Youth & adult sports training
Books and taxes for speed and agility training businesses.
Eight-week off-season training blocks for a dozen different sports at once, combine prep packages, group and private sessions, and a force plate system that cost more than a year of rent. 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
June came in at $12,000. Football combine prep packages started this month, so I kept that revenue apart from your ongoing off-season blocks.
- Training block paymentsOff-season training packages
- Combine prep depositsCombine and testing prep
- Force plate maintenanceTesting equipment
- Turf strip repairFacility upkeep
- Coach pay, JuneCoach pay
Why your books are different
A performance training business's books go wrong in the same handful of spots.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your clients come from a dozen different sports, each starting an eight-week block on a different week depending on their own season, and you charge more for combine prep than for a regular off-season block. When the books do not know that, no one number tells you what's working.
-
1
Training blocks overlap and get counted the day they're paid
A soccer player pays for an eight-week block starting in March while a football player's block starts in June, but both often get booked as income the day the payment lands, not spread across the weeks of training delivered.
What we doSpreads each client's block payment across the weeks of training it covers, so the monthly number matches sessions actually run, not just when someone paid. -
2
Combine prep gets priced higher but tracked like a regular block
A combine prep package built around 40-yard dash and vertical jump testing usually costs more than a general off-season block, but if both land in one training-income line, you cannot see whether combine season is actually worth the extra coaching hours it takes.
What we doKeeps combine prep income separate from general training blocks, so each can be measured against what it costs to run. -
3
A force plate system gets filed as a software subscription
A force plate or velocity-based training system can cost as much as a full turf strip, with an ongoing data subscription layered on top. Filed as one software expense, the equipment cost gets lost and never gets written off as equipment.
What we doSplits the hardware purchase from the ongoing data subscription, logging the equipment separately so it gets written off right. -
4
Group and private sessions get lumped into one number
A group speed class charges a fraction of what a one-on-one session costs, but if both are deposited into the same training-income bucket, you cannot tell whether private sessions are actually worth the extra coach time they take.
What we doKeeps group and private session income apart, so you can see which format is actually earning its keep. -
5
Turf strip repairs get treated the same as a full replacement
Patching a worn spot on a sprint turf strip costs very differently than replacing the whole strip, which can run tens of thousands of dollars and usually needs to be handled as a bigger capital purchase.
What we doFlags a full turf replacement as a facility investment rather than routine upkeep, and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a performance training business.
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
- Off-season training packagesMulti-week blocks, tracked to the weeks of training they cover.
- Combine and testing prepHigher-priced packages built around specific testing dates.
- Group session feesSmall group speed and agility classes.
- Private session feesOne-on-one coaching, priced apart from group work.
Money out
- Coach payTraining staff, kept apart from your own draw.
- Testing equipmentForce plates, timing gates, and velocity-based training tools.
- Facility upkeepTurf, flooring, and weight room maintenance.
- Facility rent or mortgageThe building or bay space you train in.
- InsuranceGeneral liability coverage for training sessions.
- MarketingLocal ads, your website, and combine season promotion.
What we watch for you
- Block fill rate
How many training blocks are running at full capacity at any given time.
- Combine season lift
How much combine prep adds on top of regular training revenue.
- Coach pay share
Coaching cost against session revenue, so pricing keeps up.
- The set-aside
What training block income actually owes, tracked monthly regardless of whose off-season it is.
Ask Gus
Things performance trainers 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.
Yes, each client's block gets spread across the weeks it covers, no matter when their sport's off-season lands. You'll see the real month-to-month picture instead of a pile of payment dates.
I logged the hardware as equipment and kept the subscription as a separate software cost, so the machine still gets its shot at being written off in full.
Not for your books, as long as it's genuinely his own separate work. If he's using your turf and your schedule, that's a different question, and one the accountant should weigh in on.
The tax side
The tax side of a performance training business.
Most of what trips up this business is timing across overlapping training blocks and separating equipment from software.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Testing and training equipmentForce plates, timing gates, and turf systems can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Coach worker classificationA coach who works your training hours on your turf is usually an employee, not a contractor, even part time.
- Contractor 1099sA guest speed clinician or a one-time combine prep specialist paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31, as long as they are not on payroll.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when training blocks are booked to the weeks they cover.
Deductions sports performance and speed and agility training businesses miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Timing gates and cones
- Force plate data subscriptions
- Turf and flooring repair
- Weight room equipment
- Resistance bands and sleds
- Uniforms with your logo
- Website and booking software
- Combine and showcase listing fees
- Liability insurance
- First aid supplies
- Coaching certification fees
- Storage for training equipment
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 performance training year, kept every month.
Training blocks run year-round on staggered schedules, but combine season still hits its own peak. Gus keeps your taxes 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 coach 1099 list is ready, and a set-aside is already running across every client's training block.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, right as spring combine prep season builds.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether combine season changed the number.
- October
Before winter blocks
Before winter training blocks fill up, Gus looks at equipment worth buying 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 sports performance and speed and agility training businesses. 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 performance trainers ask first.
Can Gus handle clients on different training block schedules at the same time?
Yes. Each client's package is tracked to the weeks it covers, so the monthly number reflects the training actually delivered, no matter how many different blocks are running at once.
We book sessions through an app on our phones. Do I have to change anything?
Nothing needs to change there. Gus works off whatever hits your bank account, and if a deposit doesn't explain itself, he checks with you a single time and remembers your answer.
Combine prep is a much smaller part of our year but brings in more per client. Does that get lost in the numbers?
No. Gus keeps combine prep in its own line, so you can see exactly what that busier stretch adds on top of your regular training revenue.
Do we write off a force plate system all at once?
Often yes, though the data subscription that comes with it is handled differently. Gus splits the two, and the accountant decides on the equipment write-off with your whole year in view.
We've been tracking everything in a spreadsheet that's gotten out of hand. Can Gus take that over?
Yes. Send over your bank statements and whatever the spreadsheet has been trying to track, and Gus rebuilds the picture from the actual bank activity going forward.
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.
More in youth & adult sports training
We keep books for the business next door too.
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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