#expense-tracking
Tools and methods for tracking business expenses, receipt management, and expense reporting
The Cohan rule lets a court estimate an ordinary business deduction when you can prove the money was spent but not the exact amount — and Section 274(d) forbids that estimate entirely for travel, entertainment, gifts, and vehicles. Here is what reconstruction evidence actually persuades an examiner, why bank statements alone usually fail, and a six-step playbook for rebuilding a missing-receipt file.
Federal law caps the business-gift deduction at $25 per recipient per year — a limit unchanged since 1962 — while incidental shipping, wrapping, and $4-or-less branded items sit outside it. Employee gifts follow different rules: gift cards and cash equivalents are always taxable wages, and only small, infrequent tangible items qualify as de minimis fringe benefits.
Michigan's motor fuel excise tax rose from 31 to 52.4 cents per gallon on January 1, 2026, while the 6% sales tax on fuel disappeared — a swap that costs more below a $3.57 pump price and less above it. Here is the breakeven math, the fleet-level dollar impact, and five recalculations covering cost per mile, surcharges, reimbursements, IFTA filings, and fuel bookkeeping.
Eligible K-12 educators deduct up to $300 of unreimbursed classroom expenses on the 2025 return and $350 for 2026, plus a new itemized layer for spending above the cap — after clearing the 900-hour test and subtracting reimbursements and tax-free funding.
Square raised its free-plan online card rate from 2.9% + 30¢ to 3.3% + 30¢ on January 13, 2026, and paid plans moved to 2.9% + 30¢. Compute the annual cost of the increase, find the new Square Plus break-even near $12,250 per month in online volume, and see when interchange-plus pricing beats a flat rate.
For 2026, gig drivers deduct 72.5 cents per mile through June and 76 cents after, claim up to $25,000 in qualified tips as an above-the-line deduction, and expense vehicles at 100% bonus depreciation — if they log miles and tips contemporaneously and keep books on the right Schedule C lines.
Corporate card and expense platforms in 2026 now auto-match receipts via OCR, enforce spend controls at authorization, and sync to your books — with free tiers funded by interchange and paid plans at $5–$15 per user unlocking advanced approvals and ERP mapping.
How independent couriers and last-mile delivery drivers keep real books on 1099 income — the 1099-NEC and 1099-K reporting thresholds, a 25–30% tax set-aside habit, standard mileage vs. actual expenses, and a cost-per-mile formula that counts the 20–25% of miles driven deadhead to tell profitable routes from money-losers.
GitHub Copilot's 2026 shift to usage-based AI Credits, an 18.6x rise in per-developer token consumption, and $60–$200/month agentic tiers are turning flat AI subscriptions into unpredictable bills. Here is a practical framework for indie developers to cap, track, and reconcile AI coding tool spend.
Small-business fleets of light-duty vehicles typically pay $150–$450 per vehicle per month in 2026 — cargo vans around $189, box trucks $300–$900+ — and new ventures pay 30–50% more than established ones. This guide explains the five factors underwriters actually price (driver MVRs, garaging location, mileage, limits, claims history) and six concrete ways to cut the premium, including telematics discounts of 10–30%, annual-pay savings of 5–10%, and per-vehicle cost tracking.
On June 22, 2026, Walmart quietly cut Marketplace referral fees in 14 categories — steepest in apparel, electronics, and home goods — while Amazon's 2026 FBA costs rose. How sellers can verify their new rates in Seller Center, stack New Seller Savings discounts, and track the margin impact in their books.
Fiserv's July 2026 increase raises interchange-plus markups by 0.05% plus $0.03 per authorization and tiered rates by up to 0.40% — the fourth hike in 18 months for Clover and First Data merchants. Here's how to calculate your effective rate, identify your pricing model, and find the fees hiding on your statement.
