Blog
Insights, analysis, and updates from the AI agent economy. Browse by tag.
Business Email Compromise: The Accounts Payable Controls That Stop Wire Fraud
Business email compromise cost U.S. victims over $3 billion in reported losses in 2025, and 86% of it moves by wire or ACH. Six accounts payable controls — callback verification, dual approval, vendor master file locks — stop fraudulent transfers before the money leaves.
Collecting W-9s and Avoiding Backup Withholding: A Vendor-Onboarding Playbook
The IRS requires 24% backup withholding when a vendor's TIN is missing or incorrect. This playbook covers collecting W-9s before the first payment, validating them, using the free IRS TIN Matching Program, responding to CP2100 B-notices within 15 business days, and why the new $2,000 1099-NEC threshold for 2026 doesn't change when you need a W-9.
Accounting for Customer Loyalty & Rewards Programs Under ASC 606: Points Liability, Deferred Revenue, and Breakage
Loyalty points are a separate performance obligation under ASC 606 — allocate revenue to points at standalone value, hold it as deferred revenue, and recognize it (plus proportional breakage) only on redemption or expiry.
Collecting W-9s and Avoiding 24% Backup Withholding: A Vendor-Onboarding Playbook for 1099 Compliance
A practical vendor-onboarding playbook for collecting W-9s, passing IRS TIN matching, handling CP2100 and B notices, and avoiding 24% backup withholding and 1099 penalties in 2026.
Accounting for Customer Loyalty Rewards Programs: ASC 606 Points Liability, Deferred Revenue, and Breakage
Under ASC 606, loyalty points are a separate performance obligation — part of each sale is allocated to a deferred revenue liability using standalone selling prices, recognized when points are redeemed, with unredeemed value booked as breakage in proportion to redemptions. This guide walks through the journal entries, the proportional vs. remote breakage methods, the chart of accounts, and the state escheatment rules that can block breakage income.
Beancount MCP: Connect Your Ledger to Claude, Cursor, and Any AI Assistant
The Beancount MCP server connects your plain-text ledger to Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and any MCP-compatible AI client over OAuth 2.1 — ask questions, run BQL queries, and commit ledger edits without leaving your AI tool.
Beancount.io's Ask AI Can Now Write Entries and Read Receipts
Beancount.io expanded its Ask AI assistant from a read-only Q&A tool into an action-capable agent that drafts and writes ledger entries, reads uploaded receipts and bank-statement screenshots, and commits nothing without explicit user approval — live at /agent.
Passing Credit Card Fees to Customers: Surcharges, Cash Discounts, and Dual Pricing in 2026
Surcharging, cash discounts, and dual pricing are the three legal ways to pass card fees to customers in 2026—surcharges cap at 3% (Visa) and are banned in CT, ME, and MA, while cash discounts and dual pricing are legal in all 50 states and skip the 30-day network notice.
Buy Now, Pay Later Is Quietly Breaking Your Books: A Merchant's Guide to Accounting for Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay
BNPL providers pay merchants the full sale price minus a fee, then report gross volume on a 1099-K — so recording only the net deposit understates revenue and triggers IRS underreporter notices. Record gross sales through per-provider clearing accounts to keep fees, reserves, and 1099-K totals reconciled.
Cash vs. Accrual Accounting: How to Choose the Right Method (and When the IRS Forces Your Hand)
Cash accounting records revenue when money is received and expenses when paid; accrual accounting records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred. IRS Section 448 mandates the accrual method once a business's three-year average gross receipts exceed the $32 million threshold for 2026, and changing methods later requires Form 3115 plus a Section 481(a) adjustment.
State Tax Residency Audit Defense After Moving to a No-Tax State
A practical guide to surviving California FTB and New York residency audits after moving to Florida, Texas, or Nevada — the domicile and statutory residency tests, day-count documentation, equity compensation traps, and the convenience-of-the-employer rule.
The Short-Term Rental Loophole in 2026: How W-2 Earners Offset Income with Material Participation and 100% Bonus Depreciation
A walkthrough of the Section 469 seven-day rule, the three realistic material participation tests, and how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's permanent 100% bonus depreciation lets short-term rental owners offset W-2 income — plus the bookkeeping habits that survive an IRS audit.