Sporting goods & sports services
Books and taxes for team uniform and apparel suppliers.
A school district's bid order, a deposit on 40 jerseys with names and numbers, blank apparel bought wholesale, and a reprint after a misspelled name all move through one account. Gus sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
August came in at $20,700. Three school district orders are still on net-30 terms, so I kept that money as owed to you, not counted as collected yet.
- School district depositTeam order deposits
- Sanmar blank apparel orderBlank apparel inventory
- Net-30 invoice paymentTeam order balances
- Embroidery thread and suppliesDecoration supplies
- Reprint materialsReprint and error costs
Why your books are different
A team uniform supplier's books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a big invoice to a school. Your business runs on deposits, net-30 balances, blank goods bought before a single logo goes on, and the occasional reprint when a name gets misspelled. When the books do not track that, cash flow is a guessing game.
-
1
A deposit on a team order counts as income too early
A school pays half down on 40 jerseys with player names and numbers, work that will not be finished for weeks. Booked as income the day it lands, the month looks stronger than it is, and the balance owed is forgotten.
What we doKeeps the deposit as money owed against the order until the uniforms are delivered and the job is actually complete. -
2
Net-30 balances get confused with cash already collected
A school district order ships in August but does not get paid until October under net-30 terms, and treating the invoice as collected cash misreads what the business actually has on hand.
What we doKeeps invoiced balances separate from actual deposits, so cash on hand is never confused with money still owed. -
3
Blank apparel cost and decoration cost get mixed together
A blank jersey bought wholesale and the embroidery or screen printing done to it are two different costs with two different suppliers, but they usually get lumped into one number that hides which part of the job actually costs the most.
What we doKeeps blank apparel and decoration costs in separate categories, so the real cost breakdown of a finished order is clear. -
4
Reprints and errors quietly eat into margin
A misspelled name or a wrong number means reprinting a jersey at the shop's own expense, and that cost usually disappears into general supplies instead of showing up as what it actually is.
What we doKeeps reprint and error costs in their own line, so the real cost of mistakes is visible instead of hidden in materials. -
5
A big seasonal apparel order wrecks the monthly picture
Blank goods for the fall sports season often get bought in one large order ahead of the rush, and that single invoice can make a quieter month look like a loss before the season's orders come in.
What we doKeeps seasonal blank apparel purchases visible against orders coming in, so a big stock-up does not read as a bad month on its own.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a team uniform supplier.
Set up once for how you bill and what you buy. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Team order depositsMoney down on orders not yet finished, tracked until delivery.
- Team order balancesNet-30 and similar payments collected after delivery.
- Retail and walk-in salesIndividual apparel sales outside of bulk team orders.
- Rush order feesExtra charged for fast turnaround work.
Money out
- Blank apparel inventorySanmar, Augusta, and similar wholesale blank goods orders.
- Decoration suppliesEmbroidery thread, screen printing ink, and heat transfer materials.
- Reprint and error costsMaterials spent redoing a job because of a mistake.
- Shop equipmentEmbroidery machines and heat presses, logged so they get written off right.
- Freight and shippingCosts on wholesale orders and finished order delivery.
- Card processing feesWhat the processor kept before you got paid.
What we watch for you
- Deposit-to-delivery lag
How much order money has been collected for work not yet finished and delivered.
- Reprint rate
How much of each month's materials cost is going toward fixing mistakes rather than new orders.
- Net-30 receivables
How much invoiced work is still waiting to be paid by schools and leagues.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked across both sports seasons, so filing day is never a scramble.
Ask Gus
Things team apparel suppliers 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.
Two school orders are on net-30 terms and have not been paid yet. I keep invoiced balances separate from cash collected, so what you have on hand is always the real number.
Yes, in its own line as a reprint cost, not buried in general supplies. That way you can see over time how much errors are actually costing you.
That is above my pay grade to settle alone. I keep the pay separate either way, and the accountant will look at how the work actually runs.
The tax side
The tax side of a team uniform business.
Most of what trips up this business is timing: deposits and net-30 invoices counted before the cash or the finished order actually arrives.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsWhat the business actually paid for blank apparel sold, counted accurately at year end, is what determines the profit the return shows.
- Equipment for embroidery and printingEmbroidery machines and heat presses can usually be written off in the year bought. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who is paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for decoration work gets a 1099-NEC by January 31.
- The pass-through deductionA pass-through business can usually take up to 20 percent of profit off taxable income, and that number only holds up when deposits and net-30 balances are tracked as what they really are.
Deductions team uniform and apparel suppliers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Embroidery machine maintenance
- Heat press and screen printing equipment
- Thread, ink, and transfer supplies
- Freight on wholesale and finished orders
- Design software subscriptions
- Shop signage
- Card processing fees
- Website and order portal fees
- Liability insurance
- Trade show and league fair booth fees
- Sample garments for bids
- Local team sponsorships
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 team uniform supplier's year, kept every month.
Spring and fall sports seasons each bring a rush of bids and orders. Your team keeps you ahead of the calendar and the tax deadlines 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 contractor 1099 list is ready, and a monthly set-aside is planned before spring sports orders start coming in.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with the set-aside already covering what you owe.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether outstanding net-30 balances need following up on before fall orders hit.
- October
After the fall rush
As back-to-school orders wind down, 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 team uniform and apparel suppliers. 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 team apparel suppliers ask first.
How does Gus handle deposits on team orders that take weeks to finish?
The deposit is kept as money owed against the order until it is delivered, so a strong deposit month does not overstate what you actually earned.
We bill schools on net-30 terms. Does Gus track what's still owed to us?
Yes. Invoiced balances are kept separate from cash actually collected, so you always know how much of your revenue is still waiting to be paid.
How are reprints from mistakes tracked?
Reprint and error costs are kept in their own line, separate from regular materials, so you can see how much mistakes are actually costing over time.
Do I need to change how I bill school districts?
No. Keep sending invoices the way you always have. Gus reads deposits and net-30 payments off your bank statement and asks once about anything unclear, then remembers the answer.
My books are behind from last season's rush. Can Gus catch up?
Usually within a week. Send whatever bank statements and school invoices you have from the months that fell behind, and Gus works through the backlog before the accountant reviews it.
How does Gus separate blank apparel cost from decoration cost?
They are kept in separate categories, so the real cost breakdown of a finished order, and where your margin actually comes from, is clear.
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