#chart-of-accounts

Chart of Accounts

Design and organize your account hierarchy for effective financial tracking

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May 19, 202611 min read

Pet Boarding, Daycare, and Grooming Bookkeeping: Run-Night Revenue, Add-On Allocation, and Gingr/PetExec Reconciliation

Pet boarding, daycare, and grooming operators run three businesses under one roof — services earned over time, retail earned at sale, and pass-throughs that are never revenue. This guide builds a chart of accounts that separates service lines, recognizes boarding revenue per run-night through a deferred-revenue liability, allocates add-ons to the service that produced them, and reconciles Gingr or PetExec daily summaries to the bank deposit by isolating processor fees, tips payable, deposits, and refunds.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesschart-of-accounts

May 19, 202615 min read

Recording Studio Bookkeeping: Session Pricing, Royalty Splits, and Section 179 on Pro Tools Rigs

How commercial recording studios should book session vs. project revenue under ASC 606, classify engineers and producers across W-2, 1099-NEC, and 1099-MISC Box 2, treat client retainers as liabilities, separate producer points from mechanical royalties, and decide between Section 179 and MACRS on studio gear.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriesrevenue-recognition

May 19, 202611 min read

Section 277 and 501(c)(7): Member vs. Nonmember Income for Social Clubs

Section 501(c)(7) social clubs must keep nonmember income under 35% of gross receipts and nonmember facility use under 15%, while Section 277 quarantines member-side losses for nonexempt membership organizations. This guide walks through how the two rules interact, how to allocate UBTI expenses on Form 990-T, and how to structure a chart of accounts so the member/nonmember split survives an IRS examination.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancenonprofit

May 19, 202614 min read

Self-Storage Facility Bookkeeping: A Practical Guide for Operators

How self-storage operators should structure a chart of accounts by unit type, reconcile SiteLink or storEDGE with the general ledger, treat move-in discounts as contra-revenue, handle auction proceeds, and report physical occupancy, economic occupancy, and NOI per square foot.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingchart-of-accountsreal-estate

May 19, 202614 min read

Travel Agency Revenue Recognition: ASC 606 Principal vs. Agent, ARC Settlement, and 1099-NEC Guide

Two travel agencies can book the same $10,000 trip and report revenue ten times apart under ASC 606. A practical walkthrough of the principal-versus-agent control test, departure-date timing, ARC settlement flows, host agency commission splits, and 1099-NEC reporting thresholds.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitiontravelaccounting

May 18, 202611 min read

Bookkeeping for Interior Designers: Retainers, Markup, and the Hidden Math That Keeps Your P&L Honest

Interior design firms run four revenue streams through one chart of accounts and end up paying tax on phantom profits. Treat retainers as a liability, run products through revenue and COGS together, book vendor cost as COGS (never list price), and reconcile every PO before close.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriesrevenue-recognition

May 18, 202614 min read

Staffing Agency Accounting: Bill Rate, Burden, and the Payroll-to-Payment Gap

How staffing agencies should price bill rates above fully burdened pay rates, read gross margin by placement type, and book invoice factoring without hiding the spread. Includes burden components (FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers' comp), a placement-aware chart of accounts, and the DSO math behind payroll funding gaps.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesspayroll

May 18, 202610 min read

Undeposited Funds Explained: How the Holding Account Works and How to Clear a Stuck Balance

Undeposited funds is a temporary asset account that holds customer payments between receipt and bank deposit, letting individual receipts match a lump-sum bank line. This guide covers the three-step journal pattern, four common ways stuck balances accumulate, and three cleanup methods that preserve audit history.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingaccounting-basicsreconciliation

May 18, 202613 min read

Vending Machine Route Bookkeeping: Reconciling Cash, Tracking COGS, and Knowing the True Profit of Every Location

How to keep books for a vending route at the machine level — reconciling DEX cash counters against deposits, tracking COGS and site commissions per location, and computing the contribution margin that tells you which machines to keep, optimize, or pull.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessreconciliation

May 17, 202611 min read

Opening Balances Done Right: Mid-Year Setup and Clearing the OBE Account

Opening Balance Equity is the suspense account accounting software creates to keep the balance sheet in balance during migration. Build a supportable opening trial balance, reconcile every account at the cutover date, then journal OBE into Retained Earnings, Owner's Capital, or Common Stock and Additional Paid-in Capital based on entity type.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingmigrationjournal-entries

May 15, 202612 min read

Designing a Chart of Accounts That Actually Tells You Something

A practical guide to designing a chart of accounts that produces useful financial statements — how to number accounts in increments of 10, when to use sub-accounts versus dimensions for locations and departments, and the year-end cleanup ritual that prevents bloat.

Mike Thrift

chart-of-accountssmall-businessbookkeeping

May 12, 202614 min read

DCAA Audit Compliance for Government Contractors: SF 1408, Timekeeping, and Incurred Cost Submissions

A practical guide to the three audits every cost-reimbursable federal contractor faces — the SF 1408 pre-award accounting system survey, daily timekeeping compliance, and the Incurred Cost Submission due six months after fiscal year-end — with a 90-day preparation plan and the five most common audit findings.

Mike Thrift

complianceguidessmall-business

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