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

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Virginia's SB 637 Lowers the Anti-Discrimination Threshold to 5 Employees: A Payroll and HR Recordkeeping Guide

Effective July 1, 2026, Virginia's SB 637 extends the Virginia Human Rights Act to employers with five or more employees (down from 15) and lengthens the discrimination complaint window from 300 days to two years. This guide explains how to count employees under the 20-week rule, sets a three-year retention schedule for hiring, payroll and disciplinary records, and walks newly covered small employers through a seven-step compliance checklist.

mike

small-businesspayrollcompliance

Can Your Small Business Hire Unpaid Interns? The 7-Factor Test That Decides Whether You Owe Back Wages

The Department of Labor's seven-factor primary beneficiary test decides whether an unpaid intern at a for-profit business was legally an employee. Fail it and you owe back wages at minimum wage plus overtime, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and the worker's attorney fees, reaching back two to three years. Here is what each factor means for a small employer, what misclassification costs, and the safer alternatives.

mike

small-businesshiringpayroll

Student Loan Wage Garnishment Is Back in 2026: What Employers Must Do When an Order Lands on Your Desk

Federal student loan wage garnishment resumed in 2026 and needs no court order. Employers must withhold up to 15% of disposable earnings while leaving the worker at least $217.50 a week (30 times the federal minimum wage), remit with the case number each pay period, never fire an employee over a single garnishment, and book withholdings to a Garnishments Payable liability account rather than an expense.

mike

student-loanspayrollwithholding

Stay Bonuses That Actually Keep People: How to Structure Retention Agreements Without Overpaying or Under-Withholding

A stay bonus agreement pays a key employee to remain through a fixed date, usually 10% to 30% of base salary as a lump sum or milestone installments. This guide covers when a retention bonus beats a raise, how to size it against replacement cost, the terms a written agreement needs (forfeiture carve-outs, clawback limits, who pays in a sale), and the payroll rules that apply, including the IRS flat 22% supplemental-wage withholding, FICA, and state supplemental rates.

mike

compensationpayrollwithholding

Turned Down for a Bank Loan? Your State Might Guarantee It Through SSBCI

The State Small Business Credit Initiative routes nearly $10 billion in federal money into state loan guarantee, collateral support, loan participation, capital access and venture programs delivered through local banks, with a $20 million loan cap and a 750-employee ceiling. This guide covers who qualifies, how SSBCI differs from SBA 7(a), the no-stacking rule, and the five steps to get a participating lender to enroll your loan.

mike

small-business-loansfinancingsba-loans

How Real Estate Syndication Waterfalls Actually Pay You: Preferred Returns, Capital Calls, and Reading the K-1

A real estate syndication waterfall pays limited partners in four tiers — return of capital, a 6–10% preferred return, a sponsor catch-up, then a 70/30 or 80/20 residual split. This guide works the math on a $100,000 investment, explains capital-call dilution, why a K-1 can show a loss while you received cash, and lists ten questions to confirm before wiring money.

mike

real-estatepartnershipscarried-interest

Quebec Just Cut Your Small Business Tax Rate to 2.2%: What Incorporated Owners Must Do Before Year-End

Quebec's Information Bulletin 2026-3 cuts the provincial small business rate from 3.2% to 2.2% for taxation years beginning after April 29, 2026, lowering the combined rate on the first $500,000 of active business income to 11.2% and saving a qualifying CCPC up to $5,000 a year. Calendar-year corporations wait until 2027, the 5,500 remunerated-hours test still applies, and a matching increase in non-eligible dividend tax changes the salary-versus-dividend math.

mike

taxsmall-businesstax-planning

Selling Your Vet or Dental Practice to Private Equity? Your State May Now Get a Vote — and Your Books Will Get an Audit

Veterinary and dental practice owners weighing a private-equity sale in 2026 face new state transaction-review rules in New York and California, MSO/PC deal structures that regulators now read closely, and diligence that reprices adjusted EBITDA add-back by add-back. This guide covers the disclosure obligations, how cash, rollover, earnout and work-back slice the headline multiple, and the bookkeeping cleanup that protects your price.

mike

healthcarebusiness-exitbusiness-valuation

Pay-If-Paid vs. Pay-When-Paid: The Subcontract Clause That Decides Whether You Get Paid When the Owner Stalls

A pay-if-paid clause makes the owner's payment a condition precedent and shifts the full risk of owner nonpayment onto the subcontractor, while a pay-when-paid clause only sets timing and still obligates the general contractor. Courts enforce pay-if-paid only when the condition-precedent language is express, and at least eight states (California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin) void it outright. This guide covers how to tell the clauses apart, what to negotiate before signing, the Miller Act's 90-day notice and one-year suit deadlines, and how to book contingent receivables so your aging report and cash forecast tell the truth.

mike

constructioncontractsaccounts-receivable

OpenTable's 2% Service Fee on No-Shows and Deposits: A Restaurant Guide to Booking and Reconciling Payouts

OpenTable now deducts 2% from no-show penalties, reservation deposits, and prepaid experiences, and lets U.S. restaurants absorb the fee or pass it to diners per cancellation policy. This guide shows how to book deposits at gross as a liability, expense the fee separately, run a six-step monthly payout reconciliation, and decide whether deposits still pay off after the fee.

mike

restaurantbookkeepingreconciliation

North Carolina Raised Its Sports Betting Tax to 23%: What Betting-Adjacent Small Businesses Must Track Now

North Carolina's 2026 budget raised the sportsbook tax from 18% to 23% of gross wagering revenue, added a 6% prediction-market tax effective January 1, 2027, and requires operators to report every bettor who wins more than $2,000 a year. Here is what bars, affiliates, vendors, employers, and bettors in the state need to record, reconcile, and calendar.

mike

gamblingtaxtax-compliance
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