#recordkeeping
Recordkeeping
Business recordkeeping requirements, document retention periods, and audit-ready documentation practices
DOL Form LM-2 Long Form: What the 2026 Union Financial Reporting Overhaul Means for Your Books
The DOL's May 2026 final rule creates a Form LM-2 Long Form for unions with $40 million or more in annual receipts, raises LM-2/LM-3/LM-4 filing thresholds to $350,000 and $25,000, and adds a $5,000 foreign-transaction disclosure schedule — effective for fiscal years beginning on or after July 1, 2026. Here's what changes for union bookkeeping.
Stunt Performer and Freelance Entertainer Tax Deductions: Why W-2 vs. 1099 Decides Everything
W-2 performers permanently lost the deduction for unreimbursed job expenses, and the Qualified Performing Artist deduction's $16,000 AGI cap — frozen since 1986 — excludes most working artists. Self-employed stunt performers and entertainers paid on a 1099 can still deduct 100% of training, safety gear, demo reels, agent commissions, union dues, and audition mileage on Schedule C.
Ryczałt vs. Skala Podatkowa: How Poland's Sole Proprietors Should Pick the Right Tax Regime in 2026
Poland's sole proprietors must pick between ryczałt (2–17% on revenue), skala podatkowa (12%/32% on income), and podatek liniowy (flat 19%) by February 20, 2026. This guide compares the 2026 rules — including the health contribution jump to a 100% minimum-wage assessment base — and shows which regime fits low-expense freelancers versus high-cost contractors.
Colorado Rewrote Its AI Hiring Law: What Employers Must Do Before January 1, 2027
Colorado repealed SB 24-205 and replaced it with SB 26-189, which regulates automated decision-making technology (ADMT) in hiring starting January 1, 2027. Employers over 40 employees must give pre-use notice, provide a 30-day adverse-action explanation with human review, and retain records for three years — enforced only by the Attorney General, with penalties up to $20,000 per violation.
Pay Transparency Laws Reach 20 Jurisdictions in 2026: A Remote Hiring Compliance Guide
Virginia's pay transparency law took effect July 1, 2026, and Maine's LD 54 follows on July 29, bringing active U.S. pay transparency jurisdictions to 20. Because the rules attach to where a remote candidate could work — not where your company is headquartered — a remote posting without a good-faith salary range can violate laws in states where you have no office. Here's what changed, why remote postings trigger multi-state obligations, and a practical compliance checklist.
Surveillance Pricing Bans in 2026: What Maryland, Connecticut, and New York's New Laws Mean for Your Business
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.
Workers' Comp Premium Audits: Which Payroll Records Prevent a Surprise Bill?
A workers' comp premium audit reconciles your estimated payroll against actual payroll, job classification codes, and subcontractor payments. Missing a subcontractor's certificate of insurance can add the entire contract amount to your auditable payroll — plus a 25–50% non-compliance surcharge. Here are the records to keep monthly, and the 30–60 day dispute window to know.
Bookkeeping for Antiquarian Booksellers: Why Rare Books Need Specific-Identification Inventory
Average-cost and FIFO inventory methods misstate margins when every item is unique. How antiquarian booksellers use specific-identification inventory — per-copy cost basis, proportional lot allocation, condition-driven write-downs, and provenance records — to keep accurate books on one-of-a-kind stock.
The New Customs Enforcement Executive Order: What Every Importer of Record Needs to Do Before the Rules Change
Executive Order 14411, signed June 3, 2026, requires customs bonds or domestic assets for every importer of record, bars foreign IORs from informal entries and continuous bonds, mandates beneficial-ownership disclosures, and sets a 50% minimum penalty floor — with deadlines at 45, 90, and 180 days. Here's what small importers should do before the rules take effect.
The Long-Term Part-Time Employee Rule: Why Your 401(k) Eligibility Tracking Needs an Update Right Now
Under SECURE 2.0, any employee who works 500+ hours in two consecutive 12-month periods and is 21 or older must be allowed to defer into your 401(k) — even if your plan requires 1,000 hours. Here's what the IRS's final LTPT regulations require, who qualifies, and the rolling two-year hours-tracking system small businesses need to avoid missed-deferral corrections.
AI-Generated Marketing Content and Copyright Risk: What Small Businesses Owe After the 2026 Rulings
Anthropic's $1.5 billion settlement and Thomson Reuters' fair-use win over Ross Intelligence shifted AI copyright liability onto the businesses publishing AI content. Statutory damages can reach $150,000 per work — here are four steps small businesses can take, from prompt hygiene to vendor indemnification and dated content logs.
California's SB 642 Just Redefined "Wages": What the 2026 Pay Equity Law Means for Your Payroll Records
Effective January 1, 2026, California's SB 642 expands the Equal Pay Act's definition of wages to cover bonuses, stock options, allowances, hotel accommodations, and travel reimbursements — and lets each paycheck restart the three-year claim clock, with back pay recoverable up to six years. Here is what changed and a practical compliance checklist for small employers.