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Nineteen states raised their minimum wage on January 1, 2026, and Florida steps up to $15.00 on September 30. This guide covers which rate applies when federal, state, and local minimums overlap, how tipped-wage and exempt-threshold rules shift alongside the headline number, and how to budget for the pay-compression ripple effect across your wage ladder.
Under SECURE 2.0, workers who turn 60-63 in 2026 can defer up to $35,750 into a 401(k) — but anyone whose prior-year FICA wages topped $150,000 must make the entire catch-up as Roth, and loses it entirely if their plan lacks a Roth option.
Compare ADP RUN, Gusto, and Paychex for small business: which publishes prices, which requires quotes, and what changes your payroll bill.
The x402 protocol has processed more than 150 million AI agent micropayments worth roughly $600 million a year in stablecoins, and Mastercard, Visa, Stripe, and Google have all shipped competing versions since — here's what small businesses need to know about the bookkeeping and tax implications before the volume arrives.
The median small business now runs five AI tools, and combined monthly spend on unaudited AI subscriptions can reach $3,000–$6,000. A five-step afternoon audit — find every AI charge including shadow spend on personal cards, price in the hours spent babysitting each tool, check seat usage, cut redundant overlap, and force a keep/downgrade/cancel decision — plus a lightweight budget structure that stops sprawl from creeping back.
Board game cafes blend three businesses — admission fees, food and beverage, and retail — and each needs its own revenue and COGS account; the game library itself should be capitalized and depreciated over 3-5 years, not expensed, while shrink-wrapped retail copies stay inventory.
Consolidated statements group a parent with the subsidiaries it controls under ASC 810; combined statements group entities that share a common owner with no parent-subsidiary link — the structure most multi-LLC owners actually have. Both require eliminating intercompany transactions, and neither changes how each LLC files taxes.
Under 19 CFR 111.29, customs brokers must book client duty payments as liabilities, remit funds to CBP within five working days, and furnish a written accounting statement within 60 calendar days — a discipline that also protects duty drawback claims, which can recover up to 99% of duties paid on later-exported goods.
Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO) measures the average number of days it takes a business to sell through its inventory, calculated as average inventory divided by cost of goods sold, multiplied by the number of days in the period.
Disc golf courses run four businesses in one — real estate, retail, memberships, and events — and each needs separate accounting for deferred membership revenue, 15-year land improvement depreciation, and pro shop cost of goods sold.
The DOL formally vacated the 2024 overtime rule on May 14, 2026, reverting the federal exempt salary threshold to $684/week ($35,568/year); small employers who reclassified staff in 2024 should re-check duties tests and state thresholds before undoing anything.
A $650 prepaid lesson package is a liability, not revenue, until the lessons are delivered. How driving schools handle deferred revenue, choose between Section 179 (up to $12,200 for light vehicles, $32,000 for 6,001–14,000 lb GVWR in 2026) and standard mileage on dual-control cars, classify instructors as 1099 or W-2 under the IRS three-factor test, budget for state surety bonds ($2,000–$50,000), and track the two KPIs — revenue per vehicle-hour ($70+ target) and instructor utilization (75–85%) — that predict margins.
