#sales-tax

Sales Tax

Sales tax compliance, nexus rules, filing requirements, and tax automation for businesses

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May 19, 202611 min read

Pet Boarding, Daycare, and Grooming Bookkeeping: Run-Night Revenue, Add-On Allocation, and Gingr/PetExec Reconciliation

Pet boarding, daycare, and grooming operators run three businesses under one roof — services earned over time, retail earned at sale, and pass-throughs that are never revenue. This guide builds a chart of accounts that separates service lines, recognizes boarding revenue per run-night through a deferred-revenue liability, allocates add-ons to the service that produced them, and reconciles Gingr or PetExec daily summaries to the bank deposit by isolating processor fees, tips payable, deposits, and refunds.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesschart-of-accounts

May 19, 202612 min read

Streamlined Sales Tax in 2026: One Free Portal, 24 States, and Free CSP Services for Multistate Sellers

A 2026 field guide to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project — the 24 member states, how the free SSTRS portal works, who qualifies as a CSP-compensated seller for free Avalara, TaxCloud, Sovos, or AccurateTax service, and when SST is the wrong choice for multistate online and SaaS sellers.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxtax-compliancemulti-state-tax

May 18, 202611 min read

Bookkeeping for Interior Designers: Retainers, Markup, and the Hidden Math That Keeps Your P&L Honest

Interior design firms run four revenue streams through one chart of accounts and end up paying tax on phantom profits. Treat retainers as a liability, run products through revenue and COGS together, book vendor cost as COGS (never list price), and reconcile every PO before close.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriesrevenue-recognition

May 18, 202613 min read

Vending Machine Route Bookkeeping: Reconciling Cash, Tracking COGS, and Knowing the True Profit of Every Location

How to keep books for a vending route at the machine level — reconciling DEX cash counters against deposits, tracking COGS and site commissions per location, and computing the contribution margin that tells you which machines to keep, optimize, or pull.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessreconciliation

May 17, 202613 min read

Recording Sales Tax You Collect: A Liability, Not Revenue

Sales tax you collect belongs to the state, not your revenue line. Here are the journal entries, the month-end reconciliation routine, and the multi-state economic nexus rules that keep your books audit-ready.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxtax-compliancejournal-entries

May 17, 202610 min read

Sales Returns, Allowances, and Contra-Revenue Accounting: How to Record Refunds Without Inflating Your Gross Margin

A walkthrough of how to record sales returns, allowances, and discounts as contra-revenue accounts under ASC 606, including the refund liability journal entries, sales tax reversal, and the gross-margin effects most small businesses miss.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionjournal-entriese-commerce

May 16, 202611 min read

Why Your Website's Chat Box Could Trigger State Income Tax in 20 States: PL 86-272 in the Internet Economy

Public Law 86-272 once shielded out-of-state sellers from state income tax, but the MTC's 2021 revised statement now treats chat widgets, post-sale support, and analytics cookies as immunity-breaking activities — and California, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, and Minnesota have signed on.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancemulti-state-tax

May 15, 202613 min read

Sales Tax Economic Nexus After Wayfair: A Compliance Guide for Online Sellers

A 2026 guide to U.S. sales tax economic nexus — how the $100,000 threshold works after Wayfair, which states still count transactions, how marketplace facilitator laws affect your nexus math, and what to do when you should have registered months ago.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxnexustax-compliance

May 14, 202614 min read

Sales Tax on SaaS, Streaming, and Digital Goods in 2026: A State-by-State Compliance Survival Guide for Software Vendors

By 2026, sales tax on SaaS and digital goods splits into three legal routes—tangible property, taxable service, or nontaxable intangible—plus a true-object test that turns on customer intent. This guide covers the 2026 Illinois, Maine, and D.C. changes, economic nexus thresholds, and when a voluntary disclosure agreement beats direct registration.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxsaasnexus

May 11, 202611 min read

Drop Shipping Sales Tax in 2026: Three-Party Transactions, Resale Certificates, and Marketplace Facilitators

Drop shipping treats one shipment as two sales for tax purposes, and depending on nexus, resale certificate rules, and marketplace facilitator laws, an ecommerce operator can owe tax in states they never set foot in. A 2026 field guide to who actually collects, the ten strict resale states, and the nexus thresholds — including transaction-trigger drops — that decide your exposure.

Mike Thrift

ecommercesales-taxtax-compliance

May 10, 202610 min read

Marketplace Facilitator Laws in 2026: Why Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify Sellers Still Owe Sales Tax Filings

Marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify collect sales tax for you, but registration, zero returns, and economic nexus tracking are still your responsibility. A 2026 compliance routine for multi-channel sellers, with state thresholds and the six mistakes that trigger penalties.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxnexuse-commerce

May 7, 202610 min read

Small Business Taxes 2026: A Complete Obligations Guide for New Business Owners

A 2026 walkthrough of every small business tax obligation—federal income, self-employment, payroll, sales, and excise—with the full filing calendar, quarterly estimated tax safe harbors, OBBBA-era changes (permanent QBI, $1.21M Section 179, restored 100% bonus depreciation), and the recordkeeping habits that prevent penalties.

Mike Thrift

small-businesstaxtax-compliance

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