Plumbing & water
Books and taxes for water treatment dealers.
A softener sold outright, one leased month to month, a salt delivery route, and a filter membrane replacement contract. 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
March came in at $11,600. Two softeners sold outright and three stayed on the lease-to-own plan, so I kept the lease payments in their own line instead of mixing them with straight sales.
- Softener sale, cashEquipment sales
- Lease-to-own paymentsLease and rental income
- Salt delivery routeSalt and filter service
- Culligan distributor invoiceSoftener and RO units
- Resin and membrane supplier invoiceResin and filter media
Why your books are different
Water treatment books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees a sale or a bill. Your business sells some units outright, leases others, delivers salt on a route, and services filters on a contract. When the books do not separate those, you cannot tell if your equipment sales or your recurring service is actually paying the bills.
-
1
Lease-to-own payments look like a sale
A softener leased month to month brings in small payments over years instead of one sale price. Booked the same as an outright sale, your monthly income looks smaller than it is and you lose track of which customers are still paying toward ownership.
What we doKeeps lease and rental income in its own line, separate from outright equipment sales, so you can see your steady recurring income clearly. -
2
Unit inventory sits on the shelf, not in the books
Softeners, RO systems, and resin tanks bought ahead of a busy season sit as inventory for weeks or months. If every purchase gets logged as an expense the day it arrives, a stocking month looks like a loss even though the units are still worth what you paid.
What we doTracks units bought for resale as inventory, not as a straight expense, so a stocking month does not distort what the business actually made. -
3
Salt routes and service contracts get mixed into equipment sales
A salt delivery route and a filter or membrane replacement contract are recurring service income, completely different from selling a unit. Mixed together, you cannot tell how much of your income depends on new sales versus customers you already have.
What we doKeeps salt delivery and filter service contracts in their own category, apart from equipment sales. -
4
Manufacturer rebates and dealer incentives get missed
Distributors like Culligan or Kinetico sometimes pay dealer volume rebates or incentives that land separately from a customer sale, and it is easy to either miss them as income or mix them into a single sale's numbers.
What we doBooks distributor rebates and incentives as their own income line so nothing gets missed or double-counted against a specific sale.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a water treatment dealer.
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
- Equipment salesSofteners, RO systems, and filtration units sold outright.
- Lease and rental incomeMonthly payments on leased or lease-to-own units.
- Salt and filter serviceDelivery routes and membrane or cartridge replacement contracts.
- Installation feesInstall labor billed apart from the unit itself.
- Distributor rebatesVolume rebates or incentives paid by a manufacturer or distributor.
Money out
- Softener and RO unitsEquipment bought for resale from a distributor.
- Resin and filter mediaResin, membranes, and cartridges kept in stock.
- SaltBulk salt bought for the delivery route.
- Installer wagesKept apart so you can see labor against the installs it ran.
- Truck and fuelFuel, repairs, insurance, and loan interest for the delivery and install fleet.
- Lead fees and marketingGoogle local services and local advertising for new customers.
- Financing and card feesWhat a lender, Square, or Stripe kept before you got paid.
What we watch for you
- Lease income share
How much of the month came from recurring lease payments versus one-time sales.
- Inventory on hand
What unsold units and stocked resin are worth, so a stocking month is not mistaken for a loss.
- Salt route margin
What the salt route brings in against what the salt itself costs.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so April is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things water treatment dealers 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.
It is not one. I booked those units as inventory, not as an expense, since they are still worth what you paid until they sell.
About a third this month came from lease and rental payments. I keep that separate so you always know how much is locked in already.
Yes, and I booked it on its own line so it is not mixed into any single customer's sale.
The tax side
The tax side of a water treatment dealer.
Most of what goes wrong here is inventory and timing: units bought ahead of a busy season, lease payments spread over years, and rebates that arrive apart from a sale.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory versus expenseUnits and resin bought for resale are usually tracked as inventory and deducted as they sell, not the day you buy them. Gus keeps that distinction clean so a stocking month is not mistaken for a loss.
- Lease and rental incomePayments on a lease-to-own softener are ordinary business income as they are received, spread across the years of the contract instead of all at once.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll who you paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- 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 water treatment and softener dealers miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Truck fuel and repairs
- Resin and membrane inventory
- Bulk salt
- Installer tools
- Uniforms with your logo
- Google local services ads
- Phone and tablet for dispatch
- License and bonding renewal
- Financing and card fees
- Sample units used for demonstrations
- Continuing education courses
- Delivery route vehicle costs
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 treatment dealer's year, kept every month.
Sales pick up when local water quality is in the news, but salt routes and service run every month. Your taxes come on a schedule. 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 April is already handled.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed. No surprise bill, because the set-aside has been running since January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether spring sales and inventory purchases changed the number.
- October
Before winter stocking
Owners restock salt and units before winter routes get harder. Before that, Gus looks at inventory levels 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 treatment and softener dealers. 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 treatment dealers ask first.
How does Gus handle units I have not sold yet?
He tracks them as inventory, not as an expense, so a month where you stock up does not look like a loss on the books.
Can Gus keep lease payments separate from outright sales?
Yes. Lease and rental income gets its own category so you can see your recurring income against one-time equipment sales.
Does a distributor rebate count as income?
Yes, and Gus books it on its own line so it is not mixed into a single sale's numbers.
My salt route runs on a fixed schedule. Do I need to change anything?
No. Keep running the route the way you do. Gus works from your bank statement, and when a deposit is unclear he asks you once and remembers the answer.
Do I need separate books for sales versus service?
Gus does that automatically. Equipment sales, lease income, and salt or filter service each get their own category so you can see how each part of the business is doing.
I have not reconciled my sales and lease payments in a while. Can Gus still help?
Yes. Send the bank statements you have, and Gus will sort equipment sales, lease payments, and salt route income into their own categories, even catching up several months at once.
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