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Mike Thrift

Marketing Manager

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10 min read

Washington's Homeowner Recovery Program Is Live: How Contractors Should Reserve for Judgment Claims That No Longer Go Away

Since July 1, 2026, Washington homeowners can collect up to $25,000 of an unpaid contractor judgment from the state's Homeowner Recovery Program, after which L&I can pursue the contractor for reimbursement with interest on payment plans of up to 36 months. This guide explains the eligibility rules, the post-2024 bond levels of $30,000 general and $15,000 specialty, and how a residential contractor should log disputes, accrue probable losses under ASC 450, fund a separate cash reserve, and amortize a state repayment plan in a plain-text ledger.

Mike Thrift

constructionsmall-businessrisk-management
12 min read

AASB 1061 Tier 3: An Implementation Playbook for Australia’s Smaller Not-for-Profits

AASB 1061 creates a simplified Tier 3 general purpose reporting framework for eligible Australian private-sector not-for-profits, mandatory for annual periods beginning on or after 1 July 2029. Here is what changes for leases, grant revenue, financial instruments, and donated assets — and the records, registers, and policies to build before the first Tier 3 year closes.

Mike Thrift

nonprofitfinancial-reportingcompliance
12 min read

ACH Reversals Explained for Small Businesses: When You Can Correct a Payment—and When You Need a Return

Under the Nacha Operating Rules, an ACH reversal corrects only a sender's qualifying error—a duplicate, wrong amount, wrong account, or qualifying wrong date—and must reach the receiving bank within five banking days of settlement. This guide explains how reversals differ from returns and R10/R11 unauthorized-debit claims, and how to record each event so payments stay reconcilable.

Mike Thrift

paymentsbankingsmall-business
10 min read

Amazon’s New Business Cards: What Small Businesses Need to Reconcile in 2026

Amazon's Prime Business Card and Amazon Business Card, issued by U.S. Bank on Mastercard, launched May 13, 2026 with 5% or 3% back on Amazon purchases up to a combined $150,000 annual cap. This guide shows small businesses how to reconcile the card migration, book reward credits as cost reductions, and track 0% APR installment purchases as liabilities.

Mike Thrift

amazonsmall-businessreconciliation
11 min read

ASC 250 for Small Businesses: When to Restate, Catch Up, or Change an Estimate

ASC 250 sorts every accounting change into one of three treatments — a change in principle applies retrospectively, a change in estimate applies prospectively, and an error correction depends on materiality, from a Big R restatement to a little r revision. This guide shows small businesses how to classify each event, weigh quantitative and qualitative materiality, and document the decision in an auditable close workflow.

Mike Thrift

accountingsmall-businessfinancial-reporting
12 min read

ASC 718 Nonemployee Share-Based Payments: A Startup Guide to Consultant, Advisor, and Contractor Equity

Under ASC 718 as amended by ASU 2018-07, startup equity granted to consultants, advisors, and contractors is measured at grant-date fair value and expensed as services are received — not when cash moves. This guide covers scope decisions, option-pricing inputs and nonpublic-company practical expedients, service vs. performance vs. market vesting conditions, keeping book expense separate from tax reporting, a three-record monthly reconciliation, and the ASU 2025-04 change for customer awards effective after December 15, 2026.

Mike Thrift

accountingstartupequity-instruments
11 min read

AWS Marketplace Seller Bookkeeping: Reconcile Gross Revenue, Listing Fees, Taxes, Refunds, and Delayed Disbursements by Offer

How AWS Marketplace sellers can keep deposits from masquerading as revenue — book gross billings at the transaction level, record listing fees separately, classify the three tax-share scenarios, reverse refunds against the original offer, and reconcile net disbursements to the bank using clearing accounts, offer IDs, and bank trace IDs.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingreconciliationsaas
11 min read

Embedded Business Lending for Freelancers: How to Compare Offers Before You Borrow

Embedded lending marketplaces like Lili's Lendio integration put loan applications inside your banking dashboard, but the lender—not the platform—sets your terms. A practical framework for freelancers to compare net proceeds, total repayment, factor rates, and payment burden, stress-test a slow month, and record the debt properly before accepting an offer.

Mike Thrift

loansfinancingfreelance
12 min read

Feed Mill Bookkeeping: How to Account for Custom Grinding, Blending, and Ingredient Inventory

A feed mill's books must separate customer-owned grain from mill-owned inventory, record custom-grind fees as service revenue rather than inflated purchases and sales, cost each batch from ingredient lots through COGS, and make shrink and moisture variances visible — this guide walks through the ownership test, four revenue streams, lot-level inventory records, and a 10-step month-end close.

Mike Thrift

agriculturebookkeepinginventory
11 min read

Form 4868 for Sole Proprietors in 2026: More Time to File, Not More Time to Pay

Form 4868 gives a sole proprietor an automatic six-month extension to file Form 1040 and Schedule C — moving the 2025 return deadline from April 15 to October 15, 2026 — but the tax itself was still due in April. How to estimate total liability including self-employment tax, request the extension electronically or through a designated payment, and limit the 5%-per-month failure-to-file penalty.

Mike Thrift

tax-filingtax-deadlinessole-proprietorship
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