#small-business
Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
Federal Regulators Tell Banks to Scrutinize Loans Tied to Work Authorization: A Guide for Immigrant-Owned Businesses
On July 13, 2026, the FDIC, OCC, and NCUA directed banks to tighten underwriting on loans to borrowers without U.S. work authorization, following a June CFPB statement reversing 2023 fair-lending guidance. Here's what the guidance says, how it affects immigrant entrepreneurs and their employers, and five concrete steps to keep financing accessible.
FinCEN Removed Beneficial Ownership Reporting for U.S. Companies: What the Corporate Transparency Act Rule Change Means for Your Small Business
FinCEN's March 2025 interim final rule exempted domestic U.S. companies from Corporate Transparency Act beneficial ownership reporting, removing the obligation for more than 99% of previously covered entities while foreign reporting companies must still file.
Fishing Charter Bookkeeping: Why Fuel and Bait Are COGS and Your USCG License Deserves Its Own Line Item
A well-run fishing charter nets roughly a 25% margin even when booked solid. This guide shows how to structure a charter's books — classify fuel, bait, and ice as cost of goods sold for per-trip margins, track the $1,300–$1,600 USCG six-pack license and its five-year renewal cycle, and accrue maintenance reserves per engine hour to survive the off-season.
Your Commissioned Employees, State Minimum Wage, and a Federal Overtime Exemption: What DOL Opinion Letter FLSA2026-4 Actually Changes
DOL opinion letter FLSA2026-4 (January 2026) confirms the Section 7(i) overtime exemption for commissioned retail and service employees is measured against the federal minimum wage — a regular rate above $10.875/hour — not higher state rates, and clarifies that service charges count as commissions while tips generally don't.
FMCSA Repeals CDL Conviction Self-Reporting: What the July 2026 Rollback Actually Changes for Small Trucking Fleets
FMCSA's June 2026 final rule, effective July 22, 2026, eliminates three redundant requirements — CDL holders self-reporting convictions, keeping a paper ELD manual in the cab, and auto-returning roadside inspection reports — citing ~25,000 unnecessary violations in 2024. Annual MVR checks, driver qualification files, and inspection-report retention remain fully in force, and state-level reporting statutes may still apply.
The FDA Just Bought Food Businesses 30 More Months on Traceability — Don't Waste Them
The FDA moved the FSMA 204 Food Traceability Rule compliance date 30 months, from January 20, 2026 to July 20, 2028, and Congress barred earlier enforcement. The rule itself is unchanged — FTL foods, seven Critical Tracking Events, Key Data Elements, and 24-hour sortable records — so here's who's exempt and how small food businesses can build a compliant traceability plan without enterprise software.
The FTC's Caremark Settlement: What Cost-Plus Reimbursement Means for Independent Pharmacy Books
The FTC's July 2026 settlement with CVS Caremark requires a cost-plus reimbursement option, point-of-sale rebate pass-through, and delinked PBM fees. Here is how independent pharmacies should model the switch, track DIR clawbacks, and keep reimbursement data auditable.
The FTC's $2.7 Million Handy Technologies Refund: What 'Up to $45/Hour' Really Cost a Gig Platform
In July 2026 the FTC mailed $2.7 million in refund checks to 62,893 Handy Technologies gig workers after finding that over 90% of them earned $20+ less than the advertised "up to $45/hour" rate. Here is what the settlement requires, why "up to" earnings claims are now an FTC enforcement priority, and how to reconcile advertised pay against actual payout data in your own books.
Fuel Hedging for Small Manufacturers: Forward Contracts, Price Caps, and Cash-Flow Hedge Accounting Under ASC 815
With diesel at $5.02 a gallon in June 2026, small manufacturers can hedge fuel costs without a futures account — supplier fixed-price and price-cap contracts do the job, and ASC 815 cash-flow hedge accounting keeps the gains and losses in OCI until the fuel is actually consumed. Here's how the instruments, the common mistakes, and the documentation requirements work.
GAO's AI Report on the SBA: What Federal Contractors and SBIR Applicants Should Do Now
GAO report GAO-26-107828 found the SBA froze nearly all AI work in March 2025 and took six years to publish its legally required AI use-case inventory. Here's what AI-assisted market research, proposal screening, and fraud detection mean for federal contractors and SBIR/STTR awardees — and the records to keep now.
Ghost Employee Fraud: How Fake Payroll Records Drain Small Businesses and the Controls That Catch Them
Ghost employee schemes cost U.S. businesses an estimated $400 billion a year and run a median of 18–30 months before detection. Learn the three common scheme patterns, the red flags already in your payroll data — duplicate bank accounts, unchanged withholding, missing I-9s — and the segregation-of-duties controls that stop them.
Goatscaping Bookkeeping: How to Account for a Targeted Grazing Business
A working goat herd is livestock the IRS lets you treat as either inventory or depreciable business property — an election that's hard to reverse. How targeted grazing operators should handle herd cost basis, diversified revenue streams, equipment costs, and the May-to-September seasonal cash-flow cliff.