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Consulting

Tips and tools for independent consultants and consulting businesses

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12 min read

ASC 718 Nonemployee Share-Based Payments: A Startup Guide to Consultant, Advisor, and Contractor Equity

Under ASC 718 as amended by ASU 2018-07, startup equity granted to consultants, advisors, and contractors is measured at grant-date fair value and expensed as services are received — not when cash moves. This guide covers scope decisions, option-pricing inputs and nonpublic-company practical expedients, service vs. performance vs. market vesting conditions, keeping book expense separate from tax reporting, a three-record monthly reconciliation, and the ASU 2025-04 change for customer awards effective after December 15, 2026.

Mike Thrift

accountingstartupequity-instruments
13 min read

Maryland's New 3% Tech Tax on IT and Software Services: What Every SaaS Company and Freelance Developer Needs to Know

Maryland's new 3% sales tax on IT, data processing, software publishing, and computer systems design services (NAICS 518, 519, 5132, 5415) took effect July 1, 2025 with no revenue threshold, so SaaS founders, freelance developers, and IT consultants with even one Maryland customer may owe it — this guide covers what's taxable, how sourcing and MPU certificates work, and how to book the liability separately from your 6% sales tax.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxtax-compliancesaas
7 min read

Deferred Revenue for Independent Educational Consultants: Why an $8,500 College Counseling Package Isn't Income Yet

Independent educational consultants collect $4,000–$12,000 multi-year package fees long before the work happens. This guide explains why non-refundable contracts don't justify booking fees as income at signing, how to allocate revenue across service phases (e.g., 15/30/40/15), and how a two-account deferred revenue setup keeps your books honest.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionaccrual-accountingconsulting
6 min read

Fractional CFO Firm Bookkeeping: Structuring Your Own Books When You Sell Financial Clarity for a Living

How should a fractional CFO firm structure its own books? Retainers ($3,000–$15,000/month) are deferred-revenue liabilities until earned, unbilled work-in-progress belongs on the balance sheet, and revenue should be split by billing model — retainer, hourly ($175–$450/hour), and project fees — in a market headed past $3.2 billion in 2026.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingconsultingfinancial-services
9 min read

How Should States Tax Partnership Income? Inside the MTC's Blended Apportionment Proposal

The Multistate Tax Commission's January 2026 white paper proposes a "blended" apportionment method that folds a partnership's sales, property, and payroll factors into each partner's own state tax calculation. Because states currently split between aggregate and entity sourcing theories, the same partnership dollar can be taxed twice — or not at all. Here's what multistate partnerships and multi-member LLCs should track now.

Mike Thrift

taxmulti-state-taxpartnerships
8 min read

Bookkeeping for Code-Audit Firms: How to Book Static Audits, Hourly Remediation, and Resold SAST Subscriptions

A code-audit firm selling fixed-scope static audits, hourly remediation, and resold SAST subscriptions runs three ASC 606 revenue-recognition rules under one roof — point-in-time, as-performed, and ratable. This guide covers the chart of accounts to separate them, the principal-vs-agent test for reseller margin, and a worked example posting one client engagement across unearned revenue, unbilled receivables, and subscription margin.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingrevenue-recognitionconsulting
8 min read

Structural Engineering Firm Bookkeeping: PoC Revenue, WIP, and E&O Tail Coverage

Structural engineering firms should recognize revenue by design-phase completion under GAAP percentage-of-completion (schematic 15–20%, design development 25–30%, construction documents 35–40%, construction administration 10–15%), track unbilled work-in-process separately from AR, and reserve for claims-made E&O tail coverage that can run 100–300% of an annual premium.

Mike Thrift

accountingconsultingfinancial-management
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