Water recreation & marinas
Books and taxes for snorkel and dolphin tour operators.
Multiple boats leaving several times a day, hotel activity desks selling seats on commission, gear rental for guests, and park or sanctuary fees on every trip. 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 made $23,900. Activity desk bookings brought in $18,100 of that after their commission was already taken out, so I logged the ticket price and the commission as two separate numbers.
- Direct booking site payoutDirect ticket sales
- Hotel activity desk settlementReseller ticket sales
- Marine sanctuary entry feesPark and sanctuary fees
- Crew payroll, captains and narratorsCrew wages
- Snorkel gear replacement orderRental gear supplies
Why your books are different
A snorkel and dolphin tour operator's books go wrong in the same handful of places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. This business runs several trips a day, sells a big share of seats through hotel activity desks on commission, pays park or sanctuary fees on every departure, and rents gear to guests who show up without their own. When the books do not know that, real profit per seat stays hidden.
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1
Reseller commissions get buried inside ticket income
A hotel activity desk or excursion reseller keeps a cut of every ticket sold through them, and if the settlement amount is booked as the full ticket price, the business's real revenue and the reseller's real cost both get misstated.
What we doBooks the full ticket price as income and the reseller's commission as a separate cost, so both numbers are honest. -
2
Park and sanctuary fees look like a random cost
Entry fees paid per trip or per passenger to a marine sanctuary or park add up fast across dozens of departures a month, and if they land in a general fees bucket, nobody can see this real, per-trip cost clearly.
What we doKeeps park and sanctuary fees in their own line, so the true cost of each departure is visible against the ticket price. -
3
Direct bookings and reseller bookings blur together
A ticket sold on your own site and one sold through a hotel desk pay out completely differently after fees, and if they land in one pile, nobody can see which channel is actually worth the marketing or partnership effort.
What we doSplits direct ticket sales from reseller ticket sales, so you can see which channel earns more after what each one takes. -
4
Gear rental costs disappear into general supplies
Snorkel gear, fins, and wetsuits rented to guests wear out and need constant replacement, and lumped into general boat supplies, it is hard to see what outfitting every guest actually costs.
What we doKeeps rental gear costs in a steady line, separate from boat and crew expenses, so the real cost of outfitting guests is visible. -
5
A cancelled trip day looks like lost business instead of a weather day
Rough seas or a small craft advisory can cancel every trip for a day with no notice, and one cancelled day can look alarming if nobody is tracking it against the season as a whole.
What we doTracks the month against the season, so a weather cancellation reads as expected, not as a demand problem.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a snorkel and dolphin tour business.
Set up once for how tours get booked and what it costs to run them. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Direct ticket salesTours booked through your own site or by phone.
- Reseller ticket salesTours booked through hotel activity desks and excursion resellers.
- Gear rental incomeSnorkel sets, fins, and wetsuits rented to guests.
- Photo package salesUnderwater photo and video packages sold as an add-on.
Money out
- Reseller commissionsWhat hotel activity desks and resellers keep from tickets sold through them.
- Crew wagesPay for captains, deckhands, and narrators.
- Park and sanctuary feesEntry fees paid per trip or per passenger to protected areas.
- Rental gear suppliesSnorkel gear, fins, and wetsuits bought to outfit guests.
- Boat fuelFuel for multiple daily departures.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for a business taking guests on the water for wildlife and reef tours.
What we watch for you
- Direct versus reseller mix
How much of ticket sales come through your own site against hotel desks, since commissions change the real return.
- Per-trip fee cost
Park and sanctuary fees against the ticket price, so pricing keeps up with what each departure actually costs.
- Trips run versus scheduled
How many trips actually run against how many were scheduled, so weather cancellations are visible against the plan.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things snorkel and dolphin tour 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.
About 22 percent of the tickets they sold this month. I keep the full ticket price and their commission as two separate numbers so you can see the real cost of that channel.
This month is a bit lighter for it, but it is tracking close to past weather patterns for this time of year. I would not read too much into a handful of cancelled trips.
They currently run about 12 percent of what a ticket brings in. That is worth knowing if you are considering a price change, but the call is yours.
The tax side
The tax side of running snorkel and dolphin tours.
Most of what goes wrong here is reseller commissions and per-trip fees hiding inside one ticket sales number. Getting the categories right most of the year makes the return simpler.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Reseller commission accountingBooking the full ticket price as income with the reseller's cut as a separate expense keeps revenue accurate, which matters for how the business's true sales are reported.
- Crew worker classificationA captain or narrator who works your boats on your schedule is usually an employee, not a contractor, even if paid per trip rather than hourly.
- Sales tax on toursWhether guided tours owe state or local sales tax, and how park fees passed through to guests are treated, varies by state and is worth checking locally.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when ticket sales, commissions, and fees are tracked correctly all season.
Deductions snorkel and dolphin tour operators miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Boat fuel
- Park and sanctuary entry fees
- Snorkel gear and fins
- Wetsuits for rental
- Liability insurance
- Crew first aid certification
- Underwater camera equipment
- Dock and launch fees
- Radio and safety equipment
- Marketing and activity desk relationship costs
- Uniforms and branded gear
- Boat maintenance 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 snorkel and dolphin tour year, kept every month.
Warm months bring the most departures and the calmest water. Taxes come on their own 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, and you get a monthly set-aside so tax time is already handled before the season's busiest bookings arrive.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, ahead of the season's peak departure months.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer bookings are on pace to cover the whole year's costs.
- October
Before the season slows
Before departures thin out, Gus looks at gear and boat purchases worth making 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 snorkel and dolphin tour operators. 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 snorkel and dolphin tour owners ask first.
Can Gus tell us if hotel activity desk bookings are worth the commission?
Yes. He books the full ticket price and the commission as separate numbers, so you can see exactly what that channel costs against what it brings in bookings.
Do park and sanctuary fees count as our expense or the guest's?
That depends on how you price and structure the fee, which is worth confirming with the accountant. Gus tracks it as a cost of running the trip either way, so it is visible against ticket income.
We had a slow month from bad weather cancellations. Does Gus account for that?
Yes. He tracks trips run against trips scheduled, so a stretch of weather cancellations reads as expected, not as a mistake in the books.
Our books from last season are behind. Can we still start now?
Yes. Send the bank and activity desk settlement statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Are our captains and narrators employees or contractors?
Usually employees, if they work your boats on your schedule. Gus keeps their wages in a clean line so the accountant can confirm the setup is handled right.
Do you handle our marine sanctuary or park permits?
No. Permits and agreements with a sanctuary or park authority are outside the subscription. Gus tracks the fees once they are paid, but not the permitting itself.
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