#bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
Bookings, Billings, and Revenue: The SaaS Reconciliation Triangle
How SaaS finance teams reconcile bookings, billings, and recognized revenue under ASC 606 — with a deferred revenue waterfall, an ARR bridge, and the five edge cases that quietly break most subledgers.
Section 105(h): The Self-Insured Health Plan Rule That Can Quietly Tax Your Best People
Section 105(h) requires self-insured health plans, including ICHRAs and HRAs, to pass an eligibility test and a benefits test each year. Fail, and a portion of a highly compensated individual's reimbursements becomes taxable W-2 income — calculated as the excess reimbursement.
The Section 199A Rental Real Estate Safe Harbor: A Guide for Schedule E Landlords
Rev. Proc. 2019-38 lets landlords claim the 20% QBI deduction if a rental enterprise logs 250+ hours of rental services a year with contemporaneous records and a signed election. Triple net leases and personal-use property are excluded.
Section 461(h) Economic Performance and the Recurring Item Exception: When Accrual-Basis Liabilities Are Actually Deductible
Section 461(h) layers an economic performance test on top of the all-events test, so accrual-basis taxpayers cannot deduct a liability until the underlying activity actually happens. The recurring item exception accelerates deductions for predictable expenses when economic performance occurs within 8½ months of year-end and four specific conditions are met.
Section 509(a) Public Support Test: How Nonprofits Stay Public Charities
The Section 509(a) public support test requires 501(c)(3) nonprofits to draw more than one-third of support from the public over a rolling five-year window. Fail it twice and you tip into private foundation status—facing a 1.39% excise tax on investment income, mandatory 5% annual payout, and donor deduction limits that drop from 60% to 30% of AGI.
Section 6603 Deposits: Stop IRS Interest Without Conceding the Audit
A Section 6603 deposit halts interest on a disputed IRS liability without paying the tax, conceding the position, or forfeiting Tax Court access. Revenue Procedure 2005-18 spells out the mechanics—a written designation that names the tax, year, amount, and basis for disputability.
Segregation of Duties When You Only Have Three Employees: A Practical Internal Controls Playbook for Small Businesses
A working blueprint for splitting authorization, custody, recording, and reconciliation across a three-person business — including the compensating controls that stop the $141,000 median fraud loss that hits small companies hardest.
Bookkeeping for Short-Term Rental Hosts: Schedule E vs. Schedule C, the 7-Day Average Stay Rule, and Material Participation
How Airbnb and Vrbo hosts classify income on Schedule E vs. Schedule C, calculate the 7-day average stay, and document material participation to unlock non-passive losses against W-2 wages.
Washington B&O Tax in 2026: Gross Receipts, Nexus, Apportionment, and Multistate Pitfalls
Washington's B&O tax is a gross receipts tax with major 2026 changes — a $2 million economic nexus threshold, tiered service rates from 1.5% to 2.1%, and a $2M standard deduction. This guide breaks down activity-based classifications, market-based sourcing, penalty math that can exceed 39%, and the bookkeeping practices that keep multistate sellers audit-ready.
Weekly Prime Cost Tracking for Restaurants: Hit the 55–65% Benchmark and Catch Margin Leaks Before Month-End
A working operator's guide to calculating restaurant prime cost every seven days, the 55–65% benchmark by service segment, the five leaks weekly tracking surfaces first, and the bookkeeping setup the cadence requires.
DOL Independent Contractor Final Rule: The Six-Factor Economic Realities Test and What Small Businesses Must Document in 2026
The 2024 DOL Independent Contractor Final Rule and its six-factor economic realities test still govern FLSA worker classification in private lawsuits despite the May 2025 enforcement pause. Small businesses that misclassify employees face back wages of two to three years, liquidated damages, civil penalties above $2,300 per violation, and IRS payroll tax exposure—risks that clean bookkeeping and contemporaneous documentation are built to defend against.
E-Commerce Inventory Accounting With 3PLs and Multi-Channel Fulfillment
How online sellers allocate landed costs across SKUs, track FBA reserved inventory across fulfillment centers, reconcile marketplace settlements line by line, and prevent phantom COGS adjustments at year-end across 3PLs and multi-channel fulfillment.