Advisors, lenders & money services
Books and taxes for retirement planners.
Rollover IRAs that land as one big AUM jump, dinner seminar costs, a one-time retirement income plan fee. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
November came in at $12,800. Two 401(k) rollovers hit this month, so I flagged the new AUM apart from your ongoing fee base.
- Custodian fee depositAUM fees
- Retirement plan fee, D. NgPlan fees
- Steakhouse seminar dinnerSeminar marketing
- Mailing list purchaseSeminar marketing
- Social Security softwarePlanning software
Why your books are different
A retirement planning practice's books go wrong in a few particular spots.
A generalist sees a fee deposit and a marketing bill and calls it a normal month. Your fee jumps whenever a rollover lands, and your biggest expense is a dinner seminar that has to earn its cost back over months, not the night it happens.
-
1
A rollover makes one quarter look enormous
When a client rolls a $400,000 401(k) into a managed IRA, the new AUM fee shows up right away and makes that quarter's fee income jump, even though it is a one-time event, not a sign the whole book of business grew that fast.
What we doFlags new AUM from rollovers separately from the existing fee base, so growth from new accounts is not confused with a one-time spike. -
2
Seminar costs and seminar results never get compared
A dinner seminar can run $2,000 to $4,000 between the venue, the meal, and the mailing list, and if that cost sits in general marketing with no link to how many attendees became clients, there is no way to know if it worked.
What we doKeeps seminar and workshop costs in their own category, so the cost per event is visible against the clients it eventually brings in. -
3
A retirement income plan fee looks like an AUM fee
A one-time fee for a full retirement income plan, Social Security timing review, and tax projection is project work, not a recurring management fee, and mixing the two hides how much of the practice's income actually repeats.
What we doKeeps one-time plan fees separate from recurring AUM, so the steady part of the practice is visible under any strong month. -
4
Referral fees to the tax preparer down the street disappear
A split paid to the tax preparer or estate attorney who sends a pre-retiree client is a real cost of getting business, and generic bookkeeping tends to bury it in miscellaneous expense instead of tracking it against the source.
What we doKeeps referral payouts in their own line tied to the source, so you can see what each relationship is worth.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a retirement planning practice.
Set up once for how the practice earns fees and what it spends to bring in pre-retirees. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- AUM feesOngoing fees from managed rollover and retirement accounts.
- Retirement plan feesOne-time fees for a full retirement income plan or Social Security review.
- Seminar attendee conversionsNew client fees traced back to a specific workshop or seminar.
- Referral incomeFees received for sending a pre-retiree client to a specialist.
Money out
- Seminar marketingVenue, meals, and mailing lists for dinner seminars and workshops.
- Planning softwareSocial Security timing tools and retirement income projection software.
- Registration and licensingState investment adviser registration renewals tied to the practice's rollover business.
- InsuranceErrors and omissions coverage covering both retirement plans and seminar advice.
- Referral fees paidSplits paid to the tax preparer or attorney who sent a client.
- Contract laborA paraplanner or event coordinator paid outside payroll.
What we watch for you
- Cost per seminar client
What each dinner seminar actually costs against the clients it eventually brings in.
- Rollover AUM growth
New account assets against the existing fee base, so a good quarter reads correctly.
- Plan fee share
How much came from one-time plans versus recurring AUM, so growth is measured fairly.
- The set-aside
What the practice will owe on rollover and seminar-driven income, known before April arrives.
Ask Gus
Things retirement planners 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, but I flag it so it does not read as ongoing growth. New rollover assets get their own line apart from your steady fee base.
I keep seminar costs in their own category. Once you tell me which new clients came from which event, you can see cost against what it brought in.
Its own line, tied to his name, so you can see over the year what that relationship is actually worth.
The tax side
The tax side of a retirement planning practice.
Most of what matters here is separating one-time events, like a rollover or a seminar push, from the steady base underneath the practice.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- A rollover year can push the pass-through deduction lowerA strong year of new rollover business can raise taxable income enough that the 20 percent pass-through deduction starts to shrink. Gus keeps rollover and fee income visible so the accountant can plan for it.
- Self-employment tax rises with a good seminar seasonNet profit from a busy seminar season is taxed at 15.3 percent for self-employment tax, up to the $184,500 wage base for 2026, which is worth weighing against an S corp election due March 15.
- Marketing costs are usually deductible in the year spentSeminar venues, meals, and mailing lists are ordinary marketing costs and usually deductible when paid, though meal costs sometimes follow their own limit. The accountant sorts out the details each year.
- A solo 401(k) can offset a strong rollover quarterA one-person practice can defer up to $24,500 into a solo 401(k), plus $8,000 more at 50 and older, which can help absorb the tax bite from a quarter with heavy new rollover fees.
Deductions retirement planners miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Seminar venue and meal costs
- Mailing list purchases
- Social Security planning software
- State IA registration fees
- Errors and omissions insurance
- Continuing education courses
- Referral fees paid out
- Client portal software
- Professional association dues
- Home office costs
- Mileage to client meetings
- Presentation equipment
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 retirement planning year, kept every month.
Rollovers and seminars land on their own calendar and taxes land on theirs. Your team keeps the practice's own books current through both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Year planned
Rollovers from year-end job changes often land, 1099s go out for anyone paid outside payroll, and last year's return gets started.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with rollover income and seminar costs tracked apart all year, so April brings no surprise bill.
- July
Halfway check
Where the practice stands, what it will owe, and whether spring seminars turned into the AUM growth they were meant to.
- October
Before year end
A look at fall seminar spend, a retirement plan contribution, or equipment 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 retirement planners. 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 retirement planners ask first.
Two clients rolled over big 401(k) balances this quarter. Does that throw off my numbers?
No. Gus flags new rollover assets separately from your existing fee base, so a strong quarter reads as new business, not a permanent jump in ongoing income.
How do I know if my seminar spend is actually paying off?
Gus keeps every seminar cost in its own line. Once you tell him which clients came from which event, you can see the real cost against what it brought in.
Does Gus help me build the retirement income plans I sell?
No. Gus and your bookkeeper only keep the practice's own books, what the firm makes and spends. Building client plans stays entirely with you.
I pay referral fees to a tax preparer for pre-retiree referrals. How is that tracked?
Each referral partner gets its own line, so you can see exactly what that relationship costs and brings in over the year.
My income mixes AUM fees and one-time plan fees. Can Gus tell them apart?
Yes. Recurring AUM and one-time retirement plan fees stay in separate categories, so you always know how much of your income repeats.
My books have been a mess since I started doing seminars two years ago. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and Gus sorts them out. 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