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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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Is an 18% Service Charge a Tip? The IRS Four-Factor Test and What It Costs Your Restaurant Payroll

A mandatory service charge fails the IRS four-factor tip test, so it is wages rather than tip income — you owe both FICA shares on it, lose the Section 45B credit on Form 8846, and it is excluded from the new OBBBA qualified-tip deduction. Covers the four-factor test, the journal entries that keep Service Charge Revenue separate from Tips Payable, and the payroll, tip-credit, sales tax, and fee-disclosure changes a restaurant hits the day it switches.

mike

restaurantpayrolltax-compliance

The Silver Tsunami Is Here: How to Buy or Sell a Business in the $5 Trillion Great Ownership Transfer

About 6 million U.S. small and mid-sized businesses will change hands by 2035 as baby boomer owners retire, and McKinsey estimates more than 1 million of those are sellable, representing up to $5 trillion in enterprise value — yet only about 35% of owners have a succession plan. This guide covers the three-year seller timeline, how valuation multiples of 2x to 4x SDE are earned, SBA 7(a) and seller-financing structures for buyers, due diligence, and the bookkeeping habits that separate a sellable business from one that quietly closes.

mike

succession-planningbusiness-exitbusiness-valuation

Your Business Is Not a Retirement Plan: Why 34% of Owners Save Nothing and How to Fix It in 2026

34% of U.S. small business owners have no retirement plan, and more than 80% of a typical owner's net worth sits inside the business. This guide compares the SEP IRA, Solo 401(k), and SIMPLE IRA at 2026 limits ($72,000, $24,500 deferral, $17,000), explains the SECURE 2.0 credits worth up to $5,000 a year for three years, and gives a five-step plan to start saving this quarter.

mike

retirement-plansretirement-savingssep-ira

Virginia's New 5-Employee Discrimination Threshold: An SB 637 Compliance Guide

Effective July 1, 2026, Virginia's SB 637 drops the Virginia Human Rights Act employer threshold from 15 employees to 5 and extends the filing window from 300 days to two years. Any business with five or more employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks is now covered for every prohibited practice — not just discharge. Here is the 20-week counting rule, a seven-step compliance checklist, and the payroll and retention records an investigator asks for first.

mike

compliancesmall-businesslegal

Your Workers' Comp Premium Audit Is Coming: How to Pass Without a Surprise Bill

A workers' comp premium is payroll ÷ 100 × class rate × experience mod, so the year-end audit re-tests both variables against your actual records. This guide covers the three audit types and what triggers each, the documents auditors request, why overtime premium is only excludable when recorded separately by employee and week under NCCI Rule 2-B-2, the 2026 NCCI officer caps of $3,400 weekly maximum and $1,700 minimum, and why payments to a subcontractor without a current certificate of insurance get charged to you as payroll.

mike

payrollinsuranceaudit

The Federal 1099-K Threshold Is $20,000 Again — But Your State May Still Require One at $600: A State-by-State Guide for Online Sellers and Gig Platforms

Federal 1099-K filing reverted to $20,000 and more than 200 transactions for 2026, but Maryland, Massachusetts, Vermont, Virginia, DC, Montana and North Carolina still require it at $600 — learn which states keep the lower threshold, how payment-card and TPSO rules differ, and how to book gross, fees, and sales tax so your books tie to every form you receive.

mike

taxtax-complianceirs-reporting
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