#guides
Guides
Step-by-step guides for accounting, bookkeeping, and financial tasks
Rental Arbitrage Bookkeeping: How to Set Up Books for a Leased Airbnb Business
Rental arbitrage bookkeeping differs from landlord accounting because the lease is a pure operating expense with no equity, only furniture is depreciable over 3-5 years, and most operators land on Schedule C rather than Schedule E once average guest stays fall under 30 days with services provided.
The 2026 FAR Overhaul: What the New CAS Thresholds Mean for Small Government Contractors
Starting with contracts awarded on or after June 30, 2026, the FAR overhaul raises the CAS trigger from $2.5 million to $35 million per contract, the full-coverage threshold from $50 million to $100 million, and the certified cost-or-pricing data (TINA) threshold from $2 million to $10 million, exempting close to half of currently CAS-covered contractors.
Executor Accounting: What Fiduciary Duty Requires You to Show Beneficiaries
An executor is a fiduciary, which means beneficiaries have a legal right to a formal accounting of every dollar that moved through an estate — and failing to produce one can trigger removal or personal liability, regardless of whether any money was actually mishandled.
California's SB 68 Allergen Disclosure Law: A July 2026 Compliance Checklist for Restaurant Chains
California's SB 68 (the ADDE Act) requires restaurant chains with 20+ locations and at least one California site to disclose the nine major food allergens on every menu format starting July 1, 2026, with civil liability rather than regulatory fines as the primary enforcement risk.
Expensify vs. Ramp vs. SAP Concur: How Small Businesses Should Actually Choose an Expense-Report Platform
Expensify starts around $5/user/month with reactive policy checks, Ramp offers a usable free tier with point-of-purchase spend controls, and SAP Concur charges roughly $7 per expense report for enterprise-grade travel and approval workflows — the right pick depends mainly on team size, not industry.
The FTC's 2026 Franchise Rule Overhaul: What New Earnings-Claim and Non-Disparagement Rules Mean for Franchisees
In 2026 the FTC is tightening enforcement of Item 19 earnings-claim disclosures and declaring non-disparagement clauses in franchise agreements void when they block communication with regulators — here's what franchisees and franchisors need to do about it.
Letters of Credit for First-Time Exporters: How a Bank Guarantee Gets You Paid Overseas
A letter of credit is a bank's guarantee to pay an exporter once shipping documents match its terms exactly — issuance typically costs 0.75%-2% of the transaction, and the ICC estimates 60-70% of first-time document presentations get rejected for discrepancies.
Contributed Services in Nonprofit Accounting: ASC 958-605 Recognition Guide
Under ASC 958-605, a nonprofit recognizes contributed services at fair value only when the work created or enhanced a nonfinancial asset, or required a specialized skill the organization would otherwise have paid for and the volunteer actually holds that credential — general volunteer hours, however valuable, stay off the books and out of Form 990.
Small Business Grant Scams: How to Spot a Fake Offer Before You Pay
No legitimate grant ever requires an upfront fee — the FTC reports nearly 30% of 2026 scam victims were first contacted on social media with losses topping $2.1 billion, and fake grant offers follow a predictable four-step script from unsolicited contact to escalating "release fees."
Surviving a State Sales Tax Audit: A Small Business Guide
State sales tax auditors use statistical sampling that extrapolates a small error rate across years of transactions, so running a self-audit on use tax accruals, exemption certificates, and nexus exposure before a notice arrives produces a materially better outcome than waiting.
True Endowment vs. Board-Designated Endowment: A UPMIFA Guide for Nonprofits
True endowments are created by donor restriction and governed by UPMIFA; board-designated endowments are unrestricted funds the board chose to treat like an endowment and can undesignate at any time — mixing up the two is the most common misstep auditors flag in nonprofit endowment reviews.
Sales Tax Exemption Certificate Management: The Audit-Ready Playbook
Auditors extrapolate the certificate deficiency rate found in a sample across the entire audit period, so a handful of missing resale or exemption certificates can turn into a six-figure sales tax assessment — here are the six practices that keep certificate files audit-ready.