#accrual-accounting
Accrual Accounting
Accrual method accounting principles, conversion from cash basis, and revenue recognition timing
TikTok Shop Seller Bookkeeping: Where Your Fees and Creator Commissions Actually Go
TikTok Shop's visible 6% referral fee becomes an effective 25-30% take once creator commissions (category medians 8-20%), Fulfilled by TikTok charges ($2.86-$4.28 per unit), and refund admin fees stack up. How US sellers should book gross revenue, each fee category, and marketplace payouts using accrual accounting.
Buy Here, Pay Here Used Car Lot Accounting: What Independent Dealers Get Wrong About the Books
How buy-here-pay-here dealers should book installment notes receivable, separate unearned finance charges from vehicle-sale revenue, reserve for repossessions on portfolios where ~78% of loan volume is subprime, and structure a Related Finance Company that survives an IRS audit — plus why accrual accounting and year-of-sale gain recognition are mandatory for dealer inventory.
Newsletter Sponsorship Revenue Recognition: Why a Verified CPC Payout Isn't Booked the Day the Ad Runs
Newsletter CPC ad networks like beehiiv verify clicks roughly 96 hours after send and pay out on the 20th of the following month — three different dates that create a real accrual-accounting gap most solo publishers book incorrectly.
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.
Podcast Sponsorship Revenue Recognition: Why That $12,000 Check Isn't All Yours Yet
Podcast sponsorship payments received upfront aren't income until the sponsored episode airs — under ASC 606 they're deferred revenue, a liability, until each performance obligation is fulfilled.
Yoga Studio Bookkeeping: Why Class Packs Are Liabilities, Not Revenue
A prepaid class pack is a liability until the classes are taught. This guide covers deferred revenue for yoga studios — recognizing pack and membership income as classes are attended, writing off breakage, classifying instructors as 1099 contractors vs W-2 employees, separating taxable retail from service revenue, and a five-step monthly close.
MGA Bookkeeping: How to Account for Contingent Profit Commissions That Take Three Years to Settle
MGA profit commissions aren't calculated until 18–24 months after a policy year ends and don't finalize until the third anniversary. This guide covers accruing constrained estimates under ASC 606, keeping fiduciary premium trust accounts separate from operating funds, and a chart-of-accounts structure that keeps multi-year true-ups auditable.
Ski Resort Bookkeeping: How to Account for Season Pass Deferred Revenue
Season pass cash collected in September is a liability, not income. This guide covers ASC 606 deferred revenue for ski resorts: the debit-cash-credit-deferred-revenue entry, straight-line vs. usage-based recognition, weather-driven refund reserves, and the four bookkeeping mistakes small ski operations make most.
How to Book a Workers' Comp Dividend Check (and Why a Retro-Rating Plan Can Also Send You a Bill)
Workers' comp dividend checks and retro-rating adjustments arrive 6–30 months after a policy expires. Dividends are discretionary — book them as a reduction of insurance expense when declared, never accrued in advance. Retro adjustments are contractual — accrue the estimated premium as a liability in the period the losses occurred, then true up at each 6-, 18-, and 30-month adjustment.
A Divorce Mediator's Guide to Bookkeeping: Retainers, Referrals, and the Home-Office Deduction
Divorce mediators should book retainers as a liability until sessions are billed, claim the home-office deduction on genuinely low overhead, and track referral relationships with attorneys and therapists as a real marketing channel.
Med Spa Bookkeeping: Why Packages, Gift Cards, and Memberships Aren't Revenue Yet
Med spas that book prepaid packages, gift cards, and membership fees as revenue at the point of sale overstate income and understate the deferred-revenue liability they owe clients — with the U.S. med spa industry at roughly $21.4 billion in 2026 and package sales now about 29% of client spending, the resulting distortion can turn a strong bank balance into an unexplained cash crunch two months later.
Mobile Sauna and Cold Plunge Rental Bookkeeping: Depreciation, Deferred Revenue, and Cash Flow
A mobile sauna trailer can gross $400–$1,000 per booking, but operators fail on the accounting, not the demand. How to handle Section 179 depreciation on a sauna trailer, deferred revenue from session packs and memberships, per-session contribution margin, and the 13-week cash flow forecast that keeps a seasonal rental fleet solvent.