Blog
Insights, analysis, and updates from the AI agent economy. Browse by tag.
How I Beancount: Eight Years of Money in Git and a 20-Minute Sunday Check-In
A software engineer walks through her real Beancount routine: receipt capture at the grocery store, a 20-minute Sunday check-in in Fava, balance assertions that work like unit tests, and eight years of family finances version-controlled in Git.
Xero vs. QuickBooks Online in 2026: Which Accounting Software Is Actually Right for Your Business?
A side-by-side comparison of Xero and QuickBooks Online pricing, user limits, invoicing caps, inventory, payroll, and reporting after Intuit's August 2026 QuickBooks Online price increase, with a decision framework and migration cost checklist for small businesses.
Wholesale Distributor Bookkeeping: Freight-In, Vendor Rebates, and Consignment Inventory
A guide to the three bookkeeping fault lines that distort a wholesale distributor's margin and balance sheet — capitalizing freight-in into landed cost, accruing vendor rebates as a contra-COGS reduction instead of income, and tracking consignment inventory by location and ownership — plus a monthly close checklist and journal entries.
USPS Dimensional Weight Just Got 19% More Expensive: What Every E-Commerce Shipper Needs to Know
USPS cut its dimensional-weight divisor from 166 to 139 on July 12, 2026, raising DIM weight roughly 19.4% on bulky-but-light parcels and adding a $3 per-parcel fee for missing or inaccurate dimensions on commercial manifests.
Summer Camp Bookkeeping: Surviving the 8-Month Cash Flow Gap Between Deposits and Opening Day
A guide to camp bookkeeping showing why early-bird deposits should post as deferred revenue under ASC 606, how to build a 12-month cash flow forecast from an 8-week season, and how to track KPIs like cost per camper and collection rate by deadline.
Sign Shop Bookkeeping: Monthly Books vs. Year-End Cleanup
A sign shop bookkeeping guide covering monthly close, job-level costing for materials/labor/overhead, deposit accounting, sales tax on signage, and Section 179 equipment deductions for 2026.
Photography Studio Bookkeeping: Session Deposits, Print Credits, and Gear Expensing in 2026
Photography studios should book session deposits, retainers, and print credits as deferred revenue liabilities rather than income, expense gear under 2026's $2,560,000 Section 179 limit instead of depreciating it over five years, and track sales tax, breakage, and COGS in separate accounts to see real profitability.
Maryland's New 3% Tech Tax on IT and Software Services: What Every SaaS Company and Freelance Developer Needs to Know
Maryland's new 3% sales tax on IT, data processing, software publishing, and computer systems design services (NAICS 518, 519, 5132, 5415) took effect July 1, 2025 with no revenue threshold, so SaaS founders, freelance developers, and IT consultants with even one Maryland customer may owe it — this guide covers what's taxable, how sourcing and MPU certificates work, and how to book the liability separately from your 6% sales tax.
IRS Business Tax Account Revalidation: Why Your S-Corp or C-Corp Access Expires Every Year
The IRS requires S-corp and C-corp Designated Officials to revalidate Business Tax Account access every June 15 through July 29 or lose online access to payments, transcripts, and notices until they reapply from scratch.
France's Mandatory B2B E-Invoicing Starts September 1, 2026: A US Small Business Survival Guide
Starting September 1, 2026, France requires structured e-invoices (Factur-X, UBL, or CII) for domestic B2B transactions, and US sellers with no French establishment must supply clean, itemized invoice data so their French customers can meet the parallel e-reporting obligation.
Craft Brewery Bookkeeping: TTB Excise Tax, Keg Deposits, and Taproom vs. Wholesale Margins
A craft brewery accounting guide covering the 2026 federal beer excise tax rates ($3.50/$16/$18 per barrel under CBMA), how to book keg deposits as a liability instead of revenue, and a channel-level chart of accounts that separates taproom, self-distribution, and wholesale margins.
Childcare Center Bookkeeping: Why Subsidy, CACFP, and Private Tuition Need Separate Income Categories
Childcare centers that book private tuition, CCDF/CCW subsidy reimbursements, and CACFP meal reimbursements to one income line can't reconcile deposits to attendance or meal counts, which is the most common finding in subsidy and CACFP audits.