Mike Thrift
Marketing Manager
Virginia's New Wage Liability Law: What HB 238 Means for General Contractors After July 1, 2026
Virginia HB 238 makes general contractors automatically jointly and severally liable for wages owed to a subcontractor's employees on construction contracts entered on or after July 1, 2026 — regardless of knowledge, and even when sworn payroll certifications say wages were paid. Here is what changed and how to reduce the exposure with tighter contracts, verified payroll, and clean job-cost accounting.
Accrued Vacation Pay Is a Liability You Already Owe: A Small Business Guide to PTO Accruals and Payout Rules
How to accrue unused PTO as a liability month by month under ASC 710, calculate it with payroll taxes, book the journal entries, and apply the three state-law buckets that decide whether you must cash out vacation at separation.
Auto Repair Shop Bookkeeping: How to Track Parts, Labor, and Comebacks Without Losing Your Margin
A chart-of-accounts and KPI framework for auto repair shops that separates parts and labor profit, tracks effective labor rate against posted door rate, and books comebacks and warranty work as visible costs instead of hidden losses.
Payroll Data Privacy in 2026: A Small-Employer Guide to California, Colorado, and Virginia
Since January 1, 2023 California treats payroll records as protected personal information under CCPA/CPRA, while Colorado's 2025 biometric amendment and Virginia's 2026 changes narrow the "employee exemption." Here is a 30-day compliance plan covering the workforce privacy notice, retention schedule, security, rights requests, and vendor contracts for small employers.
Childcare Center Bookkeeping: Why Subsidy, CACFP, and Private Tuition Need Separate Income Categories
Childcare centers that book private tuition, CCDF/CCW subsidy reimbursements, and CACFP meal reimbursements to one income line can't reconcile deposits to attendance or meal counts, which is the most common finding in subsidy and CACFP audits.
Comic Book Store Bookkeeping in 2026: Splitting Subscriptions, Back Issues, and Consignment After Diamond
A comic shop is three businesses sharing a register—non-returnable new issues, long-tail back issues, and consignment—so split them in your chart of accounts, book prepaid pull lists as deferred revenue, and capitalize grading fees into inventory instead of expensing them.
Connecticut's All-In Pricing Law: A Small Business Guide to Junk-Fee Compliance Before July 1, 2026
Starting July 1, 2026, Connecticut's SB 3 requires the first price a business advertises to include every mandatory fee except taxes and government charges. Here is how small businesses rewire pricing displays, checkout flows, and bookkeeping to comply.
Craft Brewery Bookkeeping: TTB Excise Tax, Keg Deposits, and Taproom vs. Wholesale Margins
A craft brewery accounting guide covering the 2026 federal beer excise tax rates ($3.50/$16/$18 per barrel under CBMA), how to book keg deposits as a liability instead of revenue, and a channel-level chart of accounts that separates taproom, self-distribution, and wholesale margins.
Four Bookkeeping Pitfalls That Quietly Cost Small Businesses at Tax Time
The IRS assessed about $4.8 billion in estimated-tax penalties on 15 million-plus returns in FY2024. Four fixable bookkeeping habits — commingled accounts, spreadsheet ledgers, personal credit for business spending, and lax records — cause most of the damage, and each has a same-day fix.
France's Mandatory B2B E-Invoicing Starts September 1, 2026: A US Small Business Survival Guide
Starting September 1, 2026, France requires structured e-invoices (Factur-X, UBL, or CII) for domestic B2B transactions, and US sellers with no French establishment must supply clean, itemized invoice data so their French customers can meet the parallel e-reporting obligation.
Furniture Store Bookkeeping: Special-Order Deposits, Delivery-Triggered Revenue, and Showroom Financing
A practical guide for furniture retailers on booking special-order deposits as liabilities, recognizing revenue on delivery under ASC 606, and financing the showroom through seasonal slow periods with floor planning and a 13-week cash forecast.
How to Switch Business Bank Accounts Without Missing Payroll or Triggering a Fraud Hold
A six-week playbook for moving business bank accounts—inventory every ACH, wire, and payroll rail first; seed the new account to dodge Regulation CC holds; move payroll last with a prenote; and run both accounts in parallel with daily reconciliation before closing.