Paint, craft & maker studios
Books and taxes for scrapbooking and paper craft stores.
Card-making classes that include a kit of supplies, crop nights charged by the seat, and paper collections that get discontinued every season. Gus sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
December made $7,500. Holiday card-making classes filled up fast, and I split each class fee between the instruction and the physical kit, since they are treated differently on the books.
- Card class registrationsClass tuition and kits
- Crop night feesCrop nights
- Paper and sticker orderPaper and embellishments
- Die-cutting machine bladesMachine supplies
- Shop rentRent and utilities
Why your books are different
A paper craft store's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees class fees and a paper bill. Your business bundles a physical kit into most class tuition, rents seats at crop nights by the hour, and carries paper collections that manufacturers discontinue almost every season. When the books do not know that, a full class calendar can hide how much of that money was really just materials passing through.
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1
Class kits get counted as pure tuition
A card-making or album class often includes a kit of paper, stickers, and embellishments bundled into the price. Booked entirely as instruction income, the real cost of those materials disappears, and it becomes hard to see whether the class price actually covers the kit.
What we doSplits class fees between instruction and the materials kit, so you can see both the teaching margin and the kit cost clearly. -
2
Discontinued paper lines pile up as dead stock
Paper collections and coordinating stickers get retired by manufacturers almost every season, leaving partial collections on the shelf that will not sell at full price once the line is gone.
What we doFlags paper and embellishment lines that have not moved in months, so you can decide whether to bundle, discount, or write them off. -
3
Crop night income looks like flat, simple money
A crop night charges a seat fee for open studio time, and it seems straightforward, but if that revenue is not tracked against how many seats you actually have, an owner cannot tell whether crop nights are worth the staff time they take to run.
What we doKeeps crop night revenue visible against seats filled, so you know whether the format is pulling its weight. -
4
A paper and embellishment order distorts one month
A bulk order of new paper collections, stickers, and die-cutting supplies can cover a full season of classes and retail, but if the whole bill lands in one month's books, that month looks like it barely made money.
What we doKeeps paper and embellishment purchases in one steady line and flags a bulk order so a heavy-buying month is not mistaken for a bad one. -
5
Die-cutting machines get filed as a supply
A bank of die-cutting or embossing machines for a crop or class space can add up to real equipment cost, but lumped into general supplies, it never gets tracked or written off the way it should.
What we doFlags larger equipment purchases the day they show up and logs them as equipment, not supplies.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a paper craft store.
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
- Class tuition and kitsSplit between instruction and the materials kit included.
- Crop nightsOpen studio seats charged by the session.
- Retail paper and suppliesPaper, stickers, and tools sold off the shelf.
- Retreat bookingsMulti-day scrapbooking retreats, if offered.
- Gift card redemptionsMoved into revenue only when a card is actually used.
Money out
- Paper and embellishmentsPaper collections, stickers, and die cuts, tracked by season.
- Class kit suppliesMaterials bundled into class tuition.
- Machine suppliesDie-cutting blades, mats, and embossing folders.
- Shop rent and utilitiesRetail floor, class, and crop night space.
- Instructor payClass leaders and crop night hosts.
- MarketingLocal ads and retreat promotion.
- InsuranceGeneral liability for the retail and class space.
- Card processing feesWhat Square or Stripe keeps before you get paid.
What we watch for you
- Kit cost per class
What the bundled materials actually cost against class tuition.
- Dead paper stock
Discontinued collections that have not moved, worth discounting or clearing.
- Crop night fill rate
Seats booked against seats available, so you know if the format is worth running.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things paper craft store 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 split it between instruction and the kit materials, so you can see both what teaching earns and whether the kit cost is actually covered by the price.
It can. Paper lines that will not sell at full price once they are discontinued can sometimes be written down. I flag it so the accountant can help you decide.
This month they filled about 70 percent of seats and covered the instructor cost with room to spare. I keep that number ready whenever you want to check.
The tax side
The tax side of a paper craft store.
Most of what goes wrong here is class kits blended into tuition, and discontinued paper nobody wrote off.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Paper and supplies as inventoryPaper, stickers, and die cuts bought in bulk are inventory until sold or used in a class kit. Tracking roughly what is on the shelf keeps the return accurate.
- Writing off discontinued stockPaper collections that will not sell at full price once a line is retired can sometimes be written down as impaired inventory, which lowers taxable income.
- Sales tax on kits and retailMost states tax the physical materials a customer takes home, including a class kit, even when the instruction portion is treated differently. Where that line falls depends on your state.
- Equipment depreciationDie-cutting and embossing machines bought for the store can usually be written off in the year they are bought, with bonus depreciation at 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
Deductions scrapbooking and paper craft stores miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Paper and embellishments
- Stickers and die cuts
- Die-cutting blades and mats
- Class kit materials
- Shop rent and utilities
- Instructor pay
- Liability insurance
- Local social ads
- Card processing fees
- Display racks and storage
- Gift wrap and packaging
- Cleaning supplies
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 paper craft store year, kept every month.
Holiday card season, spring album classes, and a summer crop schedule all pull differently. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the return both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Clear the season
Leftover holiday paper collections get cleared out, last year's return gets started, and a monthly set-aside is planned 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 how crop nights and classes have tracked so far.
- October
Before the holidays
Gus looks at paper and kit stock, instructor scheduling, and any equipment worth buying before the busiest card-making weeks of the year.
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 scrapbooking and paper craft stores. 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 paper craft store owners ask first.
Does a class kit count as part of tuition or as its own thing?
Gus splits the fee between instruction and the materials kit, so you can see the teaching margin and the kit cost separately instead of one blended number.
We have paper collections that got discontinued by the manufacturer. Does that matter?
It can. Stock that will not sell at full price once a line is retired can sometimes be written down. Gus flags paper that has not moved so the accountant can help decide.
Are crop nights actually worth the staff time to run?
Gus tracks crop night revenue against seats filled, so you have real numbers on whether the format covers its cost instead of a guess.
Is a bulk paper and sticker order going to make a month look bad?
Gus keeps those purchases in a steady monthly line and flags a big stock-up, so a heavy-buying month is not read as a slow one.
Can a new die-cutting machine be written off this year?
Often yes. Gus flags the purchase and logs it as equipment, and the accountant tells you how it gets written off.
My books are behind from tracking sales on a cash box. Can Gus still help?
Yes. 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