#finance
Essential finance concepts and practical insights for modern accounting
A distribution waterfall pays LPs first — capital, then an 8% preferred return — before the GP catch-up and 80/20 split; deal-by-deal funds add clawback risk.
A traditional IPO raises $100M+ but costs 5-7% in fees; direct listings and reverse mergers are faster and cheaper but raise no capital.
A call is the right to buy and a put the right to sell — 100 shares per contract. Delta tracks the stock, theta drains time, vega prices volatility.
Enterprise value adds debt and subtracts cash from market cap, giving the theoretical takeover price buyers actually negotiate from.
Interval funds repurchase 5–25% of shares quarterly at NAV, but oversubscribed offers prorate — so check the policy, fees, and history first.
ADRs let you own foreign shares in dollars, but dividends arrive net of foreign withholding and depositary fees — and currency moves still hit the price.
Cyprus raised its 2026 tax-free threshold to EUR 22,000 with new 20–35% bands. What the self-employed owe, plus 16.6% social insurance and 4% GHS.
Purchase-based cash back, points, and miles are non-taxable rebates that reduce your deductible expense — but referral bonuses, no-purchase sign-up bonuses, and bank account bonuses are taxable income reported on 1099-MISC, now only when $2,000 or more from one payer in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Noncash gifts over $500 require Form 8283 and over $5,000 require a qualified appraisal — and every single gift of $250 or more needs a contemporaneous acknowledgment letter before the return is filed.
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.
Business credit is not one score but three bureaus plus FICO SBSS. Learn how PAYDEX, Intelliscore Plus, and Equifax Risk scores work, why the SBA sunset the mandatory SBSS for 7(a) small loans on March 1, 2026, and how to build all three profiles before you apply.
The FBI attributes over $3 billion in losses to business email compromise. Learn how BEC wire fraud works — vendor impersonation, CEO fraud, payroll diversion — and the verification controls that stop payments before they leave.
