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Contracts

Client contracts, scope of work agreements, and legal documentation for service businesses

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11 min read

Who Owns the Work Your Contractor Created? A Startup Founder's Guide to IP Assignment

Paying a contractor does not transfer intellectual property. Under U.S. law the creator owns the copyright and the inventor owns the patent rights unless a signed writing says otherwise, and "work made for hire" language covers only nine narrow statutory categories that exclude custom software. This guide covers the seven clauses a contractor IP assignment needs, why "hereby assigns" beats "agrees to assign," and what investors check in diligence.

Mike Thrift

legalcontractscopyright
10 min read

Estoppel Certificates and SNDAs: The Two Tenant Documents That Verify a Rent Roll Before You Close

An estoppel certificate is a tenant-signed statement of rent, term, deposits, options, and defaults that legally blocks the tenant from later contradicting it; an SNDA is the three-party agreement keeping that lease alive through a foreclosure. This guide covers what a buyer should demand in each, the red flags that justify re-pricing a deal, and how confirmed deposits and prepaid rent land on the opening balance sheet.

Mike Thrift

real-estateproperty-managementleases
12 min read

When Steel and Copper Prices Move After You Bid: A Contractor's Guide to Estimates and Change Orders That Hold

Steel mill products are up roughly 21 percent and copper products 16–25 percent year over year after the April 2026 Section 232 tariff restructuring set a 50 percent duty on metal-heavy goods. This guide shows contractors how to break out metals as dated line items, tie escalation clauses to a published BLS index with clear thresholds and proof requirements, and run monthly job-cost reviews so price spikes become approved change orders instead of lost margin.

Mike Thrift

constructionjob-costingtariffs
10 min read

Elevator Service Company Bookkeeping: Costing Every Callback at the Burdened CET Rate

How elevator service companies job-cost full-maintenance and exam-and-lube contracts per unit — booking prepayments as deferred revenue, costing callbacks at a burdened CET mechanic rate of 85 to 100 dollars an hour rather than the 52-dollar wage, carrying truck stock as inventory, and pricing renewals from twelve months of callback history.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingjob-costingsmall-business
10 min read

Pay-If-Paid vs. Pay-When-Paid: The Subcontract Clause That Decides Whether You Get Paid When the Owner Stalls

A pay-if-paid clause makes the owner's payment a condition precedent and shifts the full risk of owner nonpayment onto the subcontractor, while a pay-when-paid clause only sets timing and still obligates the general contractor. Courts enforce pay-if-paid only when the condition-precedent language is express, and at least eight states (California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin) void it outright. This guide covers how to tell the clauses apart, what to negotiate before signing, the Miller Act's 90-day notice and one-year suit deadlines, and how to book contingent receivables so your aging report and cash forecast tell the truth.

Mike Thrift

constructioncontractsaccounts-receivable
19 min read

Monument and Headstone Bookkeeping: Why a 50% Deposit Isn't Revenue (and How Cemetery Contracts Need Separate Books)

Monument shops collect deposits months before delivery and carry $25,000 to $90,000 in granite — so deposits must sit as deferred revenue until installation, granite must be costed by specific identification including freight, and retail walk-ins need a completely separate profit center from cemetery wholesale.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepinginventorysmall-business
19 min read

The FDCPA Won't Help You Collect That Unpaid Invoice: A Small Business Owner's B2B Collection Playbook

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act covers consumer debt collected by third parties, so it does not govern a business chasing its own overdue B2B invoices — contract law, UCC Article 2, and state unfair-practice statutes do. This guide explains the two FDCPA tests most commercial receivables fail, and gives a five-step recovery sequence from contract clauses and a follow-up cadence through demand letter, small claims or a 15–40% contingency agency, and judgment enforcement.

Mike Thrift

accounts-receivablecollections-managementcash-flow
6 min read

New York's Freelance Isn't Free Act: What the $528,817 Splashlight Settlement Means for Businesses That Hire Freelancers

New York's DCWP fined production company Splashlight $528,817 for paying fewer than 1 in 5 freelance contracts on time. Here's what the Freelance Isn't Free Act requires — written contracts for work over $800, payment within 30 days, six years of records — and how similar laws in Illinois and California now apply nationwide.

Mike Thrift

freelancecompliancelegal
8 min read

Bookkeeping for Professional Puppet Makers: Pricing Commissions, Deposits, and Design Rights

Custom puppets sell for $500–$1,500 yet take 20–100 hours to build, so untracked labor quietly destroys margins. How professional puppet makers should price commissions with the materials + labor + overhead + profit formula, book 50% deposits as deferred revenue instead of income, separate design-licensing from fabrication revenue, and handle post-Wayfair sales tax on interstate theater clients.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriessmall-business
9 min read

Craft Malting House Bookkeeping: Grain Inventory That Shrinks, Contract Growing, and a Year-Long Cash Cycle

Craft maltsters lose 10–20% of raw barley weight during steeping, germination, and kilning, pay farmers 3–4× feed-grain prices under multi-season contracts, and can wait over a year between buying grain and selling malt. Here's how to handle yield-ratio costing, contract-growing arrangements, and working-capital planning for a malthouse.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessinventory
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