Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.
Amex launched the Graphite Business Cash Unlimited at $295 with 2% unlimited cash back and raised Business Platinum to $895 in 2026. Learn how no preset spending limit affects forecasts, how to book annual fees and 2%–5% rewards correctly, and a framework to compare effective fees, credits, and cash flow before you renew.
After a $1.5 billion settlement and a Supreme Court decision reaffirming human authorship, 2026 rulings split AI training from AI output: training can be fair use, but storing pirated copies is not, and publishing outputs that reproduce protected work still risks infringement. This guide shows what small businesses can own, what they risk, and how to keep AI-assisted work defensible and auditable.
USDA has not issued 2025 Organic Certification Cost Share reimbursements as of August 2026 despite July authorization in the One Big Beautiful Bill — the program covers 75% up to $750 per scope for application, inspection, and equivalency fees while certification costs now exceed $2,800. This guide explains the expense-vs-income tax treatment, receivable tracking by scope, and the filing checklist to meet the December 31, 2026 deadline while FSA prioritizes $13 million in Bridge Assistance payments amid shutdown and staffing cuts.
40% of small business owners plan to retire within 10 years but 70% have no formal succession plan and only 8% are fully prepared; Revenued finds 59% of successors assume a plan exists while only 35% of owners have one — this guide explains the 24-point gap, valuation methods, clean-book QofE prep, and a 12-month exit plan to make your business lending-ready.
Spotify Q2 2026: EUR 4.78B revenue (+14% YoY), 300M Premium subscribers, a record 33.4% gross margin and EUR 655M operating income; net income of EUR 545M against a EUR 86M loss a year ago — tracked via public Beancount ledger.
Shopify Q2 2026: $3.58B revenue (+34% YoY) on $115.6B GMV, $488M operating income and an 18% free-cash-flow margin; $1.25B of investment gains lift net income to $1.5B — tracked via public Beancount ledger.
The 10% Section 122 surcharge expired July 24, 2026 after 150 days and was replaced by 10-12.5% Section 301 duties; CBP's CAPE portal has already paid $23.7 billion of an estimated $166 billion in IEEPA refunds — learn how to re-model landed cost per SKU, track entry-level recoveries, and avoid booking refunds as income too early.
Starting July 1, 2026, QuickBooks Workforce and QuickBooks Online Payroll will automatically pay and file every payroll tax you have set up — 941, 940, state withholding and SUTA — with no option to turn off automated taxes. Learn which deposits and forms are affected, how bank-debit timing hits cash flow, why the one-time July 1 FUTA catch-up matters, and the double-entry bookkeeping that keeps liabilities matched to debits and filed returns.
For tax years starting in 2026, OBBBA makes the 20% qualified business income deduction permanent, widens the married-joint phase-in range to $394,600–$544,600, and adds a $400 minimum for taxpayers with more than $1,000 of QBI — so a $1,500 profit yields $400 instead of $300.
Florida SB 606 takes effect July 1, 2026 and redefines restaurant fee disclosure: every mandatory operations charge — service charges, auto-gratuities, delivery fees, and card surcharges — must be shown on menus, contracts, and ordering apps in compliant font, on the face of the bill, and as three separate receipt lines for tip, operations charge, and sales tax. Learn what counts as an operations charge, where to disclose, and how to book each line correctly.
FinCEN's March 2025 interim final rule exempts domestic LLCs and corporations from BOI reporting, but the relief lives in regulation; H.R. 425 would codify it in statute—this guide explains who is exempt today, who still must file (foreign reporting companies), and the bookkeeping to keep while Congress decides.
Eli Lilly Q2 2026: $23.0B revenue (+48%), $8.38 non-GAAP EPS, $85–87B guide as Mounjaro and Zepbound hit 65% of sales — tracked in a public Beancount ledger.
