Staffing, recruiting & HR services
Books and taxes for travel nurse agencies.
Thirteen-week contracts, non-taxable housing stipends, completion bonuses, and bill rates that swing with hospital demand. 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 $40,500. Two nurses hit their completion bonus on the same Phoenix contract, so I logged those apart from base wages to keep the margin clear.
- Sunbelt Regional payoutContract billings
- Fusion Marketplace payoutTravel VMS billings
- Payroll run, traveling RNsNurse wages
- Housing stipend disbursementTravel stipends
- Multi-state license renewalCredentialing costs
Why your books are different
Travel nurse agency books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and paychecks. Your business runs on 13-week contracts, a stipend that isn't wages, and bill rates that can double when a hospital is desperate and halve six months later. When the books don't know that, the number on the screen isn't the number you actually kept.
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1
Housing stipends get taxed like wages
A travel nurse's tax-free housing and meal stipend can run over a thousand dollars a contract. Coded as regular pay, it gets taxed for no reason and understates what the placement really nets.
What we doKeeps stipends in their own line, tied to the assignment, so they aren't taxed as wages when the travel rules are met. -
2
Bill rate swings hide inside one average
A crisis rate contract at 1.6 times the normal bill rate and a steady-state contract at standard rate both look the same if every deposit lands in one pile. You lose the read on which contracts are actually worth chasing.
What we doKeeps contract billings tagged by facility and rate type so margin by contract stays visible, not averaged away. -
3
Completion bonuses get lost in the payroll run
A bonus paid when a nurse finishes a full 13-week contract is a real cost tied to that specific placement, but buried in one wage total, you can't see whether the bonus made the contract worth it.
What we doLogs completion and extension bonuses in their own line so cost per contract stays clear. -
4
Multi-state licensing gets treated as one flat fee
A nurse working under the Nurse Licensure Compact still needs specific state credentials in non-compact states, and those renewal and verification costs pile up fast across a busy roster.
What we doTracks credentialing and licensing costs by nurse so you can see what it actually costs to keep the roster placement-ready.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a travel nurse agency.
Set up once for contract-based billing and stipend-heavy pay. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Contract billingsWeekly invoices for 13-week hospital contracts, tagged by facility and rate type.
- Travel VMS billingsContracts booked through a marketplace like Fusion or a similar travel staffing exchange.
- Crisis and rapid response ratesPremium billings for short-notice, high-demand facility coverage.
- Extension billingsContracts renewed past the original 13 weeks.
- Direct hire conversion feesWhat a facility owes if it hires a traveler on permanently.
Money out
- Traveling nurse wagesW-2 base pay for every nurse on contract, run through payroll.
- Housing and meal stipendsNon-taxable travel reimbursement, kept apart from wages.
- Completion and extension bonusesPaid when a nurse finishes or renews a contract, tracked per placement.
- Multi-state licensing and credentialingState license fees, compact verification, and background checks.
- Workers comp premiumsSet by clinical role and adjusted by the agency's claims history.
- Travel VMS and marketplace feesWhat a travel staffing exchange keeps for matching contracts.
- Recruiter and sourcing costsJob boards, referral bonuses, and recruiter commissions for filling contracts fast.
What we watch for you
- Margin by contract
Bill rate minus wages, stipends, and bonuses, per placement. Shows which facilities and rate types are actually worth chasing.
- Stipend share of pay
How much of total pay is non-taxable stipend versus wages. Keeps the split honest for every contract.
- Licensing cost per nurse
What it costs to keep a traveler credentialed across states. A rising number flags a roster that's getting harder to place.
- The set-aside
What you'll owe across every contract this year, tracked every month, so April is never a surprise bill.
Ask Gus
Things travel nurse agency 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.
Yes, that one's running well above your usual margin once the stipend and bonus are factored in. I kept it tagged separately so you can see it against your standard contracts.
Usually not, as long as the travel rules are met and the nurse has a real tax home elsewhere. I keep it in its own line so it isn't taxed like wages by mistake.
Yes, and I log it against her placement so credentialing cost per nurse stays visible instead of disappearing into general expenses.
The tax side
The tax side of a travel nurse agency.
Most of what goes wrong here is stipend rules and multi-state exposure. A stipend that gets taxed for no reason, and a roster placed across a dozen states at once.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Non-taxable travel stipendsHousing and meal per diem for a traveling nurse can be paid tax-free under IRS travel rules when the nurse keeps a genuine tax home. Gus keeps stipends separate from wages so they're not taxed by mistake.
- Multi-state payroll taxEvery state a nurse is placed in usually creates its own payroll tax and unemployment insurance obligation, on top of wherever the agency itself sits.
- Worker classificationA traveler working a hospital's schedule under a hospital's supervision is a W-2 employee, not a 1099 contractor, regardless of how the contract with the facility is worded.
- The pass-through deductionMost owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, a benefit that comes out right when margin by contract is tracked all year.
Deductions travel nurse agencies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Travel VMS and marketplace fees
- Multi-state license and compact fees
- Background checks and credentialing
- Recruiter and sourcing costs
- Job board postings
- Workers comp premiums
- Professional liability insurance
- Recruiter travel to facility site visits
- Staffing and contract management software
- Phone and laptop for recruiting coordinators
- Card processing fees on facility payments
- Referral bonuses for nurse leads
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 travel nurse agency year, kept every month.
Contracts run on their own 13-week clock, and your taxes run on theirs. Your team keeps you ahead of both, all year. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Reset for the new year
Last year's return gets started, W-2s go out for the whole traveling roster, and a monthly set-aside starts so April is already covered.
- April
Signed while contracts run
Your return is filed and signed without pulling anyone off assignment. No surprise bill, since the set-aside has been building since January.
- July
A midyear read on margin
Where margin by contract stands at the midpoint, and whether summer crisis rates changed what you'll owe.
- October
Before the winter contract rush
Facility demand for traveling nurses often spikes heading into winter. Gus looks at licensing pipeline and margin trends before the ramp.
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 travel nurse agencies. 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 travel nurse agency owners ask first.
How does Gus keep housing stipends from getting taxed?
He keeps stipends in their own line, separate from wages, so they follow the non-taxable travel rules instead of getting bundled into regular pay by accident.
Our bill rates change a lot contract to contract. Does that confuse the books?
No. Gus tags billings by contract and rate type, so a crisis-rate placement and a standard one show their own margin instead of getting averaged into one number.
Do completion bonuses need special handling?
Yes. They're a real cost tied to a specific contract, so Gus logs them apart from base wages, which keeps the true cost of that placement visible.
We place nurses in a dozen states. Is that too much for a flat-rate service?
No, it's common in this trade. Gus flags any new state a nurse lands in so payroll and unemployment registrations keep pace, and the accountant handles the filings.
What happens if a nurse's contract ends early?
Gus adjusts the placement's numbers to reflect what was actually billed and paid, so an early end doesn't leave a bonus or stipend miscounted in the books.
Our books are behind after a busy travel season. Can we catch up?
Yes. Send the bank statements and payroll reports you have, and Gus and your bookkeeper sort through them so you know where you 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.
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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