Creative & production services
Books and taxes for restaurant marketing agencies.
A food photography shoot for a new menu launch, a delivery app promotion budget, a monthly social media retainer, and a freelance photographer on a tight turnaround. 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
April came in at $11,400. The Marchetti's Kitchen spring menu shoot ran long with extra dishes to photograph, so that project income showed up bigger than your usual retainer work this month.
- Marchetti's Kitchen menu shootFood photography project income
- Social retainer clients x8Retainer income
- Delivery app promo budgetClient promotion spend
- K. Delacroix food photographyFreelance photographers
- Scheduling and design softwareSoftware
Why your books are different
Restaurant marketing books go wrong at the menu shoot and the delivery app budget.
A generalist sees a design and social shop. Your business runs food photography shoots tied to menu launches, manages delivery app promotion budgets on a restaurant's behalf, bills steady social retainers, and works around a restaurant's own slow and busy seasons. When the books blend those, you cannot see which part of the work actually pays.
-
1
A menu launch shoot looks like a routine retainer month
A big photography shoot tied to a new seasonal menu is a one-time project cost and income spike, and if it is not tracked separately from your steady social retainers, it hides how much of your income is really recurring.
What we doKeeps food photography project income separate from social retainer income so you can see your real recurring floor. -
2
Delivery app promotion budgets get counted as agency revenue
When a restaurant hands you money to fund a DoorDash or Uber Eats promotion and you keep a management fee, booking the full budget as sales makes the business look far bigger than it is and overstates what is owed at tax time.
What we doBooks your management fee as income and delivery app promotion spend as a client pass-through cost, so the top line reflects what you actually keep. -
3
A freelance food photographer looks like a software cost
Bringing in a photographer for a menu shoot or seasonal campaign means paying invoices that can land next to your scheduling and design software bills.
What we doKeeps freelance photographer payments in their own line and tracks what you have paid each contractor toward the 1099 threshold. -
4
A restaurant's slow season looks like your agency losing clients
Many restaurants cut marketing spend during their own slow season, and if that dip is not tracked against the pattern, it can look like your agency is losing business when it is really just the client's calendar.
What we doTracks retainer income against your own history so a client's seasonal pullback reads as expected, not a warning sign. -
5
Local SEO and listings work gets billed the same as social content
Managing a restaurant's Google Business profile and local search presence is different work than posting daily social content, but if both just say marketing services, you cannot tell which part of the work is worth more.
What we doKeeps local SEO and listings work separate from social content management so you can see which service pays better.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a restaurant marketing agency.
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
- Retainer incomeOngoing social media and content management, billed monthly.
- Food photography project incomeOne-off shoots tied to menu launches and seasonal campaigns.
- Local SEO and listings feesGoogle Business and local search management billed apart from social.
- Management fee incomeWhat you keep for coordinating a delivery app or ad promotion.
Money out
- Client promotion spendDelivery app or ad budgets placed on a restaurant's behalf, not your revenue.
- Freelance photographersContractors brought in for menu and campaign shoots.
- SoftwareSocial scheduling, design, and listings management tools.
- Stock assetsFonts, templates, and stock elements for client campaigns.
- Travel to client locationsTravel for on-site shoots and in-person meetings.
What we watch for you
- Retainer floor
Monthly retainer income against total income, the base you can count on before a project shoot.
- Real revenue share
Your management fees against total money moved, so delivery app budgets never get mistaken for your income.
- Client seasonal pattern
How retainer spend moves with a restaurant's own slow and busy seasons.
- The set-aside
What you will owe across retainer and project income, tracked monthly so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things restaurant marketing agency 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 book your management fee as income and the promotion spend as a pass-through cost, so your real revenue stays accurate.
No, I track retainer income against your own history, so a seasonal pullback from that client reads as expected, not a sign your agency is struggling.
Yes, since it crossed $2,000. I have been tracking every payment to her, so the form is ready by January 31.
The tax side
The tax side of a restaurant marketing agency.
Most of what goes wrong here is delivery app budgets counted as revenue and seasonal client dips read as trouble.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Contractor 1099s for photographersAny photographer or freelancer not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the running list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated restaurant marketing agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when project and retainer income is tracked cleanly all year.
- Equipment and software write-offsComputers, monitors, and scheduling or design software can usually be written off the year they are bought.
- Self-employment tax for solo ownersA one-person agency pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside has to cover both, across retainer and project months alike.
Deductions restaurant marketing agencies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Freelance photographer fees
- Social scheduling software
- Design software licenses
- Stock templates and assets
- Travel to client locations
- Computer and monitor upgrades
- Continuing education courses
- Coworking or home office share
- Payment processor fees
- Client contract tools
- Business association dues
- Marketing and self-promotion
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 restaurant marketing agency's year, kept every month.
Menu launches and a restaurant's own busy season drive the calendar. Your books stay current no matter the timing, and the return follows. 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 photographer 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed right as spring menu season ramps up. The set-aside covered it since January, so the bill is not a surprise.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how summer menu launches changed the number.
- October
Before the holiday menu push
Restaurants plan holiday menus and promotions before year end. Gus looks at equipment or software worth buying 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 restaurant marketing agencies. 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 restaurant marketing agency owners ask first.
Does a delivery app promotion budget count as my taxable income?
Only your management fee counts as income. Gus books the promotion spend as a pass-through cost, so your real revenue and your tax bill both stay accurate.
One of my restaurant clients always slows down in January. Will that hurt my numbers?
No, Gus tracks retainer income against your own history, so an expected seasonal dip from one client reads as normal, not a sign of trouble.
I use different freelance photographers depending on the shoot. Does that complicate the 1099s?
No, Gus tracks each contractor's total payments across the year no matter how many you use or how the work is split.
A menu launch shoot made this month look much bigger than usual. Is that a problem?
No, Gus keeps project income like a menu shoot separate from your steady retainer income, so a spike reads as exactly what it was.
My books have never separated client promotion spend from my own fees. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send what you have, even a mix of retainer work and delivery app budgets. Gus separates the two, and most owners know 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.
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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