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Bookkeeping

Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows

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11 min read

Watch and Clock Repair Shop Bookkeeping: Certification Pricing, Customer Bailments, Consigned Parts, and Deposits

A watch or clock repair shop's books must treat customer timepieces as bailments (never inventory), consigned parts as off-balance-sheet goods, and deposits as liabilities until pickup. This guide covers how AWCI CW21 certification should show up in the rate card, work-in-process for movements sent to specialists, warranty reserves for comebacks, Section 179 on bench equipment, sales tax on parts vs. labor, and the KPIs — revenue per bench hour, comeback rate, parts-to-labor ratio — that predict breakeven.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesstrades
12 min read

How to Run a Bar Crawl Company: Ticket Revenue, Venue Splits, Guide Pay, and Permits

A bar crawl company sells admission, not alcohol, so it usually needs no liquor license, but a $25 ticket can lose over $3.60 to platform and processing fees before a single guide is paid. Here is how to structure written per-head venue deals, book pass-through covers as liabilities instead of revenue, defer advance ticket sales until the event, clear city pub-crawl permits, carry $1–2 million in liability coverage, and decide whether guides are W-2 employees or 1099 contractors.

Mike Thrift

small-businessbookkeepingentrepreneurship
11 min read

Custom Harvest Crew Bookkeeping: Pricing Per-Acre Work, Costing the Road, and Depreciating a $500,000 Combine

How a custom combine harvest crew builds a per-acre rate from its own fuel, labor, repair, depreciation and transport costs instead of the neighbor's price, tracks road expenses like crew housing, lowboy moves, rain days and IFTA reporting, handles seasonal and H-2A payroll, and depreciates a $500,000 combine as 7-year MACRS property using Section 179 and 100% bonus depreciation.

Mike Thrift

agriculturefarmingseasonal-business
10 min read

Can the IRS Audit Your Church? How the Two-Notice Section 7611 Process Actually Works

Section 7611 lets the IRS examine a church only after a high-level Treasury official records a reasonable belief in writing, sends two separate notices, and agrees to finish within two years and stay away for five. This guide walks through each stage, the pre-examination conference, the five exceptions that remove the protection entirely, and the three bookkeeping failures that trigger most church inquiries in practice, namely unrelated business income, informal payroll, and campaign intervention.

Mike Thrift

nonprofitaudittax-compliance
11 min read

Quick Lube Shop Bookkeeping: The Per-Car Numbers That Separate Profitable Bays From Break-Even Ones

A quick lube earns its margin per car, not per markup. This guide shows how to cost bulk oil by the quart on every delivery, reconcile each tank book-against-stick weekly, book shrinkage and used-oil hauling as separate accounts, and review the five daily KPIs (car count, average ticket, add-ons per 100 cars, bay time, gross profit per car) against industry benchmarks such as 0.95 cars per labor hour, 80 percent gross profit on labor and 50 percent on parts.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingauto-repairsmall-business
8 min read

Switzerland Now Lets Small Businesses File VAT Once a Year: Should You Switch?

Since January 2025, Swiss businesses with taxable turnover up to CHF 5,005,000 and three clean filing periods can elect one annual VAT return through the SFTA ePortal instead of quarterly returns, but still pay advance installments on May 30, August 30 and November 30. Here is who qualifies, why the end-of-February election deadline matters, when quarterly filing is the better cash-flow choice, and the monthly bookkeeping habits that make annual filing safe.

Mike Thrift

vattax-compliancesmall-business
11 min read

Washington's Homeowner Recovery Program Is Now Paying Claims: A Contractor Bookkeeping and Registration Survival Guide

Since July 1, 2026, a Washington homeowner holding an unsatisfied court judgment against a registered contractor can collect up to $25,000 per parcel from L&I's Homeowner Recovery Program, and the state then pursues the contractor for reimbursement. This guide covers the eligibility rules, the $30,000 general and $15,000 specialty bond requirements, and the job-costing, change-order, retention and sales-tax bookkeeping habits that keep a dispute from ending in a judgment.

Mike Thrift

constructionbookkeepingjob-costing
10 min read

Water Softener Dealer Bookkeeping: Salt Routes, Service Contracts, and the Warranty Reserve

A water conditioning dealership runs four businesses on four different clocks — equipment installs, salt delivery, service plans, and rentals. Split them into separate income accounts, defer prepaid service revenue under ASC 606, accrue a warranty reserve at 2–5% of equipment sales under ASC 460, and capitalize rental units over a 7–10 year life instead of expensing them.

Mike Thrift

small-businessbookkeepingrevenue-recognition
11 min read

Window Screen and Screen Door Repair Bookkeeping: Costing Every Stop, Tracking Every Roll, and Surviving the Winter Trough

A bookkeeping guide for window screen and screen door repair businesses. Separate revenue lines for rescreens, frame rebuilds, doors and landlord contracts; track mesh by grade (fiberglass, aluminum, solar, pet-resistant) as cost of goods sold; log mileage per stop at the 2026 IRS rate of 72.5 to 76 cents; and bank spring surplus to cover three to four months of fixed costs through winter.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesstrades
10 min read

California's SB 517: The New Subcontractor-Disclosure Line Every Home-Improvement Contract Needs in 2026

Effective January 1, 2026, California SB 517 amends Business and Professions Code Section 7159 to require every home improvement contract to include a yes/no subcontractor checkbox, a statutory disclaimer when the answer is yes, and that same disclaimer on every change order — with the prime contractor still responsible for completing the job.

Mike Thrift

compliancelegalcalifornia
11 min read

Dim Sum Restaurant Bookkeeping: Carts, Tea Charges, and High-Volume Low-Ticket Margins

A per-person tea charge is a service charge, not a tip — it is taxable revenue, and any share paid to staff is wages subject to withholding. This guide covers dim sum bookkeeping specifics: cart versus order-sheet labor tracking, prime cost at or below 60–65 percent, food cost of 28–33 percent, weekend labor per cover, and the cash controls a stamp-card room needs.

Mike Thrift

restaurantbookkeepingpayroll
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