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Compliance

Navigate regulatory compliance and maintain audit-ready financial records

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13 min read

Foreign Trade Zones for Small Importers: Defer Duties, File Weekly, and Fix Inverted Tariffs

A Foreign Trade Zone defers duties until goods enter U.S. commerce, consolidates a week of shipments into a single Merchandise Processing Fee (capped at $651.50 for FY 2026 rather than charged per entry), and — with FTZ Board authorization — lets you elect the lower finished-good rate when component tariffs are inverted. Small importers reach all three as users of a 3PL magnet site, without activating a zone of their own.

Mike Thrift

tariffscustomsinternational
13 min read

31 States, One Playbook: What the Money Transmission Modernization Act Means for Your Money-Transfer Business

Thirty-one states have adopted the Money Transmission Modernization Act, harmonizing money transmitter licensing around three financial pillars — tangible net worth on a 3%/2%/0.5% sliding scale, a surety bond equal to 100% of average daily transmission liability between a $100,000 floor and a $500,000 cap, and permissible investments backing every outstanding customer obligation — plus one shared NMLS application process.

Mike Thrift

money-transmittermsbcompliance
13 min read

Polygraph Examiner Bookkeeping: Training Costs, Per-Exam Pricing, and EPPA Record Retention

A private polygraph exam bills $400–$1,150, the 400-hour APA-accredited examiner course runs $5,000–$8,000, and a computerized instrument costs $5,000–$12,000 — while EPPA requires a $50,000 bond, three-year record retention, and caps examiners at five tests per day. Here is how to structure revenue lines, deposit liabilities, and compliance costs for a polygraph practice.

Mike Thrift

small-businessbookkeepingcompliance
11 min read

Renting to Section 8 Tenants: How HAP Contracts, NSPIRE Inspections, and Split Rent Payments Work

A small landlord's walkthrough of the Housing Choice Voucher program — the lease-up sequence, the HAP contract you sign with the PHA, NSPIRE pass/fail inspections, how the payment standard and the tenant's roughly 30 percent income share split one rent into two payments, and what screening and source-of-income laws still allow.

Mike Thrift

real-estateproperty-managementleases
11 min read

The $120,000 Fertility Benefit: How to Account for America's Newest Standalone Employee Benefit

A proposed federal rule would let employers offer fertility coverage as a standalone excepted benefit — like dental or vision — capped at a combined $120,000 lifetime maximum per participant and covered beneficiaries, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. Here is how the fully insured and self-funded options differ on the books, and the ledger accounts, payroll deduction codes and accumulator reports to set up before the first enrollment.

Mike Thrift

employee-benefitshealth-insurancepayroll
11 min read

B.C.'s 7% PST on Professional Services: The October 1, 2026 Compliance Guide

On October 1, 2026, British Columbia applies 7% PST to accounting, architectural, engineering, security, and non-residential real estate services — with engineering taxed on only 30% of the fee (2.1% effective). Here is who must register, how the paid-vs-provided transition rules treat September and October billing, which exemptions need documentation, and the chart-of-accounts setup that keeps the liability separate.

Mike Thrift

canadasales-taxtax-compliance
10 min read

California SB 351: How Dental and Med Spa Practices Must Rebuild Their MSO/PC Books for 2026

California SB 351 took effect January 1, 2026, barring private equity and management companies from controlling clinical decisions at medical and dental practices. Because the violations it targets — percentage-of-collections management fees, clinician payroll in the MSO, patient revenue landing outside the PC — are all visible in the general ledger, compliance is largely a bookkeeping project. Here are seven ledger fixes to make now.

Mike Thrift

healthcarecaliforniacompliance
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