Marketing Manager
Building business credit from zero follows a fixed sequence — form an LLC, get an EIN, obtain a D-U-N-S number, open vendor accounts that report to bureaus, then add a business credit card — with PAYDEX and FICO SBSS scores following naturally from on-time payment history.
Roughly 54% of business partnerships dissolve within five years and about 70% of small business owners never signed a buy-sell agreement, leaving price, timeline, and process to be fought over from a blank page once partners can no longer agree.
California's SB 122, signed June 29, 2026, extends sales and use tax (7.25% state rate plus local add-ons) to prewritten software and SaaS starting January 1, 2027. Custom software and cloud infrastructure like AWS stay exempt; sellers over 5 million dollars in digital receipts shift collection to purchasers. Here is what's taxable, how billing-address sourcing works, and a compliance checklist.
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.
NerdWallet's 2026 test of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity found all three chatbots nearly aced IRS exam-style tax questions but made costly errors on personalized advice — misstating the standard deduction by nearly $3,000, claiming an ineligible EV credit, and recommending the wrong filing state — showing AI is reliable for factual lookups but not for case-specific tax decisions.
Cat cafes run three distinct revenue streams — lounge admission, food and beverage, and pass-through pet adoption fees — that need separate accounting treatment because admission is often non-taxable, F&B is taxable, and adoption fees legally belong to the rescue partner as a liability, not cafe revenue.
Congress repealed the CFPB's $5 overdraft fee cap via the Congressional Review Act in May 2025, before it ever took effect — large banks now charge $10 to $36 per overdraft and collected over $12 billion in overdraft and NSF revenue in a year. Here's what the repeal means for small business bank accounts, which states are stepping in, and five concrete ways to stop paying the fee.
Check fraud losses hit roughly $21 billion in 2023 and mail-receptacle theft rose 139% between FY2019 and FY2023. This guide covers the accounts-payable controls that actually stop check washing — positive pay, weekly reconciliation inside the UCC 4-406 window, gel ink, and separating check-writing from reconciliation.
Chimney sweep businesses earn 60-70% of annual revenue in a five-month window (September-January), so reserve fund planning, per-service-line margin tracking, and the IRS annualized income installment method for estimated taxes matter more than they do for evenly-billed businesses.
How comic and TCG shops should book consignment splits, buylist store credit, and graded-card cost basis — consigned goods stay off the balance sheet, store credit is a liability until redeemed, and high-value singles need specific identification, not average costing. Plus where the IRS draws the hobby-vs-dealer line, from the nine-factor §1.183-2(b) test to the 28% collectibles rate.
Commercial property insurers are raising premiums, cutting coverage, and non-renewing policies in wildfire, flood, and hurricane-exposed areas — this guide explains why it's happening and outlines seven concrete steps small business owners can take before their next renewal notice arrives.
Connecticut's July 1, 2026 laws require all-in advertised pricing, give independent repair shops manufacturer-level access to parts and documentation, and drop the CTDPA's coverage threshold to 35,000 residents with no-threshold triggers for sensitive data and data sales.
