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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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Interest Coverage Ratio: What Your Loan Covenant Measures and How to Cure a Breach Before It Triggers Default

The interest coverage ratio (EBIT ÷ interest expense) is the loan covenant small businesses trip most often, with minimums typically set between 2.5x and 4.5x and tested quarterly on trailing twelve months. This guide explains how lenders define EBITDA and interest expense, what a breach triggers (default rate, frozen draws, cross-defaults), and the cure sequence in cost order — early covenant reset, waiver, amendment, equity cure, forbearance — plus the bookkeeping that keeps your ratio visible before the bank sees it.

mike

financial-ratiosbusiness-loansdebt-management

Oklahoma's Child Care Subsidy Cutoff Drops to 55% of Median Income on July 1: A Budget Playbook for Daycare Owners Facing Enrollment Loss

Oklahoma's child care subsidy income ceiling falls from 85% to 55% of state median income on July 1, 2026, cutting the family-of-four cutoff from about $79,846 to about $51,665, months after the $5-per-day provider add-on ended on April 6. This guide shows daycare owners how to segment their roster by subsidy exposure, model private-pay conversion versus reduced hours versus attrition, and rebuild staffing, pricing, and cash reserves before the renewal-by-renewal enrollment slope arrives.

mike

childcaresmall-businessbudgeting

When Your Payroll Provider Fails to Deposit Your Taxes: Why the IRS Still Comes After You

If a payroll company withdraws your tax money and never deposits it, the employer still owes the full tax plus penalties. A payroll service provider or reporting agent assumes no liability, a Section 3504 agent shares it, and only an IRS-certified CPEO is solely liable for its work-site employees. This guide covers the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty that reaches owners personally, seven warning signs of a failing provider, and the monthly EFTPS verification habit that catches a missed deposit at a 2% penalty instead of 10%.

mike

payrolltax-compliancewithholding

Record Beef Prices in 2026: How Restaurants and Butcher Shops Can Reprice Without Losing Customers

Ground beef hit about $6.75 a pound and steak $12.80 in May 2026, with the U.S. cattle herd at a 75-year low of 86.2 million head and relief unlikely before 2028. This guide shows restaurants and butcher shops how to recost every beef item, spread increases across the menu, move down the carcass, and track item-level margin after the change.

mike

restaurantcost-of-goods-soldpricing-strategies

SECURE 2.0 Auto-Portability and the December 31, 2026 401(k) Plan Amendment Deadline: What Small Business Sponsors Must Do Now

SECURE 2.0 Section 120 lets a departing employee's $1,000–$7,000 401(k) balance follow them into their next employer's plan through the Portability Services Network, and IRS Notice 2024-2 requires most calendar-year plans to adopt a consolidated SECURE 2.0 amendment by December 31, 2026. This guide covers how auto-portability interacts with force-out rules, what the amendment must memorialize, whether small employers should opt in, and the payroll, census and expense records to reconcile before year-end.

mike

retirement-plansemployee-benefitssmall-business

Washington's Homeowner Recovery Program Is Live: How Contractors Should Reserve for Judgment Claims That No Longer Go Away

Since July 1, 2026, Washington homeowners can collect up to $25,000 of an unpaid contractor judgment from the state's Homeowner Recovery Program, after which L&I can pursue the contractor for reimbursement with interest on payment plans of up to 36 months. This guide explains the eligibility rules, the post-2024 bond levels of $30,000 general and $15,000 specialty, and how a residential contractor should log disputes, accrue probable losses under ASC 450, fund a separate cash reserve, and amortize a state repayment plan in a plain-text ledger.

mike

constructionsmall-businessrisk-management

ACH Reversals Explained for Small Businesses: When You Can Correct a Payment—and When You Need a Return

Under the Nacha Operating Rules, an ACH reversal corrects only a sender's qualifying error—a duplicate, wrong amount, wrong account, or qualifying wrong date—and must reach the receiving bank within five banking days of settlement. This guide explains how reversals differ from returns and R10/R11 unauthorized-debit claims, and how to record each event so payments stay reconcilable.

mike

paymentsbankingsmall-business

ASC 250 for Small Businesses: When to Restate, Catch Up, or Change an Estimate

ASC 250 sorts every accounting change into one of three treatments — a change in principle applies retrospectively, a change in estimate applies prospectively, and an error correction depends on materiality, from a Big R restatement to a little r revision. This guide shows small businesses how to classify each event, weigh quantitative and qualitative materiality, and document the decision in an auditable close workflow.

mike

accountingsmall-businessfinancial-reporting
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