#small-business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
A six-week playbook for moving business bank accounts—inventory every ACH, wire, and payroll rail first; seed the new account to dodge Regulation CC holds; move payroll last with a prenote; and run both accounts in parallel with daily reconciliation before closing.
The IRS requires S-corp and C-corp Designated Officials to revalidate Business Tax Account access every June 15 through July 29 or lose online access to payments, transcripts, and notices until they reapply from scratch.
A plantwide overhead rate cross-subsidizes products — undercosting complex low-volume jobs by 35% or more. This guide shows how to calculate a defensible predetermined rate, reconcile applied vs. actual overhead monthly, and graduate to ABC or time-driven ABC when product and volume diversity make a single rate lie.
Maryland's new 3% sales tax on IT, data processing, software publishing, and computer systems design services (NAICS 518, 519, 5132, 5415) took effect July 1, 2025 with no revenue threshold, so SaaS founders, freelance developers, and IT consultants with even one Maryland customer may owe it — this guide covers what's taxable, how sourcing and MPU certificates work, and how to book the liability separately from your 6% sales tax.
The CFPB's national medical-debt reporting ban was vacated in July 2025, but three-bureau reforms still remove paid collections, unpaid debt under $500, and debt less than a year old, and at least 15 states keep their own limits in place.
The 21st Century Worker Act (S. 2159) would set one federal classification test and add a third "mutual election" category letting a business and worker jointly choose contractor or employee status, defaulting to contractor if they disagree. Here is what it would change for freelancer bookkeeping and how to keep contractor records defensible now.
How to keep a paint-your-own pottery studio's books honest — allocate firing costs to COGS (roughly $1.32–$2.39 per piece), write down 5–10% greenware and kiln breakage monthly, and treat party deposits and gift cards as deferred revenue until the event is delivered.
Photography studios should book session deposits, retainers, and print credits as deferred revenue liabilities rather than income, expense gear under 2026's $2,560,000 Section 179 limit instead of depreciating it over five years, and track sales tax, breakage, and COGS in separate accounts to see real profitability.
Selling business equipment? IRS Publication 544 explains how depreciation recapture under Section 1245 turns gain into ordinary income on Form 4797.
Section 139 lets employers reimburse employees' unreimbursed disaster expenses with no income tax, no FICA/FUTA, and no W-2 reporting — while keeping the deduction. Covers what qualifies, what doesn't (lost wages, insured costs), the minimal documentation needed, and how to book payments outside payroll.
A sign shop bookkeeping guide covering monthly close, job-level costing for materials/labor/overhead, deposit accounting, sales tax on signage, and Section 179 equipment deductions for 2026.
Small-group health insurance faces a median 11% proposed increase for 2026 based on 318 insurer filings — the sharpest in over 15 years. This guide shows small employers how to translate that median into dollars, understand the cost drivers, and evaluate renewal, plan design, and ICHRA alternatives before signing.
