Mike Thrift
Marketing Manager
Bookkeeping for Landscaping & Lawn Care: Job Costing, Seasonal Cash Flow, and Crew Labor
Landscaping books need four things a generic ledger lacks — job costing, seasonal cash flow forecasting, burdened crew labor, and a service-line chart of accounts. This guide shows how to set up each so your numbers reveal which work earns margin and how much cash bridges the off-season.
Building a Three-Statement Financial Model: Linking Income, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow
A three-statement financial model links the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement so one set of assumptions flows through all three — answering whether a business is profitable and when it runs out of cash. This guide covers the seven-step build order, the three links that make the model balance, and the errors that quietly break it.
Are Business Credit Card Rewards Taxable? How to Record Cash Back, Points, and Bonuses
For most businesses, credit card cash back and points are non-taxable rebates, not income—but a bonus with no spending requirement is taxable. Spending rewards also reduce your deductible expenses, so record them as a contra-expense to keep deductions accurate.
CAM Reconciliation: How to Audit Your Landlord's Year-End True-Up Bill Before You Pay It
Industry recovery audits find 5%–15% of billed CAM charges are miscalculated or not owed. This guide explains how to read a landlord's year-end true-up statement, where pro rata share and gross-up errors hide, and how to dispute charges before the audit window closes.
Capitalizing Sales Commissions: A SaaS Guide to ASC 340-40
ASC 340-40 requires companies to capitalize incremental commissions as a deferred asset and amortize them over the benefit period—often three to five years for SaaS, set by the renewal commensurate test rather than the contract term.
From Cash to Accrual Without a Tax Shock: Form 3115, Section 481(a), and the De Minimis Safe Harbor
A small-business guide to the forced cash-to-accrual switch: how Form 3115 works, how the Section 481(a) catch-up is calculated and spread over four years, and why the de minimis safe harbor is an annual election rather than a method change.
Collection Due Process Hearings: How a 30-Day Letter Stands Between Your Small Business and an IRS Bank Levy
A timely Form 12153 filed within 30 days of IRS Letter 3172 or LT11/L-1058 triggers a Collection Due Process hearing under IRC Sections 6320 and 6330 — suspending levy action, preserving Tax Court appeal rights, and giving small business owners a statutory chance to negotiate installment agreements, lien withdrawal, innocent spouse relief, or offers in compromise before the IRS drains the operating account.
How to Read a Construction WIP Schedule: Percentage-of-Completion, Over- and Under-Billing
A construction WIP schedule recognizes revenue as work is performed using cost-to-cost percentage-of-completion, then exposes over- and under-billing on every job — the report banks and surety underwriters read before the income statement.
F-Reorganization Under Section 368(a)(1)(F): The Pre-Closing Restructuring PE Buyers Use to Buy S Corporations
A practical walkthrough of the Section 368(a)(1)(F) reorganization — the six regulatory requirements, the six-step Rev. Rul. 2008-18 choreography, why PE buyers prefer it to a 338(h)(10) election, and how it preserves the operating EIN while giving the buyer asset-basis step-up and the seller tax-deferred rollover equity.
The F Reorganization: How S Corporations Restructure Tax-Free Before a Sale
An F reorganization under IRC Section 368(a)(1)(F) lets an S corporation restructure tax-free into a holding-company/QSub form so a buyer gets an asset basis step-up at any ownership percentage and sellers can defer tax on rollover equity.
Form 1099-B Cost Basis: Reconciling Covered and Noncovered Securities on Form 8949
Brokers often report a wrong or zero cost basis on Form 1099-B, especially for RSUs and ESPP shares. This guide explains covered vs. noncovered securities, Box 1e and Box 5, and how Form 8949 adjustment code B corrects basis so you do not pay tax twice on the same income.
Form 1099-B Cost Basis Reconciliation: How to Avoid Paying Tax Twice on the Same Dollar
Form 1099-B Box 1e shows your broker's cost basis, but Box 5 determines whether the IRS sees it. A working guide to covered vs. noncovered securities, Form 8949 adjustment codes (B, W, Q, O, T), and the RSU/ESPP basis corrections that prevent double-taxation.