Photo, content & immersive studios
Books and taxes for selfie museums.
Timed ticket sales, birthday party bookings, gift shop prints, and admission tax collected on every entry. 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
July came in at $18,500. The new balloon room installation from your local fabricator is in there, so I logged it as an exhibit build, not a repair.
- Eventbrite payoutTicket sales
- Fareharbor payoutTicket sales
- Square, gift shopGift shop sales
- State revenue deptAdmission tax remitted
- Local fabricatorExhibit build
Why your books are different
Selfie museum books go wrong in the same five places.
A generalist sees ticket deposits and bills. Your business is timed entry, a tax on every ticket that is not your money, and installation rooms that need rebuilding on a schedule. When the books do not separate that, the monthly number lies to you.
-
1
Admission tax rides along with ticket revenue
A city or state tax collected on top of every entry ticket is money the museum holds for the government, not income. Lumped into ticket sales, a strong ticket month can look like it made more than it did, and the tax gets spent by accident.
What we doKeeps admission tax collected in its own line, separate from ticket revenue, so it is never mistaken for money the business gets to keep. -
2
An installation refresh looks like a repair
Rebuilding the ball pit room or a new mirror maze installation can cost as much as a small storefront buildout, but it shows up on the statement looking like maintenance. Filed as a repair, it gets written off all at once instead of the way a capital project should be.
What we doFlags large exhibit builds the month they happen and gets the accountant's read on how the project should be handled. -
3
Gift shop sales blur into ticket income
Prints, magnets, and branded merchandise ring up through the same register as admission. Lumped together, the owner cannot tell whether the shop earns its keep or just breaks even against what it costs to stock.
What we doKeeps gift shop sales in their own category so you can see what the shop actually contributes next to ticket income. -
4
Birthday party deposits get booked as income too early
A family books a Saturday party package weeks ahead and pays a deposit up front. Booked as income the day it lands, a slow week with three big deposits can look busy when the parties have not happened yet.
What we doHolds party deposits separate from earned ticket revenue until the party actually happens. -
5
Walk-in cash at the door is easy to undercount
A family that buys tickets at the counter on a Saturday afternoon is easy to miss if there is no consistent way that cash gets logged before it goes toward the next supply order.
What we doWorks from the bank statement and whatever door log the owner sends, and asks when a ticket pattern looks like a day is missing.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a selfie museum.
Set up once for how tickets get sold and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Timed ticket salesEventbrite and Fareharbor sales, online and at the door.
- Birthday and group party packagesDeposits and balances for private bookings.
- Gift shop and print salesMagnets, prints, and branded merchandise.
- Corporate and event buyoutsAfter-hours rentals for company events.
- Membership and annual pass salesPrepaid unlimited-visit passes.
Money out
- Exhibit builds and refreshesNew installation rooms and set rebuilds.
- Props and installation suppliesBalloons, foam pits, mirrors, and backdrop materials.
- Admission tax collectedHeld separate until it is remitted to the state or city.
- Ticketing feesWhat Eventbrite or Fareharbor keep from each sale.
- Gift shop inventoryPrint stock, magnets, and branded merchandise to sell.
- Location rentMonthly lease for the museum space.
- Front desk and attendant payrollTicket counter and room monitor staff.
- InsuranceLiability coverage for public foot traffic.
What we watch for you
- Tickets per day
Average daily admissions, so you know if a slow stretch is traffic or the calendar.
- Gift shop attach rate
Share of visitors who also buy from the shop, useful before restocking.
- Admission tax held
What is owed to the state or city, kept visible so it never gets spent.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is not a surprise.
Ask Gus
Things selfie museum 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.
A chunk of that was admission tax you collected but do not get to keep. I kept it in its own line so you can see what is actually yours.
Usually not. That looks like a capital project, not a repair, so I flagged it and the accountant will decide how it gets written off.
Just keep collecting them the way you do. I hold the deposit until the party happens, so a big booking week does not look like income you have not earned yet.
The tax side
The tax side of a selfie museum.
Most of what goes wrong here is a tax that is not really yours and a build project mistaken for a repair. Both are labels and timing, not guesswork.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Admission or amusement taxMany states and some cities tax the price of admission to an experience, similar to a museum or attraction. It is collected from the visitor and is not the museum's income, and it is usually filed separately from the business income tax return.
- Exhibit builds and capital projectsA large installation room rebuild is often a capital project rather than a repair, which changes how it gets written off. Section 179 can cover up to $2,560,000 of qualifying equipment and improvements, with details that depend on what was built.
- Contractor 1099sA fabricator, cleaner, or fill-in attendant paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Worker classification for attendantsA ticket counter or room monitor who works your posted hours and follows your check-in process is usually an employee, even if the schedule is part time.
Deductions selfie museums miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Balloon and foam pit supplies
- Mirror and backdrop materials
- Ticketing fees
- Gift shop print stock
- Card processing fees
- Liability insurance
- Room monitor uniforms
- Directional signage
- Cleaning supplies
- Social media ad spend
- Photo booth props
- Storage for seasonal installations
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 selfie museum year, kept every month.
Birthday parties book year round, but ticket traffic swings with school breaks and holidays. Your team keeps you ahead of both the calendar and the tax deadlines. 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 contractor 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, well before the deadline. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been building every month since January.
- July
Summer traffic check
Where you stand at midyear, what you will owe, and whether summer break foot traffic changed the number since January.
- October
Before the holiday rush
School break and holiday visits are coming. Before it hits, Gus looks at exhibit builds you might plan 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 selfie museums. 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 selfie museum owners ask first.
Does the admission tax we collect count as our income?
No. It is money you collect from the visitor and owe to the state or city, not revenue you earned. Gus keeps it in its own line so it never gets mistaken for money you can spend.
We rebuild one room every quarter. How should that be tracked?
Gus flags each build the month it happens and keeps it separate from routine repairs, since a room rebuild is usually a capital project. The accountant decides how it gets written off based on the details.
Our gift shop barely breaks even. How would I even know that for sure?
Gus keeps gift shop sales in their own category, separate from ticket income, so you can see exactly what it brings in against what it costs to stock. Most owners are surprised either way.
Our books are a mess from three different ticketing apps this year.
That is fine. Send the bank statements you have, and Gus sorts what came from each app into one clean picture, keeping admission tax separate the whole way through. Most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Do birthday party deposits count as income right away?
Not while the party has not happened yet. Gus holds the deposit separate from earned revenue until the visit takes place, so a busy booking week does not inflate a month that has not been earned.
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