Commercial facility services
Books and taxes for uniform and linen service companies.
Weekly route billing to restaurants and shops, garments that wear out on rotation, industrial laundry costs, and a customer who never returned the rented mats. 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
November came in at $11,700. The new set of chef coats for the steakhouse account went on as rental inventory, not a laundry expense.
- Weekly route invoicesRecurring rental fees
- One-time garment orderOne-time sales
- Industrial laundry chemicalsLaundry processing
- Route truck dieselVehicle and route
- New chef coats, steakhouseGarment inventory
Why your books are different
Uniform and linen service books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business rents out garments and linens that wear out on a schedule, runs an industrial laundry operation behind the route trucks, and sometimes never sees a batch of mats again. When the books do not know that, the real cost of the rental fleet disappears.
-
1
Rented garments are a wearing-out asset, not a supply
A set of shop uniforms or chef coats put into rotation at an account is company inventory that gets replaced on a cycle, but bought and expensed the same as everyday supplies, there is no way to see how fast a given account wears through stock.
What we doKeeps garment and linen inventory tracked by account, so replacement cost is visible and tied to what each account actually uses. -
2
Unreturned rentals vanish instead of showing up as a loss
A restaurant closes or switches vendors and keeps the last batch of mats or aprons, and that inventory just disappears from view instead of being counted as a real loss on the books.
What we doTracks garments and linens by account, so an unreturned batch shows up as a real cost instead of a mystery gap. -
3
Laundry processing cost gets buried in general supplies
Detergent, water, and industrial equipment maintenance for the laundry side of the business are a real and growing cost, but they usually get lumped in with everyday expenses where nobody tracks the trend.
What we doKeeps laundry processing costs in their own line, so you can see it against route revenue and catch a cost creep early. -
4
Route driver pay hides what a stop actually costs
Paying drivers by the day or the route makes it hard to tell what any single account actually costs to service, so a low-margin account keeps getting the same route stop as a high-margin one with nobody noticing.
What we doTracks labor against route and account count, so cost per stop is visible, not buried in a weekly payroll total.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a uniform and linen service.
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
- Recurring rental feesWeekly or monthly billing for uniforms, mats, towels, and linens on route.
- One-time salesGarments and linens sold outright rather than rented.
- Restocking and replacement feesCharges billed when an account loses or damages more than normal wear.
- Specialty cleaningTable linens, chef wear, and other items cleaned but not rented.
Money out
- Garment inventoryUniforms, mats, and linens purchased to put into rotation at accounts.
- Laundry processingDetergent, water, and industrial washer and dryer maintenance.
- Vehicle and routeFuel, insurance, and repairs for the delivery fleet.
- Route driver wagesDelivery and pickup staff, kept apart from plant labor.
- Plant laborSorting, folding, and processing staff at the laundry facility.
- Bid and marketing costsProposals and sample kits for prospective restaurant and shop accounts.
- Insurance and licensingGeneral liability and any local wastewater discharge permits for the laundry plant.
What we watch for you
- Garment replacement rate
How fast rented stock wears out or goes missing by account, so pricing and restock timing stay ahead of it.
- Cost per stop
Labor and laundry cost against route stops, so an underpriced account does not hide inside a busy week.
- Rental income share
Rental income against total income, so you know how much of the month is steady route business.
- Unreturned inventory
Garments and linens not recovered from closed or switched accounts, tracked so the loss is not invisible.
Ask Gus
Things uniform and linen service 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.
I logged it as garment inventory tied to that account, not a laundry expense, so you can see how often that account needs new stock.
I marked it as unreturned inventory against that account, so the loss shows up as a real cost instead of just disappearing.
If you pay him $2,000 or more this year and he is not on payroll, he gets a 1099 by January 31. I keep that list running as the delivery route gets covered.
The tax side
The tax side of a uniform and linen service.
Most of what goes wrong here is labels and timing. Rental inventory filed like everyday supplies, a fill-in driver paid like a contractor who works like an employee, and a set-aside nobody started until the return was due.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Rental inventory and laundry equipmentGarment and linen inventory put into rotation, along with washers and dryers, can usually be written off in the year placed in service, with bonus depreciation back to 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025.
- Contractor 1099sA route driver who fills in and is not on payroll gets a 1099-NEC by January 31 if you paid him $2,000 or more in 2026. Gus keeps that running the whole year.
- Employee or contractorA driver who runs your route on your schedule with your truck is usually an employee. Getting that wrong gets expensive, so Gus asks before it becomes a habit.
- The pass-through deductionA profitable route owner can usually take up to 20 percent of business profit off taxable income under the pass-through deduction, once the books are right all year.
Deductions uniform and linen service companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Garment and linen inventory
- Industrial laundry detergent
- Washer and dryer repairs
- Delivery truck fuel and maintenance
- Sample kits for new accounts
- Plant labor uniforms
- Water and utility costs for the plant
- Phone and tablet for route scheduling
- Storage and plant rent
- Card processing fees
- Liability insurance
- Wastewater discharge permits
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 uniform and linen service year, kept every month.
Route accounts bill steady all year while restaurant and hospitality demand shifts with the season. 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
Plant year kickoff
Filing on last year's return begins, the fill-in driver's 1099 gets confirmed, and the monthly set-aside starts building toward April.
- April
Signed and squared
The return goes out filed and signed this month. Because the set-aside has been building steadily since January, there is no scramble to cover it.
- July
Midyear route check
A look at where profit stands, what you will owe, and whether new restaurant and hospitality accounts moved the number.
- October
Before the holiday rush
As restaurant and hospitality accounts ramp up for the holidays, Gus looks at garment stock worth ordering 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 uniform and linen service companies. 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 uniform and linen service owners ask first.
Can Gus track garments that go missing from an account?
Yes. He keeps rental inventory tracked by account, so an unreturned batch of uniforms or linens shows up as a real cost instead of disappearing quietly.
My laundry plant and my delivery route have different costs. Does that matter?
Yes. Plant labor and laundry processing are kept separate from route driver wages and vehicle costs, so you can see what each side of the business really costs.
Do I write off a new set of rental garments all at once?
Often you can. Inventory put into service for the business can usually be deducted in the year it is placed, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
A big garment order made this month look bad. Is that normal?
It happens whenever a bulk restock lands ahead of the route revenue it supports. Gus keeps inventory purchases in their own line so a stock-up month does not read as a loss.
I am behind on my books by a few months. Is that a problem?
No. Send whatever statements you have, however far the route billing has piled up. Gus sorts it, the accountant checks it, and you will 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.
More in commercial facility services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Commercial door & hardware contractors
- Commercial floor care (strip & wax)
- Commercial kitchen equipment repair
- Commercial snow & ice management
- Interior plantscaping & plant leasing
- Office coffee service
- Office furniture installers
- Parking lot sweeping
- Water cooler & filtration service
- Window film & tint (commercial)
- Commercial pressure washing
- Banner & large-format printers
- Court reporters
- Label printers
- Legal document preparers
- Mailing houses & lettershops
- Mediators
- Private investigators
- Process servers
- Trade show display producers
- 1031 exchange intermediaries
- Answering services
- Apostille services
- Background check companies
- Business valuation firms
- Crop insurance agents
- Crypto tax specialists
- Document shredding & records management
- DOT compliance consultants
- Drug testing centers
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