#bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
When the CPSC Recalls Your Inventory: A Bookkeeping Guide for E-Commerce Resellers
Under the Consumer Product Safety Act, selling recalled products is illegal regardless of business size — and Amazon can bill recall refunds back to third-party sellers. This guide covers the three bookkeeping steps a recall triggers for e-commerce resellers — writing recalled inventory off the balance sheet under GAAP, recording reimbursements separately from revenue, and documenting disposal — plus why the accounting write-off and the IRS tax deduction often land in different periods.
Craft Distillery Bookkeeping: Why the IRS Doesn't Care About Your Barrels, But the TTB Absolutely Does
Craft distilleries owe federal excise tax only when spirits are withdrawn from bond — often years after the grain was paid for. A practical guide to capitalizing barrel-aging costs into inventory, recording angel's share evaporation at quarterly gauging, and timing the $2.70-per-proof-gallon TTB liability correctly.
Craft Malting House Bookkeeping: Grain Inventory That Shrinks, Contract Growing, and a Year-Long Cash Cycle
Craft maltsters lose 10–20% of raw barley weight during steeping, germination, and kilning, pay farmers 3–4× feed-grain prices under multi-season contracts, and can wait over a year between buying grain and selling malt. Here's how to handle yield-ratio costing, contract-growing arrangements, and working-capital planning for a malthouse.
Daycare and Childcare Center Bookkeeping: Taming Tuition, Meal Reimbursements, and Subsidy Payments That Never Arrive on Time
Childcare centers juggle three payers on three different clocks — private tuition, CACFP meal reimbursements, and state subsidies that pay 30–60 days after care is provided. This guide covers a classroom-level chart of accounts, automated advance tuition billing (roughly 90% on-time payment versus 50–60% for manual invoicing), CACFP meal-count documentation, and sizing a cash reserve to your actual subsidy lag.
How a Trailer Manufacturer's Bankruptcy Shows What Happens When Nobody Is Watching the Books
A Georgia trailer manufacturer's 2026 Chapter 11 filing traces partly to alleged employee theft discovered in 2024. Businesses under 100 employees suffer a median fraud loss of $141,000 per ACFE data — here are the segregation-of-duties controls that catch theft early, and why an auditable ledger matters.
Extended Warranty Revenue Isn't Yours Yet: Why ASC 606 Says You Can't Book It at the Point of Sale
ASC 606 treats a separately priced extended warranty as a distinct performance obligation, so a $150 three-year service contract is booked as unearned revenue and recognized at $4.17 per month over 36 months — not as sale revenue on day one. This guide explains the assurance-type vs. service-type distinction, the three standalone-selling-price allocation methods for bundled pricing, and the journal entries small retailers need.
Fishing Charter Bookkeeping: Why Fuel and Bait Are COGS and Your USCG License Deserves Its Own Line Item
A well-run fishing charter nets roughly a 25% margin even when booked solid. This guide shows how to structure a charter's books — classify fuel, bait, and ice as cost of goods sold for per-trip margins, track the $1,300–$1,600 USCG six-pack license and its five-year renewal cycle, and accrue maintenance reserves per engine hour to survive the off-season.
Your Commissioned Employees, State Minimum Wage, and a Federal Overtime Exemption: What DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-4 Actually Changes
DOL opinion letter FLSA2026-4 (January 2026) confirms the Section 7(i) overtime exemption for commissioned retail and service employees is measured against the federal minimum wage — a regular rate above $10.875/hour — not higher state rates, and clarifies that service charges count as commissions while tips generally don't.
FMCSA Repeals CDL Conviction Self-Reporting: What the July 2026 Rollback Actually Changes for Small Trucking Fleets
FMCSA's June 2026 final rule, effective July 22, 2026, eliminates three redundant requirements — CDL holders self-reporting convictions, keeping a paper ELD manual in the cab, and auto-returning roadside inspection reports — citing ~25,000 unnecessary violations in 2024. Annual MVR checks, driver qualification files, and inspection-report retention remain fully in force, and state-level reporting statutes may still apply.
The FTC's Caremark Settlement: What Cost-Plus Reimbursement Means for Independent Pharmacy Books
The FTC's July 2026 settlement with CVS Caremark requires a cost-plus reimbursement option, point-of-sale rebate pass-through, and delinked PBM fees. Here is how independent pharmacies should model the switch, track DIR clawbacks, and keep reimbursement data auditable.
Ghost Employee Fraud: How Fake Payroll Records Drain Small Businesses and the Controls That Catch Them
Ghost employee schemes cost U.S. businesses an estimated $400 billion a year and run a median of 18–30 months before detection. Learn the three common scheme patterns, the red flags already in your payroll data — duplicate bank accounts, unchanged withholding, missing I-9s — and the segregation-of-duties controls that stop them.
Goatscaping Bookkeeping: How to Account for a Targeted Grazing Business
A working goat herd is livestock the IRS lets you treat as either inventory or depreciable business property — an election that's hard to reverse. How targeted grazing operators should handle herd cost basis, diversified revenue streams, equipment costs, and the May-to-September seasonal cash-flow cliff.