#accrual-accounting
Accrual Accounting
Accrual method accounting principles, conversion from cash basis, and revenue recognition timing
Trade Show Exhibitor Bookkeeping: Booth Fees, Drayage, and Measuring the ROI Payoff
A cost-by-cost breakdown of trade show exhibitor bookkeeping — how to categorize booth fees, drayage (typically $100-$200+ per hundred pounds), travel, and collateral, when to accrue the expense, and how to calculate cost-per-lead so a show's ROI shows up in the numbers instead of a gut feeling.
Podcast Sponsorship Bookkeeping: When to Recognize Revenue and How to Track It
Podcast sponsorship revenue should be recognized when a host-read ad airs, not when the invoice is paid, and creators must reconcile gross Patreon 1099-Ks against net ad-network payouts to avoid over- or under-reporting taxable income.
Disc Golf Course Bookkeeping: Deferred Revenue, Depreciation, and Pro Shop Margins
Disc golf courses run four businesses in one — real estate, retail, memberships, and events — and each needs separate accounting for deferred membership revenue, 15-year land improvement depreciation, and pro shop cost of goods sold.
Mobile Detailing and Ceramic Coating Bookkeeping: Pricing, Warranties, and Section 179
Mobile detailing and ceramic coating businesses should track material costs separately (typically 4-9% of revenue), record coating warranties and membership plans as deferred revenue until service is delivered, and can deduct up to $32,000 in 2026 under Section 179 on service vans between 6,001-14,000 lbs GVWR.
Podcast Production Bookkeeping: Why a Full Sponsor Calendar Doesn't Mean You're Profitable
Podcast sponsorship cash isn't earned on the day it's invoiced — under ASC 606 it's deferred revenue until guaranteed impressions actually deliver, and skipping that step, plus mis-costing network splits and guest booking time, is why production shops with full sponsor calendars still lose money.
Steam Revenue Share Bookkeeping: What Indie Game Developers Actually Get Paid
Steam's platform fee is calculated on net revenue after refunds, VAT, and currency conversion rather than gross sales, and non-U.S. developers face separate 0-30% tax withholding reported on Form 1042-S — this guide lays out the five-account chart of accounts to track both correctly.
Billing for Tokens: A Revenue Recognition Guide for AI Usage-Based SaaS
ASC 606 still governs AI token-based pricing, but variable consideration estimates, the right-to-invoice practical expedient, and breakage on prepaid credit packs make usage-based revenue recognition materially harder to get right than flat-rate SaaS subscriptions.
Bookkeeping for Private Music Teachers: Deferred Revenue, Home Studios, and Quarterly Taxes
Independent music teachers who collect payment directly from students run a Schedule C business subject to 15.3% self-employment tax, must book prepaid lesson packages as deferred revenue rather than income, and face a new $2,000 1099-NEC threshold starting in 2026.
Percentage-of-Completion Accounting for Contractors: Building an ASC 606 WIP Schedule
Percentage-of-completion accounting recognizes contractor revenue in proportion to costs incurred using the cost-to-cost method, and a monthly WIP schedule tracks the resulting overbilling and underbilling under ASC 606.
Royalty Accounting for Licensors: The ASC 606 Sales- and Usage-Based Exception
Under ASC 606's sales- and usage-based royalty exception, licensors can't recognize royalty revenue until the licensee's underlying sale or usage actually occurs, regardless of invoice or payment date.
Cash vs. Accrual Accounting: How to Choose the Right Method (and When the IRS Forces Your Hand)
Cash accounting records revenue when money is received and expenses when paid; accrual accounting records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred. IRS Section 448 mandates the accrual method once a business's three-year average gross receipts exceed the $32 million threshold for 2026, and changing methods later requires Form 3115 plus a Section 481(a) adjustment.
After the Click-to-Cancel Rule Fell: Subscription Compliance, Refund Reserves, and Chargeback Liability in 2026
The Eighth Circuit vacated the FTC's Click-to-Cancel rule in July 2025, but ROSCA, Section 5, and state auto-renewal laws still bind subscription operators—and refund reserves, chargeback liabilities, and contingency accruals still belong on the balance sheet.