Advisors, lenders & money services
Books and taxes for wealth management firms.
Tiered AUM fees, performance fees on alternative allocations that settle months late, family entities that pay through different accounts. Your own bookkeeper sorts it, an accountant checks every transaction, one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February cleared $23,500. A late performance fee from last year's private equity allocation finally settled, so I logged it against last year, not this one.
- Custodian AUM depositAUM fees
- Performance fee, Hale trustPerformance fees
- Addepar reporting softwareReporting software
- Associate advisor splitAdvisor compensation
- Alt investment research feeDue diligence
Why your books are different
A wealth management firm's books go wrong in a few particular places.
A generalist sees one AUM deposit and calls it a month's income. Your fees are tiered, your performance fees settle months after the year they were earned, and your clients often pay through several trusts and entities that all need to stay separate.
-
1
Performance fees arrive long after they were earned
A performance fee tied to a private equity or hedge fund allocation often does not settle until the fund reports results months after year end, so a fee earned in one tax year can land in the bank the following spring.
What we doMatches late performance fees back to the year they were earned, so the return reflects when the fee was actually made, not when it landed. -
2
Family entities pay through different accounts
A high-net-worth client often pays fees out of a personal account, a trust, and a family LLC in the same year, and if those all land in one undifferentiated deposit line, no one can tell which entity actually generated the fee.
What we doTracks fee income back to the paying entity, so you can see what each family relationship is worth across all its accounts. -
3
Advisor splits blur into payroll
When an associate advisor is paid a percentage of the fees on accounts they service, lumping that split into ordinary payroll hides how much of the firm's revenue is actually being paid back out per advisor.
What we doKeeps advisor compensation splits in their own line against the fee income tied to each advisor's book. -
4
Alternative investment due diligence gets buried in research
Subscriptions and fees paid to vet private equity, hedge fund, and other alternative allocations are a real and growing cost of offering those options, and they usually disappear into a generic research or subscriptions line.
What we doKeeps due diligence costs in their own category, so you can see what it costs to offer alternatives against the fees they generate.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a wealth management firm.
Set up once for how the firm bills tiered fees and manages family entities. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- AUM feesTiered management fees deposited from custodians, matched to the quarter earned.
- Performance feesFees tied to alternative investment results, matched back to the year earned.
- Family office retainersFlat fees for bill-paying and coordination services for a family.
- Trust and entity coordination feesFees for administering or coordinating trust and entity structures.
Money out
- Reporting softwareAddepar or a similar tool for consolidated family and entity reporting.
- Advisor compensationSplits paid to associate advisors, tracked against their book of clients.
- Due diligence and researchFees paid to vet alternative and private investments.
- Registration and licensingState and federal investment adviser registration renewals.
- InsuranceErrors and omissions coverage sized for the firm's high-net-worth book.
- Custodian and clearing feesFees charged by the custodian for account services and trade clearing.
- Contract laborParaplanners or operations staff paid outside payroll.
What we watch for you
- Fee per entity
What each family relationship generates across its trusts and accounts combined.
- Performance fee timing
How much fee income is still owed but not yet settled from prior years.
- Advisor payout ratio
What share of fee income goes back out as advisor splits, against what the firm keeps.
- The set-aside
What the firm will owe across AUM and performance fees, tracked well before the deadline.
Ask Gus
Things wealth management firm 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 match it back to the year the fee was actually earned, so this month is not overstated and last year's return reflects it correctly.
Yes. Every deposit gets tied back to the paying entity, so you can see what the whole family relationship is worth, not just one account.
It stays visible as an advisor split, separate from ordinary wages, so you can see it against the fee income it comes out of. The accountant sorts the payroll side.
The tax side
The tax side of a wealth management firm.
Most of what matters here is timing across entities and years, since fees and clients rarely stay inside one clean calendar month.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- The pass-through deduction can shrink fasterMost owners can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income, but advice-based firms can see this deduction phase out sooner once income passes the higher brackets, especially as the firm grows.
- Excess business loss limitsA firm with a loss year, or one owner with large losses from other activities, can only offset so much other income before the limit kicks in, currently $256,000 single or $512,000 joint.
- Retirement plan startup creditA growing firm that adds a 401(k) or similar plan for staff can claim up to $5,000 a year for three years to offset setup and running costs.
- 1099s for paraplanners and operations contractorsParaplanners, operations contractors, or consultants paid $2,000 or more in 2026 who are not on payroll get a 1099-NEC by January 31.
Deductions wealth management firms miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Reporting software subscriptions
- Due diligence and research fees
- State and federal registration fees
- Errors and omissions insurance
- Custodian and clearing fees
- Continuing education courses
- Client events and hospitality
- Professional association dues
- Office rent and utilities
- Conference travel
- Compliance consulting
- Operations staff contract fees
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 wealth management firm's year, kept every month.
Performance fees settle late, family entities pay all year, and taxes land on their own schedule. Your team keeps the firm's own books current through all of it. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
Year planned
Late performance fees from the prior year get matched back where they belong, 1099s go out, and last year's return gets started.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, with any late performance fees already matched back to the right year, so the number holds no surprises.
- July
Halfway check
Where the firm stands, what it will owe, and whether AUM growth this year is matching the plan.
- October
Before year end
A look at advisor compensation, a retirement plan contribution, or equipment worth buying 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 wealth management firms. 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 wealth management firm owners ask first.
A performance fee tied to last year's fund results just landed this spring. How does that get handled?
Gus matches it back to the year it was actually earned, so last year's return reflects it and this year's number is not overstated by a late payment.
My clients pay through personal accounts, trusts, and family LLCs. Can Gus keep those separate?
Yes. Every fee gets tied back to the entity that paid it, so you can see the full value of a family relationship across every account it holds.
Does Gus manage the alternative investments my clients hold?
No. Gus and your bookkeeper only keep the firm's own books, what it makes and spends. Client portfolios and investment decisions stay entirely with you.
My associate advisors get paid a split of the fees on their accounts. How does that work in the books?
Advisor splits get their own line, tracked against the fee income tied to each advisor's book, so you can see what the firm keeps against what it pays out.
We spend a fair amount on due diligence for private investments. Is that worth tracking separately?
Yes. Due diligence and research costs get their own category, so you can see what it costs to offer alternatives against the fees they bring in.
Our books have been handled inconsistently across a few different staff members. Can Gus clean that up?
Yes. Send the bank and custodian statements you have and Gus sorts them out. Most firms 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.
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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