Are Scholarships Taxable? What Section 117 Actually Says
Scholarship money spent on tuition and required books is tax-free under Section 117; room, board, and service-conditioned stipends are taxable income.
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Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.
American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), Explained: How Sponsored and Unsponsored Programs Differ
ADRs let you own foreign shares in dollars, but dividends arrive net of foreign withholding and depositary fees — and currency moves still hit the price.
Accrued Revenue vs. Deferred Revenue: The Two Timing Gaps Every Accrual-Basis Business Must Book
Accrued revenue is earned-but-unbilled income (an asset); deferred revenue is unearned cash (a liability) — each clears with its own adjusting entry.
2/10 Net 30, Explained: What Trade-Credit Terms Mean, Why Skipping the Discount Costs 36 Percent APR, and How to Book It
Paying a 2/10 net 30 invoice on day 30 instead of day 10 costs 2% for 20 days of float — about a 36% annualized rate. Take the discount.
Wave vs. ZipBooks vs. Akaunting: Free Accounting Software Compared for Small Businesses
Wave offers the fullest free core, ZipBooks the simplest start, and Akaunting free self-hosted books — compare invoicing, bank feeds, and payroll costs.
Underapplied and Overapplied Overhead, Explained: Close the Variance to COGS or Prorate It Across Inventory
Underapplied overhead means actual spending beat applied overhead — close a small variance to COGS, prorate a material one across WIP, finished goods, and COGS.
T-Accounts Explained: The Visual Grammar of Debits and Credits Behind Every Journal Entry
A T-account puts debits on the left and credits on the right of one ledger account — sketch one to check any journal entry before you post it.
Special Journals, Explained: How High-Volume Transactions Stay Out of Your General Journal
Sales, purchases, cash receipts, and cash disbursements journals group repeating transactions so you post monthly totals, not hundreds of entries.
Simple vs. Complex Trusts: The Three Tests That Decide Who Pays the Tax
Miss one of three tests and your trust files Form 1041 as complex — taxed at 37% past $16,000 instead of at your beneficiary rate.
Sales Mix, Explained: How the Proportion of What You Sell Moves Break-Even and Profit Even When Total Revenue Holds Still
Sales mix is your products' sales share — a tilt toward low-margin items cuts profit while revenue holds still. Track your weighted-average margin monthly.
Pre-Money vs. Post-Money Valuation: The Two Numbers That Decide What Your Startup Is Worth
Post-money equals pre-money plus the investment — and which number a term sheet quotes decides whether a $1M check buys 20% or 25% of your startup.
Phantom Income, Explained: How the IRS Taxes Money You Never Received — K-1 Allocations, 1099-C Debt, and OID
Phantom income is taxable income with no matching cash — K-1 allocations, forgiven debt, OID. The IRS taxes the gain; plan liquidity to pay it.