Youth & adult sports training
Books and taxes for tennis clubs and teaching pros.
Annual membership dues, court time booked by the hour, a teaching pro who keeps a cut of every lesson, and a stringing machine that never stops. 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
April came in at $18,000. Membership renewals carried the month, so I kept that apart from what court time and lessons actually brought in.
- Annual membership renewalsMembership dues
- Court booking feesCourt time
- Teaching pro payout, AprilPro lesson commissions
- Stringing supplies orderStringing service
- Court resurfacing depositFacility upkeep
Why your books are different
A tennis club's books go wrong in the same handful of spots.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your club collects annual dues, hourly court fees, and lesson income that a teaching pro keeps a cut of, plus a stringing counter on the side. When the books do not separate those, membership money hides how court time and lessons are actually doing.
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1
Annual membership dues get counted the month they're paid
A member pays $1,200 in April for a year of court access. Booked as April income, that month looks enormous while the other eleven months carry none of it, even though the member uses the courts all year.
What we doSpreads membership dues across the year they cover, so each month reflects the access members are actually using. -
2
Teaching pro commissions get paid out as a lump lesson expense
When a member pays $90 for a lesson and the club keeps a $20 cut with the pro taking $70, booking the whole $90 as lesson income and the $70 as one payroll expense hides what the club's own share of lesson revenue really is.
What we doBooks the full lesson fee as income and the pro's share as a commission expense, so the club's real cut is visible. -
3
Stringing and pro shop sales get mixed with court and lesson income
A stringing job or a can of balls sold at the counter is a small, frequent transaction with its own thin margin, but it often lands in the same bucket as membership dues and lesson fees.
What we doKeeps stringing and pro shop sales in their own category, separate from membership and lesson income. -
4
USTA league fees collected from members pass through the club's account
A club that collects USTA team fees from members and forwards them on often books that money as its own income when it lands, overstating what the club actually earned.
What we doKeeps pass-through league fees separate from club revenue, so income reflects only what the club kept. -
5
A court resurfacing gets filed as routine maintenance
Resurfacing a court is a large, infrequent cost, often tens of thousands of dollars, very different from a weekly net repair or a bag of tennis balls.
What we doFlags a resurfacing job as a facility improvement, not routine upkeep, and gets the accountant's call on how to write it off.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a tennis club.
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
- Membership duesAnnual or monthly access fees, tracked across the period they cover.
- Court timeHourly bookings from members and guests.
- Lesson feesThe full amount paid for a lesson, before the pro's cut is paid out.
- Stringing and pro shop salesRacquet stringing, balls, and small gear sold at the counter.
Money out
- Pro lesson commissionsThe teaching pro's share of lesson fees, kept apart from club revenue.
- Facility upkeepNet repairs, lighting, and court surface maintenance.
- Stringing serviceString, grommets, and stringing machine upkeep.
- InsuranceGeneral liability coverage for the club and its courts.
- MarketingLocal ads, your website, and membership renewal mailings.
What we watch for you
- Membership renewal rate
How many members are actually renewing versus lapsing each cycle.
- Club share of lesson revenue
What the club keeps once the teaching pro's commission is paid out.
- Court utilization
How much of your bookable court time is actually filled.
- The set-aside
What membership and lesson income actually owe, tracked monthly so April brings no surprises.
Ask Gus
Things tennis club 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.
Only if it's booked wrong. I spread those dues across the year they cover, so a member using the courts in November still shows up as revenue in November, not just in April.
I book the whole lesson fee as income and his share as a commission expense, so you can see the club's real cut instead of just the leftover after he's paid.
If he teaches on the club's courts on a set schedule the club controls, he likely reads as an employee even on a commission split. That call needs the accountant's read before you settle the paperwork.
The tax side
The tax side of a tennis club.
Most of what trips up a club is timing and splitting revenue that passes through more than one hand before it settles.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Teaching pro classificationA pro who teaches on the club's courts on a schedule the club sets is usually an employee, not a contractor, even on a commission split arrangement.
- Court resurfacing and facility upgradesA resurfacing job or new lighting system can usually be written off over time or, in some cases, in the year it's paid for. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent, permanent, for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Pass-through league feesUSTA or league fees collected from members and forwarded on are not the club's income and should not be taxed as if they were.
- The pass-through deductionMost club owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when membership, lesson, and pass-through money are kept apart.
Deductions tennis clubs and teaching pros miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Tennis balls and ball machine hoppers
- Net systems and windscreens
- Stringing machine parts and grommets
- Court surface repair
- Court lighting repair
- Membership software fees
- Liability insurance
- Uniforms with your logo
- First aid supplies
- Website and booking software
- USTA event listing fees
- Storage for pro shop inventory
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 tennis club's year, kept every month.
Membership renewals and league seasons come on their own calendar. Your taxes come on a fixed one. 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 pro commission list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, right as annual membership renewals come in.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer court bookings changed the number.
- October
Before winter season
Before indoor court demand picks up, Gus looks at resurfacing and equipment 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 tennis clubs and teaching pros. 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 tennis club owners ask first.
Can Gus spread membership dues across the year instead of the month they're paid?
Yes. He recognizes dues over the membership period, so one big renewal month doesn't make the rest of the year look empty by comparison.
Our teaching pro is paid on a commission split. Does that change the books?
It changes where the money goes, not what you do. Gus books the full lesson fee as income and the pro's cut as a commission expense, so you can see the club's real margin.
We collect USTA team fees from members. Is that our income?
No, not if you're forwarding it on. Gus keeps pass-through fees out of your revenue so the club's income reflects only what it actually kept.
Do we write off a full court resurfacing at once?
Sometimes, though it often gets spread across a few years instead. Gus flags the job as a facility improvement and the accountant decides what fits your year.
Our books haven't been reconciled properly in a long time. Can that be fixed?
It can. Send whatever bank and membership records you have, and Gus works through them until the club has a real number to plan around.
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.
- Adult recreational leagues
- Baseball & softball training facilities
- Basketball skills trainers
- Batting cages
- Fencing clubs
- Golf academies for juniors
- Hockey training centers
- Lacrosse clubs
- Private pitching & hitting coaches
- Quarterback & position coaches
- Referee & sports official assignors
- Soccer training academies
- Sports camps
- Sports complexes & turf facilities
- Sports photography companies
- Travel sports clubs
- Volleyball clubs
- Wrestling clubs
- Youth sports leagues
- Pickleball clubs & facilities
- Sports performance, speed & agility training
- Adult & ballroom dance studios
- Aerial silks & circus arts studios
- All-star cheerleading gyms
- EMS training studios
- Gunsmiths
- Parkour gyms
- Pole fitness studios
- Powerlifting & strongman gyms
- Prenatal & postnatal fitness
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