Water recreation & marinas
Books and taxes for whitewater rafting outfitters.
Half-day trips, multi-day camping packages that bundle meals and gear, guides paid by the trip, and a permit system that caps how many boats can launch. 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
June made $25,700. The new fleet of self-bailing rafts from NRS went in as equipment, not supplies, since a boat purchase that size isn't a routine gear order.
- Booking site payout, day tripsDay trip bookings
- Deposit, 3-day overnight tripMulti-day trip bookings
- NRS raft fleet orderFleet equipment
- Guide crew payrollGuide wages
- Forest Service launch permitsRiver access and permits
Why your books are different
A whitewater outfitter's books go wrong in the same handful of places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. This business is day trips priced differently from multi-day camping packages, guides paid by the trip with a ratio of clients per boat, and a permit system that limits how many trips can even run. When the books do not know that, nobody can see which trip type actually pays.
-
1
Day trips and overnight packages get counted the same
A half-day rapids run and a three-day trip with meals, camping gear, and two nights of guide pay cost completely different amounts to run. Lumped into one revenue line, neither trip type's real profit is visible.
What we doKeeps day trip income and multi-day package income in separate lines, so each trip type's real return shows up. -
2
Meals and camping gear for overnight trips hide inside guide costs
A multi-day trip includes food, tents, and camp kitchen gear bought and packed for each launch. Buried inside guide payroll, it looks like labor costs jumped when it was really groceries and gear for the trip.
What we doKeeps trip provisions and camping gear in their own line, separate from guide wages, so the real cost of an overnight trip is visible. -
3
A raft fleet purchase looks like a big loss
A set of new self-bailing rafts, oars, or frames can run tens of thousands of dollars bought at once before the season, and filed as a supply cost, it makes one month look disastrous.
What we doFlags fleet-size raft purchases the day they happen, logs them as equipment, and gets the accountant's call on how they are written off. -
4
Guide pay per trip buries the client-to-guide ratio
Guides paid per trip based on the size of the group can make payroll look inconsistent week to week if nobody is tracking it against how many trips actually ran and how big they were.
What we doKeeps guide pay tied to trips run, so a heavy payroll week reads against the bookings that caused it, not as a random spike. -
5
Permit costs get treated as a one-time bill
River access permits, often allocated through a lottery or a capped launch system, are a real ongoing cost of doing business, and if they land in a general fees bucket, the true cost of a launch slot gets lost.
What we doKeeps river access and permit fees in their own line, so the real cost of a launch slot is visible against what the trip brought in.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a whitewater rafting outfitter.
Set up once for how trips get booked and what it costs to run them. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Day trip bookingsHalf-day and full-day rapids trips booked online or by phone.
- Multi-day trip bookingsOvernight camping packages that bundle meals, gear, and multiple guide days.
- Group and corporate bookingsLarger private trips booked for companies, schools, or events.
- Retail and gear salesWater shoes, dry bags, and branded gear sold at the outpost.
Money out
- Guide wagesPay for lead and assistant guides, tied to the trips they run.
- Trip provisions and camping gearFood, tents, and camp kitchen supplies for overnight trips.
- Fleet equipmentRafts, frames, oars, and paddles bought as a set.
- River access and permitsForest Service, BLM, or state permit fees for launch slots.
- Shuttle vehicle costsFuel and upkeep for buses and trailers moving people and boats.
- Liability insuranceCoverage for a business that runs people through rapids.
- Safety gearHelmets, wetsuits, PFDs, and throw bags.
What we watch for you
- Trip type mix
Day trips against multi-day packages, since they carry very different costs and margins.
- Guide cost per trip
Guide pay against trips run, so pricing keeps up with what it actually costs to staff a launch.
- Permit slot cost
What each launch permit costs against what the trip brought in, since permits are often capped and non-negotiable.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax time is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things whitewater outfitter 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.
I logged it as equipment, not a supply purchase. It is flagged for the accountant, since a fleet buy that size deserves a real look at how it gets written off.
You ran two three-day trips back to back, each with a full guide crew. The pay lines up with the bookings, it is not a random jump.
That is above my pay grade to settle on my own. Guides who run your trips on your schedule with your gear usually look like employees, and the accountant is looking at your setup specifically.
The tax side
The tax side of a whitewater rafting business.
Most of what goes wrong here is mixing trip types together and guide pay that is hard to classify. Getting the categories right during the season makes the return simpler.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Raft fleet depreciationRafts, frames, and oars bought as a fleet can usually be written off in the year they are bought, up to current Section 179 and bonus depreciation limits, or spread out over time depending on the year.
- Guide worker classificationA guide who runs your trips on your schedule with your rafts and gear is usually an employee, not a contractor, even if pay is calculated per trip rather than hourly.
- Sales tax on trip packagesWhether guided trips and overnight packages owe state or local sales tax varies by state and is worth checking locally. Gus keeps trip income clearly split so the accountant can apply it correctly.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operators can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income. It comes out right when trip types, guide pay, and permit costs are tracked correctly all season.
Deductions whitewater rafting outfitters miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Raft and frame repair
- Permit and access fees
- Wetsuits and helmets
- Throw bags and rescue gear
- Camping and cook gear for trips
- Shuttle bus fuel
- Guide first aid and swiftwater certification
- Liability insurance
- Radios for trip communication
- Trailer tires and hitches
- Marketing and trip photography
- Storage rental for the off season
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 whitewater rafting year, kept every month.
The season runs on snowmelt and summer water levels for a handful of months. Taxes come on their own 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, and you get a monthly set-aside so tax time is already handled before permits and bookings open.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, ahead of the season's first launches.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and whether the season's trip mix is on pace to cover the whole year's costs.
- October
Before the season closes
Before the last trips run, Gus looks at fleet purchases and moves worth making 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 whitewater rafting outfitters. 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 whitewater outfitter owners ask first.
Can Gus tell us if day trips or overnight trips make more money?
Yes. He keeps them in separate lines, including provisions and camping gear for overnight trips, so you can see which trip type actually carries the season instead of guessing from one deposit.
We just bought a new raft fleet. Does that write off all at once?
Often it can. Fleet equipment like rafts and frames can usually be deducted in the year they are bought, and sometimes spreading it out is the better call. Gus flags the purchase and the accountant decides.
Our guides are paid per trip, not hourly. Does that change how they're classified?
Not usually. A guide who runs your trips on your rafts and your schedule tends to look like an employee no matter how the pay is calculated. The accountant looks at the specifics before anything is decided.
We had a rough season because of low water levels. Does Gus track that?
He tracks the season as a whole, so a low-water year that cut into bookings reads as a known risk of the trade, not a mistake in the numbers.
Our books from last season are a mess. Can we still start now?
Yes. Send the bank and booking site statements you have. Gus sorts them, the accountant checks them, and most owners know where they stand inside a week.
Do you handle our river access permit application?
No. Forest Service, BLM, and state permit applications and lotteries are outside the subscription. Gus tracks the cost once a permit is paid for, but not the application itself.
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