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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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Charter Fishing Boat Bookkeeping: Per-Trip Costing, Crew Pay, and Surviving the Off-Season

A charter fishing operation grossing $126,000 a year can still not know what a single trip costs to run. This guide covers per-trip costing for fuel, bait, and mate pay ($100–$150 day rates plus 15–20% tips), 1099 vs. W-2 crew classification, vessel depreciation with Section 179's more-than-50% business-use test, why booking deposits are liabilities until the trip runs, off-season cash reserves, and the IRS's three-of-five-years profit test for hobby-loss scrutiny.

mike

bookkeepingsmall-businessjob-costing

Colorado HB26-1223: How Restaurants Keep Their Sales Tax in July, August, November, and December

Colorado's HB26-1223, signed June 4, 2026, lets qualifying food and drink retailers deduct up to $14,000 of monthly net taxable sales from state sales tax in July, August, November, and December of 2027 and 2028 — worth up to about $3,248 — plus a prepared-food utility exemption or 0.5% credit starting July 1, 2026. Here's who qualifies and how to record it.

mike

restauranttax-compliancetax-deductions

Commingling Personal and Business Funds: How One Bad Habit Kills Deductions, Invites Audits, and Pierces Your LLC Shield

Mixing personal and business money in one account can void your LLC's liability shield, get legitimate deductions disallowed for lack of substantiation under IRC Section 162, and turn a routine audit into a full transaction pull. Here's what commingling looks like, why courts and the IRS punish it, and a five-step cleanup plan.

mike

small-businessllcliability-protection

DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-2: When a "Discretionary" Bonus Isn't — and What It Does to Overtime Pay

DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-2 (January 5, 2026) holds that a formula-driven safety and attendance bonus of up to $9.50/hour is nondiscretionary and must be included in the FLSA regular rate — turning a $12/hour base into a $21.50 regular rate and adding $107.50 of overtime pay in DOL's own 50-hour example. Here is the three-part test, which common bonus types fail it, and how to fix the payroll math.

mike

payrollcompliancesmall-business

Environmental Remediation Contractor Bookkeeping: Job Costing When a State Cleanup Fund Pays the Bill

How environmental remediation contractors should structure job costing when a state UST cleanup fund — not the property owner — is the real payer. Covers the five remediation phases as cost codes, ASC 606 collectibility with fund caps and deductibles, tracking 6-to-8-week reimbursement aging separately from ordinary AR, and the documentation that survives a fund audit.

mike

bookkeepingsmall-businessconstruction

FASB ASU 2025-12: The APIC-Only Method for Retiring Shares in a Co-Founder Buyout

FASB's ASU 2025-12 (Issue 10) codifies a third method for retiring repurchased shares — charging the full excess over par value to additional paid-in capital, as long as APIC stays non-negative. Here is how the APIC-only, retained-earnings-only, and allocation methods change the balance-sheet impact of a co-founder buyout, and why the choice matters for loan covenants and dividend capacity before the December 15, 2026 effective date.

mike

accountingequityfinancial-reporting

The Four-Day Workweek's Biggest Trial Yet Is In. Here's What It Means for Your Payroll

A Nature Human Behaviour trial of 2,896 employees at 141 companies found the four-day workweek cut burnout, held productivity steady, and convinced 90% of firms to keep it. Here's how small businesses handle the payroll side: the 100-80-100 model vs. compressed 4/10 schedules, FLSA overtime rules, California's daily-overtime election process, and the metrics to track in a pilot.

mike

payrollsmall-businessworkforce-management
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