Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.
A practical tax playbook for startup employees holding ISOs or NSOs — covering AMT exposure via Form 6251 line 2i, the 30-day Section 83(b) deadline, the two-year-and-one-year qualifying disposition rule, the $100,000 first-exercisable ISO cap, and the 1099-B cost basis error that causes double taxation.
How bonded wineries cost a vintage from crush to bottling, claim CBMA excise credits, apply Section 263A to vineyards, and recognize tasting room, wine club, and wholesale revenue under ASC 606.
How tribal casinos account for win, drop, and hold under NIGC Minimum Internal Control Standards — covering Class II and Class III chart-of-accounts design, cage and vault key control, Title 31 Form 8362 CTR filing, IGRA per-capita withholding under IRC Section 3402(r), and the annual Agreed-Upon Procedures engagement that ties surveillance to the ledger.
How tree care companies should structure their books — separating workers' comp class 0106 payroll, allocating bucket truck and chipper hours per job, reserving for e-mod surges, and pricing crews off a true burdened cost-per-hour rate.
How small businesses should book prepaid insurance, rent, software, and retainers — the initial entry, monthly amortization schedule, IRS 12-month rule, and a written de minimis policy that keeps monthly profit comparable and unlocks year-end tax deductions.
How owners of indoor and outdoor pickleball clubs should structure the chart of accounts, defer annual membership revenue under ASC 606, reconcile booking-platform payouts, and depreciate court build-outs so utilization rate, revenue per court-hour, and member retention fall out of the ledger automatically.
A working guide to pawn shop bookkeeping — how to record pawn loans as receivables, accrue service charges, transfer forfeited collateral to inventory at principal, comply with ATF Form 4473 rules on firearms redemption, and file Form 8300 when cash crosses $10,000.
A practical guide to nonprofit grant accounting under ASC 958 and the 2024 OMB Uniform Guidance updates — net asset classification, the conditional-versus-unconditional barrier test, cost-reimbursement revenue recognition, the new 15% de minimis indirect cost rate, and the $1 million Single Audit threshold.
How non-medical home care agencies should structure a payer-segmented chart of accounts, reconcile EVV data under Section 12006 of the 21st Century Cures Act, classify caregivers as W-2 employees, manage aging receivables across Medicaid, VA, and LTC insurance payers, and prepare documentation that survives a Medicaid post-payment audit.
The IRS retention clock varies by record type — three years for routine returns, four for employment tax, six when income is understated by more than 25%, seven for bad-debt and worthless-securities losses, and indefinite for unfiled or fraudulent returns. A defensible schedule built on the statute of limitations, Rev. Proc. 97-22 electronic-records rules, and DOL and OSHA overlays.
For tax year 2026, the 1099-NEC reporting threshold rises from $600 to $2,000 and the IRS replaces FIRE with the IRIS portal. A practical workflow for W-9 collection, TIN matching, backup withholding, e-filing, and avoiding per-form penalties that stack under §6721 and §6722.
ASC 842 treats many service contracts — IT hosting, 3PL warehousing, power purchase agreements, equipment-as-a-service — as leases when the contract names an identified asset and the customer directs its use. This guide covers the two-test framework, the four contract categories where embedded leases hide, the practical-expedient trade-offs, and a procurement-to-accounting screening workflow.
