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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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July 20, 2026

Spec Home Builder Bookkeeping: WIP Schedules, Percentage of Completion, and Why Profitable Builders Run Out of Cash

A monthly work-in-progress (WIP) schedule turns four numbers per job — contract price, estimated cost, costs to date, and billings to date — into an early warning for overbilling and underbilling, the cash-flow gaps that sink profitable builders. Spec builders also differ from contract builders on revenue recognition, since homes held as inventory typically use the completed contract method under the IRC Section 460 home construction exemption.

mike

constructionjob-costingbookkeeping

July 20, 2026

Storage Unit Auction Reselling: How to Book a Lot You've Never Seen Inside

How storage unit auction resellers allocate one lump-sum bid across an entire unit of unknown items — dividing by item count or by relative fair market value — plus the cash-method small-business inventory election, a lot-based chart of accounts, hobby-vs-business rules, and sales tax registration.

mike

bookkeepinginventorycost-of-goods-sold

July 20, 2026

Storage Unit Auction Reselling Bookkeeping: How to Price a Lot You've Never Opened

How to keep books for storage-unit auction flips — allocate one winning bid across dozens of items with the relative fair value method, deduct COGS only when items sell, use the Section 471(c) small-business exception, and report income even below the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold.

mike

bookkeepingside-hustleinventory

July 20, 2026

Stripe and Advent's $53.4 Billion Bid for PayPal: What It Means for Your Merchant Fees

Stripe and Advent International offered $60.50 a share — about $53.4 billion — to buy PayPal, a deal that would merge processors handling $3.7 trillion in annual volume. History shows consolidation like Global Payments-Worldpay raised merchant costs through padded fees, so here are four concrete steps to protect your processing costs now.

mike

paymentsfintechmergers-and-acquisitions

July 20, 2026

Tailoring and Alterations Shop Bookkeeping: Separating Fabric COGS From Labor, Depreciating Equipment, and Knowing When You Need a Seller's Permit

Alteration labor on a new garment is often taxable while the same work on a used one is exempt — one of several rules that make tailoring shop bookkeeping tricky. How to split fabric COGS from labor revenue, depreciate sewing equipment via Section 179 or MACRS, and know when selling a single zipper triggers a seller's permit.

mike

bookkeepingsmall-businesssales-tax

July 20, 2026

The IRS Doesn't Have to Prove You Lied — It Just Has to Prove Your Receipts Don't Exist

In Goodwill-Oikerhe v. Commissioner, a tax preparer lost every disputed deduction — dependents, property tax, vehicle expenses, S-corp flow-throughs — and drew a 75% civil fraud penalty under Section 6663, largely because no records existed. Why the Cohan rule couldn't rescue him, and what contemporaneous bookkeeping must capture to survive an audit.

mike

taxaudittax-deductions

July 20, 2026

USDA's 2026 Farm Payment Rule: Entity-Level AGI Testing Ends for LLC and S-Corp Farms

USDA's final rule effective June 2, 2026 ends entity-level AGI testing for LLCs, S corporations, partnerships, and joint ventures — AGI is now tested per owner against the $900,000 limit, payment limits stack by actively engaged member, and paid labor counts toward eligibility. Entity certifications are due to FSA by September 15, 2026.

mike

llcs-corppartnerships

July 20, 2026

USPS's Second 2026 Rate Hike: What the Temporary 8% Surcharge Means for Small Shippers

On April 26, 2026, USPS layered a temporary 8% surcharge on Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select — on top of January's general rate increase — scheduled through January 17, 2027. Why small shippers absorb more of the hit than enterprise accounts, why the sunset date deserves skepticism, and four ways to limit the damage.

mike

small-businesse-commerceexpense-management

July 20, 2026

USTR's Forced-Labor Section 301 Tariffs: What 10–12.5% Duties on 60 Economies Mean for Small Importers

In June 2026, USTR concluded 60 simultaneous Section 301 investigations and proposed additional tariffs of 10% (economies with an unenforced forced-labor import ban, including Canada, Mexico, and the EU) or 12.5% (the 54 economies with no ban, including China, India, and Vietnam) — duties that stack on top of existing Section 232, IEEPA, and China 301 rates. Here is who is on each list, how the surcharge compounds landed cost, and five steps small importers should take before the final rate publishes.

mike

tariffscustomssmall-business

July 20, 2026

Vending Machine Route Bookkeeping: Why Your Total Revenue Number Is Lying to You

Route-wide revenue totals hide losing machines. How vending operators track profit per machine: 5–25% location commissions on gross vs. net, cashless fees that reach 8–10% on sub-$2.25 transactions, and monthly per-machine shrinkage reconciliation.

mike

bookkeepingsmall-businesscost-of-goods-sold

July 20, 2026

Vermont Just Tripled Its R&D Tax Credit: What Act 164 Means for Small Manufacturers

Vermont's Act 164, signed June 18, 2026, raises the state R&D tax credit from 27% to 75% of the federal Section 41 credit starting in tax year 2027 and lifts the statewide cap to $3.5 million. A $50,000 federal credit now yields $37,500 in Vermont instead of $13,500 — here's how small manufacturers can prepare their Form BA-404 documentation.

mike

taxtax-creditstax-planning

July 20, 2026

Vermont's H.211 Data Broker Law: Is Your Small Business a 'Data Broker' Now?

Vermont's H.211 (Act 138), signed June 16, 2026, raises the data broker registration fee from $100 to $900, adds a $20,000 surety bond, and imposes penalties up to $200/day for failing to register by January 1, 2027. Its narrower "direct relationship" test can classify loyalty programs, payment facilitators, SaaS platforms, and affiliate marketers as data brokers.

mike

small-businesscomplianceprivacy

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