Montauk
Bookkeeping and accounting in Montauk, NY
Fishing businesses cannot reconstruct a season in April.
What you get
- Accounts reconciled every month
- Statements you can make decisions from
- Payroll and sales tax filed on time
- QuickBooks set up to fit the business
The MyCleverCPA team
- 25+ years in regulated finance, compliance and audit
- Tax work led by a CPA. Jillian Sinel holds the CPA and the CAA
- Hamptons Office at 30 Lincoln St, Sag Harbor, NY 11963
In Montauk
Bookkeeping and accounting for Montauk
Crew share, fuel, gear, settlement sheets and dock fees have to be recorded as they happen. We keep the file current through the season and close it properly at the end of it.
Charter operators have the same calendar with a different revenue mix, and both need the deposit and booking income tracked separately from the trip income.
Scope
What is included in bookkeeping and accounting
The same work wherever you are. Scoped to what you actually need.
Monthly close
- Bank and credit card reconciliations
- Accruals and adjusting entries
- A close calendar you can rely on
Reporting
- Profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow
- Management reports for owners and lenders
- Budget against actual, and the variance explained
Payroll and sales tax
- Payroll processing and payroll accounting
- Federal, New York State and local payroll filings
- Sales tax registration and returns
Cleanup and systems
- QuickBooks setup, cleanup and conversion
- A chart of accounts rebuilt to fit what you do
- Inventory and job costing where they apply
What this covers
- Bookkeeping and general ledger maintenance
- Financial statements and management reports
- Account reconciliation and adjusting entries
- Payroll processing and payroll accounting
- Payroll tax compliance
- Sales tax compliance
- QuickBooks setup, cleanup and conversion
- Financial and accounting analysis
- Budgeting, forecasting and cash flow analysis
- Cost, profitability and performance analysis
- Internal accounting support and advisory
- Inventory control
Local tax
Commercial fishing is its own tax problem
Fishing is a genuine specialty and almost nothing written for general small business applies cleanly to it. Crew share arrangements raise the question of whether crew are employees or self employed, and getting it wrong is expensive on both sides. Vessels are depreciated over their own schedules, and the line between capitalizing an engine rebuild and expensing a repair is where most of the money sits. Fuel, bait, ice, dockage and offload costs all behave differently.
The two that general preparers miss: income that swings hard from year to year, which brings net operating losses and volatile estimated payments into play rather than a steady quarterly rhythm; and permits and quota, which are intangible assets with their own acquisition, amortization and disposal treatment. A fishing right is not gear.
Charter and party boat operators have a different problem again: a season rather than a year, Coast Guard licensing costs, passenger vessel insurance and deposit timing. The motels and restaurants bring seasonal payroll, tip reporting and the FICA tip credit, and occupancy tax questions that are worth confirming with Suffolk County directly rather than assuming.
On rentals, Town of East Hampton rules apply: lettings under two weeks up to twice in six months, with a registry number required in advertisements and penalties from $3,000 to $15,000 for failing to register. The 2.5% Peconic transfer tax applies with the $400,000 improved residential allowance capped at $2,000,000 of consideration.
Zone 2 for MCTMT at 0.34%, and the self employment threshold rising from $50,000 to $150,000 for 2026 takes a good number of Montauk’s self employed fishermen and tradespeople out of that tax entirely this year.
How it works
How bookkeeping and accounting runs
Four stages. Most of the value sits in the first two, before anything is filed.
Look at what exists
The current file, the bank feeds and the last month anyone actually reconciled.
Clean up the history
Past months reconciled and categorized before anything new gets built on top of them.
Close every month
A fixed schedule, with statements that arrive without being chased.
Review the numbers with you
Reports walked through, so they answer the question you actually have.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Are my crew employees or self employed?
It depends on the arrangement rather than on what the industry customarily calls it. Crew share does not by itself settle the question, and the answer drives payroll tax, workers compensation and what you can deduct. It is worth resolving deliberately, because reclassification after the fact is costly.
How are permits and quota treated?
As intangible assets rather than equipment, with their own treatment on acquisition, amortization and sale. They are frequently the most valuable thing a fishing business owns and the most commonly mishandled on a return.
My income swings wildly year to year. Is there anything to do about it?
Several things. Net operating losses can be carried forward against better years, estimated payments can follow actual earnings through the annualized method rather than four flat installments, and retirement plan contributions can be timed to the strong years. It needs planning during the year rather than at filing.
I run a motel. What about occupancy tax?
Suffolk County operates a hotel and motel occupancy tax, and whether and how it reaches a particular operation is worth confirming with the County directly. We would rather check it for your situation than give you a rate that may not apply.
Our books are a mess. Is that a problem?
It is the normal starting position. Cleanup is a defined piece of work with an end, and we would rather do it properly once than build a year of planning on top of numbers nobody trusts.
Do you work in QuickBooks?
Yes, including setup, cleanup and conversions from other systems. If you are already on something else that works, we are not going to move you for the sake of it.
Can you run our payroll?
Yes, along with the payroll tax compliance that goes with it. Payroll is also where worker classification gets decided, and getting that wrong is expensive in New York.
How often will I see numbers?
Monthly, as a rule, with the reporting shaped around what you actually decide from. A statement nobody reads is a cost, not a service.
Also in Montauk
Our other services here
Tax preparation and planning
Montauk is a working commercial fishing port, and fishing returns have their own shape.
Tax preparation and planning in MontaukTrust and estate tax
A Montauk estate may include a vessel, a permit and a business alongside the house.
Trust and estate tax in MontaukNonprofit accounting
Marine, environmental and emergency service organizations do the nonprofit work in Montauk.
Nonprofit accounting in MontaukIRS representation
Fishing businesses get examined on crew share treatment and on cash.
IRS representation in MontaukTalk to us about bookkeeping and accounting in Montauk
Book a time online, or call the Hamptons office directly.
Nearest office
Hamptons Office
30 Lincoln St, Sag Harbor, NY 11963
Phone
Office hours
Sunday to Friday, 11am to 8pm Eastern.
Closed Saturday.