Senior care & aging services
Books and taxes for residential care homes.
A private-pay rate that covers room, board, and care, a home that doubles as the business, and referral fees owed to placement advisors. Your own bookkeeper keeps it straight, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one clear number each month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February netted $6,500. A new resident's placement fee came out this month, so I kept it separate from what you actually kept from her rate.
- Resident private-pay checkPrivate-pay rate
- State supplement depositState supplement
- Payroll, live-in caregiverCaregiver wages
- Smart and Final grocery runGroceries
- Placement advisor referral feeReferral fee
Why your books are different
A board and care home's books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees rent and groceries. Your business is a house that is also a residence, an owner who often works shifts herself, and a handful of beds where one vacancy changes everything. When the books do not know that, deductions get overstated or the real cost of running the home stays invisible.
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1
The home is both a residence and a business
Owners often live in the same house, or a portion of it, that the business runs from, and if a plumbing repair or the whole grocery bill gets written off as entirely business, the deduction claimed is bigger than what the business actually uses.
What we doSplits costs between the business-use portion of the home and personal use, so what gets deducted matches what the business actually uses. -
2
Owner labor disappears into the business
An owner working caregiving shifts alongside hired staff often does not pay herself a wage at all, which hides what the home really costs to run and makes it hard to know if hiring more help would pencil out.
What we doTracks the value of owner hours separately from hired staff wages, so you can see what the home costs to run with or without you working a shift. -
3
A referral fee eats the first month's income
A placement advisor who brought a new resident sometimes takes a fee equal to a chunk of that resident's first month, and if it is not tracked apart from regular income, the first month with a new resident looks far more profitable than it was.
What we doBooks placement referral fees as their own cost, so a new resident's first month shows what you actually kept. -
4
A few beds mean one empty room changes everything
A six-bed home running at five residents is losing nearly a fifth of its private-pay income while groceries and staffing barely change, and at this scale it is easy to miss how much one vacancy actually costs.
What we doTracks occupancy against your mostly fixed costs, so an empty bed's real cost is visible right away, not just felt at the end of the month.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a residential care home.
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
- Private-pay monthly rateFamilies paying directly for a resident's room, board, and care in one flat rate.
- State supplement paymentsA state or income-linked payment for residents who cannot cover the full private rate.
- Placement advisor referralsA resident a placement advisor brought, with a referral fee expected in return.
- Respite staysA short-term stay booked while a family caregiver travels or needs a break.
Money out
- Live-in and shift caregiver wagesStaff covering the hours the owner does not work herself.
- Payroll taxes and workers compThe cost of employing caregiving staff, not just paying them.
- Groceries and household suppliesFamily-style meals cooked in the home's own kitchen.
- Mortgage or rent on the residenceThe cost of the home the business operates out of.
- Utilities, business-use shareThe portion of power, water, and gas the business actually uses.
- Home maintenance and repairsUpkeep on a residence that also has to pass state inspection.
- Licensing and inspection feesState renewal and inspection costs for the home.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for the residents and the care given to them.
What we watch for you
- Occupancy
Beds filled against total licensed capacity, critical to watch at this small a scale.
- Cost per resident
Groceries, staffing, and home costs spread across the residents actually living there.
- Owner hours worked
Shifts you cover yourself, tracked so you can see the home's real cost with outside help.
- Referral fees owed
What is committed to placement advisors against the new residents they brought in.
Ask Gus
Things board and care home 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.
Only the portion that goes to residents. If some of it feeds your own family too, I split it so the deduction matches what the business really uses.
It matters for seeing the real picture. I track your hours separately so you know what the home costs with or without you working it yourself.
It is common in this business. I book that referral fee as its own cost, so the new resident's first month shows what you actually kept.
The tax side
The tax side of a residential care home.
Most of what goes wrong here is separating home from business and figuring out what you should be paying yourself.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Business use of the homeWhen part of your residence is used for the business, a share of the mortgage interest, utilities, and repairs can usually be deducted based on the space and time devoted to residents.
- Owner wages versus drawsPaying yourself a wage for caregiving hours versus taking an owner draw changes your tax picture and your Social Security record. The accountant helps you pick what fits your setup.
- 1099s for placement advisors and fill-in helpA placement advisor or a fill-in caregiver who is genuinely independent, paid $2,000 or more in 2026, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can deduct up to 20 percent of what the home earns, though the deduction can shrink for personal-care businesses once taxable income passes $201,750 single or $403,500 joint.
Deductions residential care homes miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Groceries for residents
- Household supplies
- Home maintenance and repairs
- Utilities, business-use share
- Liability insurance
- Licensing and inspection fees
- Background checks per hire
- Caregiver uniforms
- Mileage for resident errands
- Furnishing and bedding replacements
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 residential care home's year, kept every month.
A new resident can arrive any week of the year. Licensing and 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
Rates and licensing confirmed
Annual license renewal and any rate changes for the new year happen early, so the team confirms both before billing continues.
- April
Filed, home life goes on
Your return is filed and signed without disrupting the household. The set-aside built since January already covers what is owed.
- July
Halfway on vacancy cost
A look at how many beds have stayed filled through the year and what any vacancy has actually cost you.
- October
Before the busy referral season
Families deciding on care before the holidays often call placement advisors and homes directly. The team looks at whether the home is ready for a new resident.
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 residential care homes. 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 board and care home owners ask first.
Can I deduct the whole house since I run the business from home?
Only the share the business actually uses. Gus splits home costs between business and personal use so the deduction matches reality, not the whole bill.
I don't pay myself for the shifts I cover. Does that cause a problem?
It does not cause a problem, but it does hide the real cost of running the home. Gus tracks your hours so you can see what it costs with or without you working it.
A placement advisor wants part of a new resident's first month. How does Gus handle that?
As its own cost, booked apart from regular income, so you can see what the new resident actually nets you after the referral fee.
We have one empty bed right now. Is that a big deal at six beds?
It can be. Gus tracks occupancy against your mostly fixed costs, so you can see exactly what one empty bed is costing rather than just feeling it at month's end.
Some residents get a state supplement instead of paying privately. Does that complicate the books?
No. Gus tracks each payer separately so you can see which residents pay privately and which rely on a supplement, and how that mix is trending.
My books have never really been organized. Can you still help?
Yes. Send whatever bank statements you have on hand. Gus sorts resident income from your own household spending as he works through the backlog, and most owners see where they 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 senior care & aging services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Adult day care centers
- Geriatric care managers
- Medical alert system dealers
- Respite care providers
- Senior dental & mobile care
- Senior home safety assessments
- Senior living placement advisors
- Senior move managers & downsizing specialists
- Companion care services
- Memory care communities
- Small assisted living facilities
- Home health agencies (skilled)
- Hospice providers
- Non-medical home care agencies
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