#compliance
Navigate regulatory compliance and maintain audit-ready financial records
The CFPB's final Regulation B rule takes effect July 21, 2026, removing disparate-impact liability from ECOA, narrowing the discouragement standard, and adding participant-level documentation requirements for for-profit special-purpose credit programs — a practical guide for small-business borrowers and lenders.
An estimated $86 billion is lost to fraud inside churches worldwide each year, and most of it starts with one bookkeeping mistake — treating restricted and unrestricted funds as one pool. This guide explains how FASB ASC 958 classifies donor-restricted gifts, the three errors that get church treasurers in trouble, and the monthly habits that keep ministry books compliant and transparent.
Colorado's HB26-1033, the "Tamale Act," legalizes home-kitchen sales of tamales and other temperature-sensitive foods starting January 1, 2027, and raises the cottage food revenue cap from $10,000 to $150,000 per product per year. Here are the food-safety, labeling, and transport rules producers must meet — and the bookkeeping needed to run at the new scale.
On July 1, 2026, the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and OCC lowered the Community Bank Leverage Ratio from 9% to 8%, making roughly 477 more banks eligible for the simplified capital framework and freeing lending capacity at institutions under $10 billion in assets. Here is what the change means for small business borrowers — and how to keep your books loan-ready.
Connecticut's amended CTDPA took effect July 1, 2026, lowering the coverage threshold to 35,000 consumers, classifying neural data as sensitive, and requiring conspicuous disclosure of AI and LLM training on personal data. Processing any sensitive data — even one record — now triggers coverage, the 60-day cure period is gone, and penalties reach $5,000 per willful violation.
Federal regulators eliminated "reputational risk" from bank supervision in 2026 — a joint OCC-FDIC rule effective June 9, an SBA lender audit, FTC warnings to payment processors, and new state disclosure laws now limit when banks can close accounts. Here's who remains exposed and what to do if your business account is frozen or terminated.
DOJ's Civil Division is using AI data-mining relators to flag 2020 PPP loans for False Claims Act violations under the SBA affiliation rule, with the six-year statute of limitations starting to expire in April and May 2026 and real fraud exposure running a full ten years.
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-5 (May 28, 2026) confirms an exempt, salaried employee can pick up hourly shifts in a separate non-exempt role without losing exempt status — if the base salary stays untouched, the exempt role remains the primary duty, and the two jobs stay genuinely distinct. Here's how to structure and track dual-role pay.
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-8 holds that integral pre-shift work like patient handoffs is compensable, narrows the de minimis defense when timekeeping systems record punches to the minute, and requires rounding policies to be genuinely neutral — a compliance guide for any employer with hourly workers.
Traditional EDI costs small suppliers $10,000–$100,000+ upfront plus $1–$5 per transaction, while the nonprofit DBNAlliance exchange network launched in 2024 cuts per-invoice fees to $0.05–$0.25 — some access points are free. Here's how small B2B sellers can meet Walmart-style electronic invoicing mandates without overpaying, and why structured e-invoices get paid 1.4–2 days faster.
The FDA's redefined "healthy" claim becomes mandatory on February 25, 2028, replacing 1990s fat limits with added-sugar, sodium, and saturated-fat thresholds — with no small-business extension. Here's what qualifies now, what enforcement looks like, and how to budget reformulation, lab testing, and relabeling across 2026–2027.
The FDA's updated definition of 'healthy' becomes mandatory on February 25, 2028: products must contribute a meaningful amount from a food group and stay under 10% DV saturated fat, 15% DV sodium, and 10% DV added sugars per serving. Here's who gains eligibility, who loses it, what compliance costs (~$20 per UPC for label updates, ~$1M per reformulated formula), and a practical timeline for small food businesses.
