Sporting goods & sports services
Books and taxes for skate shops.
Deck and truck sales, a custom build put together at the counter, a warranty swap on a snapped deck, and streetwear that turns over fast all move through one account. 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
July came in at $7,400. The local shaper's consignment boards got sorted separately, since that payout belongs to him, not the shop.
- Square POS depositRetail sales
- Independent Trucks orderDeck and hardware inventory
- Local shaper consignment payoutConsignment payouts
- Contest sponsorship paymentEvent sponsorships
- Vans wholesale orderApparel and footwear
Why your books are different
A skate shop's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees decks and shoes. Your shop builds custom setups at the counter, sells local shapers' boards on consignment, and handles warranty swaps that eat into margin quietly. When the books do not track that, the counter's real economics stay hidden.
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1
Custom builds get counted as one sale instead of parts and labor
A customer picks a deck, trucks, wheels, and bearings and has them assembled at the counter. Rung up as one number, you cannot see whether the build service itself is worth the time it takes.
What we doKeeps build labor visible against the parts it took, so the true value of the counter's assembly service is clear. -
2
Consignment boards get mixed into shop inventory
A local shaper's boards sold on consignment are not the shop's own inventory, and the payout owed to the shaper is different from a regular wholesale bill. Mixed together, the shop's real cost of goods gets distorted.
What we doKeeps consignment sales and payouts separate from wholesale inventory, so what belongs to the shaper never counts as the shop's own cost. -
3
Warranty deck swaps quietly eat into margin
A snapped deck replaced under a manufacturer warranty costs the shop time and paperwork even when the deck itself is free, and that cost usually disappears instead of showing up anywhere.
What we doFlags warranty swaps as their own line, so the real cost of running a warranty program is visible instead of invisible. -
4
Contest and event sponsorships get filed as plain marketing
Sponsoring a local skate contest or jam session is a real cost with a real return in foot traffic and loyalty, but lumped into general marketing, there is no way to tell if it paid off.
What we doKeeps event sponsorships in their own line against sales from that period, so you can see which events are worth repeating. -
5
A big hardware restock wrecks the monthly picture
Trucks, wheels, and bearings often get restocked in one bulk order from a distributor. That single invoice can make one month look like a loss even though the parts sell over months.
What we doKeeps hardware purchases visible against what actually sold, so a restock order does not read as a bad month on its own.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a skate shop.
Set up once for how you sell and what you carry. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retail salesDecks, trucks, wheels, and hardware rung up at the counter.
- Apparel and footwear salesStreetwear and shoes.
- Custom build feesAssembly labor billed apart from parts.
- Consignment salesBoards sold on behalf of local shapers or artists.
Money out
- Deck and hardware inventoryTrucks, wheels, and bearings from distributors like Independent or Bones.
- Apparel and footwearWholesale orders from brands like Vans or Element.
- Consignment payoutsWhat is owed to shapers and artists for boards sold.
- Warranty swap costsTime and shipping tied to manufacturer warranty replacements.
- Event sponsorshipsContest, jam session, and local event support.
- Card processing feesWhat the processor kept before you got paid.
What we watch for you
- Build labor value
What custom assembly work brings in against the time it takes at the counter.
- Consignment payout share
How much of consignment sales goes back out to shapers versus what the shop keeps.
- Warranty cost
What replacing decks under warranty is actually costing the shop each month.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked through the warm months and the slow ones, so April is not a scramble.
Ask Gus
Things skate shop 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.
This month build labor brought in $340 against the parts cost, once I separated it out. That is a real number now, not a guess.
His payout stays separate from your own inventory cost, so what you owe him never gets counted as something the shop spent on stock.
It does, even when the deck itself is free. I track the time and shipping tied to warranty swaps so you can see the real cost of running the program.
The tax side
The tax side of running a skate shop.
Most of what trips up a skate shop is mixing what belongs to someone else, consignment payouts, with what the shop actually owns and spends.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsWhat the shop actually paid for decks, hardware, and apparel sold, counted accurately at year end, is what determines the profit the return shows.
- Consignment sales are not the shop's inventoryBoards sold on behalf of a shaper are not owned by the shop, so only the shop's cut of the sale, not the full price, is the shop's income.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026, including a shaper paid to build custom decks, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionOwners of a pass-through business can usually take up to 20 percent of profit off taxable income, and that figure only holds up when consignment payouts stay separate from the shop's own cost.
Deductions skate shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Build counter tools
- Bearing press and small equipment
- Freight on wholesale orders
- POS and inventory software
- Event sponsorship costs
- Shop signage and fixtures
- Streetwear display racks
- Card processing fees
- Website and online store fees
- Liability insurance
- Local contest entry sponsorships
- Shop staff apparel
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 skate shop year, kept every month.
Warm months bring the crowds out and contests fill the calendar. Your team keeps you ahead of the season and the tax deadlines 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, the consignment and contractor 1099 list is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned for the year ahead.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed before the warm season rush, with the set-aside already covering what you owe.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether this year's contest sponsorships and build sales changed the number.
- October
Before the slow season
Ahead of the quieter months, Gus looks at hardware restocks worth timing 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 skate shops. 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 skate shop owners ask first.
Can Gus separate my build labor from parts sales?
Yes. Custom build fees are kept apart from the parts used, so you can see whether the assembly service itself is worth the counter time it takes.
How does Gus handle consignment boards from local shapers?
Consignment sales and the payout owed to the shaper are kept separate from your own wholesale inventory, so what belongs to them never counts as your cost.
We do a lot of warranty deck swaps. Does that matter for the books?
It does. Warranty swap costs are tracked in their own line, so the real cost of running a warranty program is visible instead of just disappearing.
Do I need to change anything about how I ring up the counter?
No. Ring up the counter the way you always have. Gus works from your bank statement afterward and only flags a deposit if it does not look like a normal sales day.
It has been a slow season for keeping up with the books. Can Gus catch up?
Usually within a week. Send the statements you have from the months that got missed, and Gus sorts through the backlog before the accountant reviews it.
I sponsor a local contest every summer. Is that worth tracking separately?
It is. Event sponsorships are kept in their own line against sales from that period, so you can tell over time which events are worth repeating.
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