Performance, custom & powersports
Books and taxes for independent RV dealers.
New and used RV sales, F&I commissions on service contracts and financing, consignment units, and floor plan curtailments due on a schedule. 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
March made $25,000. The consignment RV that sold this month is booked at just your commission, not the full sale price, since the rest belongs to the owner who left it with you.
- RV sale, walk-through completeNew RV sales
- F&I office commissionF&I income
- Consignment sale commissionConsignment sales
- Floor plan curtailment paymentFloor plan principal and interest
- PDI and detail prep costsPrep and delivery costs
Why your books are different
An RV dealer's books go wrong in the same handful of spots.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is units on a flooring line with curtailments due on a schedule, F&I commissions, consignment deals, and prep costs before a unit is even ready to show. When the books do not know the difference, margin on a sold unit is a guess.
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1
Floor plan curtailments get booked as a regular payment
Most RV floor plans require a curtailment payment on a unit at 12 or 18 months whether or not it has sold, on top of the usual interest. Booked as a routine loan payment, it hides that the unit is aging on the flooring line and costing more to carry.
What we doTracks curtailment payments and due dates against each unit's cost, so you can see which units are getting expensive to hold. -
2
F&I commissions get lost inside the unit sale
The finance and insurance office earns commissions on service contracts, GAP insurance, and a reserve from the lender on financed sales. Lumped into the unit's sale price, it hides a real profit center from the owner.
What we doBooks F&I commissions in their own category, separate from the unit sale, so you can see what that office actually earns. -
3
A consignment sale gets booked at the full price
A unit an owner leaves with you to sell is not your inventory. Booking the full sale price as revenue instead of just your commission overstates sales and understates what you actually made on the deal.
What we doBooks only the commission the dealership keeps on a consignment sale, with the rest passed through to the unit's owner. -
4
PDI and prep costs disappear before a unit ever shows
Pre-delivery inspection, detailing, and prep work happen before a unit hits the lot, and those costs often get buried in general shop expense instead of attached to that unit's real cost to sell.
What we doTracks PDI and prep costs against the unit they belong to, so margin on that sale reflects what it actually cost to get ready. -
5
A trade allowance gets buried inside the new loan
When a trade-in RV's value is rolled straight into financing the new unit, the trade-in often never shows up as its own line. The dealership ends up carrying a used RV in inventory with no real cost basis of its own to measure a future sale against.
What we doBooks the trade-in at its own fair value as inventory, separate from the new unit's financed sale, so the used RV has a real cost basis when it resells.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an RV dealer.
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
- New RV salesNew units sold off the lot or ordered to spec.
- Used and trade-in salesTrade-ins taken in and resold at their real value.
- Consignment salesOnly the dealership's commission on units sold for an owner.
- F&I incomeCommissions on service contracts, GAP insurance, and financing.
- Service department laborRepairs and maintenance, kept apart from unit sales.
- Parts counter salesWalk-in and online parts sales not tied to a service ticket.
Money out
- Service tech wagesKept apart so you can see labor against the work it paid for.
- Unit inventoryNew RVs purchased from manufacturers, carried on the flooring line.
- Floor plan principal and interestRegular payments and scheduled curtailments on financed inventory.
- Prep and delivery costsPDI, detailing, and walk-through prep before a unit is shown.
- Parts and materialsRepair and service department stock.
- Lot rent and utilitiesThe showroom, service bays, and outdoor display space.
- Marketing and lead feesRV show booths, Google ads, and manufacturer co-op advertising.
- Freight on inventoryShipping and delivery costs on new units.
What we watch for you
- Floor plan cost as a share of sales
Interest and curtailments on financed inventory eat into margin quietly. Worth knowing before adding more units to the lot.
- F&I income per unit sold
How much the finance and insurance office earns on the average deal, tracked apart from the unit sale itself.
- Units aging toward curtailment
Which units are getting close to a scheduled curtailment date, so pricing decisions happen before it is due, not after.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things RV dealers 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.
Against that unit's cost, along with the interest tracked separately, so you can see it is getting more expensive to hold, not just a routine bill.
No. I keep F&I commissions in their own category, apart from the unit sale, so you can see what that office is really earning.
Just your commission. The rest belongs to the owner who left the unit with you, so it is not counted as your sale.
The tax side
The tax side of an RV dealer.
Most of what goes wrong here is what counts as income and when. Consignment sales booked at full price, curtailments buried in a loan payment, 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.
- Service bay and PDI equipmentLifts, diagnostic tools, and the equipment used to prep units for delivery can usually be written off in the year they are bought, with bonus depreciation running 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- RV inventory and cost of goodsA unit sitting on the lot is inventory, not a deduction, until it actually sells. What moved off the lot during the month, floor plan cost included, is what belongs on the return.
- Techs, delivery staff, and worker classificationA technician or delivery specialist who works your hours with your tools is usually an employee, even if paid a flat rate per unit. Gus flags it before it becomes a habit, since getting it wrong is costly.
- 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 independent RV dealers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Diagnostic and service equipment
- PDI and detailing supplies
- RV show booth costs
- Freight and delivery on new units
- Manufacturer co-op advertising
- Google local ads
- Shop rags and cleaners
- Uniforms with your logo
- Dealer bonding and licensing fees
- Liability insurance
- Lot lighting and security
- Waste oil and battery disposal fees
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
An RV dealer's year, kept every month.
Spring RV show season drives the biggest push of the year. 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
Plan the year
Last year's return gets started, floor plan curtailment schedules for the coming year are reviewed, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring show season changed the number more than expected.
- October
Before winter lot planning
Before the season slows down, Gus looks at floor-planned inventory nearing a curtailment date 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 independent RV dealers. 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 RV dealers ask first.
How does Gus handle floor plan curtailment payments?
He tracks curtailments against the unit's cost and keeps the interest as its own line, so you can see when a unit is getting expensive to hold on the lot.
Does F&I income count as part of the unit sale?
No. Gus books F&I commissions in their own category, separate from the unit's sale price, so you can see what that office actually earns.
How do you book a consignment sale?
At just the dealership's commission, not the full sale price. The rest belongs to the owner who left the unit with you.
Where do PDI and prep costs show up?
Against the specific unit they belong to, so the margin on that sale reflects what it actually cost to get the RV ready to show.
We rolled a trade-in's value into the new RV's financing. Does that hide anything?
It can. Gus books the trade-in at its own fair value as inventory, separate from the financed sale, so the used RV carries a real cost basis instead of disappearing into the new deal.
My books are behind after a busy show season. Is that a problem?
No. 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