#small-business
Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
Car Wash Bookkeeping: ASC 606 Deferred Revenue, Cost per Car, and 15-Year MACRS Tunnel Depreciation
How express car washes should recognize unlimited membership revenue ratably under ASC 606, allocate variable cost per car across water, electricity, and chemicals (~$1.50/car target), and depreciate tunnel equipment under 15-year MACRS with cost segregation and bonus depreciation.
Commercial Drone Photography Bookkeeping: Part 107, Section 179, Battery Cycles, and Stock Footage Royalties
How to set up books for a Part 107 commercial drone business — separate revenue lines by service type, capitalize airframes and payloads as distinct assets, track per-flight battery cycles as cost of service, and apply the 2025 permanent 100% bonus depreciation under OBBBA.
Form 1099-NEC Filing Season 2026: $2,000 Threshold, IRIS E-Filing, and How to Avoid Stacked Penalties
For tax year 2026, the 1099-NEC reporting threshold rises from $600 to $2,000 and the IRS replaces FIRE with the IRIS portal. A practical workflow for W-9 collection, TIN matching, backup withholding, e-filing, and avoiding per-form penalties that stack under §6721 and §6722.
How Long to Keep Business Records: A Plain-English Retention Schedule Tied to the IRS Statute of Limitations
The IRS retention clock varies by record type — three years for routine returns, four for employment tax, six when income is understated by more than 25%, seven for bad-debt and worthless-securities losses, and indefinite for unfiled or fraudulent returns. A defensible schedule built on the statute of limitations, Rev. Proc. 97-22 electronic-records rules, and DOL and OSHA overlays.
Non-Medical Home Care Agency Bookkeeping: Payer Mix, EVV Compliance, Caregiver Classification, and Surviving Medicaid Audits
How non-medical home care agencies should structure a payer-segmented chart of accounts, reconcile EVV data under Section 12006 of the 21st Century Cures Act, classify caregivers as W-2 employees, manage aging receivables across Medicaid, VA, and LTC insurance payers, and prepare documentation that survives a Medicaid post-payment audit.
Pawn Shop Accounting: Pawn Loans, Forfeited Collateral, Firearms Compliance, and the $10,000 BSA Rule
A working guide to pawn shop bookkeeping — how to record pawn loans as receivables, accrue service charges, transfer forfeited collateral to inventory at principal, comply with ATF Form 4473 rules on firearms redemption, and file Form 8300 when cash crosses $10,000.
Pickleball Facility Bookkeeping: Deferred Revenue, Court-Hour KPIs, and Build-Out Depreciation
How owners of indoor and outdoor pickleball clubs should structure the chart of accounts, defer annual membership revenue under ASC 606, reconcile booking-platform payouts, and depreciate court build-outs so utilization rate, revenue per court-hour, and member retention fall out of the ledger automatically.
Prepaid Expenses Explained: Stop Letting Annual Insurance, Rent, and Software Bills Distort Your Monthly Profit
How small businesses should book prepaid insurance, rent, software, and retainers — the initial entry, monthly amortization schedule, IRS 12-month rule, and a written de minimis policy that keeps monthly profit comparable and unlocks year-end tax deductions.
Winery and Vineyard Accounting: Bonded Wineries, Vintage WIP, TTB Excise Tax, CBMA Credits, Section 263A, and DTC Revenue
How bonded wineries cost a vintage from crush to bottling, claim CBMA excise credits, apply Section 263A to vineyards, and recognize tasting room, wine club, and wholesale revenue under ASC 606.
Personal Guarantees: How They Override Your LLC—and How to Negotiate Them
59% of small businesses with debt sign a personal guarantee, and it overrides your LLC's limited liability. This guide explains unlimited vs. limited guarantees, bad-boy carve-outs, burn-off provisions, SBA's 20% rule, and how to negotiate or get released.
Cash Balance Pension Plans: A Six-Figure Tax Deduction for High-Income Business Owners
A cash balance plan lets a 55-year-old business owner deduct roughly $230,000 a year in retirement contributions — far above the 401(k) ceiling — because a defined benefit pension caps the retirement benefit, not the annual deposit, so limits scale with age rather than income.
Auto Repair Shop Bookkeeping: Flat-Rate Hours, Parts Matrix, Comebacks, Warranty AR, and EPA Fees
Independent auto repair shops earn from labor, parts, sublet work, and environmental fees — each with different margins and bookkeeping rules. This guide builds a chart of accounts that separates flat-rate labor from clock hours, applies a tiered parts markup matrix targeting 55–58% gross profit, tracks comeback expense and warranty receivables aging, codes sublet work cleanly, and records EPA hazmat and shop supply fees as their own revenue and cost lines.