Specialty food makers & markets
Books and taxes for spice blenders and seasoning brands.
Bulk spice buys, private label runs for restaurants, wholesale grocery accounts, and holiday gift sets. 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
October came in at $7,800. A private label run for a local restaurant chain was your biggest order this month, so I kept it apart from your regular branded blend sales.
- Restaurant private label invoicePrivate label orders
- Grocery wholesale invoiceWholesale orders
- Bulk spice importer invoiceRaw spice cost
- Jar and shaker orderPackaging
- Gift set box orderGift set packaging
Why your books are different
A spice blending business's books go wrong around bulk buying and private label.
You are not selling a perishable product with a short shelf life. Your real cost swings with commodity spice prices bought in bulk, private label work for restaurants is a different business than your own branded line, and holiday gift sets spike hard once a year. When the books do not track that, you cannot tell what part of the business is actually paying.
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1
Commodity spice price swings get absorbed instead of tracked
Vanilla, saffron, peppercorns, and other specialty spices can swing sharply in price on the global market. A blender who keeps pricing blends the same way watches margin shrink without seeing that one ingredient is the reason.
What we doKeeps raw spice cost as its own line so a price jump on one ingredient shows up clearly, not buried in a general supply total. -
2
Private label work gets blended with your own branded sales
Making a custom blend for a restaurant under their label is a different kind of business than selling your own branded jars, usually at a different margin and with different packaging costs, but the two often land in one sales bucket.
What we doSplits private label orders from your own branded product sales, so each side of the business shows its own real numbers. -
3
Bulk buying makes one month look expensive for no clear reason
Buying a year's worth of a slow-moving spice in one large order makes that month look like a spending spike, when really it is one ingredient cost spread across many months of production.
What we doFlags large bulk ingredient buys and keeps them in their own line so a stock-up does not wreck the monthly picture. -
4
Gift set season buys distort the rest of the year
Holiday gift boxes and tins ordered ahead of the season make that month's packaging cost look unusually high compared to a normal production month.
What we doKeeps gift set packaging in its own category, tied to the season, so it reads as the seasonal cost it is.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a spice blending business.
Set up once for how you sell and what you buy. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Branded blend salesYour own labeled spice blends sold retail, online, or wholesale.
- Private label ordersCustom blends made for restaurants or other brands under their own label.
- Wholesale ordersGrocery stores and specialty shops buying by the case.
- Gift set salesMulti-jar holiday and corporate gifting bundles.
Money out
- Raw spice costBulk spices sourced from importers or wholesale suppliers.
- PackagingJars, shakers, bags, and labels for your branded line.
- Gift set packagingBoxes, tins, and ribbon for seasonal gift bundles.
- Private label materialsCustom labels and packaging for a client's private label runs.
- Commissary kitchen rentalHourly or monthly rent for a licensed blending and packaging space.
- Marketplace and card feesWhat Shopify, Faire, or Square kept before you got paid.
What we watch for you
- Margin by product line
Branded, private label, and wholesale rarely earn the same. Watching them apart shows what to grow.
- Spice cost share
Raw spice cost against sales. A rising share warns of a commodity price jump early.
- Private label order size
Average order value from restaurant and brand clients, useful for deciding which accounts to chase.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things spice blenders 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.
It carries a slimmer margin than your branded blends, but it brings in steady volume with no marketing cost. I kept them split so you can weigh both.
Your spice cost share is up from last quarter, mostly tied to that one ingredient. Worth a look at pricing for blends that use it heavily.
Products made with hemp-derived ingredients can carry extra labeling and regulatory rules that vary by state. That call is above my pay grade, but I keep any related costs tracked either way.
The tax side
The tax side of a spice blending business.
Most of what matters here is inventory timing on bulk spice buys and keeping private label work separate from your own branded sales.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goods soldOnly the spices and packaging that went into what you sold this year count as cost of goods. Bulk spice bought ahead stays inventory until it is used in a sold product.
- Equipment write-offsBlending equipment, fillers, and labeling machines can usually be written off in the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA co-packer or packaging helper not on payroll who you pay $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can deduct up to 20 percent of business profit before it is taxed. It comes out right only when branded, private label, and wholesale sales are tracked cleanly all year.
Deductions spice blenders and seasoning brands miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Bulk spice purchases
- Jars, shakers, and labels
- Gift box packaging
- Private label custom labels
- Commissary kitchen rental
- Shopify and Faire fees
- Sample jars for buyers
- Trade show entry fees
- Delivery mileage to accounts
- Label design
- Scale calibration
- Food safety certification
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 spice blending year, kept every month.
Bulk buying, private label runs, and holiday gift sets each pull the calendar in a different direction. Your team keeps you ahead of the deadlines through all of it. 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 for co-packers is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your business return is filed and signed, no surprise bill because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Midyear check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether commodity spice prices have shifted your margin from what you planned for.
- October
Before gift set season
Holiday gift bundles are the biggest sales push of the year. Gus looks at packaging supply needs and equipment worth buying 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 spice blenders and seasoning brands. 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 spice blenders ask first.
Can Gus track my private label and branded sales separately?
Yes. Private label orders and your own branded blend sales get their own categories, so you can see the real margin on each side of the business.
How does Gus handle a big bulk spice purchase?
It gets flagged and kept in its own line rather than blended into a normal month, so one large ingredient buy does not make the month look like a spending spike.
I sell wholesale, online, and to restaurants. Is that hard to track?
No. Each channel gets its own category, so you can compare what wholesale, online, and private label sales actually earn.
Does my hemp seed blend need any special handling?
Products with hemp-derived ingredients can carry extra labeling and regulatory rules that vary by state. That determination is outside what Gus handles, but he keeps the related costs tracked.
My books are behind from a busy season. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and he sorts them by product line, ingredient cost, and channel. Most owners know where they stand within 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