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

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8 min read

WordPress Plugin & Theme Bookkeeping: License Renewals, Merchant-of-Record Tax, and Reconciling Envato, Freemius, and Stripe Payouts

Envato's July 1, 2026 move to a flat 50% author revenue share replaces tiered rates that ran as high as 87.5%, and it exposes a deeper bookkeeping gap for WordPress plugin and theme businesses selling across Envato, Freemius, and direct Stripe checkout — gross revenue, marketplace fees, and license-renewal deferred revenue all need separate tracking, not one blended bank-deposit number.

Mike Thrift

pluginsrevenue-recognitionsales-tax
7 min read

Virginia's HB 402: Cottage Food Producers Can Now Sell Online and Ship Statewide

Virginia's House Bill 402, effective July 1, 2026, lets cottage food producers accept online orders and electronic payments, sell from any location in the Commonwealth, ship via third-party carriers within the state, and list a PO box on product labels. Production limits stay in place — home kitchens only, no potentially hazardous foods, no wholesale, no interstate shipping, and the $9,000 acidified-food sales cap — and localities can still impose their own zoning or permit requirements.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscompliancelegal
8 min read

Vermont's H.211 Data Broker Law: Is Your Small Business a 'Data Broker' Now?

Vermont's H.211 (Act 138), signed June 16, 2026, raises the data broker registration fee from $100 to $900, adds a $20,000 surety bond, and imposes penalties up to $200/day for failing to register by January 1, 2027. Its narrower "direct relationship" test can classify loyalty programs, payment facilitators, SaaS platforms, and affiliate marketers as data brokers.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscomplianceprivacy
7 min read

USTR's Forced-Labor Section 301 Tariffs: What 10–12.5% Duties on 60 Economies Mean for Small Importers

In June 2026, USTR concluded 60 simultaneous Section 301 investigations and proposed additional tariffs of 10% (economies with an unenforced forced-labor import ban, including Canada, Mexico, and the EU) or 12.5% (the 54 economies with no ban, including China, India, and Vietnam) — duties that stack on top of existing Section 232, IEEPA, and China 301 rates. Here is who is on each list, how the surcharge compounds landed cost, and five steps small importers should take before the final rate publishes.

Mike Thrift

tariffscustomssmall-business
7 min read

USPS's Second 2026 Rate Hike: What the Temporary 8% Surcharge Means for Small Shippers

On April 26, 2026, USPS layered a temporary 8% surcharge on Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select — on top of January's general rate increase — scheduled through January 17, 2027. Why small shippers absorb more of the hit than enterprise accounts, why the sunset date deserves skepticism, and four ways to limit the damage.

Mike Thrift

small-businesse-commerceexpense-management
7 min read

The IRS Doesn't Have to Prove You Lied — It Just Has to Prove Your Receipts Don't Exist

In Goodwill-Oikerhe v. Commissioner, a tax preparer lost every disputed deduction — dependents, property tax, vehicle expenses, S-corp flow-throughs — and drew a 75% civil fraud penalty under Section 6663, largely because no records existed. Why the Cohan rule couldn't rescue him, and what contemporaneous bookkeeping must capture to survive an audit.

Mike Thrift

taxaudittax-deductions
10 min read

Tailoring and Alterations Shop Bookkeeping: Separating Fabric COGS From Labor, Depreciating Equipment, and Knowing When You Need a Seller's Permit

Alteration labor on a new garment is often taxable while the same work on a used one is exempt — one of several rules that make tailoring shop bookkeeping tricky. How to split fabric COGS from labor revenue, depreciate sewing equipment via Section 179 or MACRS, and know when selling a single zipper triggers a seller's permit.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesssales-tax
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