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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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12 min read

How to Run a Bar Crawl Company: Ticket Revenue, Venue Splits, Guide Pay, and Permits

A bar crawl company sells admission, not alcohol, so it usually needs no liquor license, but a $25 ticket can lose over $3.60 to platform and processing fees before a single guide is paid. Here is how to structure written per-head venue deals, book pass-through covers as liabilities instead of revenue, defer advance ticket sales until the event, clear city pub-crawl permits, carry $1–2 million in liability coverage, and decide whether guides are W-2 employees or 1099 contractors.

Mike Thrift

small-businessbookkeepingentrepreneurship
10 min read

Lost Your Receipts? How the Cohan Rule Lets You Reconstruct Business Expenses

The Cohan rule lets a court estimate an ordinary business deduction when you can prove the money was spent but not the exact amount — and Section 274(d) forbids that estimate entirely for travel, entertainment, gifts, and vehicles. Here is what reconstruction evidence actually persuades an examiner, why bank statements alone usually fail, and a six-step playbook for rebuilding a missing-receipt file.

Mike Thrift

tax-deductionsrecordkeepingreceipt-management
10 min read

Connecticut's Data Privacy Act Now Reaches You at 35,000 Consumers: A Small-Business Compliance Guide

Connecticut's amended Data Privacy Act took effect July 1, 2026, cutting the applicability threshold from 100,000 to 35,000 consumers, adding zero-threshold triggers for sensitive data and data sales, and removing the guaranteed 60-day cure period. Here is what changed, what arrives October 1, and a six-step checklist for small businesses.

Mike Thrift

privacycomplianceconnecticut
11 min read

DMCA Designated Agent: The $6 Filing That Protects Any Site With User Content

Any business hosting user uploads, reviews, or listings loses DMCA safe harbor unless it designates an agent with the Copyright Office for $6, renews that designation every three years, and actually enforces a repeat-infringer policy. This guide covers registration, the six elements of a valid takedown notice, the 10-to-14-business-day putback window, and the records that prove compliance.

Mike Thrift

copyrightcompliancelegal
9 min read

Do You Owe Wages for the Hours Your Employee Spent Sleeping? FLSA Sleep-Time Rules for 24-Hour Shifts and Live-In Workers

Federal law lets employers exclude up to eight hours of sleep time from a shift of 24 hours or more — never from a shorter one — and only with adequate sleeping quarters, usually uninterrupted sleep, and an agreement. Every interruption is paid, and fewer than five consecutive hours of sleep makes the entire window compensable.

Mike Thrift

payrollcomplianceemployee-hours
11 min read

FMCSA's July 2026 Three-Rule Rollback: What Your Fleet Can Stop Filing — and What You Still Must Track

Three FMCSA final rules effective July 22, 2026 end federal CDL conviction self-reporting, drop the in-cab ELD operator's manual, and make roadside inspection report returns on-request only. Hours-of-service limits, drug-and-alcohol testing, annual MVR checks, driver qualification files and defect correction are unchanged; this guide covers what moved, what did not, and a 30-day small-fleet checklist.

Mike Thrift

truckingcomplianceregulatory
9 min read

IRMAA for Business Owners: The Two-Year Lookback, the 2026 Medicare Brackets, and the SSA-44 Appeal

Medicare's IRMAA surcharge sets your 2026 Part B and Part D premiums from your 2024 tax return, and crossing a bracket by one dollar triggers the full tier — up to roughly $14,000 a year above standard premiums for a couple. Here is how business sales, Roth conversions and RMDs trigger it, the 2026 thresholds, and how to file Form SSA-44 after retirement or another qualifying life-changing event.

Mike Thrift

tax-planningretirement-planninghealthcare
9 min read

New-Hire Reporting: The 20-Day Rule Every First-Time and Multistate Employer Must Know

Every U.S. employer must report each new hire and qualifying rehire to a State Directory of New Hires within 20 days of the first day of paid work, and electronic filers may batch reports 12 to 16 days apart. This guide covers the six required data points, the one-state designation that lets multistate employers file to a single directory, California and New York independent-contractor reporting rules, and the federal penalty cap of $25 per unreported employee rising to $500 for collusion.

Mike Thrift

hiringpayrollcompliance
11 min read

No Tax on Tips Final Regulations: The W-2 Box 14b Occupation-Code Checklist for Tipped Employers

The IRS finalized the No Tax on Tips regulations in April 2026 with a closed list of 71 qualifying occupations, a new W-2 Box 14b for up to two three-digit occupation codes, Box 12 code TP for qualified tips, and a voluntariness test that disqualifies automatic gratuities and POS flows with no zero option. Here is what tipped employers must change in payroll, point-of-sale and bookkeeping before 2026 forms go out.

Mike Thrift

taxpayrolltax-compliance
11 min read

Quick Lube Shop Bookkeeping: The Per-Car Numbers That Separate Profitable Bays From Break-Even Ones

A quick lube earns its margin per car, not per markup. This guide shows how to cost bulk oil by the quart on every delivery, reconcile each tank book-against-stick weekly, book shrinkage and used-oil hauling as separate accounts, and review the five daily KPIs (car count, average ticket, add-ons per 100 cars, bay time, gross profit per car) against industry benchmarks such as 0.95 cars per labor hour, 80 percent gross profit on labor and 50 percent on parts.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingauto-repairsmall-business
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