#liability
Track and manage business liabilities and financial obligations
Ten US states run container-deposit programs with deposits from 5 to 25 cents, and retailers must ring them as a separate line, take back empties of brands they sell, and book them as a liability rather than revenue — while handling fees of roughly 1 to 5 cents per container are the only part that is income.
An asset purchase does not automatically leave the seller's unpaid state taxes behind. State bulk sale statutes make the buyer liable unless notice is filed before payment or possession — New York requires Form AU-196.10 by registered mail 10 days ahead, California requires a CDTFA clearance certificate rather than escrow alone, and Illinois and Pennsylvania extend successor liability to income taxes. Here are the clearance rules, the non-tax liabilities that ride along, and a seven-step checklist to run before closing.
Since July 1, 2026, Washington homeowners can collect up to $25,000 of an unpaid contractor judgment from the state's Homeowner Recovery Program, after which L&I can pursue the contractor for reimbursement with interest on payment plans of up to 36 months. This guide explains the eligibility rules, the post-2024 bond levels of $30,000 general and $15,000 specialty, and how a residential contractor should log disputes, accrue probable losses under ASC 450, fund a separate cash reserve, and amortize a state repayment plan in a plain-text ledger.
In a mailbox store or CMRA, record prepaid mailbox rent as deferred revenue and customer postage as a liability until it is spent, reconcile the customer-balance subledger to the general ledger monthly, and set retention rules from USPS and IRS requirements.
Under the FTC's revised Endorsement Guides and the 2024 fake-reviews rule, a small business is liable when its influencers fail to disclose paid or gifted posts, with civil penalties reaching about $53,088 per violation. How to disclose correctly and keep the campaign bookkeeping clean.
Virginia HB 238 makes general contractors automatically jointly and severally liable for wages owed to a subcontractor's employees on construction contracts entered on or after July 1, 2026 — regardless of knowledge, and even when sworn payroll certifications say wages were paid. Here is what changed and how to reduce the exposure with tighter contracts, verified payroll, and clean job-cost accounting.
How to accrue unused PTO as a liability month by month under ASC 710, calculate it with payroll taxes, book the journal entries, and apply the three state-law buckets that decide whether you must cash out vacation at separation.
A craft brewery accounting guide covering the 2026 federal beer excise tax rates ($3.50/$16/$18 per barrel under CBMA), how to book keg deposits as a liability instead of revenue, and a channel-level chart of accounts that separates taproom, self-distribution, and wholesale margins.
Online sellers, dropshippers, and Amazon FBA merchants sit inside the strict-liability distribution chain even when they never touch the goods. This guide covers Amazon's $1 million insurance requirement, the gaps standard policies leave — recalls, fines, claims-made traps — and the bookkeeping records that make an eighteen-month-old claim survivable.
ATV and UTV rental operators typically earn 70-80% of annual revenue in a four-to-five-month peak season, so a 15-20% off-season reserve, per-unit fleet depreciation, monthly-accrued insurance, and a waiver trail tied to rental number and unit ID are the bookkeeping controls that keep the business solvent and defensible.
Effective April 1, 2026, California's SB 22 raises the mandatory gift card cash-out threshold from $10 to $15 — the highest in the U.S. — and extends it to electronic and app-based cards. With nearly 200 lawsuits filed under the statute since 2008, here's the compliance checklist and the gift card liability bookkeeping retailers need before plaintiffs' investigators come testing.
Commercial umbrella insurance adds extra liability coverage above general liability, commercial auto, and employer's liability limits — typically $400–$7,000+ per year per $1 million layer. With 135 nuclear verdicts totaling $31.3 billion in 2024 and carriers cutting available limits, here's how small businesses should size and price umbrella coverage in 2026.
