Tour & Event Companies
We track deposits, vendors, and costs by event so you know which tours and events actually earn profit.
The Industry
Tour and event companies collect money before the work happens. A wedding planner receives a deposit in January for an October ceremony. A tour operator sells tickets in March for summer excursions. That cash sitting in the bank is not profit. It’s an obligation that hasn’t been fulfilled yet.
The complexity comes from the layers. You have client deposits to track, booking platform commissions to reconcile, guides or crew to pay, and vendor deposits that flow through your accounts before ending up with caterers and rental companies. Add the seasonality of Northern New Mexico tourism, and the financial picture gets messy fast.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Tour operators running food tours, ghost tours, adventure excursions, and cultural experiences. Wedding and event planners. Festival coordinators. Destination management companies. Anyone in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico booking experiences and coordinating multiple moving parts.
The Friction
The Friction
A $25,000 wedding deposit hits the bank, but $15,000 of it goes straight to the venue, florist, and caterer. Your books show income that is not yours to keep. Tips get mixed with tour revenue. Booking platform payouts arrive with commissions already deducted, making reconciliation tedious.
What We Handle
We set up your books to track revenue and costs by event or tour. Each wedding, each corporate retreat, each scheduled tour gets its own tracking. You will know which events actually made money after paying vendors, staff, and covering overhead. Not just which ones brought in the most gross revenue.
We also manage the compliance side. New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax requires accurate reporting, and the rates vary by location. We prepare and file your GRT returns on time. We track payments to independent contractors and ensure 1099s are ready at year-end without a scramble.
Per-Event Profitability
Per-Event Profitability
Every vendor payment, guide wage, and pass-through expense gets tagged to the specific event or tour. You see actual margin on each project. Historical data tells you which event types and which clients are worth pursuing and which ones cost more than they bring in.
GRT and Contractor Compliance
GRT and Contractor Compliance
We file your monthly or quarterly GRT returns with the correct location codes. We track every contractor payment and collect W-9s before checks go out. This makes 1099 filing straightforward instead of a January crisis trying to track down information.
Common Problems
The biggest issue is confusing deposits with revenue. When a client puts down a $10,000 retainer for an event six months away, that money is a liability until you deliver the service. Recording it as income when received inflates your profit, distorts your tax picture, and hides the true cash position of the business.
Another problem is invisible overhead. Tour guides get paid, vehicles get fueled, permits get renewed. But if these costs are not allocated to specific tours, you cannot tell which tour offerings make money. The popular sunset tour might actually lose money once you factor in vehicle wear and guide wages per head.
Vendor Pass-Throughs Get Muddy
Vendor Pass-Throughs Get Muddy
Event planners collect money for venues, caterers, and rental companies. Without clear tracking, those pass-through dollars look like your revenue. Your reported income appears much higher than reality, and you end up overpaying GRT on money that was never yours to keep.
Seasonal Cash Gets Spent Wrong
Seasonal Cash Gets Spent Wrong
High season fills the bank account. It feels like profit, but much of it covers obligations for events not yet delivered or needs to carry you through the slow months. Without clear reporting, that cash gets spent on equipment or payroll that will not be sustainable come January.
What Changes
You start making decisions based on actual numbers. You know that corporate team-building events run 35% margin while small private tours barely break even after guide costs. You can set pricing, choose which services to offer, and plan the year with real data instead of gut feelings.
The seasonal stress decreases. You can see which months require cash reserves and plan accordingly. Your GRT filings are accurate and on time. Contractor records are organized. When tax time arrives, your books are ready and your CPA is not asking questions you cannot answer.
Pricing Confidence
Pricing Confidence
Historical event data shows true costs by type. You stop underpricing weddings that require 60 hours of coordination. Tour pricing reflects actual vehicle costs and guide wages per participant instead of hopeful estimates that leave you wondering where the money went.
Off-Season Planning
Off-Season Planning
You can see the slow months coming and know how much cash needs to be reserved. Growth investments happen when you have real profit, not during a cash flow mirage caused by deposits for future work that has not been delivered yet.
Santa Fe's Small Business Bookkeeper
The Next Step:
A Quick Conversation
Tell us about your business and what you're dealing with. We'll listen, ask a few questions, and give you a straightforward quote.
