#small-business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
The FDA's redefined "healthy" claim becomes mandatory on February 25, 2028, replacing 1990s fat limits with added-sugar, sodium, and saturated-fat thresholds — with no small-business extension. Here's what qualifies now, what enforcement looks like, and how to budget reformulation, lab testing, and relabeling across 2026–2027.
The FDA's updated definition of 'healthy' becomes mandatory on February 25, 2028: products must contribute a meaningful amount from a food group and stay under 10% DV saturated fat, 15% DV sodium, and 10% DV added sugars per serving. Here's who gains eligibility, who loses it, what compliance costs (~$20 per UPC for label updates, ~$1M per reformulated formula), and a practical timeline for small food businesses.
A federal court held a non-owner corporate officer personally liable for $1,880,987.96 of a company's tax debt under 31 U.S.C. § 3713, the Federal Priority Statute, because he helped pay other creditors while the insolvent company owed the IRS. Here is how the doctrine works, who is exposed, and a practical checklist for winding down an insolvent business.
The fixed asset turnover ratio — net sales divided by average net fixed assets — measures revenue generated per dollar of PP&E. Capital-intensive businesses typically run 1–3, asset-light ones 5+, and the trend matters more than the level. Here's how to calculate it, benchmark it, and avoid the bookkeeping errors that distort it.
On June 3, 2026, the Third Circuit ruled in Secretary of Labor v. Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services that the FLSA provides no federal remedy for "overtime gap time" — hours worked but paid at neither straight time nor the overtime premium — aligning with the Second Circuit and deepening a split with the Fourth. Here's what gap time is, why state wage laws still create exposure, and five payroll checks every small employer with hourly staff should run.
Since June 2025, failing the FMCSA English proficiency requirement (49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2)) places a commercial driver out of service — over 12,000 violations in six months, made mandatory by federal law in February 2026. Here is how the two-step roadside test works, what an OOS order costs a small fleet, and how to document ELP compliance in the driver qualification file.
Food trucks average about $346,000 in annual revenue but net only 6-9% margins. This guide covers the three numbers that decide profitability: keeping food cost between 28% and 35%, breaking commissary invoices ($300-$1,500/month) into trackable sub-accounts, and reconciling the cash drawer after every service.
Form 8697 look-back interest settles the gap between estimated and actual results on long-term contracts reported under the percentage-of-completion method — the IRS recomputes prior-year income with final figures and charges or refunds interest only, without reopening those returns. This guide covers who must file under IRC Section 460, the three-step calculation, the separate-filing rule for interest refunds, and what the Excel PCM calculator the IRS released on May 29, 2026 does and doesn't do.
FSIS is using $20 million in FY2026 funds to cut overtime and holiday inspection fees 30% for small and 75% for very small meat, poultry, and egg establishments, retroactive to October 5, 2025. Here's how to file Form 5200-16 and why the refund should be booked as an expense credit, not revenue.
On July 13, 2026, the FTC and DOJ obtained a record $12 million civil penalty from Edwards Lifesciences and Genesis MedTech for structuring a $115 million acquisition with a $25 million non-voting side investment to stay under the Hart-Scott-Rodino filing threshold. This guide explains the 2026 HSR thresholds — $133.9 million size-of-transaction and the size-of-person test — and why roll-ups, PE-backed platforms, and deals structured to "just miss" the line carry real filing risk.
In September 2025 the FTC fined Temu's parent Whaleco $2 million in the first-ever INFORM Consumers Act enforcement action. The law classifies anyone with 200 sales and $5,000 in revenue on a platform as a high-volume third-party seller — here's what verification, annual recertification, and the $20,000 disclosure trigger mean for Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy sellers.
GAO's June 2026 follow-up (GAO-26-108956) finds SBA has implemented only 3 of 17 priority recommendations, leaving 14 open — including fraud-control gaps that produced ~2 million unusable COVID-EIDL fraud referrals and a Unified Certification Platform lacking basic risk and cybersecurity plans. Here's what that means for loan and certification applicants, and why airtight records are your best defense.
