#bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
How reptile and exotic pet breeders should handle taxes and bookkeeping — the IRS nine-factor hobby-loss test, the one-time depreciate-vs-inventory election for breeding stock, why unhatched eggs aren't inventory, the unit-livestock-price method for hatchlings, and why a die-off of self-raised animals usually isn't deductible.
The SEC found Key Tronic's Oakdale plant inflated pre-tax income by ~$981,000 with fake "Monster Job" WIP entries — cutting one quarter's income 47% when corrected. Here's how the scheme exploited absorption costing, why the company paid no penalty, and the inventory controls small manufacturers should copy.
Solo owner with $140K profit can do $28K SEP, $35K Solo 401(k), or $16K SIMPLE — same profit, different deductions. Match the plan to employees, profit, and whether you need the deduction by December 31 or April 15.
How interpreting agencies and freelance ASL interpreters should book VRI versus in-person revenue ($35–$100/hr versus $50–$145/hr with two-hour minimums), cancellation fees, deferred retainers, and 1099-vs-W-2 classification risk — plus revenue per bookable hour, the KPI that actually predicts margin.
A monthly work-in-progress (WIP) schedule turns four numbers per job — contract price, estimated cost, costs to date, and billings to date — into an early warning for overbilling and underbilling, the cash-flow gaps that sink profitable builders. Spec builders also differ from contract builders on revenue recognition, since homes held as inventory typically use the completed contract method under the IRC Section 460 home construction exemption.
How storage unit auction resellers allocate one lump-sum bid across an entire unit of unknown items — dividing by item count or by relative fair market value — plus the cash-method small-business inventory election, a lot-based chart of accounts, hobby-vs-business rules, and sales tax registration.
How to keep books for storage-unit auction flips — allocate one winning bid across dozens of items with the relative fair value method, deduct COGS only when items sell, use the Section 471(c) small-business exception, and report income even below the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold.
Alteration labor on a new garment is often taxable while the same work on a used one is exempt — one of several rules that make tailoring shop bookkeeping tricky. How to split fabric COGS from labor revenue, depreciate sewing equipment via Section 179 or MACRS, and know when selling a single zipper triggers a seller's permit.
Route-wide revenue totals hide losing machines. How vending operators track profit per machine: 5–25% location commissions on gross vs. net, cashless fees that reach 8–10% on sub-$2.25 transactions, and monthly per-machine shrinkage reconciliation.
Vermont's Act 164, signed June 18, 2026, raises the state R&D tax credit from 27% to 75% of the federal Section 41 credit starting in tax year 2027 and lifts the statewide cap to $3.5 million. A $50,000 federal credit now yields $37,500 in Vermont instead of $13,500 — here's how small manufacturers can prepare their Form BA-404 documentation.
Vinted's zero-fee US launch changes reseller bookkeeping. Learn how to track Wallet holds, reconcile a 1099-K, and handle sales tax under marketplace rules.
Virginia's House Bill 402, effective July 1, 2026, lets cottage food producers accept online orders and electronic payments, sell from any location in the Commonwealth, ship via third-party carriers within the state, and list a PO box on product labels. Production limits stay in place — home kitchens only, no potentially hazardous foods, no wholesale, no interstate shipping, and the $9,000 acidified-food sales cap — and localities can still impose their own zoning or permit requirements.
