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Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.

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12 min read

The 15% Service-Fee Cap Is Real: What the Ticketmaster Settlement Means for Your Venue's Books

The March 2026 DOJ settlement caps Ticketmaster service fees at 15% of face value at Live Nation amphitheaters, limits venue exclusivity deals to four years, and guarantees rival ticketing access — while the FTC's all-in pricing rule already binds every ticket seller. A practical guide for independent venues and promoters on rebuilding per-ticket math, ASC 606 principal-vs-agent revenue calls, settlement-sheet reconciliation, and the seven contract terms to renegotiate now.

Mike Thrift

compliancelegalsmall-business
11 min read

Denmark's Digital Bookkeeping Act Hits Sole Proprietors: The DKK 300,000 Test and Your Switch-Over Plan

From January 1, 2026, Danish sole proprietorships, partnerships, and associations with net turnover above DKK 300,000 in both 2024 and 2025 — roughly 118,000 businesses — must keep books in a compliant digital system with NemHandel/Peppol e-invoicing, tamper-evident five-year storage, weekly automated backups, and SAF-T export on demand. This guide covers the two-year turnover test, the five system requirements, the five mistakes that trigger enforcement, and a seven-step migration checklist.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcompliancesole-proprietorship
10 min read

Cut-Flower Farm Bookkeeping: Enterprise Budgets, Per-Stem Costs, and Pricing Bouquets for Actual Profit

How to build an enterprise budget for a cut-flower farm, calculate true per-stem cost (total planting cost ÷ marketable stems, counting owner labor and 20–40% shrink), compare farmers-market, subscription, wholesale, and u-pick channels by net return per hour, and price mixed bouquets from a costed recipe — plus Schedule F vs. Schedule C rules and seasonal cash-flow practices.

Mike Thrift

agriculturebookkeepingsmall-business
9 min read

California Workers' Comp Just Got More Expensive: What the September 1 Rate Decision Means for Your Budget

California's advisory pure premium rate for workers' compensation rose 6.6% to $1.65 per $100 of payroll on September 1, 2026 — the second consecutive annual increase after a decade of declines. Here is how the benchmark actually reaches your bill, how to estimate the impact from your own payroll, and five levers — classification checks, clean audits, X-mod management, shopping the renewal, and monthly accruals — that keep the increase small.

Mike Thrift

insurancecaliforniasmall-business
10 min read

California SB 351: How Dental and Med Spa Practices Must Rebuild Their MSO/PC Books for 2026

California SB 351 took effect January 1, 2026, barring private equity and management companies from controlling clinical decisions at medical and dental practices. Because the violations it targets — percentage-of-collections management fees, clinician payroll in the MSO, patient revenue landing outside the PC — are all visible in the general ledger, compliance is largely a bookkeeping project. Here are seven ledger fixes to make now.

Mike Thrift

healthcarecaliforniacompliance
12 min read

Bulk Sale Notices and Successor Liability: How Asset Buyers Inherit the Seller's Tax Debts

An asset purchase does not automatically leave the seller's unpaid state taxes behind. State bulk sale statutes make the buyer liable unless notice is filed before payment or possession — New York requires Form AU-196.10 by registered mail 10 days ahead, California requires a CDTFA clearance certificate rather than escrow alone, and Illinois and Pennsylvania extend successor liability to income taxes. Here are the clearance rules, the non-tax liabilities that ride along, and a seven-step checklist to run before closing.

Mike Thrift

business-acquisitionbuying-a-businesssales-tax
11 min read

B.C.'s 7% PST on Professional Services: The October 1, 2026 Compliance Guide

On October 1, 2026, British Columbia applies 7% PST to accounting, architectural, engineering, security, and non-residential real estate services — with engineering taxed on only 30% of the fee (2.1% effective). Here is who must register, how the paid-vs-provided transition rules treat September and October billing, which exemptions need documentation, and the chart-of-accounts setup that keeps the liability separate.

Mike Thrift

canadasales-taxtax-compliance
10 min read

Alabama's Grocery Tax Is Back: A POS and Bookkeeping Checklist for the July 1 Snap-Back to 2%

Alabama's two-month grocery tax holiday ended June 30, 2026, and the 2% state tax on food resumed July 1 — with city and county food taxes never having paused. This is the register-by-register POS checklist and month-end bookkeeping routine that keeps the straddle-period July return tying out, covering cutoff transactions, prepared-food classification, SNAP tender confusion, and the uncollected-tax exposure retailers owe themselves.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxalabamapoint-of-sale
9 min read

The Agentic General Ledger: What Autonomous Bookkeeping Does Differently From QuickBooks or Xero

An agentic general ledger puts AI inside the ledger — categorizing transactions as they arrive and reconciling continuously — instead of bolting automation onto a passive record like QuickBooks or Xero. Agentic means the software acts within boundaries and escalates judgment calls; it does not mean unattended. Here is what changes day to day, the five questions to ask during the demo (audit trail, review queue, error handling, data export, data use), and a 30-day rollout that avoids teaching a new system your old bad habits.

Mike Thrift

aiautomationbookkeeping
8 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
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