A business credit report is a snapshot of a company’s financial health. It shows details about the company’s debt and how it handled debt payments in the past. It’s broken into various sections, each showing different information for company liens, outstanding loans, derogatory payment information, and recent credit applications. Lenders and investors often review this…
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What Is Square? How It Works, Pricing, Features & Best Uses
Square helps small businesses take payments, manage sales, and run key parts of their operations from one platform. It is popular because it is easy to start, has transparent pricing, and supports in-person, online, and mobile selling. In this guide, I break down Square POS for small business, including how it works, its pricing plans…
What Is Payroll Tax? What Employers Pay and Why It Matters
One of the first common payroll questions I get is: What is payroll tax, and what does it cover? Put simply, these are the taxes employers must withhold and pay based on employee wages. These taxes are sent to government agencies and generally include Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes. For business owners, understanding the…
What Is Certified Payroll & How to Comply in 2026
Learn everything you need to know about certified payroll, from how it works to what state and federal laws regulate it.
Certified payroll is a weekly payroll report required under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts (DBRA), a federal law that governs wages on federally funded construction projects. Contractors and subcontractors working on projects valued at over $2,000 must submit these reports to the US Department of Labor (DOL) to demonstrate that workers are being paid the…
Payroll Records: What to Include & How Long to Keep Them
Payroll records are documents that track employee pay, taxes, hours worked, and compensation history. Federal laws like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) require employers to keep most payroll records for at least three years, though some documents, such as payroll tax forms and retirement plan records, must be kept longer depending on the governing…
Cash Disbursement Journal: Definition & Sample Entries
A cash disbursement journal (CDJ) is a specialized accounting journal used to record all cash payments in one place.
A CDJ helps bookkeepers track outgoing cash transactions in one organized place. Instead of recording every payment separately in the general journal, all cash payments are first listed in the cash disbursement journal throughout the period. At the end of the accounting period, the totals are summarized and posted as a single compound entry in…
A Simple Explanation of Section 1231 Property & Its Taxation
Editor’s Note: This article focuses on the big-picture 1231 issues. It excludes details and exceptions that rarely make a difference and only serve to overly complicate things. It is intended for small business owners trying to understand how the tax is calculated on their asset sales, so if you’re a tax pro researching the nuances…
What Is TikTok Shop? How It Works, Fees, and Selling in 2026
Learn how TikTok Shop works, current fees, shipping rules, and what US sellers should know before using it as a sales channel.
TikTok Shop is TikTok’s built-in shopping platform that lets customers discover and buy products without leaving the app. Shopping happens through in-feed videos, LIVE shopping streams, the Shop tab, and dedicated product pages, turning short-form content into a direct sales channel. TikTok Shop still matters in 2026 because in-app shopping is now a real user…