Advisors, lenders & money services
Books and taxes for tax-focused financial planners.
A January retainer that covers four quarterly tax reviews, a coordination fee split with the client's outside preparer, a rush project before October's extension deadline. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
October brought in $9,200. Three annual retainers renewed ahead of the extension deadline rush, so I spread them across the year they actually cover.
- Annual retainer, Boyd familyRetainer fees
- Strategy project, R. OkaforProject fees
- Coordination fee, outside preparerCoordination fees paid
- Tax projection softwarePlanning software
- State advisor license feeLicensing
Why your books are different
A tax-focused planning practice's books go wrong in a few particular spots.
A generalist bookkeeper sees a big January deposit and calls it a great month. Your retainers are paid up front for a year of quarterly work, your fees split with the client's own preparer, and your busiest income months chase deadlines that have nothing to do with the calendar quarter.
-
1
A January retainer makes the rest of the year look empty
A client who pays the full annual retainer in January for four quarterly strategy meetings makes January look like the strongest month of the year, even though the work happens steadily through December.
What we doSpreads annual retainer income across the months it actually covers, so the year does not read as one big month and eleven quiet ones. -
2
A coordination fee to the outside preparer gets mistaken for a referral cost
Paying the client's own tax preparer a fee to coordinate on a strategy is a working cost of doing the engagement, not a marketing referral fee, and mixing the two hides what a joint engagement actually nets the practice.
What we doKeeps coordination fees paid to outside preparers in their own line, separate from marketing referral fees. -
3
Extension season creates a fake growth spike
A rush of strategy projects lands every September and October as clients face the extended filing deadline, and comparing that spike to a quiet summer month makes it look like the practice suddenly grew.
What we doFlags the extension-season push as seasonal, so year over year comparisons use the same months, not a strong month against a slow one. -
4
A tax savings estimate is not the same as income
A client conversation about how much a strategy might save them can get confused with what the practice actually earned that month, especially when a fee is framed as a share of expected tax savings.
What we doBooks only the fee actually charged and collected, never an estimate of client savings, so the practice's own income stays accurate.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a tax-focused planning practice.
Set up once for how the practice bills retainers and projects around the tax calendar. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Annual retainer feesPaid up front, spread across the quarterly reviews they cover.
- Strategy project feesOne-time engagements for a specific tax planning question.
- Quarterly review feesStandalone fees for a single quarterly check-in outside a retainer.
- Coordination incomeFees earned working jointly with a client's outside preparer.
Money out
- Tax projection softwareTools used to model client tax strategies and estimates.
- Coordination fees paidFees paid to an outside preparer for joint engagement work.
- Registration and licensingState investment adviser registration renewals for the planning side of the practice.
- InsuranceErrors and omissions coverage that extends to the tax strategy work itself.
- Marketing and referralsReferral fees paid to attorneys or other professionals who send clients.
- Contract laborA part-time analyst or assistant paid outside payroll.
What we watch for you
- Retainer spread accuracy
Whether annual fees are landing in the months the work actually happens.
- Extension season share
How much of the year's income lands in the September and October rush.
- Coordination fee volume
How much joint work with outside preparers is bringing in, against its cost.
- The set-aside
What the practice will owe once retainers are spread across the right months.
Ask Gus
Things tax-focused planners 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 once I am done with it. I spread that fee across the four quarters it covers, so your year reads steady, not lopsided.
No, it is a cost of the joint engagement itself, so it gets its own line separate from your marketing referral fees.
I flag that season so it compares against the same months last year, not against a quiet July. That is the honest read on real growth.
The tax side
The tax side of a tax-focused planning practice.
The irony of keeping your own books straight while you build tax strategies for others is real, and most of the trouble here is timing retainers and one-time projects correctly.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Retainers should be recognized as earned, not as receivedAn annual retainer collected up front is not necessarily all earned the day it is paid. The accountant looks at how the work is actually delivered across the year to decide how the fee should be recognized for tax purposes.
- The pass-through deduction and higher incomeUp to 20 percent of qualified business income can come off taxable income, though this deduction can phase out sooner for a practice built on advice once income passes $201,750 single or $403,500 joint.
- Self-employment tax on a solo practiceA sole practitioner owes 15.3 percent self-employment tax on net profit, up to the $184,500 Social Security wage base for 2026, a number worth planning around well before the year closes.
- 1099s for outside preparers and contract analystsAn outside preparer paid a coordination fee, or a contract analyst, gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if paid $2,000 or more in 2026 and not on payroll.
Deductions tax-focused financial planners miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Tax projection software
- State IA registration fees
- Errors and omissions insurance
- Continuing education courses
- Client portal and e-signature tools
- Referral fees paid out
- Coordination fees paid
- Home office costs
- Professional association dues
- Conference travel
- Research subscriptions
- Laptop and office 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 tax-focused planning practice's year, kept every month.
Retainers get paid in January but earned all year, and the extension deadline drives a second busy season. Your team keeps the practice's own books current through both. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Retainers renew
Annual retainers get paid and spread across the quarters ahead, 1099s go out for anyone paid outside payroll, and last year's return gets started.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with every retainer already spread to the quarter it covers, so the number due is not a surprise.
- July
Halfway check
Where the practice stands, what it will owe, and whether the spring quarter's estimate reviews landed as planned.
- October
Extension rush
Strategy projects tied to the extended filing deadline get compared against the same season last year, and next year's retainer pricing gets a look.
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 tax-focused financial planners. 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 tax-focused planners ask first.
My retainer clients pay the full year up front in January. Does that make my books lumpy?
Not the way Gus handles it. The fee gets spread across the quarters it actually covers, so your monthly number reflects steady work, not one big January deposit.
I coordinate strategies with clients' outside preparers and split a fee with them. How does that get tracked?
That split gets its own line as a cost of the joint engagement, separate from any referral fees you pay to bring in new clients.
Does Gus prepare or file the returns my clients' strategies are built around?
No. Gus and your bookkeeper only keep the practice's own books, what it makes and spends. Building and filing client strategies stays entirely with you.
My income spikes every September and October around extension deadlines. Is that a problem for my numbers?
No, but Gus flags that season so it compares fairly against the same months last year, instead of against a quiet summer that was never going to look as strong.
Some of my fees are framed as a share of a client's expected tax savings. How is that booked?
Only the fee actually billed and collected counts as income. An estimate of what a client might save is never booked as the practice's revenue.
My books have been inconsistent since I started offering quarterly reviews last year. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have and Gus sorts them out, retainer by retainer. 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.
More in advisors, lenders & money services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Check cashing & small-dollar lenders
- Coin & bullion dealers
- Crypto ATM operators
- Invoice factoring companies
- Pawn shops
- Student loan consultants
- Equipment financing brokers
- Payment processing agents (ISOs)
- SBA loan brokers
- Annuity specialists
- Credit repair companies
- Debt settlement firms
- Fee-only financial planners
- Merchant cash advance brokers
- Wealth managers
- Independent financial advisors (RIAs)
- Retirement planners
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