#compliance
Compliance
Navigate regulatory compliance and maintain audit-ready financial records
H-1B $100,000 Fee Struck Down: What the First Circuit Ruling Means for Small Employers
On July 24, 2026 the First Circuit denied a stay of the Massachusetts district court's vacatur of the $100,000 H-1B supplemental fee, so the charge is not currently being collected while the government's appeal proceeds — but the ruling isn't final and could reverse.
Mobile IV Therapy Bookkeeping: Corporate Practice of Medicine, Medical Director Fees, and Nurse Classification
Mobile IV and wellness injection bars must structure ownership as a physician-owned PC plus an MSO to satisfy corporate-practice-of-medicine rules, pay medical directors a flat monthly fee rather than a percentage of revenue, and classify nurses as W-2 employees in ABC-test states — each decision maps directly to a different chart-of-accounts structure.
Nacha's 2026 ACH Fraud Monitoring Rule: What Every Business Must Do
Nacha's Phase 2 ACH fraud monitoring rule took effect June 19, 2026, requiring nearly every business that originates ACH payments to run a documented, risk-based fraud monitoring process covering account ownership verification, change monitoring, anomaly detection, and audit trails.
New York's 2026 Cash Acceptance Law: Penalties, Exceptions, and Compliance Guide
New York's General Business Law § 396-ii took effect March 21, 2026, requiring statewide retailers and restaurants to accept cash and barring cash surcharges, with civil penalties up to $1,000 for a first violation and $1,500 for each one after.
The SBA's 8(a) Program Just Dropped Its Racial Presumption: What the 2026 Rule Means for Federal Contractors
The SBA's June 11, 2026 proposed rule eliminates the 8(a) program's race-based social disadvantage presumption for individually owned firms, requiring every applicant to document group-level discrimination and personal material harm instead — with the public comment period closing July 13, 2026.
State Privacy Laws 2026: Indiana, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Texas Rules Small Businesses Must Know
Indiana, Kentucky, and Rhode Island's consumer privacy laws took effect January 1, 2026, and two have no revenue threshold — here's how small businesses determine if they're covered and how to track the revenue percentages these laws require.
Bookkeeping for Document Shredding & Data Destruction Businesses
A chart-of-accounts guide for document shredding and data destruction companies covering three revenue streams (route, purge, hard drive destruction), NAID AAA certification costs ($3,000-$5,000 first year), chassis-vs-shredder depreciation, and treating paper recycling rebates as revenue rather than an unreconciled deposit.
Bait and Tackle Shop Bookkeeping: Live Bait Mortality, Dealer Licenses, and Pass-Through Sales
Bait and tackle shops run three revenue models through one register — perishable live bait, hard goods, and state fishing-license sales. Live bait mortality should be booked as shrinkage expense (tracked by species and supplier), bait-dealer licenses are recurring compliance costs tiered by sales volume in states like Wisconsin, and license sales are commission revenue (typically 4.75%–5%) with the state's share held as a liability, never income.
California SB 22 Raises the Gift Card Cash-Out Threshold to $15: A Compliance Guide for Retailers
Effective April 1, 2026, California's SB 22 raises the mandatory gift card cash-out threshold from $10 to $15 — the highest in the U.S. — and extends it to electronic and app-based cards. With nearly 200 lawsuits filed under the statute since 2008, here's the compliance checklist and the gift card liability bookkeeping retailers need before plaintiffs' investigators come testing.
DOL Form LM-2 Long Form: What the 2026 Union Financial Reporting Overhaul Means for Your Books
The DOL's May 2026 final rule creates a Form LM-2 Long Form for unions with $40 million or more in annual receipts, raises LM-2/LM-3/LM-4 filing thresholds to $350,000 and $25,000, and adds a $5,000 foreign-transaction disclosure schedule — effective for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2026. Here's what changes for union bookkeeping.
FTC AI-Washing Crackdown: What Small Businesses Should Know Before Buying an "AI-Powered" Tool
The FTC has filed 13 "AI-washing" enforcement cases since September 2024, including a May 2026 action against marketing firms that sold small businesses a fake "AI-powered" listening tool for $930,000 in penalties — here's a vetting checklist before you buy any AI-branded product.
The IRS's First AI Rules for Tax Preparers: What Circular 230 Alert 2026-19 Means for Your Business
On June 24, 2026, the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility issued Alert 2026-19, its first guidance on AI under Circular 230. It requires human review of AI output, technological competence, secure handling of client data, written firm AI policies, and fees that reflect AI-driven time savings — here's what small business owners should ask their preparer.