Childcare & youth programs
Books and taxes for summer day camps.
Weekly session registrations, seasonal counselor payroll, field trip buses, and a year's worth of revenue packed into ten summer weeks. 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 $14,500. The BSN Sports order for new gaga ball pits and canoes came out of camp equipment, not weekly supplies, since it's gear that lasts more than one summer.
- CampMinder session paymentsWeekly session fees
- Field trip add-on feesField trip fees
- Counselor payrollSeasonal staff wages
- Bus charter, water park tripField trip transportation
- BSN Sports orderCamp equipment
Why your books are different
A summer day camp's books go wrong because a whole year of revenue lands in one season.
A generalist bookkeeper expects income spread evenly across twelve months. Your camp earns almost everything in ten weeks and pays a seasonal staff that triples in size for the summer. Gus builds the books around that shape, not a flat calendar.
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1
Winter deposits get counted as winter income
A family who pays a deposit in February to hold a July session did not hand you February revenue. Booked the day it lands, it inflates the off-season and understates the summer when the actual camp runs.
What we doHolds session deposits as money collected in advance and counts them as income once the week of camp actually happens. -
2
Seasonal payroll looks like a huge spike, not a plan
Hiring twenty counselors for ten weeks and almost nobody the rest of the year makes summer payroll look like an anomaly, when it is actually the entire business model.
What we doTracks your seasonal staffing pattern, so summer payroll reads as expected against session income, not as a red flag. -
3
Field trip costs and fees get mixed into weekly tuition
A water park trip or a bowling day often comes with its own transportation cost and its own add-on fee from parents, and blended into regular weekly tuition, you cannot see whether trip days pay for themselves.
What we doKeeps field trip fees and field trip transportation costs in their own lines so you can see whether trip days are priced right. -
4
Off-season months look like a business in trouble
September through May can bring in very little if your camp only runs in summer, and a bookkeeper who does not know your calendar reads that stretch as a serious decline.
What we doTracks your camp calendar so the off-season reads as the normal shape of a summer-only business, not a warning sign.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a summer day camp.
Set up once for a season that runs ten weeks and pays for the other forty-two. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Weekly session feesThe core camp tuition, billed through CampMinder or a similar system.
- Registration depositsHeld from the winter and spring until the session actually runs.
- Field trip feesAdd-on charges for water parks, bowling, or other off-site days.
- Extended care feesEarly drop-off or late pickup add-ons beyond the regular camp day.
Money out
- Seasonal staff wagesCounselor and staff pay for the ten-week summer season.
- Payroll taxes and workers compThe cost of a seasonal staff that swells for the summer.
- Field trip transportationBus charters and admission costs for off-site trip days.
- Camp equipmentBSN Sports orders and other gear meant to last more than one summer.
- Facility rentAny space rented for the camp season, if not owned outright.
- Background checks and certificationsFingerprinting and CPR and First Aid renewal for counselors.
- Liability insuranceCoverage sized for a large seasonal group of campers.
What we watch for you
- Season margin
Total summer income against total summer cost. It's the number the whole year rides on.
- Deposits held
Money collected before summer that has not been earned yet, so it is not mistaken for spendable profit.
- Trip day economics
Field trip fees against transportation and admission cost. Worth knowing if a trip day is priced right.
- The set-aside
What you will owe in taxes, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things summer day camp 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.
Not really. I held those deposits as money collected in advance and I'm counting them as income now, as each week of camp actually runs, so July and August show the real picture.
No, I track your seasonal staffing pattern, so a summer payroll spike reads as expected against the session income it supports, not as a red flag.
Yes, I keep the trip fee and the bus cost in their own lines, so you can see if that specific trip day is priced to cover itself.
The tax side
The tax side of running a summer day camp.
Most of what matters here is timing session income to the right weeks and handling a seasonal staff correctly, since it is the core of how a day camp works.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Seasonal counselors are employeesCounselors working set camp hours under your supervision are employees, not contractors, even though the job lasts only ten weeks a year.
- Session deposits and revenue timingDeposits collected months before a session are not earned income until the camp week actually runs, which matters for an accurate year-end number.
- Equipment and Section 179Camp equipment such as sports gear, canoes, or a passenger van can usually be written off the year it's bought, up to $2,560,000 under Section 179, with 100 percent bonus depreciation for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can deduct up to 20 percent of business profit before it is taxed, a benefit that is now permanent. It comes out right only when a summer's worth of session fees and field trip costs are booked to the correct weeks.
Deductions summer day camps miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Camp sports and activity equipment
- Field trip admission and transportation
- Background check and fingerprinting fees
- CPR and First Aid renewal and certification
- Liability insurance
- Facility rent for the camp season
- Marketing before spring registration opens
- Counselor training materials
- Storage for off-season equipment
- Uniforms or camp t-shirts for staff
- Vehicle costs for staff shuttling between sites
- Registration and scheduling software
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 summer day camp's year, kept every month.
Ten weeks carry the whole year. Your taxes come on their own schedule regardless. 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 seasonal staff 1099 or payroll list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while spring registration is still ramping up. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
A look at the season in progress, whether enrollment hit projections, and what the summer income means for what you will owe.
- October
Wrap the season, plan ahead
The summer's final numbers are in. Gus looks at equipment worth buying before next season and what to plan for winter registration.
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 summer day camps. 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 summer day camp owners ask first.
We collect deposits for next summer starting in the winter. How does that get booked?
Gus holds those deposits as money collected in advance and counts them as income once the actual camp week runs, so winter deposits do not inflate an off-season month.
Our staff count goes from a skeleton crew to over twenty counselors every June. Is that a problem for the books?
No. Gus tracks your seasonal staffing pattern, so the summer payroll spike is read against the session income it supports, not treated as an anomaly.
We charge extra for field trip days. Should that be tracked separately from weekly tuition?
Yes. Gus keeps field trip fees and the transportation or admission cost that goes with them in their own lines, so you can see if trip days are priced to cover themselves.
We're closed most of the year. Will the books look bad for those months?
No. Gus tracks your camp calendar, so the off-season reads as the normal shape of a summer-only business rather than a decline.
Are our counselors employees or can we pay them as contractors?
Counselors working set camp hours under your direction are almost always employees. Gus flags any pay arrangement that looks different so the accountant can weigh in before it becomes a habit.
Our records from last summer are a mess of two different registration systems. Can Gus untangle that?
Yes. Send what you have from both systems, even overlapping. Gus sorts it out and the accountant works from what actually happened.
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 childcare & youth programs
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Baby & toddler classes (music, sensory)
- Babysitting agencies
- Before & after school programs
- Drop-in & hourly childcare
- In-home family daycares
- Overnight summer camps
- Parents' night out programs
- Specialty camps (STEM, arts, sports)
- Tutoring-plus-childcare hybrids
- Kids birthday party venues
- Kids gyms & play programs
- Nanny agencies
- Childcare & daycare centers
- Preschools
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