkeep for equipment moving material around the yard.
- Contamination disposalLandfill fees for non-recyclable trash pulled out of loads.
- Sorter and scale attendant wagesPay for the crew sorting material and running the scale.
- Facility insuranceGeneral liability and pollution coverage for the site.
What we watch for you
- Commodity mix
Which material is actually carrying the month when prices move in different directions.
- Contamination rate
How much of what comes in has to be landfilled instead of sold, a sign of load quality.
- Buy-back cost per pound
What you pay the public against what the material later sells for.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on commodity income, tracked every month, so April is never a surprise bill.
Ask Gus
Things recycling center 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.
No, the books just show it plainly. Can sales sit in their own line, so you see the price moved, not that business dried up.
Not the way I book it. Buy-back payouts stay separate from wages, so a busy Saturday reads as material bought, not payroll gone wrong.
No. I track what the contract has earned as the work happens, then match the payment when it lands, so the month you did the work is the month that counts.
The tax side
The tax side of a recycling center.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and timing. A baler filed like a repair, buy-back cash mixed with wages, and commodity income blended together.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Balers and sorting equipmentA baler, conveyor, or forklift can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Buy-back cash payoutsCash paid to the public for material is a real cost of goods, not a wage. Keeping it well documented matters if the business is ever reviewed, and Gus keeps that record as it happens.
- Sorter worker classificationA sorter or scale attendant working your hours on your equipment is almost always an employee, even if paid a daily cash rate.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated recycling centers 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 recycling centers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Baler wire and belts
- Forklift fuel and repairs
- Scale calibration
- Contamination disposal fees
- General liability insurance
- Safety gear and gloves
- Facility utilities
- Trailer costs for shipping bales
- Scale house receipt printer
- Yard lighting and security
- Phone for scale house dispatch
- Uniforms for the sorting crew
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 recycling center year, kept every month.
Commodity prices move every week. 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
Set the year's number
Last year's return gets started and you get a monthly set-aside, so April is already handled before spring cleanup season brings in more material.
- April
Filed. Done.
The return is filed and signed, no matter how commodity prices moved this year. The set-aside already covered it, so there is nothing left to scramble for.
- July
Summer commodity check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer can drives changed the number.
- October
Before the holidays
Cardboard volume climbs with holiday shipping season. Gus looks at equipment you might need and anything worth doing 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 recycling centers. 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 recycling center owners ask first.
Can Gus keep cardboard, aluminum, and plastic sales separate?
Yes. Each material gets its own line, so a price swing in one shows up as that material moving, not the whole business slowing down.
We pay walk-in customers cash for cans. How does that get tracked?
As a real cost of goods, kept apart from crew wages. Gus records it as it happens, so a busy buy-back day never gets mistaken for a payroll problem.
Our municipal contract pays 45 days after the month ends. Does that throw off the books?
No. Gus tracks what the contract has earned as the work happens, then matches the payment when it lands, so the numbers reflect the month the work was done.
Do I write off a new baler all at once?
Often the full cost comes off the year you buy it, though for a big purchase spreading it out can work out better. Gus flags it the day it shows up, and the accountant weighs the choice against your whole year.
My books have never separated buy-back cash from other spending. Can that be fixed?
Yes. Hand over the bank statements and whatever cash records you kept, even a rough log. Gus sorts through the backlog, the accountant checks it, and you will know where things stand 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.
More in waste, recycling & environmental services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Air quality & mold inspectors
- Composting services
- Dirt & fill brokers
- Hazardous waste haulers
- Independent residential trash haulers
- Medical waste disposal
- Oilfield service companies
- Phase I environmental site assessment firms
- Scrap metal recyclers
- Stormwater compliance services
- Tire recycling
- Used cooking oil collection
- Water testing labs
- Wetland & environmental permitting consultants
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