Waste, recycling & environmental services
Books and taxes for water testing labs.
Well water samples with a strict holding time, a municipal contract billed monthly, proficiency samples required to keep your certification, and a rush fee when a closing date is near. Your bookkeeper keeps it straight, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
January brought in $9,500. Real estate closings pushed well water testing volume up, so I kept those apart from the municipal contract's flat monthly fee.
- Municipal contract testingContract income
- Well water test batchPer-sample fees
- Proficiency test samplesAccreditation costs
- Reagent and supply orderLab supplies
- Instrument calibration serviceEquipment maintenance
Why your books are different
Water testing lab books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and a supply bill. Your business runs on a strict holding time for every sample, bills some clients per sample and others on a flat monthly contract, and has to keep proving its own accuracy to stay certified. Blend it and you cannot tell what a sample actually costs to run.
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1
Per-sample fees and contract billing get blended
A municipal contract pays a flat monthly rate no matter how many samples run, while well water and real estate tests bill per sample. Lumped into one revenue line, you cannot tell which side of the lab is actually carrying the month.
What we doKeeps contract income and per-sample fees in separate lines, so each shows what it is actually earning. -
2
Proficiency testing costs hide inside supplies
Keeping your certification requires running blind proficiency samples on a schedule, a real recurring cost, but it often gets buried in the same line as ordinary reagents and consumables.
What we doKeeps proficiency testing costs on their own line, so the real cost of staying certified is visible. -
3
Rush fees blend into standard testing rates
A rush result needed before a real estate closing commands a real premium, but blended with standard per-sample fees, you cannot see whether rush work is worth the disruption to the lab's schedule.
What we doKeeps rush fees on their own line, so you can see what that premium is actually worth. -
4
Equipment calibration looks like a one-time cost
Lab instruments need regular calibration and certification to keep results valid, but treated as a random expense instead of a recurring cost, you lose track of what staying accurate actually costs each month.
What we doKeeps calibration and certification costs in their own recurring line, so the real cost of keeping instruments valid is visible.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a water testing lab.
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
- Well water testing feesPer-sample billing for private well owners and real estate transactions.
- Municipal contract incomeFlat monthly or quarterly billing for regulatory testing.
- Industrial client testingWastewater discharge monitoring for commercial and industrial accounts.
- Rush testing feesPremiums for results needed before a closing date or a deadline.
Money out
- Lab reagents and consumablesChemicals and supplies used to run each sample.
- Proficiency testing costsBlind samples run periodically to keep state certification.
- Instrument calibrationRegular certification to keep testing equipment valid.
- Courier and sample shippingGetting samples to the lab within the required holding time.
- State lab accreditation feesRenewal costs for maintaining certified lab status.
What we watch for you
- Contract versus per-sample income
Which side of the lab is actually carrying the month.
- Cost per sample
Reagents, calibration, and labor against what each sample actually brings in.
- Rush testing volume
How much of the month's revenue depended on expedited results before a closing date.
- The set-aside
What you will owe across contract and per-sample income, tracked every month so April is never a scramble.
Ask Gus
Things water testing lab 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. Per-sample fees and contract income sit in separate lines, so a busy season for closings shows up as more well tests, not a strange contract number.
In its own line, apart from ordinary reagents. That way the real cost of staying certified is always visible, not buried in supplies.
Yes. Rush fees sit apart from standard testing rates, so you can see whether that premium is worth the schedule disruption.
The tax side
The tax side of a water testing lab.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing and labels. Contract and per-sample income blended, and certification costs buried in supplies.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Lab equipmentTesting instruments and lab equipment can usually be written off the year you buy them. Bonus depreciation is 100 percent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. Whether to take it all now depends on the year you are having.
- Lab technician worker classificationA technician running samples on your equipment and your schedule is usually an employee, even if paid per batch rather than an hourly wage.
- Business mileage for sample pickupMiles driven to collect samples can be deducted at 72.5 cents a mile from January through June 2026 and 76 cents a mile from July through December 2026, or by tracking the vehicle's actual costs, whichever works out better for the year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated water testing labs 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 water testing labs miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Lab reagents and consumables
- Proficiency testing samples
- Instrument calibration
- State accreditation renewal fees
- Courier and shipping costs
- Sample coolers and containers
- Lab safety equipment
- Continuing education for technicians
- Phone and computer for reporting
- Business use of a vehicle for sample pickup
- Waste disposal for spent samples
- Professional liability insurance
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 water testing lab year, kept every month.
Samples come in on their own schedule and real estate season brings a rush. Your taxes come on a schedule too. 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 lab year
Last year's return gets started and you get a monthly set-aside, so April is already handled before spring closings bring more well water tests.
- April
Filed, no drama
The return is signed and out the door. Between contract and per-sample income, the set-aside already had the bill covered.
- July
Midyear lab check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether municipal contract renewals changed the number.
- October
Before winter freeze testing
Well testing often picks up before pipes freeze and home sales slow. Gus looks at equipment you might need 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 water testing labs. 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 water testing lab owners ask first.
Can Gus keep municipal contract income separate from per-sample fees?
Yes. Each sits in its own line, so you can see which side of the lab is actually carrying the month.
Do proficiency testing costs get lost in our regular supply spending?
No. They sit in their own line, so the real cost of staying certified is always visible.
Do rush fees for real estate closings get tracked separately?
Yes. Rush fees sit apart from standard rates, so you can see whether that premium is worth the schedule disruption.
Do I write off new lab equipment all at once?
Often you can. Equipment bought for the lab can usually be deducted in the year you buy it, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides with your whole year in view.
My books have never separated contract income from per-sample fees. Is that fixable?
Yes. Send over whatever bank statements you have, contract and per-sample income all blended together. Gus works through the backlog, the accountant checks it, and you will know where things 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