2027 Tax Brackets Projected 3.2% Higher: Withholding, Estimates, and Year-End Moves
Federal 2027 tax brackets and standard deduction are projected 3.2% higher ($33,200 joint). Here's how to adjust W-4 withholding and estimates now.
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Inflation
Account for inflation in financial planning and analysis
Cash Flow Overtook Inflation as Small Business Owners' Top Worry in Q1 2026: What It Means for Your Runway
In Q1 2026, 31% of small business owners named cash flow their top worry, passing inflation. With a 27-day median buffer, track runway in days.
Record Beef Prices in 2026: How Restaurants and Butcher Shops Can Reprice Without Losing Customers
Ground beef hit about $6.75 a pound and steak $12.80 in May 2026, with the U.S. cattle herd at a 75-year low of 86.2 million head and relief unlikely before 2028. This guide shows restaurants and butcher shops how to recost every beef item, spread increases across the menu, move down the carcass, and track item-level margin after the change.
Fed Survey: 80% of Small Businesses Are Passing Tariff Costs to Customers — and Nearly Half Aren't Done Raising Prices
The Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey finds 80% of tariff-paying small firms raised prices, 60% absorbed costs into margins, and 44-47% plan further increases — a "trickle up" pattern that means input costs haven't finished rising. Here's how to read the data and prepare your pricing and books.
June 2026 Inflation Report: Why a Cooler CPI Doesn't Mean Lower Supplier Costs
June 2026 CPI fell 0.4% — the largest monthly drop since April 2020 — cutting annual inflation to 3.5%, but core prices were flat and producer inflation still runs 5.5%. What the CPI/PPI gap means for small-business supplier costs, tariff pass-through, and fall contract negotiations.
NFIB Optimism Hits 97.4 as Inflation Reclaims the Top Worry: A Small-Business Pricing Guide for Mid-2026
The June 2026 NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose 2.1 points to 97.4 — a four-month high — while 21% of owners named inflation their top problem and 38% raised prices, the most since January 2023. Here's how to turn those numbers into a data-driven pricing decision.
The Rule of 72: The Mental-Math Shortcut Every Business Owner Should Use Before Investing Retained Earnings
Divide 72 by an annual rate and you get the approximate years for money to double: $50,000 at 9% doubles in 8 years, while a 24% credit card balance doubles what you owe in 3. How business owners can use the Rule of 72 to compare investments, price debt, and gauge inflation's drag on idle cash.
Connecticut's Shrinkflation Disclosure Law (HB 6856): What Small Food Businesses Need to Know
Connecticut's HB 6856 would be the first US state law to regulate shrinkflation, requiring food manufacturers to post a clear notice for 12 months whenever they shrink a product without cutting its price — enforced as an unfair trade practice by the state Attorney General. Here's who the bill covers, the slack-fill litigation risk that already exists, and how to keep COGS and margin records accurate through a package resize.
Commercial Lease Renewal in 2026: Retail Rent Caps vs. Office Tenant Leverage
National retail vacancy sits under 6% while office vacancy runs near 19-20% in 2026, so retail tenants should negotiate a CPI rent-escalation cap of 3-5% while office tenants can push for $75-$150 per square foot in tenant improvement allowances and multiple months of free rent.
Leather Goods Maker Bookkeeping: Why Your Real Material Cost Isn't What You Paid Per Hide
A 50-square-foot hide costing $450 landed with a 64% yield rate has a real material cost of $14.06 per usable square foot, not the $9.00 the invoice implies — the gap driving margin surprises as 2026 tariffs and a shrinking U.S. cattle herd push leather prices up roughly 22%.
Brazil's MEI Revenue Ceiling: The Frozen R$81,000 Cap and the 2026 Push to Raise It
Brazil's MEI revenue cap of R$81,000 a year has been frozen since 2018. A bill sent to Congress in June 2026 would raise it to R$110,000 in 2027 and R$140,000 in 2028, and let microentrepreneurs hire two employees instead of one — a case study in how frozen tax thresholds quietly penalize small business growth.
Protecting Margins When Costs Rise: A Repricing Playbook
A repricing formula (New Price = New Cost ÷ (1 − target margin)) and cost-control tactics that protect small-business profit margins during 2026 tariff and inflation-driven cost increases.