Apparel, resale & collectibles
Books and taxes for women's clothing boutiques.
Wholesale buys twice a year, trunk show deposits, markdown racks, and payouts from Instagram and TikTok live sales. 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
November came in at $11,000. The trunk show deposits from the holiday preview finally converted, so I moved them out of deposits owed and into real sales.
- Square payoutRetail sales
- Instagram live payoutLivestream sales
- FashionGo orderWholesale inventory
- UPS outbound shippingShipping and packaging
- Meta adsMarketing
Why your books are different
Boutique books go wrong in the same few places.
A generalist sees deposits and bills. Your business is seasonal buys placed months ahead, trunk show deposits collected before the rack ever arrives, and sales split between the register and a phone camera. When the books do not know that, a strong preseason buy reads like a bad month and a markdown rack hides how much margin is left.
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1
Preseason buys land before the racks do
A spring order placed at market in October does not arrive or start selling until February, but the invoice hits the books the month it is paid. One big order can make October look like a loss even though the inventory is fine.
What we doKeeps preseason wholesale buys visible against what has actually sold from them, so a big order does not read as a bad month. -
2
Trunk show deposits get counted as sales too soon
A trunk show collects deposits on pieces that will not ship for six weeks. Counted as a sale the day it is collected, the month looks stronger than it is and the boutique still owes a finished order.
What we doKeeps trunk show deposits as money owed until the piece ships, so the sale only counts once it is real. -
3
Markdown racks blur real margin
End of season markdowns move slow stock at a steep discount, and lumped in with full price sales, the register total looks fine even when margin has quietly collapsed.
What we doKeeps markdown sales in view against full price sales, so the real margin for the season shows up honest. -
4
Livestream payouts arrive short
An Instagram or TikTok live sale payout lands net of the app's cut and a payment fee. Booked as the full sale price, both sales and true selling costs come out wrong.
What we doBooks the full sale price as income and the app's fee as a cost, so pricing and margin both stay honest.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for a women's clothing boutique.
Set up once for how you buy and how you sell. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Retail salesRegister sales rung through Square or Shopify point of sale.
- Livestream salesInstagram and TikTok live sales, net of the app's cut.
- Trunk show depositsCollected before a special order ships, kept separate until it does.
- Markdown salesEnd of season and clearance rack sales, tracked apart from full price.
Money out
- Wholesale inventoryBuys placed through FashionGo, Faire, or a rep's line at market.
- Freight and shippingInbound wholesale freight and outbound customer shipping.
- MarketingInstagram and Meta ads, and influencer product gifting.
- Rent and utilitiesThe storefront lease and its utilities.
- PayrollSales staff wages, kept apart from owner draw.
- Display and fixturesRacks, mannequins, and signage.
- Card and app feesWhat Square, Shopify, or a livestream app keeps before payout.
What we watch for you
- Sell-through rate
How much of a buy actually sold before it got marked down. Tells you if the next order should be smaller.
- Markdown share
How much of sales came at a discount. Creeping up means margin is quietly shrinking.
- Preseason buy exposure
What is committed to inventory not yet arrived, so cash on hand is never a surprise.
- The set-aside
What you will owe, tracked every month, so tax season is a number you already knew.
Ask Gus
Things boutique 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.
The order was $6,200 and none of it has sold yet. I am keeping it against what comes in as the pieces arrive, so it will not read as a loss once they start moving.
Not until the piece ships. I hold deposits as money owed so the sale only counts once it is real.
If you pay her $2,000 or more this year, how to classify her is above my pay grade, so I flagged it for the accountant before it becomes a habit.
The tax side
The tax side of a women's clothing boutique.
Most of what goes wrong here is timing. A preseason buy counted the wrong month, a trunk show deposit counted too early, and a set-aside nobody started until April.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Inventory and cost of goodsWhat was paid for the pieces actually sold during the year, not just what was spent buying, is what counts against sales. Unsold preseason stock at year end changes what the return shows as profit.
- 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 track buys and sales correctly all year.
- Contractor 1099sAnyone not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 for styling, alterations, or seasonal help gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps that list all year.
- Self-employment taxAn owner running the boutique as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, on wages up to $184,500.
Deductions women's clothing boutiques miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Trunk show sample pieces
- Steamers and garment care
- Mannequins and racks
- Meta and Instagram ads
- Influencer product gifting
- Market travel and lodging
- Shopify and Square fees
- Shipping and packaging supplies
- Storefront rent and utilities
- Signage and window displays
- Alterations supplies
- Business 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 boutique year, kept every month.
Spring and fall buys come at market. 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 for seasonal help 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 the spring buy sold through the way it was supposed to.
- October
Before the holiday rush
Fall market orders are landing and holiday buying starts soon. Gus looks at what to buy before December and what the season will owe.
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 women's clothing boutiques. 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 boutique owners ask first.
How does Gus handle a wholesale order I placed but has not arrived yet?
He keeps it visible as inventory on order, not a cost that hits the month you paid for it, so one big buy at market does not make that month look like a loss.
I sell through Instagram lives and my storefront. Does that complicate things?
No. He works from your bank statement and sorts payouts from each channel into their own category, so you can see what the storefront brings in against what the lives do.
Do trunk show deposits get taxed the day I collect them?
No. Gus holds them as money owed until the piece ships, so they only count as income once the sale is actually complete.
My markdown rack moves a lot of inventory at a loss. Does that hurt me at tax time?
Markdowns lower your profit for the year, which usually lowers what you owe. Gus keeps markdown sales visible so you and the accountant can see the real margin, not just the register total.
My books are a season behind. Can Gus catch up?
Yes. Send whatever statements you have, even if a few market buys and trunk shows got tangled together. Gus sorts them out, the accountant checks the work, and most owners have a clear number 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