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#month-end-close

Month-end Close

Streamline month-end closing procedures and checklists

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12 min read

The 2026 Employer Meal Deduction Cliff: How to Track Disallowed Cafeteria and Convenience-of-the-Employer Meal Costs

For amounts paid after December 31, 2025, section 274(o) cuts the employer deduction for qualifying employer-operated eating facilities and convenience-of-the-employer meals from 50% to zero — even when the meal stays tax-free to the employee. This guide maps which meal costs land at 0%, 50%, or 100%, and lays out a chart-of-accounts and month-end workflow that keeps the tax adjustments defensible.

Mike Thrift

tax-deductionstax-compliancebookkeeping
11 min read

Reverse Factoring Without the Fog: How to Track Supplier Finance, Payables, and Cash Flow

Reverse factoring lets a supplier collect early from a finance provider while you still pay the full invoice at maturity. FASB ASU 2022-04 requires buyers to disclose key program terms, confirmed obligations outstanding, and an annual rollforward. Here is the data model, monthly reconciliation, and cash-flow analysis that keep those numbers defensible.

Mike Thrift

accounts-payablecash-flowfinancial-reporting
12 min read

The CPA Search Now Takes 73 Days: A Small Business Guide to the Accountant Shortage

Filling a CPA-credentialed role now averages 73 days, 41% longer than non-credentialed roles, while the number of candidates sitting for the CPA exam fell from over 100,000 in 2016 to about 67,000 in 2022. This guide explains what is draining the pipeline, what the shortage costs in fees and delayed closes, and five ways small businesses keep books clean and filings on time without waiting in line for a firm.

Mike Thrift

cpahiringsmall-business
16 min read

When 5% of Your Customers Drive 40% of Your Returns: Serial Returners, Returns Reserves, and Refund Liability

ASC 606 treats a right of return as variable consideration, so an $80,000 sales month with a 9% historical return rate is $72,800 of net revenue, a $7,200 refund liability, and a recoverable-inventory asset — not $80,000 booked as final. This guide shows how to build a category-weighted reserve from 12 months of your own data, flag the 5 to 10% of buyers who generate 30 to 40% of returns, and apply graduated account limits that stay documented and defensible.

Mike Thrift

ecommerceretailrevenue-recognition
14 min read

Food Hall Operator Bookkeeping: Percentage Rent by Vendor, CAM True-Ups, and One POS Across a Dozen Kitchens

Percentage rent by vendor (8–15% of gross sales, booked as ASC 842 variable lease income), CAM pools with annual true-ups, and one POS settlement split across a dozen merchants — the account structure a food hall operator needs, plus the benchmarks (revenue per square foot, bar share, occupancy) that show a hall is working.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingreconciliationpoint-of-sale
11 min read

The 1099 From Amazon Is Not Your Income: A Self-Publisher's Guide to Reconciling KDP, IngramSpark, and Audiobook Royalties

Amazon KDP's 1099-MISC (issued at just $10 in royalties) reports payments on Amazon's calendar — not your income. KDP dashboard earnings, bank deposits, and the 1099 never match because of 60-day payout lags, returns, and Kindle Unlimited fund allocations, and IngramSpark sends no tax form at all. A monthly per-platform, per-title close reconciles all three and documents the differences as timing items before Schedule C.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingtaxreconciliation
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