#small-business
Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
Delaware Just Raised Its LLC Annual Tax From $300 to $400 — Here's What Every Out-of-State Entity Owes
Delaware HB 400, signed May 21, 2026, raises the flat annual tax on LLCs, LPs, and GPs from $300 to $400 and the registered-series tax from $75 to $100 — retroactive to January 1, 2026. Here's who owes it, when it's due, and how to budget for it.
DHS Just Ended "Duration of Status" for F-1 and J-1 Visas: What Small Employers Need to Track Before September 15, 2026
DHS's final rule effective September 15, 2026 replaces open-ended "duration of status" with a fixed I-94 Admit Until Date for F-1, J-1, and I nonimmigrants — up to 4 years plus a shortened 30-day grace period. Small employers with OPT, STEM OPT, or J-1 workers must now calendar expiration dates, file Form I-539 extensions before the deadline, and budget for recurring compliance costs.
DOL FAB 2026-01: What EBSA's Duty-of-Loyalty Enforcement Shift Means for Small 401(k) Plan Sponsors
EBSA's Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-01 prioritizes duty-of-loyalty and prohibited-transaction cases over process-based prudence claims, and caps routine ERISA investigations at 18 months (30 for complex ones). Here's what small-business 401(k) sponsors should document to stay protected.
DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-7: Security Checkpoint Time During Unpaid Meal Breaks Isn't Compensable
In May 2026, the DOL's Wage and Hour Division ruled in Opinion Letter FLSA2026-7 that time employees voluntarily spend passing through a security checkpoint to leave the premises during a 30-minute unpaid meal break is not compensable under the FLSA. Here's what the ruling covers, what it doesn't change under state law, and five compliance steps for employers with secured facilities.
The EEOC's New National Enforcement Plan: What It Means for Small Businesses in 2026
On June 4, 2026, the EEOC adopted a National Enforcement Plan for FY2025–2029 that shelves disparate-impact claims, targets DEI programs with quotas or identity-based preferences, and keeps retaliation a standalone priority. Here's what shifted, why enforcement priorities change small-employer risk even without new law, and five documentation and policy steps to take now.
The Egg Price-Fixing Settlement: What Small Food Businesses Should Learn From It
In June 2026, the DOJ and 17 states settled with Cal-Maine, Versova, and Hickman's for $3.3 million over alleged manipulation of the Urner Barry egg price index from 2022 to 2025 — a period when the three producers earned an estimated $1.22 billion. Here's what bakeries, diners, and grocers should do now, from pulling 2022–2025 purchase records to checking contracts for index-linked pricing clauses.
How a Trailer Manufacturer's Bankruptcy Shows What Happens When Nobody Is Watching the Books
A Georgia trailer manufacturer's 2026 Chapter 11 filing traces partly to alleged employee theft discovered in 2024. Businesses under 100 employees suffer a median fraud loss of $141,000 per ACFE data — here are the segregation-of-duties controls that catch theft early, and why an auditable ledger matters.
ERPNext vs. Odoo for a Bootstrapped Product Business: Why the Open-Source Licensing Split Changes Your Real Total Cost of Ownership
ERPNext ships every module — accounting, payroll, manufacturing — free under AGPLv3, while Odoo paywalls those features in a proprietary Enterprise edition priced around $24–36 per user per month. Five-year cost estimates run roughly $0–$30K for self-hosted ERPNext versus $10K–$80K for Odoo Enterprise, a gap that matters most for cash-constrained, headcount-growing businesses.
Extended Warranty Revenue Isn't Yours Yet: Why ASC 606 Says You Can't Book It at the Point of Sale
ASC 606 treats a separately priced extended warranty as a distinct performance obligation, so a $150 three-year service contract is booked as unearned revenue and recognized at $4.17 per month over 36 months — not as sale revenue on day one. This guide explains the assurance-type vs. service-type distinction, the three standalone-selling-price allocation methods for bundled pricing, and the journal entries small retailers need.
FASB Just Closed a Decade-Old Loophole in Equity Method Accounting: What ASU 2025-12 Means If You Hold a Stake in a Joint Venture
FASB's ASU 2025-12 (Issue 16) amends ASC 825-10-25-4(e) to bar electing the fair value option for an equity method investment after recognizing an other-than-temporary impairment — restoring a guardrail accidentally deleted by ASU 2016-13's CECL conforming amendments. Effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026, with early adoption permitted and prospective or retrospective transition decided issue by issue.
FASB Just Quietly Exempted Equipment Leases From a Disclosure Rule You Probably Didn't Know Applied to You
FASB's ASU 2025-12 (Issue 5) excludes sales-type and direct financing lease receivables from the ASU 2022-02 vintage and loan-modification disclosures, effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2026. Equipment lessors still apply CECL to net lease investments but no longer need origination-year write-off tables for those leases.
Why Small Business Loans Get Denied: Approval Rates, Lender Odds, and Fixes From the Fed's 2025 Credit Survey
The Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey found only 42% of applicants received full funding and 22% received nothing. Full-approval rates ranged from 57% at small banks to a 46% denial rate at large banks, and the top denial reasons — credit score (45%), collateral (36%), cash flow (33%) — are largely visible in a business's own books before applying.