Creative & production services
Books and taxes for web design agencies.
A discovery deposit, a design milestone, a launch invoice, and a handful of $150 monthly maintenance retainers running at once. 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
May came in at $15,200. Twelve maintenance clients renewed on the same day, so I kept that batch of small charges as one recurring line instead of twelve separate deposits.
- Riverbend Dental launchLaunch milestones
- Maintenance renewals x12Maintenance retainers
- M. Castillo dev contractContract developers
- WP Engine hostingHosting and domains
- Figma team planSoftware
Why your books are different
Web design agency books go wrong between the build and the retainer.
A generalist sees invoices. Your business is a discovery deposit, a design milestone, a development milestone, a launch payment, and then dozens of small monthly maintenance clients running alongside brand new builds. When the books blend those, you cannot tell whether builds or retainers are actually carrying the business.
-
1
Build income and maintenance income look identical
A $9,000 website build and forty $150 monthly maintenance clients both show up as generic sales. You cannot see how much of your income is one-time versus how much comes back every month without you lifting a finger.
What we doSplits project builds from recurring maintenance retainers so you can see your real monthly floor. -
2
A contract developer looks like a plain expense
You bring on a backend developer for a complex build, pay him across three invoices totaling $3,500, and it disappears into a generic contractor bucket alongside your hosting bill.
What we doTracks contract developer payments by name so the 1099 total is ready and you can see labor cost against each build. -
3
Hosting you resell gets counted as pure profit
You charge a client $40 a month for hosting but pay WP Engine or Kinsta $25 of it. Booking the full $40 as income overstates what you actually keep on hosting.
What we doBooks the client charge as income and the hosting cost as an expense, so the real hosting margin is visible. -
4
A site rebuild gets billed like routine maintenance
A client on a $150 monthly plan asks for a full redesign, which is really a new project, but the invoice often just gets added to the same recurring line and the extra work disappears into the noise.
What we doFlags one-time project work billed to a maintenance client so it counts as project income, not routine retainer income. -
5
Domain and license renewals get missed until they lapse
Domains, SSL certificates, and premium plugin licenses renew on their own schedule, and a missed renewal on a client site is an embarrassing, avoidable problem.
What we doKeeps renewal costs in their own category so a pattern of lapses shows up before it becomes a client emergency.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a web design agency.
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
- Discovery depositsHeld until the build actually kicks off.
- Design and development milestonesWireframe, design, and build stages, billed and counted as each ships.
- Launch milestonesThe final invoice when a site goes live.
- Maintenance retainersMonthly plans for updates, backups, and small edits.
- Hosting resold to clientsWhat clients pay you for hosting you manage on their behalf.
Money out
- Contract developers and designersFreelancers brought in for backend work, plugins, or overflow design.
- Hosting and domainsWP Engine, Kinsta, or similar, plus domain registrar fees.
- SoftwareFigma, staging tools, and premium plugin or theme licenses.
- SSL and security toolsCertificates and monitoring services kept current across client sites.
- Project management softwareAsana, Basecamp, or a client portal tool.
- Payment processor feesWhat Stripe or PayPal kept before an invoice cleared.
What we watch for you
- Retainer floor
Monthly maintenance income against total income, the base you can count on before a single new build.
- Build margin
What a build brought in against contract developer costs, so you know which projects are worth taking.
- Hosting margin
What you charge for hosting against what it costs you, worth checking before you raise or drop a plan.
- The set-aside
What you will owe across builds and maintenance retainers, tracked monthly so April holds no surprise.
Ask Gus
Things web design agency 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.
It landed as one batch from your payment processor, but I keep it counted as forty maintenance renewals so your retainer number stays accurate.
No, I moved that one to project income since it is really a new build, not a routine update. Keeps your retainer number honest.
If he is not on payroll and you paid him $2,000 or more in 2026, he gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. I have been tracking his payments as we go.
The tax side
The tax side of a web design agency.
Most of what goes wrong here is separating project income from recurring income and keeping contractor payments straight.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Contractor 1099s for development helpAny developer or designer not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps a running total for every contractor across the year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when the books are tracked cleanly all year.
- Software and equipment write-offsBusiness laptops, monitors, and annual software licenses can usually be written off the year they are bought, same as your hosting and plugin tools.
- Self-employment tax for solo buildersA one-person shop pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside has to reflect both, not just what looks like income tax.
Deductions web design agencies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Hosting and server costs
- Domain registrations
- Premium plugin and theme licenses
- Figma and design software
- Contract developer fees
- SSL certificates
- Staging and testing tools
- Client portal software
- Continuing education courses
- Computer and monitor upgrades
- Payment processor fees
- Coworking or office rent
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 web design agency year, kept every month.
Builds and maintenance run on different clocks. Your team keeps you ahead of both and the return besides. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
New year, new builds
Last year's return gets started, the developer 1099 list is ready, and clients start budgeting for new-year website refreshes.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed while new-year build projects are underway. No surprise bill, since the set-aside started back in January.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how the retainer base has grown or shrunk since January.
- October
Before year end
Gus looks at equipment or software worth buying before December and flags any renewal costs piling up before the new year.
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 web design agencies. 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 web design agency owners ask first.
I bill maintenance clients through Stripe in one batch. Can Gus still track it right?
Yes. Even when a batch of renewals lands as one deposit, Gus keeps your retainer count accurate so you can see recurring income separately from new builds.
Does reselling hosting count as taxable income?
The full amount a client pays you counts as income, and what you pay your host counts as an expense. Gus books both sides so your real hosting margin is visible.
I use a mix of contractors and one part-time employee. Does that complicate things?
No. Gus keeps contractor payments and payroll wages in separate lines either way, so you can see labor cost clearly and the 1099 list stays accurate.
A client project ran three months late and spanned two tax years. Does that matter?
It can affect which year income counts in, depending on your accounting method. Gus flags projects that straddle year end so the accountant can walk you through it.
My books have never been organized. Where do we start?
Wherever you are. Send your bank statements, even a year's worth at once. 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.
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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