diff --git a/chainio/consumer.go b/chainio/consumer.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e0fe2eefd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chainio/consumer.go
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package chainio
+
+// BeatConsumer defines a supplementary component that should be used by
+// subsystems which implement the `Consumer` interface. It partially implements
+// the `Consumer` interface by providing the method `ProcessBlock` such that
+// subsystems don't need to re-implement it.
+//
+// While inheritance is not commonly used in Go, subsystems embedding this
+// struct cannot pass the interface check for `Consumer` because the `Name`
+// method is not implemented, which gives us a "mortise and tenon" structure.
+// In addition to reducing code duplication, this design allows `ProcessBlock`
+// to work on the concrete type `Beat` to access its internal states.
+type BeatConsumer struct {
+	// BlockbeatChan is a channel to receive blocks from Blockbeat. The
+	// received block contains the best known height and the txns confirmed
+	// in this block.
+	BlockbeatChan chan Blockbeat
+
+	// name is the name of the consumer which embeds the BlockConsumer.
+	name string
+
+	// quit is a channel that closes when the BlockConsumer is shutting
+	// down.
+	//
+	// NOTE: this quit channel should be mounted to the same quit channel
+	// used by the subsystem.
+	quit chan struct{}
+
+	// errChan is a buffered chan that receives an error returned from
+	// processing this block.
+	errChan chan error
+}
+
+// NewBeatConsumer creates a new BlockConsumer.
+func NewBeatConsumer(quit chan struct{}, name string) BeatConsumer {
+	// Refuse to start `lnd` if the quit channel is not initialized. We
+	// treat this case as if we are facing a nil pointer dereference, as
+	// there's no point to return an error here, which will cause the node
+	// to fail to be started anyway.
+	if quit == nil {
+		panic("quit channel is nil")
+	}
+
+	b := BeatConsumer{
+		BlockbeatChan: make(chan Blockbeat),
+		name:          name,
+		errChan:       make(chan error, 1),
+		quit:          quit,
+	}
+
+	return b
+}
+
+// ProcessBlock takes a blockbeat and sends it to the consumer's blockbeat
+// channel. It will send it to the subsystem's BlockbeatChan, and block until
+// the processed result is received from the subsystem. The subsystem must call
+// `NotifyBlockProcessed` after it has finished processing the block.
+//
+// NOTE: part of the `chainio.Consumer` interface.
+func (b *BeatConsumer) ProcessBlock(beat Blockbeat) error {
+	// Update the current height.
+	beat.logger().Tracef("set current height for [%s]", b.name)
+
+	select {
+	// Send the beat to the blockbeat channel. It's expected that the
+	// consumer will read from this channel and process the block. Once
+	// processed, it should return the error or nil to the beat.Err chan.
+	case b.BlockbeatChan <- beat:
+		beat.logger().Tracef("Sent blockbeat to [%s]", b.name)
+
+	case <-b.quit:
+		beat.logger().Debugf("[%s] received shutdown before sending "+
+			"beat", b.name)
+
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Check the consumer's err chan. We expect the consumer to call
+	// `beat.NotifyBlockProcessed` to send the error back here.
+	select {
+	case err := <-b.errChan:
+		beat.logger().Debugf("[%s] processed beat: err=%v", b.name, err)
+
+		return err
+
+	case <-b.quit:
+		beat.logger().Debugf("[%s] received shutdown", b.name)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// NotifyBlockProcessed signals that the block has been processed. It takes the
+// blockbeat being processed and an error resulted from processing it. This
+// error is then sent back to the consumer's err chan to unblock
+// `ProcessBlock`.
+//
+// NOTE: This method must be called by the subsystem after it has finished
+// processing the block. Extreme caution must be taken when returning an error
+// as it will shutdown lnd.
+//
+// NOTE: part of the `chainio.Consumer` interface.
+func (b *BeatConsumer) NotifyBlockProcessed(beat Blockbeat, err error) {
+	// Update the current height.
+	beat.logger().Debugf("[%s]: notifying beat processed", b.name)
+
+	select {
+	case b.errChan <- err:
+		beat.logger().Debugf("[%s]: notified beat processed, err=%v",
+			b.name, err)
+
+	case <-b.quit:
+		beat.logger().Debugf("[%s] received shutdown before notifying "+
+			"beat processed", b.name)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/chainio/consumer_test.go b/chainio/consumer_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ef79b61b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chainio/consumer_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+package chainio
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd/fn"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+// TestNewBeatConsumer tests the NewBeatConsumer function.
+func TestNewBeatConsumer(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	name := "test"
+
+	// Test the NewBeatConsumer function.
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, name)
+
+	// Assert the state.
+	require.Equal(t, quitChan, b.quit)
+	require.Equal(t, name, b.name)
+	require.NotNil(t, b.BlockbeatChan)
+}
+
+// TestProcessBlockSuccess tests when the block is processed successfully, no
+// error is returned.
