Cash Ratio Explained: The Strictest Liquidity Test Your Balance Sheet Can Pass
Cash ratio equals cash and equivalents divided by current liabilities; 0.5-1.0 is the healthy zone for most small businesses.
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Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
What Is a Classified Balance Sheet? Current vs. Non-Current Sections, What Each Subtotal Tells a Lender, and How to Build One From Your Trial Balance
A classified balance sheet sorts assets and liabilities into current and non-current sections — the subtotals behind working capital and the current ratio.
Earnings Credit Rate (ECR), Explained: How Your Idle Balances Pay Your Bank Fees
Your bank turns idle checking balances into credits that pay your service fees — size the balance to your fees or the surplus expires monthly.
Failure-to-File vs. Failure-to-Pay: Why Filing Late Costs Ten Times What Paying Late Costs
The IRS failure-to-file penalty runs 5% a month — ten times the failure-to-pay rate. Filing on time when you cannot pay is the cheapest move.
Fractional 1031 Exchanges Through a Statutory Trust, Explained: How Rev. Rul. 2004-86 Lets Landlords Swap Active Management for Passive Ownership
Under IRS Rev. Rul. 2004-86, a DST interest counts as like-kind real estate — roll sale proceeds into passive property and defer gain under Section 1031.
Gross vs. Modified Gross vs. Triple Net Leases: What Each Quote Really Costs You
A $38 NNN quote can cost more than a $45 gross one once taxes, insurance, and CAM land on you — compare total occupancy cost, not headline rent.
How to Account for Patent Costs: What You Capitalize, How Amortization Works, and When to Write Off a Dead Patent
Patent filing and legal fees are capitalized, not expensed — then amortized over the shorter of 20 years or useful life under Section 167.
Money Market Funds vs. Money Market Accounts: FDIC vs. SIPC, Breaking the Buck, and Where Your Business Should Park Idle Cash
A money market account is FDIC-insured bank cash; a money market fund is an uninsured investment at a $1 share price — keep operating reserves in the account.
Opportunity Cost, Explained: The Hidden Price Tag on Every Business Decision
Opportunity cost is the value of your next-best forgone alternative — price DIY bookkeeping against a $400 hire before your hours subsidize it.
QSub Elections, Explained: How an S Corporation Puts a Subsidiary on Form 8869
IRS Form 8869 folds a wholly owned subsidiary into its S corporation parent return — one federal filing, two legal entities, a five-year bar if it breaks.
Sublease Accounting Under ASC 842: How to Split One Lease Into Two Without Breaking Either
Your head-lease liability stays while the sublease adds a second set of books — classify by the underlying asset, present gross, test for impairment.
1099 Filing Software Compared: Track1099 (Avalara) vs. Tax1099 vs. the Free IRS IRIS Portal
Tax1099 and Avalara start near $3 per form with volume tiers, while IRS IRIS e-files 1099s free — compare price, state filing, and W-9 tools.