#bookkeeping
Modern bookkeeping techniques using plain-text and automated workflows
California's SB 61 caps private-project retention at 5% for contracts signed on or after January 1, 2026, and New York's S5655 voids any retainage clause above 5% on covered private contracts of $150,000+ as of December 19, 2025. Here's what changed, the carve-outs, and how contractors should track retainage receivable in their books.
Roughly 42 U.S. states have passed or are advancing laws replacing the CPA 150-hour education rule with 120 hours plus experience — Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, Utah, and Iowa lead in 2026. Here's how the accountant shortage, new licensure pathways, and fractured license mobility affect who small businesses can hire.
On July 1, 2026, eBay replaced tiered final value fees with flat category rates for commercial sellers on its European marketplaces — roughly 7–14% on new goods and a flat 5% on used and refurbished items. Depending on price band, the change can cut or raise your fees, so here's a 90-day audit to run against your own sales data.
Expensify launched an MCP server on June 8, 2026, letting Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor query live expense data via OAuth 2.1. Here is what Model Context Protocol means for small business books, which access questions to check before connecting — read-only vs. write, revocability, data retention — and why clean records matter more in the AI era.
Irish sole traders filing Form 11 in 2026 face a mid-year PRSI Class S rise from 4.2% to 4.35% on October 1, a €650 minimum PRSI charge, and the preliminary tax rule requiring 100% of prior-year or 90% of current-year liability by October 31 — with a ROS extension to mid-November for those who file and pay online.
A practical bookkeeping guide for med spa owners covering the industry's hardest problems — tracking expiring injectable inventory with FIFO and treatment recipes, calculating 15–25% injector commissions from provider-level revenue, deferring membership and package revenue until services are delivered, and building a chart of accounts that shows which service lines actually carry margin.
How mobile pet groomers should book a $35,000–$80,000 grooming van — splitting chassis from buildout for depreciation and Section 179, building a five-component per-appointment cost model, and budgeting fuel and maintenance against the 76-cent 2026 IRS mileage rate.
Newfoundland and Labrador's April 2026 budget phases its small business corporate tax rate from 2.5% to 1.0% by 2028, retroactive to January 1, 2026 — dropping the combined federal-provincial rate from 11.5% to 10.0%. Here's the year-by-year math, the dollar savings at the $500,000 limit, and the planning moves worth reviewing.
Nuvei is acquiring Payoneer for $7.40 per share — about $2.75 billion — with closing expected by mid-2027. Here's what the deal means for freelancers and small exporters in 190+ countries who rely on Payoneer payouts, and four bookkeeping steps to track fees, FX spreads, and platform risk through the transition.
A bookkeeping guide for pool cleaning route businesses covering how to separate chemical costs from labor, calculate revenue per stop, segment revenue by service line, and forecast cash flow through algae season and the winter slowdown.
Professional organizers juggle hourly billing ($75–$150/hr), flat packages, and monthly retainers ($425–$475) — and each needs different bookkeeping. How to use deferred revenue for deposits and retainers, track the 2026 IRS mileage rates (72.5¢ then 76¢/mile), and build a chart of accounts that separates income by pricing model.
Recording studios typically cost $50–$120 per hour to operate before profit, yet many collect payment for only 60–70% of hours worked. How to calculate a true break-even rate (fixed costs plus debt service divided by realistic billable hours), track session vs. package vs. mixing revenue separately, handle album deposits as unearned revenue, and depreciate gear correctly under 5-year MACRS or Section 179.
