#bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
How to Book a Workers' Comp Dividend Check (and Why a Retro-Rating Plan Can Also Send You a Bill)
Workers' comp dividend checks and retro-rating adjustments arrive 6–30 months after a policy expires. Dividends are discretionary — book them as a reduction of insurance expense when declared, never accrued in advance. Retro adjustments are contractual — accrue the estimated premium as a liability in the period the losses occurred, then true up at each 6-, 18-, and 30-month adjustment.
2026 Shipping Rate Hikes: Why Your UPS, FedEx, and USPS Bill Rose More Than the Advertised 5.9%
UPS and FedEx raised list rates 5.9% for 2026 and USPS raised Ground Advantage rates 7.8%, but small e-commerce shippers are seeing 10-20% higher bills because USPS cut its DIM divisor from 166 to 139, additional handling and delivery area surcharges rose 6.4-14% by zone, and surcharge eligibility thresholds widened.
Bookkeeping for Affiliate Income: Amazon Associates, LTK, and ShareASale
Amazon Associates pays roughly 60 days in arrears, ShareASale and Impact pay per merchant program rather than as a single payer, and the 2026 1099-NEC threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 — so most affiliate income now arrives with no tax form at all, making a monthly earned-basis reconciliation the only reliable way to track what you actually owe.
AI Accounts Payable Automation for Small Businesses: Costs, Savings, and How to Choose
Manual invoice processing costs $13–$30 per invoice, roughly 4 in 10 invoices contain errors, and over half are paid late. This guide breaks down what AI accounts payable automation actually does — capture, coding, approval routing, payment — what it cuts the per-invoice cost to, and the five criteria that separate small-business-friendly AP tools from enterprise overkill.
Amazon's Business Credit Cards Moved to U.S. Bank: The $150,000 Rewards Cap and the August 14 Deadline
Amazon relaunched its business credit cards on May 13, 2026, switching from American Express to U.S. Bank on the Mastercard network. The Prime Business Card pays 5% back (3% without Prime) on the first $150,000 in annual purchases, then 1% — and old Amex-issued cards stop working August 14, 2026. Here's the blended-rate math and a transition checklist for your books.
The B2B Late Payment Crisis: A 2026 Collections Playbook for Small Businesses
In 2026, 92% of businesses are typically paid after their invoice due date and 59% of small businesses have an invoice overdue by 30+ days, up from 47% a year earlier — this guide breaks down the numbers and a five-step collections playbook to protect cash flow.
Bhutan's New 5% GST: What Small Businesses and Foreign Sellers Need to Know
On January 1, 2026, Bhutan replaced its nine-rate sales tax (0%–100%) with a flat 5% GST. Registration is mandatory above Nu 5 million (~$58,000) annual turnover — and the rules explicitly cover non-resident SaaS and digital sellers, with a 30-day registration window and a reverse-charge carve-out for verified B2B sales.
Business Owner's Policy (BOP): What the Bundle Covers, What It Costs, and What It Leaves Out
A Business Owner's Policy bundles general liability, commercial property, and business income coverage at 10–15% less than buying them separately — median premiums run $57–$83/month. Here's who a BOP fits, the exclusions that catch owners off guard, and why clean books determine how much a business income claim actually pays.
Chaos Engineering Consultancy Bookkeeping: Separating Game-Day Revenue From Tooling Resale Margin
How chaos engineering consultancies should split resilience-audit, game-day facilitation, automation build-out, and tooling-resale revenue into separate ledger accounts — including ASC 606 agent-vs-principal treatment for license pass-throughs, deferred revenue on fixed-fee audits, and per-engagement-type margin tracking.
CMS Prior Authorization Final Rule: What the 7-Day and 72-Hour Deadlines Mean for Medical and Dental Practices
As of January 1, 2026, CMS-0057-F requires Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, and ACA marketplace payers to decide prior authorization requests within 72 hours (expedited) or 7 calendar days (standard) and to give specific denial reasons — with FHIR-based prior auth APIs mandated by January 1, 2027. Here's what small medical and dental practices should do now.
Colorado's New NICU Leave Benefit: What Small Employers Need to Know About FAMLI in 2026
Colorado's FAMLI program now offers up to 12 weeks of paid Neonatal Care Leave for NICU stays, separate from the existing 12 weeks of bonding leave, funded by a 2026 payroll premium of 0.88% of wages split between employer and employee for businesses with 10 or more workers.
Contingency vs. Retained Search Bookkeeping: Why a 90-Day Replacement Guarantee Is a Refund Liability, Not a Freebie
Under ASC 606, a placement fee subject to a replacement-or-refund guarantee is variable consideration — recruiting firms should recognize only the historically-expected portion as revenue and hold the rest in a refund liability account until the guarantee window lapses.