Music, art & performing arts businesses
Books and taxes for rehearsal spaces.
Monthly lockout rooms, hourly bookings by the night, security deposits, and a PA system in every room that needs replacing eventually. 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
September came in at $5,700. Two bands signed on for monthly lockout rooms, so I moved their deposits to held funds until they actually move in.
- Lockout rent, Room 4Monthly lockout rentals
- Venmo, hourly roomHourly room rentals
- Guitar Center invoicePA and room gear
- Landlord, unit rentBuilding rent
- ADT monthlySecurity and locks
Why your books are different
Rehearsal space books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees monthly rent coming in and calls it a day. Rehearsal spaces mix hourly rooms, monthly lockout tenants, security deposits, and gear left behind by bands that never come back. When the books do not separate those, deposits look like profit and a security deposit looks like income.
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1
Security deposits get booked as income
A band pays first month plus a $300 security deposit to move into a lockout room. Booked together as rent, the deposit inflates the month and leaves nothing on the books when it has to be returned.
What we doHolds security deposits as a liability, separate from rent, so the money you owe back never gets counted as yours. -
2
Hourly rooms and lockout rooms blur together
A single deposit from a payment app can include a Tuesday night hourly booking and a lockout tenant's monthly rent. Combined, you cannot tell which rooms are actually carrying the business.
What we doSplits hourly bookings from lockout rent, so you can see which rooms are worth keeping and which need a rate change. -
3
Abandoned gear turns into a write-off nobody logged
A band leaves an amp or a drum kit behind when they stop paying rent. If it was never logged as equipment, there is nothing to write off, and it just disappears from the books.
What we doKeeps a running list of room gear and flags anything left behind, lost, or damaged so it gets handled at tax time. -
4
Late fees and damage charges get lost in rent
A late lockout payment or a damage charge for a broken door gets deposited alongside regular rent, so you cannot see how often it happens or whether it is worth the hassle to collect.
What we doTracks late fees and damage recoveries as their own line, so patterns in who pays late are easy to see.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a rehearsal space.
Set up once for how rooms get rented and what keeps the building running. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Monthly lockout rentalsRecurring rent from bands with their own locked room.
- Hourly room rentalsSingle-night bookings paid by Venmo, Zelle, or cash at the door.
- Security deposits heldMove-in deposits kept separate until a tenant moves out.
- Late fees and damage recoveriesCharges for late rent or repairs, kept apart from regular rent.
Money out
- Building rentWhat you pay your own landlord for the space.
- PA and room gearAmps, drum kits, and speakers shared by rooms, from Guitar Center or a local shop.
- Security and locksAlarm monitoring, cameras, and new locks for lockout rooms.
- UtilitiesPower, water, and often heavy air conditioning for soundproofed rooms.
- Cleaning and upkeepTrash pickup, pest control, and general repairs between tenants.
- InsuranceLiability coverage for a building full of bands and gear.
What we watch for you
- Lockout occupancy
Rooms rented against rooms available shows if a rate change or a push to fill empty rooms is worth it.
- Hourly room usage
Nights booked against nights open, since a slow hourly room may be worth converting to lockout.
- Deposits held
What you owe back to tenants, tracked apart from money that is actually yours.
- The set-aside
What you will owe in taxes, tracked from lockout and hourly rent every month, so filing season is no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things rehearsal space 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 have it logged as abandoned gear. Keep it on file until your lease or state rules say you can sell or dispose of it, and I will handle the write-off when that happens.
No. I hold it separate from rent since you owe it back. Only rent itself counts as money in.
That is above my pay grade, but I can pull your current numbers together so the accountant can look at what the build-out would take before you commit.
The tax side
The tax side of a rehearsal space.
Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as income versus what you owe back, and whether shared gear was ever logged as an asset.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Room gear and Section 179Shared amps, PA systems, and drum kits can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Security deposits are not incomeA refundable deposit is not taxable income when it is received. It only becomes income if you keep it for damage or unpaid rent.
- The pass-through deductionMost rehearsal space owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
- Build-out and improvementsSoundproofing, new walls, or electrical work to add rooms is usually depreciated over time rather than deducted all at once. The accountant sorts out the schedule.
Deductions rehearsal spaces miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Soundproofing and acoustic foam
- Shared PA and backline gear
- Locks and security cameras
- Alarm monitoring
- Cleaning supplies and trash pickup
- Liability insurance
- Utilities for the building
- Repairs between tenants
- Signage and room numbering
- Booking software or a website
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 rehearsal space year, kept every month.
Bands move in and out on their own schedule. Your taxes come on a schedule too, and 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
Lockouts get planned
Last year's return gets started, deposits held are reconciled, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed and settled
Your return is filed and signed. No scramble in April, since rent from every lockout room has been feeding the set-aside since January.
- July
Midyear room check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer band turnover changed lockout occupancy.
- October
Before the fall rush
New bands often form after summer. Gus looks at whether it is worth adding rooms or gear before the year closes out.
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 rehearsal spaces. 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 rehearsal space owners ask first.
How do you handle a tenant who pays rent and a deposit in one payment?
Gus splits it. The rent portion counts as income right away, and the deposit is held separately until you decide whether to return it or apply it to damage.
Do I need separate bank accounts for hourly bookings and lockout rooms?
No. One account is fine. Gus reads your statements and sorts each deposit into the right category based on what it was for.
A tenant left gear behind and disappeared. Does that cost me anything at tax time?
Not directly, but if you had logged it as an asset and now have to dispose of it, there can be a write-off. Gus keeps track so nothing gets missed.
My lockout rooms are full but hourly bookings are slow. Is that normal?
It varies by space, but Gus can show you the split so you can decide if converting an hourly room to lockout is worth trying.
I collect rent in cash sometimes. Is that a problem?
No, as long as it gets recorded. Send Gus the total and what it was for, and he books it the same as any other rent payment.
My books are behind by months. Can you still take this over?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners 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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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