Auto repair & maintenance
Books and taxes for tire shops.
Tire inventory worth thousands, road hazard warranty claims, seasonal swap rushes, and manufacturer rebates. 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
October came in at $17,000. The Michelin rebate check for hitting our quarterly quota landed, so I logged it as a rebate, not ordinary tire sales.
- Tekmetric payoutsTire sales and install
- Michelin rebate checkManufacturer rebates
- American Tire DistributorsTire inventory
- TPMS sensor stockParts and materials
- Tire disposal feesDisposal fees
Why your books are different
Tire shop books go wrong on inventory and warranty claims.
You carry more cash tied up in tires sitting on racks than most repair shops carry in tools, and every set you sell can come with a road hazard warranty that pays out later, not at the register. A generalist bookkeeper treats a tire like any other part and misses both.
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1
Tire inventory is money sitting on the rack
A shop can carry tens of thousands of dollars in tire stock from a distributor like American Tire Distributors, bought ahead of the customers who will buy them. Expensed the day a truckload arrives, a big restock month looks like a loss.
What we doKeeps tire inventory in one steady line tied to what actually sold, and flags a big restock as inventory, not that month's cost. -
2
Road hazard warranty claims earn nothing new
A tire sold with a road hazard warranty means a free replacement if it's damaged within the coverage period. That replacement still costs you a tire and labor, but earns no new sale, and folded into ordinary sales it quietly drags margin down.
What we doFlags no-charge road hazard replacements separately, so you can see how much of a month's tire cost went to warranty claims. -
3
Manufacturer rebates aren't ordinary sales
A rebate check from Michelin, Goodyear, or Bridgestone for hitting a purchase quota lands separately from any single sale and on its own schedule, and mixed into tire revenue it makes it look like customers paid more than they did.
What we doKeeps manufacturer rebate checks in their own category, apart from tire sales, so you know what's actually coming from customers. -
4
Seasonal swap weeks flood the books at once
The week everyone switches to snow tires or back to all-seasons can bring in more revenue than the rest of the month combined, and buying enough seasonal stock ahead of that rush can look like it wiped out a slow week's profit.
What we doKeeps seasonal tire stock as inventory bought ahead of the rush, not an expense that lands the week it arrives.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a tire shop.
Set up once for inventory and warranty work, you never pick a category, an accountant checks every one.
Money in
- Tire sales and installNew tire sets and mounting, run through the counter card reader.
- AlignmentsStandalone alignment jobs, kept apart from tire sales.
- Manufacturer rebatesQuota checks from Michelin, Goodyear, or Bridgestone.
- Fleet accountsDelivery and business vehicles billed net 30 for tire sets.
Money out
- Tire inventoryPurchases from American Tire Distributors or a regional wholesaler.
- TPMS sensors and valve stemsSmall parts sold alongside every tire set.
- Road hazard replacementsNo-charge tires replaced under warranty, kept apart from paid sales.
- Tech wages and commissionFlat-rate mounting and balancing pay, kept apart from hourly wages.
- EquipmentTire changers and balancers, logged so they get written off right.
- Disposal feesFees to haul away old tires.
What we watch for you
- Tire inventory value
What's sitting on the rack unsold, tracked so cash doesn't quietly pile up in stock.
- Warranty claim cost
What road hazard replacements cost each month, watched so it stays a small slice of sales.
- Average ticket
What a customer spends per set including add-ons, tracked to catch a pricing slip.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things tire shop 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. That's inventory for sales still coming, not this week's cost. I kept it off the expense line until those tires actually sell.
As a rebate, separate from tire sales. That way your sales number still shows what customers actually paid you.
It shows up as a cost with no new sale attached, and I flagged it that way, so you can see what warranty claims are actually running you.
The tax side
The tax side of a tire shop.
Most of what goes wrong here is inventory counted the wrong month and rebates mixed in with ordinary sales.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Tire inventory and cost of goodsTires bought ahead of the customers who will buy them are inventory, and their cost only counts against income once they're sold, not the day the truckload arrived.
- Tire changers and balancersShop equipment like tire changers and wheel balancers can usually be written off the year you buy it. Bonus depreciation is back to 100 percent for property bought after January 19, 2025.
- Flat-rate tech classificationA technician who works your schedule and uses your equipment is usually an employee, even paid by the flat-rate mount and balance. Getting this wrong gets expensive, so Gus flags it before it becomes routine.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operator shops can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, and it comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions tire shops miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Tire disposal fees
- Balancer weight stock
- TPMS sensor tools
- ASE certification fees
- Shop towel service
- Garagekeepers insurance
- Rack storage racking
- Uniform rental service
- Nitrogen fill equipment
- Seasonal storage 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 tire shop's year, kept every month.
Two seasonal swap rushes shape the year around a steady baseline. Your team keeps you ahead of both the swaps and your taxes. 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 winter swap season wraps up, and you get a monthly set-aside so April isn't a surprise.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January and matched what the shop actually made.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether summer road trip tire sales changed the number this year.
- October
Before the snow tire rush
The seasonal swap season is about to hit. Before it does, Gus looks at inventory levels, equipment worth buying, and moves worth making 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 tire shops. 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 tire shop owners ask first.
We carry a lot of tire inventory. Does Gus track that?
Yes. Tire stock is kept as inventory tied to what actually sells, not an expense the day it arrives, so a big restock won't make a month look worse than it was.
How are road hazard warranty replacements handled?
As a no-charge cost, flagged apart from paid sales, so you can see exactly what warranty claims are running you each month instead of it blending into ordinary tire sales.
Do manufacturer rebate checks count as regular income?
They're kept in their own category, separate from tire sales, so your sales number always reflects what customers actually paid, not the rebate on top of it.
Our busiest week is the seasonal swap rush. Can Gus keep up?
Yes. He works from your bank statement and point of sale export, and a heavy swap week gets sorted the same steady way as any slower week.
My books are a mess from doing them myself. 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