Electrical, energy & home tech
Books and taxes for solar panel cleaning companies.
A route of small per-visit cleanings, HOA contracts paid a year up front, referral fees to installers, and steady water and equipment costs. 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
September brought in $6,500. The Meridian HOA's annual contract renewed, so I only booked the piece that covers this quarter's visit.
- Route payouts, SquarePer-visit cleanings
- Meridian HOA contractMaintenance contracts
- SunClear Solar referral feeReferral payouts
- Pure water filter refillRoute supplies
- Chevron fuel, service vanTruck and fuel
Why your books are different
A solar panel cleaning business's books go wrong in volume, not size.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is a route of small jobs, annual contracts paid up front and delivered over months, and referral fees to the installers who send you customers. When the books do not know that, small errors add up fast.
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1
A season's contract gets paid in one check
An HOA or homeowner pays for a year of quarterly cleanings up front, but only one visit might be done by the time the check clears. Booked as income the day it lands, an early month looks better than it is and a slow visit month later looks worse.
What we doSplits prepaid contract revenue across the visits it covers, so each month reflects the cleanings actually done. -
2
Small jobs add up to a big blind spot
A route of fifteen two-hundred-dollar cleanings in a day generates fifteen small deposits that are easy to lose track of one at a time, and a single missed or misfiled payment matters more here than on a business with a handful of big tickets.
What we doReconciles every payout against the route for that day, so a missed or duplicate charge gets caught before it becomes a pattern. -
3
Installer referral fees come out of the first year's contract
A solar installer refers a new maintenance customer for a cut of the first year's cleaning revenue, and if that referral fee is not tracked against the specific contract it came from, you cannot tell which installer relationships are actually worth keeping.
What we doTies referral payouts to the contract that produced them, so you can see which installer partners are worth the cut you pay them. -
4
Water and consumables look small until you total the route
Deionized water filters, brushes, and squeegees cost little per job, but across a full route five days a week, that steady drip of small purchases can be a bigger cost than an owner expects.
What we doKeeps route supplies in one steady line, so their real cost across a month is visible instead of hiding inside a dozen small receipts.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a solar panel cleaning route.
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
- Per-visit cleaningsSingle rooftop cleanings booked directly with a homeowner.
- Maintenance contractsQuarterly or annual cleaning plans, paid up front and split to the visit that earns them.
- Bird-proofing add-onsMesh and guard installs sold alongside a cleaning.
- Drone inspection feesAerial inspection add-ons for hard-to-reach or commercial roofs.
Money out
- Route suppliesDeionized water filters, brushes, squeegees, and cleaning concentrate.
- Truck and fuelFuel, repairs, insurance, and loan payments for the route van.
- Referral payoutsFees paid to solar installers who send maintenance customers.
- Liability and roof insuranceCoverage for working on customer rooftops.
- Lead fees and marketingGoogle local services, Nextdoor, and HOA management outreach.
- Uniforms and safety gearHarnesses, non-slip boots, and branded shirts for the route.
What we watch for you
- Contract coverage
How much of prepaid maintenance revenue has been delivered so far this year.
- Route margin
Route supplies and fuel against what a day's cleanings bring in.
- Referral cost
What you pay installers for referred contracts, measured against what those contracts are worth.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things solar panel cleaning 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.
Only the piece that matches a completed visit. I split the rest across the year so each month reflects the cleanings actually done.
Yes, I reconcile every payout against the route for that day, so a missed or duplicate charge gets caught fast.
Yes, I tie what you pay them to the contracts they actually produced, so you can see if that relationship is worth the cut.
The tax side
The tax side of a solar panel cleaning business.
Most of what goes wrong here is a high volume of small transactions and a contract paid before the work is done.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Route equipmentSoft-wash systems, water treatment gear, and the service van can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA helper or a second route driver not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC if paid $2,000 or more in 2026. The form is due January 31.
- Self-employment taxProfit run as a sole proprietor owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, and usually calls for quarterly estimated payments rather than one bill in April.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions solar panel cleaning companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Deionized water filters
- Soft-wash brushes and poles
- Squeegees and route tools
- Truck signage and wraps
- Liability and roof insurance
- Route scheduling app fees
- Phone for route photos
- Uniforms and safety gear
- Vehicle registration
- Background check fees
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 solar panel cleaning year, kept every month.
Dust and pollen do not wait for a calendar quarter. Your taxes do. 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, the 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. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer dust brought in the route volume you expected.
- October
Before the rainy season
Rain slows cleaning demand in a lot of markets. Before it does, Gus looks at equipment you might buy 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 solar panel cleaning companies. 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 solar panel cleaning owners ask first.
My HOA contract renews annually and pays up front. Does Gus book it all at once?
No. He splits it across the visits it covers, so each month reflects the cleanings actually completed, not the day the check cleared.
I run a full route most days. Can Gus keep up with that many small transactions?
Yes. He reconciles every payout against the route for that day, so a missed or duplicate charge gets caught before it becomes a pattern.
I pay a solar installer a referral fee for sending me maintenance contracts. Does that get tracked?
Yes. Gus ties what you pay them to the contracts they produced, so you can see which referral relationships are actually worth the cut.
Business is busier some months than others. Does that matter for the books?
No. Gus keeps the categories the same year round, so a slow month after the rain and a packed month after a dusty summer both show up honestly.
Do I write off my soft-wash equipment all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the business can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books are a year behind. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most people 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