#pricing
Pricing plans, comparisons, and value propositions
Starting July 1, 2026, Connecticut's SB 3 requires the first price a business advertises to include every mandatory fee except taxes and government charges. Here is how small businesses rewire pricing displays, checkout flows, and bookkeeping to comply.
A side-by-side comparison of Xero and QuickBooks Online pricing, user limits, invoicing caps, inventory, payroll, and reporting after Intuit's August 2026 QuickBooks Online price increase, with a decision framework and migration cost checklist for small businesses.
QuickBooks Online plans rose 13–70% for 2026 — Plus went from $90 to $110–$115/mo and Payroll added another ~20%. Here is the plan-by-plan cost, how to check your renewal date, and a four-phase migration plan to move your books without losing history.
Wave Accounting moved automatic bank feeds, collaborator access, and receipt scanning behind its $16-19/month Pro tier on June 1, 2026, leaving legacy free-plan (Starter) users to enter transactions manually or pay to keep those features.
The diameter × height × multiplier formula that most bowl turners use to price work ignores cracked blanks, drying time, and overhead — accounting them correctly as a separate spoilage loss (not folded into COGS) reveals whether a shop's pricing actually covers its real costs.
Gutter cleaners charge $0.75–$2.50 per linear foot, but healthy 35–50% residential margins depend on height-tier pricing, route-level job costing, and an off-season cash reserve. A practical bookkeeping guide covering second-story multipliers, revenue per route-hour, insurance costs, and Section 179 equipment deductions.
Full-service horse board runs $650–$1,600 a month nationally, yet a 30-horse barn's real costs can near $60,000 monthly — here's how to build a per-horse chart of accounts, handle vet and farrier pass-throughs, recognize board revenue correctly, and stay clear of the IRS hobby-loss rule.
Professional organizers juggle hourly billing ($75–$150/hr), flat packages, and monthly retainers ($425–$475) — and each needs different bookkeeping. How to use deferred revenue for deposits and retainers, track the 2026 IRS mileage rates (72.5¢ then 76¢/mile), and build a chart of accounts that separates income by pricing model.
In 2026, Maryland, Connecticut, and New York enacted the first U.S. laws restricting surveillance pricing — algorithms that use personal data to charge individual customers different prices. Here's what each law bans, the loyalty-program and cost-based carve-outs, and a compliance checklist for small businesses using dynamic pricing tools.
Under ASC 606, usage-based revenue is recognized as customers consume the service — not when they pay. How the stand-ready obligation, variable consideration, and the right-to-invoice practical expedient apply to metered API and SaaS pricing, with journal entries for prepaid credits, overages, and unbilled receivables.
Intuit raised QuickBooks Online prices 17–25% in 2026 — Simple Start to $35/mo, Plus to $110/mo, Advanced to $250/mo — with payroll up ~20% and ACH fees doubled. Here's the full cost breakdown and a framework for deciding whether to stay or switch.
With gold near $4,200/oz in mid-2026, jewelry makers who cost pieces at historical purchase price lose margin on every sale. Recipe-based COGS — a fixed bill of materials, labor, and overhead per design, repriced at current metal replacement cost — plus channel-specific markups (2x direct, 3–4x Etsy, wholesale at 25% of retail) keeps pricing and books accurate.
