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#point-of-sale

Point of Sale

POS system selection, pricing, hardware, and reconciliation for restaurants and retail businesses

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15 min read

Is an 18% Service Charge a Tip? The IRS Four-Factor Test and What It Costs Your Restaurant Payroll

A mandatory service charge fails the IRS four-factor tip test, so it is wages rather than tip income — you owe both FICA shares on it, lose the Section 45B credit on Form 8846, and it is excluded from the new OBBBA qualified-tip deduction. Covers the four-factor test, the journal entries that keep Service Charge Revenue separate from Tips Payable, and the payroll, tip-credit, sales tax, and fee-disclosure changes a restaurant hits the day it switches.

Mike Thrift

restaurantpayrolltax-compliance
14 min read

Food Hall Operator Bookkeeping: Percentage Rent by Vendor, CAM True-Ups, and One POS Across a Dozen Kitchens

Percentage rent by vendor (8–15% of gross sales, booked as ASC 842 variable lease income), CAM pools with annual true-ups, and one POS settlement split across a dozen merchants — the account structure a food hall operator needs, plus the benchmarks (revenue per square foot, bar share, occupancy) that show a hall is working.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingreconciliationpoint-of-sale
9 min read

Where Did $90 Billion in Inventory Just Go? A Small Retailer's Guide to Booking Shrinkage Correctly

U.S. retailers lost $90–112 billion to inventory shrinkage in the latest reporting cycle, an average shrink rate near 1.6% of sales. This guide shows small retailers how to book shrink in a dedicated expense account instead of burying it in COGS — with the exact journal entries, cycle-counting schedules, materiality thresholds, and the process fixes behind the ~70% of shrink that isn't theft.

Mike Thrift

inventorysmall-businessbookkeeping
8 min read

No More Pennies: A Small-Business Guide to 2026's State Cash-Rounding Laws

The U.S. minted its last penny on November 12, 2025, and 19 states have enacted cash-rounding laws in 2026 with no federal standard yet in force. Most states let retailers round cash totals to the nearest nickel at their discretion, Arizona mandates Canadian-style rounding, and Indiana treats rounding gains and losses as income adjustments. Here is how the rules differ, why sales tax is always calculated on the pre-rounding price, and how to book rounding variances so they stay auditable.

Mike Thrift

small-businesscompliancelegal
8 min read

The $38 Billion Visa–Mastercard Swipe-Fee Settlement: What Small Businesses Can Now Surcharge, Decline, and Discount at the Register

In June 2026 a federal judge preliminarily approved the $38 billion Visa–Mastercard settlement, cutting average credit interchange by about 0.1 point for five years, capping standard consumer cards at 1.25% for eight years, and — with no sunset date — letting merchants surcharge by card type or decline premium card categories. Here is what the settlement permits, which states still ban or cap surcharging, and the network compliance checklist to follow before changing point-of-sale pricing.

Mike Thrift

paymentspoint-of-saleantitrust
10 min read

Extended Warranty Revenue Isn't Yours Yet: Why ASC 606 Says You Can't Book It at the Point of Sale

ASC 606 treats a separately priced extended warranty as a distinct performance obligation, so a $150 three-year service contract is booked as unearned revenue and recognized at $4.17 per month over 36 months — not as sale revenue on day one. This guide explains the assurance-type vs. service-type distinction, the three standalone-selling-price allocation methods for bundled pricing, and the journal entries small retailers need.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionaccountingsmall-business
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