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Mike Thrift

Marketing Manager

5141 postsView all authorsBack to All Posts
11 min read

Your SUTA Rate Notice Just Arrived: How Experience Ratings Work, When a Voluntary Contribution Pays Off, and the 2026 FUTA Credit Reduction

How to read your annual SUTA rate notice like an auditor — how benefit-ratio and reserve-ratio experience ratings are computed, how to protest misassigned benefit charges before short deadlines, when a voluntary buydown contribution beats the tax it saves, and why California employers face up to a 1.5% FUTA credit reduction for 2026, reported on Schedule A of Form 940.

Mike Thrift

payrolltaxtax-compliance
9 min read

Your $495 "Lifetime Deal" Now Renews at $295 a Year: How to Budget ThriveCart Pro+ Like a Real Subscription

ThriveCart's $495 lifetime license is now paired with a $295-per-year Pro+ subscription covering affiliate management, sales-tax calculation, dunning, and custom domains — roughly $1,575 over three years with Learn+. A four-question framework shows when Pro+ pays for itself, when to let it lapse, and how to book lifetime deals, renewals, and gross Stripe payouts correctly.

Mike Thrift

budgetingexpense-managementsaas
11 min read

Indoor Playground Bookkeeping: Why Party Deposits, Memberships, and Cafe Sales Each Need Their Own Ledger

Party deposits are a contract liability under ASC 606, not income — a $100 deposit stays in deferred revenue until party day, annual memberships spread over twelve months, and cafe sales carry food costs and separate sales-tax rules. How indoor playgrounds should split their books by revenue stream, handle breakage and state escheatment on unused passes, and track seven weekly KPIs from deferred-revenue balances to cafe attach rate.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessrevenue-recognition
11 min read

California SB 779 Raises Unlicensed Contracting Fines to a $1,500 Minimum: A Compliance and Bookkeeping Checklist for Contractors

California's SB 779, effective July 1, 2026, raised the minimum civil penalty for unlicensed contracting from $200 to $1,500 per violation, with a $15,000 cap, $30,000 for aiding unlicensed work, and inflation adjustments every five years. This guide explains the full penalty stack, including B&P Code 7031 disgorgement that lets clients recover every dollar paid, and gives contractors an eight-step compliance and bookkeeping checklist covering license verification, expiration calendars, subcontractor credential files and nondeductible fine accounting.

Mike Thrift

constructioncompliancelicenses
8 min read

Chase Business Checking Fees Rose in 2026: What the Increase Costs You and How to Waive It

Chase raised Performance Business Checking from $30 to $40 a month and Platinum from $95 to $103 in 2026, adding $120 and $96 a year. This guide lists the waiver thresholds ($2,000, $35,000 and $100,000 combined balance), shows when parking cash to dodge the fee costs more than paying it, and walks through a five-step audit of transaction, cash-deposit and wire charges.

Mike Thrift

business-bankingbankingsmall-business
9 min read

Crop-Share vs. Cash-Rent Farm Leases: Who Bears the Risk, Who Pays the Tax, and How to Keep the Books

Cash rent lands on Schedule E with no self-employment tax, but a crop-share landlord who pays half the inputs and advises the tenant can trip the material-participation test and owe 15.3 percent on Schedule F. How each lease splits yield, price, and input-cost risk, with a worked 160-acre example and the settlement records both landlord and tenant need.

Mike Thrift

agriculturefarmingleases
11 min read

Failing Your Cyber Insurance Assessment? The MFA, EDR, and Backup Controls Insurers Demand in 2026

Cyber underwriters in 2026 condition or decline coverage on five control families — MFA on all email, remote and admin access, EDR on roughly 95% or more of endpoints, immutable backups with dated restore tests, patching and privileged-access hygiene, and an incident response plan exercised within 12 months. This guide lists the evidence each control needs, four methods for sizing limits against revenue, records, regulators and contracts, typical small-business premiums, and seven mistakes that fail assessments.

Mike Thrift

business-insuranceinsurancesecurity
10 min read

Elevator Service Company Bookkeeping: Costing Every Callback at the Burdened CET Rate

How elevator service companies job-cost full-maintenance and exam-and-lube contracts per unit — booking prepayments as deferred revenue, costing callbacks at a burdened CET mechanic rate of 85 to 100 dollars an hour rather than the 52-dollar wage, carrying truck stock as inventory, and pricing renewals from twelve months of callback history.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingjob-costingsmall-business
12 min read

Fake AI Tools Are Now a Top Malware Disguise: A Download-Safety Guide for Small Businesses

Malware disguised as popular AI tools hit small and mid-sized businesses more than 33,300 times in the first four months of 2026, nearly five times the 2025 count. Learn the five disguises most likely to reach your team, what one bad download costs, a shareable download-safety checklist, and a 15-minute software-approval routine that stops most fake installers.

Mike Thrift

securitysmall-businessai
11 min read

Flea Market and Secondhand Vendor Bookkeeping: When Your Weekend Booth Becomes a Real Business

Flea market and secondhand vendors owe Schedule C income tax plus 15.3% self-employment tax once net earnings pass $400, and most states require a seller's permit or transient vendor license for regular booth sales. This guide covers the Section 183 hobby-vs-business test, per-item cost-basis records that survive an audit, the state sales tax permit patchwork, and the 2026 thresholds for Form 1099-K ($20,000 and 200 transactions) and Form 1099-NEC ($2,000).

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingside-hustlesmall-business
10 min read

Fleet Fuel Cards for Small Business: The Purchase Controls That Stop Personal Fill-Ups Before They Start

Fuel theft and misallocation drain an estimated 5–15% of fleet fuel spend. This guide explains how fleet fuel cards from WEX, Fuelman, Ramp and others stop personal fill-ups with five controls — unique driver PINs, fuel-only product locks, dollar and time-of-day limits, mandatory odometer entry, and exception alerts — plus what the cards cost in fees versus rebates, when a cash-back business card is the better choice, and how card statements substantiate vehicle deductions under the standard mileage or actual-expense method.

Mike Thrift

small-businessexpense-managementfraud-prevention
11 min read

Flipping Cars as a Side Hustle: Dealer License Limits, Curbstoning Laws, and the Books That Keep You Legal

How many used cars you can flip before your state calls you an unlicensed dealer (Illinois 4, Michigan 3, California no safe harbor, FTC Used Car Rule at 6), why title jumping is illegal everywhere, what curbstoning fines and dealer bonds cost, and how to keep per-VIN books that treat flips as Schedule C inventory subject to 15.3% self-employment tax.

Mike Thrift

side-hustlelicensesbookkeeping
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