Guide · 6 min read
Cash, deposits, supplies, conventions, and tax — built for the way tattoo artists actually work.
Mostly cash, booth rent paid in cash, supplies bought on personal cards, deposits taken on Venmo — by April it's chaos. Then you find out you owe $12K and have no records of what you spent. Clean books solve this and usually cut the bill by $3–6K.
Track the deposit and the day-of balance per appointment. Cancellations? The forfeited deposit is still income.
Ink, needles, cartridges, grips, gloves, dental bibs, green soap, A&D. All deductible. Big items (autoclave, chairs, machines) qualify for Section 179.
Booth fee, flights, hotel, 50% meals, ground transport. Save badges and receipts. Massive deduction category most artists forget.
Set aside 25–30% of net per appointment into a tax savings account. Pay quarterly to avoid penalties.
SnapBooks tracks deposits, supplies, conventions, and booth rent — and tells you what to set aside for tax.
Start freeMost tattoo artists are independent contractors who pay the shop a % or flat booth rent. That means Schedule C, self-employment tax, and quarterly payments.
Every payment is income — cash, Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, card. Log per appointment. The IRS now gets reports on Venmo/PayPal business payments over $600.
Booth rent, machines, needles, ink, gloves, autoclave, drawing tablets, reference books, conventions, hotel/airfare for guest spots, portfolio printing, and a % of phone/internet.
Yes — booth fees, travel, lodging, and 50% of meals. Keep the convention badge or receipt. Guest-spot travel is fully deductible too.
Smart move for liability (you're working on people's skin). Single-member LLC is cheap and easy. S-corp election once you're netting $40K+ saves real tax.