CD Laddering for Your Business Emergency Fund: Keep Cash Liquid While Earning Top Yields
A CD ladder staggers business CDs so one matures every quarter — your reserve stays liquid while earning 4% instead of 0.4%.
#treasury-management
Treasury Management
Manage treasury operations and cash positions effectively
Where to Keep Business Cash Above the $250,000 FDIC Limit
Business deposits above $250,000 per bank are uninsured. Split cash across banks, use ICS or CDARS sweeps, or hold T-bills to close the gap.
FASB Proposes Treating Stablecoins as Cash Equivalents: What It Means If Your Business Holds USDC
FASB's August 2026 proposal would let a stablecoin sit in the cash line only with direct issuer redemption, 1:1 segregated reserves, and annual disclosure.
Your Payroll Provider Wants to Be Your Bank: Is a Payroll-Bank Combo Right for Your Small Business?
Rippling's Business Banking pairs same-day payroll with 2.25% APY checking — judge the custody, lock-in, and fine print before switching.
Municipal Bonds for Business Cash Reserves: Tax-Equivalent Yield vs. High-Yield Savings
A 4.08% muni yield equals a 6.00% taxable yield in the 32% bracket. How to run the tax-equivalent yield math on business reserve cash, and where munis beat FDIC-insured savings.
Treasury Stopped Mailing Paper Checks: What It Means for Business Refunds and Federal Payments
Since September 30, 2025, the Treasury has stopped issuing paper refund and vendor checks under Executive Order 14247. Here is how business refunds, IRS payments, and federal contract remittances work now.
Phantom Interest Income: Why Original Issue Discount Taxes You on Money You Haven't Received Yet
Original issue discount makes you report interest income each year on bonds that pay no cash until maturity. This guide covers where OID hides — zero-coupon bonds, T-bills, TIPS, seller-financed notes — the 0.25%-per-year de minimis threshold, how to read Boxes 1, 2, 6 and 8 of Form 1099-OID, and the basis and state-tax mistakes that make investors overpay.
Keeping Millions Fully FDIC-Insured at One Bank: How ICS and CDARS Reciprocal Deposits Work
FDIC insurance covers $250,000 per depositor, per bank, per ownership category — so an $800,000 business account leaves $550,000 uninsured. Reciprocal deposit networks like IntraFi's ICS and CDARS split a large balance into under-limit chunks across thousands of member banks while you keep one relationship and one statement. Here are the mechanics, the costs, ICS vs. CDARS, the overlap trap that quietly leaves money uninsured, and the bookkeeping that proves your coverage.
Lockbox Banking vs. Remote Deposit Capture: How Small Businesses Should Collect Customer Checks
A lockbox sends customer checks to a bank-run P.O. box where staff scan and deposit them the same day and return a remittance data file; remote deposit capture lets you scan checks at your own desk under the Check 21 Act. This guide compares the two for small businesses by check volume, customer geography and cost (setup, monthly and per-item lockbox fees versus a $5 to $40 per month scanner plan), and covers same-day posting to receivables, original-check retention, deposit cutoffs and positive pay.
Real-Time Settlement and Instant Payment Accounting: How FedNow and ISO 20022 Change Bank Reconciliation
FedNow and the RTP network settle payments 24/7, so a bank balance can change before your books do. How to reconcile instant payments with a five-state payment lifecycle (approved, submitted, accepted, settled, returned), a clearing-account chart-of-accounts pattern, ISO 20022 identifiers worth preserving, and a 30-day rollout plan for small businesses.
Restricted Cash Under ASC 230: A Practical Guide to Separating Unavailable Funds and Reconciling Cash Flow
Restricted cash is real money you cannot freely spend—lender reserves, escrow, customer deposits. ASC 230 requires the statement of cash flows to reconcile the combined total of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, and transfers between restricted and operating accounts are not cash flows. This guide shows small businesses how to identify restrictions, keep them in separate ledger accounts, reconcile releases monthly, and tie the cash-flow statement back to the balance sheet.
Reverse Factoring Without the Fog: How to Track Supplier Finance, Payables, and Cash Flow
Reverse factoring lets a supplier collect early from a finance provider while you still pay the full invoice at maturity. FASB ASU 2022-04 requires buyers to disclose key program terms, confirmed obligations outstanding, and an annual rollforward. Here is the data model, monthly reconciliation, and cash-flow analysis that keep those numbers defensible.