#bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
Towing Company Bookkeeping: Tow Truck Depreciation, Impound Lot Revenue, and the Compliance Costs Most Owners Underprice
A tow truck over 14,000 lbs GVWR can often be fully expensed under Section 179 the year it's placed in service — but only if the depreciation schedule starts that year. How towing companies should separate tow, impound, and lien-sale revenue, reconcile lot logs monthly, and price compliance costs into every job.
TrumpIRA.gov and the Federal Saver's Match: What Self-Employed Workers Should Know Before 2027
TrumpIRA.gov, a Treasury-run IRA marketplace launching January 1, 2027, will list providers capped at a 0.15% expense ratio with no account minimums and connect eligible savers to a Federal Saver's Match of up to $1,000 a year — a 50% match on the first $2,000 contributed. Here is how it fits alongside a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k), and why accurate books determine the contribution you can actually make.
Selling Your Business to Your Employees: What the New SBA Worker Cooperative Lending Pilot Means for Retiring Owners
Six million U.S. businesses are expected to change hands by 2035, yet over 58% of owners have no succession plan. The National Worker Cooperative Development and Support Act, reintroduced in December 2025, would create an SBA pilot guaranteeing $60 million in loans over ten years for worker cooperative conversions — solving the 20%-owner personal guarantee problem that blocks most co-op financing. Here's how the pilot, Section 1042 capital gains deferral, and clean bookkeeping fit into an employee-ownership exit.
Billboard and Outdoor Advertising Bookkeeping: Yield, Volume, and Why Your Ground Lease Is COGS
A bookkeeping guide for small billboard and out-of-home (OOH) operators — why yield and volume must be tracked separately, why ground leases belong in COGS tagged by board, how static and digital faces differ on depreciation and revenue recognition, and the five KPIs worth reviewing, including 85%+ utilization targets and a ~2.5-year payback benchmark on new digital builds.
The $9.8 Million Bookkeeper: What a Six-Year Embezzlement Case Teaches Small Businesses About Internal Controls
A Florida bookkeeper with signature authority stole $9.8 million over six years using fake vendor names — until an owner read the raw bank statement. How the fraud triangle, segregation of duties, and monthly independent reconciliation would have stopped it, plus ACFE data showing why $100K-scale losses at small companies are routine.
Cameo Creator Taxes: Why Your 1099 Won't Match Your Bank Deposits (and How to Book It Right)
Cameo's 1099-NEC reports your gross booking price, but the platform keeps 25% — and Apple takes another 30% on iOS orders — so booking only your net deposits creates an IRS mismatch and erases a deductible fee. Here's how to record gross revenue and platform fees separately, what the 15.3% self-employment tax costs once you clear $400, and the 2026 quarterly estimated-tax dates to calendar.
CLA and Digits Are Training an AI on Their Clients' Books: What Firm-Built AI Bookkeeping Means for Your Small Business
CLA, a top-10 U.S. accounting firm with nearly $2 billion in revenue and 9,000 people, is co-building a proprietary AI model with Digits trained on its own client base and rolling it out to thousands of clients over three years. Here is what firm-trained AI bookkeeping means for small businesses — what gets automated versus reviewed, where your data goes, how pricing shifts, and why keeping a portable plain-text copy of your books matters more as accounting goes AI-native.
Demolition Contractor Bookkeeping: Why Disposal Fees Are the Silent Profit Drain Eating Your Margin
Landfill tipping fees rose about 10% this year to a national average near $62 per ton — enough to erase a demolition contractor's 5–10% margin on a single misestimated job. How to job-cost disposal fees as their own line item, build a disposal contingency into every bid, and book scrap-recovery revenue against the right project.
EV Charging Station Bookkeeping: Demand Charges, Four Revenue Streams, and the Expired 30C Credit
How charge point operators should structure their books — splitting per-kWh energy COGS from demand charges (30–70% of many commercial utility bills), recognizing four distinct revenue streams correctly, and handling the Section 30C credit that expired for property placed in service after June 30, 2026.
Fractional CFO Firm Bookkeeping: Structuring Your Own Books When You Sell Financial Clarity for a Living
How should a fractional CFO firm structure its own books? Retainers ($3,000–$15,000/month) are deferred-revenue liabilities until earned, unbilled work-in-progress belongs on the balance sheet, and revenue should be split by billing model — retainer, hourly ($175–$450/hour), and project fees — in a market headed past $3.2 billion in 2026.
Freight Broker Bookkeeping: Factored Invoices, Carrier Payments, and the $75,000 Reserve
How freight brokers should structure their books — separate gross freight revenue from net margin, record factoring advances as loans (not income), track quick pay fees distinctly, and account for the FMCSA $75,000 bond or trust reserve that 2026 rules require replenishing within seven days of a claim.
Horse Boarding Bookkeeping: Per-Horse Costs, Pass-Throughs, and the Hobby-Loss Rule
Full-service horse board runs $650–$1,600 a month nationally, yet a 30-horse barn's real costs can near $60,000 monthly — here's how to build a per-horse chart of accounts, handle vet and farrier pass-throughs, recognize board revenue correctly, and stay clear of the IRS hobby-loss rule.