Blog
Insights, analysis, and updates from the AI agent economy. Browse by tag.
Boat Rental Bookkeeping: Boatsetter, GetMyBoat, and the Schedule C/Schedule E Split
Boatsetter and GetMyBoat report gross transaction volume on Form 1099-K, not your net payout, so record the full charter price as revenue and the platform commission as a separate expense — and track bareboat versus captained bookings separately, since adding a captain shifts income from Schedule E to Schedule C self-employment tax.
Fingerprint Time Clocks and Biometric Privacy Law: What a Small Business Needs to Know Before Installing One
Illinois's Biometric Information Privacy Act requires a written policy, notice, and signed consent before any fingerprint, palm-vein, or facial-recognition time clock scans an employee, with damages of $1,000–$5,000 per violation and similar consent rules now spreading to Texas, Washington, and roughly twenty other states.
Billiards and Pool Hall Bookkeeping: Table Time, League Revenue, and Bar Margin
Pool halls run three distinct revenue streams with different margins and accounting treatment, and league or tournament fees collected in advance are deferred revenue, not income, until the season is actually played.
Apple's Best March Quarter Ever: $111.2B Revenue, a New $100B Buyback, and Retained Earnings Turn Positive Again
Apple's Q2 FY2026 revenue reached $111.2 billion (+17% YoY) with expanding margins across every geographic segment, and a new $100 billion buyback authorization pushed retained earnings positive for the first time since fiscal 2021. Full income statement and balance sheet, FY2021-Q2 FY2026, in a public Beancount ledger.
Amazon FY2025 Earnings: A Record $77.7B Profit — and AWS Now Generates 57% of It
Amazon's FY2025: $716.9B net sales (+12.4%) and a record $77.7B net income (+31.1%) — but operating income grew only 16.6%, with a $15.2B non-operating equity gain accounting for $7.0B after tax. AWS grew 19.7% to $128.7B and produced 57% of company operating income on 18% of revenue, while PP&E jumped $104.4B in a single year. Modeled line by line in a public Beancount ledger.
Alphabet Q1 2026: Google Cloud Grows 63%, and a $37.7B Paper Gain Drives the EPS Beat
Alphabet's Q1 2026 revenue was $109.9B (+21.8% YoY) with Google Cloud accelerating to 63% growth and backlog above $460B, but the 82% jump in diluted EPS to $5.11 rests largely on a $37.7B other-income line — mostly unrealized marks on non-marketable equity securities. Backing out the $36.9B equity-securities gain leaves EPS near $2.76, roughly flat against last year's $2.81. Rebuilding the FY2022–Q1 2026 books in a public Beancount ledger shows exactly where the gain landed — non-marketable securities rose from $68.7B to $106.9B, not cash.
The AI Coverage Gap: Why Your Business Insurance May Not Cover Losses From the AI Tools You Already Use
Major carriers including Chubb, Travelers, and Berkshire Hathaway have added AI exclusion endorsements (ISO's CG 40 47 and CG 40 48) to general liability and E&O policies, with over 80% of exclusion requests approved by state regulators, leaving small businesses using chatbots and AI writing tools newly exposed to uncovered claims.
AI Receptionist vs. Human Front Desk: The Real 2026 Cost Comparison for Small Businesses
AI receptionist platforms cost $99–$299 a month versus $2,800–$4,500 for a fully-loaded human hire, but complex complaints, emotional calls, and HIPAA-covered patient information still require human judgment or a signed Business Associate Agreement — here's the real cost and capability comparison for 2026.
Virginia 2026 Employment Law Changes: A Small Business Guide
Virginia's 2026 employment law changes require salary ranges in job postings, extend Human Rights Act coverage to employers with five or more employees, void non-competes lacking a severance clause, and lower the RetirePath Virginia auto-IRA threshold to five employees, with penalties reaching $10,000 per violation.
Accounting for Vendor Rebates and Trade Spend Under ASC 606
Under ASC 606, cash rebates, slotting fees, and co-op advertising payments to a customer almost always reduce revenue rather than count as a marketing expense, unless the payment buys a distinct good or service at fair value.
Umbrella Insurance for Small Business Owners: What It Covers and What It Costs
Commercial umbrella coverage of $1-2 million typically costs under $50 a month for low-risk small businesses, yet most personal umbrella policies exclude business activity entirely, leaving freelancers and side-hustle owners exposed above their general liability limits.
SpaceX's First Public Earnings: Starlink's $11.4B Profit Machine Is Bankrolling a $6.4B AI Bet
SpaceX's IPO filing shows FY2025 revenue of $18.7B (+33%) and a $4.9B net loss — Starlink earned a $4.4B operating profit at a 38.8% margin while the AI segment (X and xAI) lost $6.4B on $3.2B of revenue and consumed $12.7B of capex. A bull-vs-bear analysis backed by an open double-entry Beancount ledger covering FY2023 through Q1 2026.