Photo, content & immersive studios
Books and taxes for rentable photo studios.
Hourly bookings, membership hour blocks, damage deposits, and those marketplace payouts that land short. 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
September came in at $8,700. The Profoto kit from B&H is in there, so I logged it as equipment, not supplies.
- Peerspace payoutStudio bookings
- Giggster payoutStudio bookings
- B&H Photo orderBackdrop and grip gear
- Con EdisonUtilities
- Acuity SchedulingBooking app fee
Why your books are different
Rentable photo studio books go wrong in the same five places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is booking apps that take a cut, backdrop paper bought in bulk, and photographers who prepay for hours they have not used yet. When the books do not know that, the monthly number is not real.
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1
Marketplace payouts land net of commission
When a photographer books your studio through Peerspace or Splacer, the marketplace pays you less than the renter paid and keeps a cut of ten to twenty percent. Booked as the sale, your real rental rate and your real marketing cost both disappear.
What we doBooks the full rental price as money in and the marketplace's commission as its own cost, so your rate and your marketing spend both stay visible. -
2
Damage deposits are not rental income
Most bookings collect a refundable deposit for scratched backdrop paper or moved gear at check-in. Counted as income the moment it lands, a busy weekend of bookings can look far more profitable than it really is.
What we doKeeps deposits held for a renter separate from earned rental income until the booking closes out and the space checks in clean. -
3
A strobe kit is not a supply run
A Profoto or Godox lighting kit can run several thousand dollars, close to what a used car costs. Filed as supplies, it wrecks the month you bought it and understates every quiet month after.
What we doFlags big lighting and grip purchases the day they show up, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how to write them off. -
4
A backdrop paper order gets bought once
A box of backdrop paper rolls covers a dozen shoots but shows up on the statement as one large order. That order makes a slow month look worse and the next few months look better than they were.
What we doKeeps backdrop paper and grip supplies in one steady category, so a bulk order does not read as a bad month. -
5
Membership hours get spent months later
A regular photographer who buys a block of ten studio hours upfront has not used them yet. Booked as income the day the block sells, that prepayment can make one month look flush and the months the hours get used look thin.
What we doTracks prepaid studio hours against the months they actually get used, so revenue reflects real bookings, not block sales.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a rentable photo studio.
Set up once for how you get booked and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Hourly and day-rate bookingsPeerspace, Splacer, and Giggster bookings, plus direct scheduling.
- Membership hour blocksPrepaid hour packages for regular photographers, tracked against use.
- Add-on feesExtra lighting, backdrop swaps, and prop rentals.
- Full-day buyoutsWhole-day rentals for brand shoots and small productions.
- Card paymentsSquare or Stripe charges for walk-up bookings.
Money out
- Lighting and grip gearProfoto and Godox kits, stands, and modifiers.
- Backdrop paper and propsPaper rolls, painted backdrops, and studio props.
- Marketplace commission feesWhat Peerspace, Splacer, or Giggster keep from each booking.
- Booking app feesAcuity Scheduling or Skedda subscription costs.
- Studio rentMonthly lease for the studio space.
- UtilitiesPower for lighting-heavy shoot days.
- InsuranceLiability and equipment coverage.
- Turnover cleaningCleaning between back to back bookings.
What we watch for you
- Utilization rate
Hours booked against hours open, so a slow week shows up as pricing or demand, not guesswork.
- Marketplace cost
What booking apps keep from each rental, worth watching before leaning on just one.
- Membership hours owed
Prepaid hours not yet used, so a big block sale does not look like free cash.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is not a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things rentable photo studio 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. I never counted it as income to begin with, so refunding it just clears the deposit line. Your booking revenue stays accurate.
Usually it can. I logged it as equipment, not supplies, and flagged it so the accountant makes the call with your whole year in view.
If she works your posted hours and uses your equipment, that is usually an employee question even part time. I would loop in the accountant before it becomes a habit.
The tax side
The tax side of a rentable photo studio.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and timing. Lighting filed as supplies, a marketplace fee mistaken for lost income, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Lighting and grip equipmentStudio lighting, stands, and grip gear can usually be written off in the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for equipment bought after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Marketplace commission feesThe cut Peerspace, Splacer, or Giggster keep from a booking is a real business cost, not a reduction in your rental income. Keeping both numbers separate matters when the accountant reviews your return.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026, like a fill-in front desk helper, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators 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 rentable photo studios miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Profoto and Godox kits
- Backdrop paper rolls
- C-stands and grip gear
- Booking app fees
- Studio wifi service
- Liability insurance
- Turnover cleaning supplies
- Storage for props and backdrops
- Signage and directional decor
- Card processing fees
- Marketing and social ads
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 rentable photo studio year, kept every month.
Bookings come in steady through most of the year, with a run of family portraits before the holidays. Your team keeps you ahead of both the calendar and the tax deadlines. 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, the 1099 list for any fill-in help is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, well before the deadline. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building every month since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at midyear, what you will owe, and whether summer weddings and headshot season changed the number since January.
- October
Before the holiday rush
Family portrait and holiday card bookings pick up fast. Before it hits, Gus looks at equipment you might buy this year 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 rentable photo studios. 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 rentable photo studio owners ask first.
Can Gus handle bookings that come through Peerspace and direct payments both?
Yes. He pulls from your bank statement no matter where the payout came from, books the full rental price as income, and keeps each marketplace's commission as its own cost, so you can see your real rate next to what each app takes.
I sell blocks of studio hours to regular photographers. How does that work in the books?
Gus tracks what you collect for a block of hours separately from the months those hours actually get used, so a big prepayment does not make one month look flush and the following months look thin.
Do I write off my lighting kit all at once?
Often you can. Studio lighting and grip gear bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, though sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My studio books are a mess from switching booking apps twice this year.
That is fine. Send the bank statements you have from however far back, and Gus sorts what came from each app and gets it into one clean picture. Most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Does the damage deposit I collect at booking count as income?
No, not while it is refundable. Gus keeps deposits separate from earned rental income until a booking closes out, so your revenue reflects what you actually kept, not what you are holding for a renter.
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