Roofing & exterior
Books and taxes for slate and tile roofing specialists.
Slate and clay tile ordered months ahead and shipped by the pallet, breakage that eats into the material bid, historic home restoration work, and a job that can run for weeks. Gus tracks it all by job, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
July cleared $28,600. The Cathedral Heights slate order finally arrived after a ten-week wait, so I booked that cost against the job now that work has actually started.
- Homeowner progress paymentProgress payments
- Historic society restoration grantRestoration jobs
- Vermont slate quarry orderSlate and tile materials
- Specialty crew payoutSubcontracted crews
- Scaffolding rentalEquipment rental
Why your books are different
Slate and tile books go wrong around long lead times, not day-to-day cash.
A generalist bookkeeper expects materials to arrive within days of ordering. Your slate or clay tile can take weeks or months to ship, breakage during handling is a real cost, and a lot of your work is historic homes with their own rules. The books need to hold that timeline.
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1
A material order sits on the books for months before the job starts
Placing an order for slate or clay tile that won't arrive for two or three months makes it easy to lose track of which job that cost belongs to by the time the material finally ships and work begins.
What we doHolds the material order against its job from the day it's placed, so the long wait doesn't disconnect the cost from the work it's for. -
2
Breakage waste isn't tracked against the bid
Natural slate and clay tile break during handling and cutting at a higher rate than asphalt shingles, and if that waste isn't visible, you can't tell whether your breakage allowance in the bid was realistic.
What we doKeeps material cost per job visible including replacement pieces, so you can see whether breakage ran ahead of what was bid. -
3
A job that runs for weeks pays out in pieces
A large slate or tile roof can take far longer than a standard shingle job, and progress payments collected along the way can look like several small, unrelated deposits if they're not tied to the same job.
What we doTags every progress payment to the job it belongs to, so the full picture builds correctly across a long install. -
4
Historic restoration work has its own funding sources
Some historic home projects are partly funded by a preservation grant or society, alongside the homeowner's own payment, and mixing those sources together makes it hard to see the job's real economics.
What we doKeeps restoration grant funding separate from homeowner payments, so you can see the full picture of how a historic job is paid for.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a slate and tile roofing specialist.
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
- Progress paymentsStaged payments on a long job, tagged to the job as they arrive.
- Final paymentsCompletion payments once a slate or tile roof is finished.
- Restoration jobsHistoric home work funded partly by a preservation grant or society.
- Insurance jobsThe smaller share of jobs tied to storm damage claims.
Money out
- Slate and tile materialsNatural slate, clay, or concrete tile ordered from a quarry or specialty distributor.
- Breakage and replacementExtra material bought to cover cutting and handling breakage.
- Subcontracted crewsSpecialty install crews trained for slate or tile, kept apart from payroll.
- Equipment rentalScaffolding and lifts rented for slower, more careful install work.
- Trucks and fuelFuel, repairs, and insurance for the fleet.
- Insurance and licensingLiability coverage, workers' comp, and contractor license renewals.
What we watch for you
- Job margin
What each roof actually cleared once materials, breakage, and crew pay are counted.
- Breakage rate
How much extra material handling and cutting waste is costing against the bid.
- Order-to-install lag
How long material sits on order before a job actually starts.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so a long job doesn't turn into a surprise bill.
Ask Gus
Things slate and tile 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.
I held it against that job from the day you ordered it, so now that work is starting, the cost and the job stay connected instead of getting lost in the wait.
I keep material cost per job visible, including replacement pieces, so you can see whether breakage ran ahead of what you planned for.
No, I keep grant funding separate from the homeowner's own payment, so you can see the full picture of how that job is actually paid for.
The tax side
The tax side of a slate and tile roofing business.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing across long material lead times and long jobs, not day-to-day categorizing.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Equipment and vehiclesTrucks and specialty equipment bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- 1099s for specialty crewsAny crew not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- Employee or contractorA crew that works only for you, uses your equipment, and follows your schedule usually looks like an employee. Gus flags it before it becomes a habit.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when long jobs are tracked correctly through every payment.
Deductions slate and tile roofing specialists miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Slate and tile materials
- Breakage replacement stock
- Scaffolding and lift rental
- Specialty cutting tools
- Truck fuel and repairs
- Manufacturer or quarry certification classes
- License and bonding fees
- Uniforms and branded gear
- Phone and tablet for job tracking
- Card and financing fees
- Storage for staged material
- Historic preservation consulting
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 slate and tile roofing year, kept every month.
Long lead times and long jobs make the calendar look different than a standard shingle roofer's. Gus keeps the year straight anyway. 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 specialty crew 1099 list is finalized, and the monthly set-aside is planned around this year's order backlog.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with long jobs and staged payments already accounted for correctly.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand on jobs still waiting for material, and how much this year's slate or tile prices changed what you'll owe.
- October
Before the slowdown
A look at equipment bought during the busy months and any moves worth making before winter.
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 slate and tile roofing specialists. 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 slate and tile roofing owners ask first.
How does Gus track a material order that takes months to arrive?
He holds it against the job it's for from the day it's ordered, so the long wait between order and delivery doesn't disconnect the cost from the work.
Can Gus show me if breakage is eating into my bid margin?
Yes. Material cost per job stays visible, including replacement pieces for broken slate or tile, so you can see how breakage compares to what you planned for.
Some of my work is historic restoration funded by a grant. Does Gus handle that?
Yes, grant funding is kept separate from the homeowner's own payment, so you can see the full picture of how a historic job is paid for.
My jobs run for weeks with several progress payments. Can Gus follow that?
Yes, every progress payment gets tagged to its job, so the full picture builds correctly across a long install instead of looking like unrelated deposits.
Does Gus know slate and tile cost more than asphalt shingles?
He tracks material cost against each job specifically, so your higher per-square cost shows up as what it actually is.
My books are behind from a long-running job. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them by job as best the records allow, and the accountant checks the result.
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