Outdoor attractions & tours
Books and taxes for walking and food tour companies.
Ticket sales, money paid out to restaurant and vendor partners for tastings, guide pay, and cash tips at the end of every walk. 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
September came in at $12,300. Payments to the four restaurants on the Saturday route are booked as tasting costs, not one lump food expense.
- Bookeo ticket payoutTour tickets
- Private group booking depositPrivate bookings
- Restaurant partner payout, four stopsTasting and vendor payments
- Guide payroll runGuide wages
- GetYourGuide commissionOnline travel agency fees
Why your books are different
Food tour books go wrong in the same four places.
A generalist sees ticket sales and a walk around town. Your business pays a handful of restaurant and vendor partners per guest for tastings, splits guide pay from tips, and books through sites that quietly take a cut. When the books do not know that, you cannot tell what a tour actually nets after the food is paid for.
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1
Restaurant partner payments get lumped into one food cost
A four-stop tour might pay a different amount per guest to each restaurant, bakery, or vendor. Treated as one flat food cost, you cannot see which stops are worth the price you pay them.
What we doKeeps each tasting or vendor payment tied to the stop it paid for, so you can see what each restaurant partnership actually costs. -
2
Guide tips get mixed with guide wages
Guides often earn cash or app-based tips on top of a set wage per tour. Mixed together, you cannot see whether guide pay is keeping up with what the job actually earns them, or track tip income correctly.
What we doKeeps tips separate from wages, so both are tracked the way they should be and guide pay stays clear. -
3
Booking site commissions get netted out of the payout
A $65 ticket sold through an online travel agency might land in the bank as $52 after the site's cut. Booking that $52 as the sale hides the real ticket price and understates both revenue and marketing cost.
What we doBooks the full ticket price as money in and the booking site's cut as its own marketing cost, so pricing stays visible. -
4
Private group bookings get counted before the tour happens
A company books a private food tour for a team outing weeks out and pays a deposit. Counting the full amount when the deposit lands overstates that month and understates the one where the tour actually runs.
What we doHolds group booking deposits until the tour date, so income lands in the month the tour actually happened.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a food tour company.
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
- Tour ticketsPublic tours booked through your own site or app.
- Private bookingsCorporate and private group tours, tied to the tour date.
- Online travel agency bookingsSales through Viator or GetYourGuide, at full ticket price.
- MerchandiseBranded aprons, tote bags, and cookbooks.
Money out
- Tasting and vendor paymentsPer-guest payments to restaurant, bakery, and food stall partners.
- Guide wagesPer-tour or hourly pay for guides.
- Online travel agency feesThe commission kept by booking sites, separate from the ticket price.
- InsuranceLiability coverage for walking tours in public spaces.
- Permits and licensingCity or district permits for guided tours on public streets.
- MarketingLocal ads and listing fees.
What we watch for you
- Cost per guest by route
Tasting payments per guest against ticket price for each route, so you know which tours are worth running.
- Guide pay against tour income
What guides earn compared to what the tour brought in, so pricing keeps pace.
- Online travel agency cost
How much booking sites keep, so you can weigh the exposure they bring against their cut.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things food tour 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, I keep each stop's payment tied to that restaurant, so you can see which partnerships are actually worth what you pay them.
Yes, I keep them separate. Tips get tracked as tips, wages as wages, so both are handled the right way and pay stays clear.
They kept a commission before paying out. I book the full ticket price as your sale and their cut as a marketing cost.
The tax side
The tax side of a food tour company.
Most of what goes wrong here is keeping restaurant payments, tips, and booking site fees separate instead of lumped together.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Worker classification for guidesGuides who follow your set route and script and work your schedule are usually employees, even if paid per tour rather than hourly.
- Tip reporting for guidesTips earned by guides are taxable income and usually run through payroll along with wages, so they are reported correctly at year end.
- Contractor 1099s for restaurant partnersPayments to a restaurant or food vendor for tastings are usually a business expense, not a payment that needs a 1099, since these are typically businesses themselves, not individual contractors.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when the books are right all year.
Deductions walking and food tour companies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Tasting payments to vendors
- City tour guide permits
- Liability insurance
- Online travel agency commissions
- Booking app fees
- Guide training materials
- Printed tour maps and materials
- Business phone for bookings
- Rain gear and weather backup plans
- Portable sound equipment
- Local advertising and listings
- Branded merchandise 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 food tour year, kept every month.
Your busiest walks follow the local tourist calendar. Your taxes come on a schedule regardless. 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 1099 list is ready, and you get a monthly set-aside so the slow months do not catch you short.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed ahead of the busy spring and summer tourist season.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand at the height of tourist season, and whether restaurant partner costs are tracking with bookings.
- October
Before the slowdown
A look at whether it is worth adding a new route or partner before the year winds down.
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 walking and food tour 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 food tour owners ask first.
Can Gus track what I pay each restaurant partner separately?
Yes. Each tasting payment gets tied to the stop it paid for, so you can see which partnerships are actually worth what you pay them.
Do guide tips get reported differently than their pay?
They are kept separate in the books, tips as tips and wages as wages, and both usually run through payroll so they are reported correctly.
We book a lot of tours through GetYourGuide and Viator. Does Gus handle that?
Yes. He books the full ticket price as your sale and the site's commission as a marketing cost, so your real revenue and their cut both show clearly.
A company books a private tour for a team event weeks ahead. When does that count as income?
The month the tour actually happens. Gus holds deposits until the tour date so income matches real activity.
Our books are behind from a busy tourist season. 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 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 outdoor attractions & tours
We keep books for the business next door too.
- Cave & cavern tours
- Drive-in theaters
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- Ghost tours
- Helicopter tours
- Historic site tours
- Hot air balloon rides
- Outdoor go-kart tracks
- Petting zoos
- Private museums
- Scenic train excursions
- Segway, e-bike & scooter tours
- Skydiving centers
- Small amusement parks
- Small aquariums
- Small water parks
- Trolley & sightseeing tours
- Wildlife parks & animal sanctuaries
- Arcades
- Axe throwing venues
- Billiards halls
- Board game cafes
- Cat cafes
- Comedy & magic clubs
- Dinner theaters
- Duckpin bowling & social gaming venues
- Esports & LAN gaming centers
- Haunted houses & haunted attractions
- Ice skating rinks
- Indoor go-kart tracks
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