+func TestProcessBlockSuccess(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Create a test consumer.
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, "test")
+
+	// Create a mock beat.
+	mockBeat := &MockBlockbeat{}
+	defer mockBeat.AssertExpectations(t)
+	mockBeat.On("logger").Return(clog)
+
+	// Mock the consumer's err chan.
+	consumerErrChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	b.errChan = consumerErrChan
+
+	// Call the method under test.
+	resultChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		resultChan <- b.ProcessBlock(mockBeat)
+	}()
+
+	// Assert the beat is sent to the blockbeat channel.
+	beat, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(b.BlockbeatChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, mockBeat, beat)
+
+	// Send nil to the consumer's error channel.
+	consumerErrChan <- nil
+
+	// Assert the result of ProcessBlock is nil.
+	result, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(resultChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, result)
+}
+
+// TestProcessBlockConsumerQuitBeforeSend tests when the consumer is quit
+// before sending the beat, the method returns immediately.
+func TestProcessBlockConsumerQuitBeforeSend(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Create a test consumer.
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, "test")
+
+	// Create a mock beat.
+	mockBeat := &MockBlockbeat{}
+	defer mockBeat.AssertExpectations(t)
+	mockBeat.On("logger").Return(clog)
+
+	// Call the method under test.
+	resultChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		resultChan <- b.ProcessBlock(mockBeat)
+	}()
+
+	// Instead of reading the BlockbeatChan, close the quit channel.
+	close(quitChan)
+
+	// Assert ProcessBlock returned nil.
+	result, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(resultChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, result)
+}
+
+// TestProcessBlockConsumerQuitAfterSend tests when the consumer is quit after
+// sending the beat, the method returns immediately.
+func TestProcessBlockConsumerQuitAfterSend(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Create a test consumer.
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, "test")
+
+	// Create a mock beat.
+	mockBeat := &MockBlockbeat{}
+	defer mockBeat.AssertExpectations(t)
+	mockBeat.On("logger").Return(clog)
+
+	// Mock the consumer's err chan.
+	consumerErrChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	b.errChan = consumerErrChan
+
+	// Call the method under test.
+	resultChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	go func() {
+		resultChan <- b.ProcessBlock(mockBeat)
+	}()
+
+	// Assert the beat is sent to the blockbeat channel.
+	beat, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(b.BlockbeatChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Equal(t, mockBeat, beat)
+
+	// Instead of sending nil to the consumer's error channel, close the
+	// quit chanel.
+	close(quitChan)
+
+	// Assert ProcessBlock returned nil.
+	result, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(resultChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, result)
+}
+
+// TestNotifyBlockProcessedSendErr asserts the error can be sent and read by
+// the beat via NotifyBlockProcessed.
+func TestNotifyBlockProcessedSendErr(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Create a test consumer.
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, "test")
+
+	// Create a mock beat.
+	mockBeat := &MockBlockbeat{}
+	defer mockBeat.AssertExpectations(t)
+	mockBeat.On("logger").Return(clog)
+
+	// Mock the consumer's err chan.
+	consumerErrChan := make(chan error, 1)
+	b.errChan = consumerErrChan
+
+	// Call the method under test.
+	done := make(chan error)
+	go func() {
+		defer close(done)
+		b.NotifyBlockProcessed(mockBeat, errDummy)
+	}()
+
+	// Assert the error is sent to the beat's err chan.
+	result, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(consumerErrChan, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.ErrorIs(t, result, errDummy)
+
+	// Assert the done channel is closed.
+	result, err = fn.RecvOrTimeout(done, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, result)
+}
+
+// TestNotifyBlockProcessedOnQuit asserts NotifyBlockProcessed exits
+// immediately when the quit channel is closed.
+func TestNotifyBlockProcessedOnQuit(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	// Create a test consumer.
+	quitChan := make(chan struct{})
+	b := NewBeatConsumer(quitChan, "test")
+
+	// Create a mock beat.
+	mockBeat := &MockBlockbeat{}
+	defer mockBeat.AssertExpectations(t)
+	mockBeat.On("logger").Return(clog)
+
+	// Mock the consumer's err chan - we don't buffer it so it will block
+	// on sending the error.
+	consumerErrChan := make(chan error)
+	b.errChan = consumerErrChan
+
+	// Call the method under test.
+	done := make(chan error)
+	go func() {
+		defer close(done)
+		b.NotifyBlockProcessed(mockBeat, errDummy)
+	}()
+
+	// Close the quit channel so the method will return.
+	close(b.quit)
+
+	// Assert the done channel is closed.
+	result, err := fn.RecvOrTimeout(done, time.Second)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Nil(t, result)
+}