Landscaping & lawn care
Books and taxes for stump grinding companies.
A job priced by the stump, teeth that wear out fast, a grinder pulled behind the truck every day, and referrals from tree crews who do not grind their own stumps. 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 came in at $7,600. The new set of grinder teeth from the equipment dealer is booked as a supply, not equipment, since it is a wear part.
- Job billing, per stumpStump grinding jobs
- Referral fee paid, tree companyReferral fees
- Grinder teeth orderWear parts and supplies
- Truck fuelTrucks and fuel
- Trailer insuranceEquipment and trailer costs
Why your books are different
Stump grinding books go wrong around wear and referrals.
A generalist sees a small business with one truck and one machine. Your business runs on a single expensive tool that eats teeth constantly, jobs that come from other tree companies who take a cut, and a season that follows everyone else's tree work. When the books do not track that, the real margin per job stays hidden.
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1
Grinder teeth get mixed with the grinder itself
Replacement teeth, which wear out every few dozen stumps, get filed the same as the grinder purchase, so a routine wear cost looks like a capital expense and muddles what the machine actually costs to run.
What we doKeeps wear parts like teeth in a supply category, separate from the grinder and trailer as equipment. -
2
Referral fees to tree companies disappear into general costs
Paying a percentage back to the tree service that sent you a job is a real, recurring cost of doing business, but if it is not tracked, you cannot tell how much of your revenue is really yours after the referral is paid.
What we doKeeps referral fees in their own line against the jobs they came from, so your real take-home per job is clear. -
3
A single stump job's true cost gets lost in a flat day rate
Pricing jobs by the stump but tracking costs only by the week hides whether a big, root-heavy stump actually paid for the extra time and wear it took.
What we doKeeps job income and wear-part costs visible together, so pricing on tough stumps can be adjusted with real numbers. -
4
A second grinder or a bigger trailer looks like a repair bill
Adding a second machine to take on more jobs, filed the same as a routine repair, wrecks that month's number and gets lost by tax time instead of being tracked toward depreciation.
What we doFlags equipment purchases the day they post and books them separately from wear parts and repairs.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a stump grinding company.
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
- Stump grinding jobsStandard per-stump billing from homeowners and referrals.
- Commercial and municipal jobsLarger contracts billed on net terms.
- Add-on servicesDebris hauling or grindings removal billed alongside the job.
- Referral incomeAny cut you receive for sending work the other direction.
Money out
- Wear parts and suppliesGrinder teeth and cutting wheels that wear out with use.
- Referral feesPayments back to tree companies for sending you jobs.
- Equipment and trailer costsThe grinder and trailer, logged so they get written off right.
- Trucks and fuelFuel, repairs, and insurance for the tow vehicle.
- Dump and disposal feesHauling off grindings when it is not left on site.
- Marketing and lead feesLocal ads and online listing costs.
What we watch for you
- Cost per stump
Wear parts against jobs done, so pricing keeps pace with real teeth wear.
- Referral share
What you pay out for referred jobs, worth knowing before raising your own referral rate.
- Machine hours
How much the grinder runs against fuel and wear cost, useful before buying a second one.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things stump grinding 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.
No, wear parts like teeth are a supply cost, not equipment. I keep them separate from the grinder itself so the machine's real cost stays clear.
I book it as a referral fee against the job it came from, so you can see what you actually keep after the cut, not just what you billed.
Usually it can. I logged equipment purchases separately so the accountant can make that call with your full year in view.
The tax side
The tax side of a stump grinding business.
Most of what goes wrong here is a small business with one big tool: wear parts mixed with equipment, referral fees untracked, and a set-aside started too late.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- The grinder and trailerA stump grinder and trailer bought for the business can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Referral payments as a deductionFees paid to another business for sending you work are a legitimate deduction, tracked and documented as they happen.
- Standard mileage or actual expensesA tow vehicle used for this work can be tracked either by actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, 72.5 cents a mile through June 2026 and 76 cents after, whichever fits your setup better.
- 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 stump grinding companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Grinder teeth and cutting wheels
- Trailer registration and tags
- Truck fuel and repairs
- Referral fees paid out
- Liability insurance
- Online listing and ad costs
- Hand tools and rakes
- Uniforms with your logo
- Card processing fees
- Trailer and equipment storage
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 stump grinding year, kept every month.
Your work follows other people's tree removals. Your taxes follow their own calendar. 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 a slow winter does not throw off what you owe in April.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while referral jobs keep coming in from busy tree crews.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand halfway through the year, what you will owe, and whether referral costs are eating too much of your margin.
- October
Before the fall rush
Before fall storm and cleanup season sends more referrals your way, Gus looks at equipment 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 stump grinding 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 stump grinding owners ask first.
Almost all my jobs come from tree companies who take a referral cut. Can Gus track my real take-home?
Yes. He books the referral fee against the job it came from, so you can see what you actually keep on each job, not just the total you billed.
Do grinder teeth count as equipment I can depreciate?
No, teeth wear out too fast to be treated as equipment. Gus files them as a supply cost, while the grinder and trailer themselves are tracked as equipment.
I sometimes haul off the grindings and sometimes leave them for the customer. Does that matter for the books?
Only in that any hauling and dump fees get tracked as a real cost when you take that job on, so pricing can reflect it when it applies.
My income swings a lot job to job. Is that a problem for tracking a monthly number?
No. Gus works from what actually hit your bank account each month, so a lumpy job schedule still produces one clear number.
My books are a season behind. Is that a problem?
No. Send the bank statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners 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