Bookkeeping

Landscaping Businesses – Are you eligible for the Fuel Tax Credit?

March 10, 2026

The Fuel Tax Credit is a refundable credit for businesses that use certain fuels in qualifying work‑related, nontaxable activities. It is not a broad write‑off for anyone who buys gas and has a side hustle, despite what deceptive social media “strategies” are communicating. Be careful of social media tax advice. Before you claim the Fuel Tax Credit, check if you’re eligible.

Note: The Fuel Tax Credit is not available to most taxpayers. To qualify, you must:

Own or operate a business
Meet certain requirements, such as running a farm or purchasing aviation gasoline

What the Fuel Tax Credit Actually Covers

The credit applies only for nontaxable uses of gasoline, aviation gasoline, undyed diesel and undyed kerosene. Nontaxable uses are purposes where fuel isn’t used for regular driving purposes. Common qualifying nontaxable uses are:

On a farm for farming purposes
Off-highway business use (for equipment, machines, vehicles and tools that operate on private property, farms, or construction sites, not public roads)
Commercial fishing
Certain types of buses (intercity, local, or school)

To see the full list of uses refer to the instructions on Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels.

What clearly does not qualify

The IRS highlights several non‑qualifying uses:

Fuel for vehicles used for personal activities, commuting, or driving for Uber/Lyft
Non‑business off‑highway use such as minibikes, snowmobiles, power lawn mowers, chain saws, and other yard equipment used personally
Fuel used in any vehicle that is registered or required to be registered to drive on public highways

What is an example of an eligible taxpayer

A landscaping company using gasoline in power lawn mowers and chain saws when performing landscaping services for client work qualifies as fuel used for off-highway business use

Made an incorrect claim?

Taxpayers who claimed the credit in error may receive Notice CP321C. The IRS instructs affected taxpayers to either:

Follow the directions in the notice, or
File an amended return to correct the claim, depending on the situation

Note: The above does not constitute tax advice and is for informational purposes only. Please consult your tax advisor.

1099s Are Coming: What Business Owners Need to Know Before January 31st

December 11, 2025

If your business paid contractors, landlords, or attorneys, there is a good chance you have 1099 filing obligations—and the IRS is not known for its sense of humor when it comes to missed forms.

What Is a 1099, Really?

“1099” is not one form, but a family of information returns used to report various types of non-wage income to both the IRS and the recipient. For most small and mid-sized businesses, the key players are Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation and Form 1099-MISC for certain miscellaneous payments like rents and legal fees.

While W‑2s are for employees, 1099s are for most nonemployees you pay in your business or nonprofit organization. Getting this line wrong can trigger penalties, payroll tax exposure, and some very uncomfortable IRS letters. To help you determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee, see Pub. 15-A.

1099-NEC vs 1099-MISC

Here’s a quick side‑by‑side you can use in the blog to clarify the most common confusion:

Feature	1099-NEC	1099-MISC
Primary purpose	Report nonemployee compensation and attorney fees paid to a law firm.	Report certain miscellaneous payments for each person to whom you have paid during the year. (rents, prizes and awards, etc.)
Typical recipients	Independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, and attorneys paid in connection with legal services	Landlords, recipients of prizes/awards and certain other payments
Dollar threshold	$600 or more	$600 or more

Go to IRS.gov/Form1099MISC or IRS.gov/Form1099NEC or General Instructions for Certain Information Returns at IRS.gov/1099GeneralInstructions

Who You May Need to Issue a 1099 To

From a practical business-owner standpoint, year-end 1099 reviews typically focus on the following categories:

Nonemployee service providers: Independent contractors, consultants, and other nonemployees you paid in your trade or business are often reported on Form 1099-NEC once total payments reach the $600 threshold for the year.
Landlords and property owners: Rent payments made during the year are generally reported on Form 1099-MISC if they meet the reporting threshold.
Attorney Fees: Payments made to attorneys, including law firms, and are reportable on Form 1099-NEC, even when paid to incorporated entities.

Now is the time to ensure you have all of your W-9 information so the 1099’s are accurate and backup withholding risks are minimized.

Note – Typically, there are exceptions to 1099 reporting for payments made to corporations, however, a detailed review with your tax accountant is necessary to determine what exceptions may apply.

Key Considerations – 1099-MISC

Generally, payments to a corporation (including a limited liability company (LLC) that is treated as a C or S corporation) do not have to be reported on Form 1099-MISC
Reportable payments to corporations – The following payments made to corporations must generally be reported on Form 1099-MISC:
Deceased employee’s wages – When an employee dies during the year, you must report the accrued wages, vacation pay, and other compensation paid after the date of death. Whether the payment is made in the year of death or after the year of death, you must also report the payment to the estate or beneficiary on Form 1099-MISC.
Rent Payments:
- Real estate rent paid during the year for office space. However, you do not have to report these payments on Form 1099-MISC if you paid them to a real estate agent or property manager.
- Machine rentals (for example, renting a bulldozer to level your parking lot). If the machine rental is part of a contract that includes the use of the machine.

Key Considerations – 1099-NEC

Payments to attorneys – The term “attorney” includes a law firm or other provider of legal services. Attorneys’ fees of $600 or more paid in the course of your trade or business are reportable in box 1 of Form 1099-NEC, under section 6041A(a)(1).
Include fees, commissions, prizes and awards for services performed as a nonemployee, and other forms of compensation for services performed for your trade or business by an individual who is not your employee.
Exchanges of services between individuals in the course of their trades or businesses. For example, an attorney represents a painter for nonpayment of business debts in exchange for the painting of the attorney’s law offices. The amount reportable by each on Form 1099-NEC is the FMV of their own services performed.
Fees paid by one professional to another, such as fee-splitting or referral fees.

Key Deadlines – When to File

File and furnish a copy of Form 1099-NEC on paper or electronically by February 2, 2026
File Form 1099-MISC by February 28, 2026, if you file on paper, or March 31, if you file electronically

If you are using QBO then visit intuit’s tutorial on how you can create and file your 1099’s from the data already in Quickbooks. QBO tutorial to filing 1099’s in Quickbooks

The above does not constitute tax advice and is for informational purposes only. Please consult your tax advisor.

Don’t lose six figures due to poor internal controls

November 7, 2025

A Cautionary Tale for Small Business Owners

An article featured in a Local Newspaper highlighted an office manager who wrote checks to herself for over 4 years, allegedly stealing more than $200,000 from her employer.

This isn’t just a shocking headline; it’s a crucial cautionary tale for every small business owner. It’s common for dedicated office managers or administrative staff to handle bookkeeping to save costs. While convenient, this practice can create massive, unseen risks when proper oversight is missing.

The core issue is a lack of internal controls. When one person has the authority to both write checks and manage the books, there is no system of checks and balances. This is why segregation of duties is not just corporate jargon; it’s a fundamental principle for protecting your assets.

Key controls to implement include:

Ensuring the person who authorizes payments is different from the person who makes them.
Having a separate individual reconcile bank accounts from the one handling daily transactions.
Requiring owner or senior manager review and approval of all bill payments and financial statements each month.
Utilize credit card payments or ACH in conjunction with Spend Management platforms like Ramp, Bill.com, or Stampli that centralizes AP, approvals, and supporting documents all in one platform.

Many business owners believe they are saving money by avoiding professional accounting help. However, as this $200K case illustrates, the potential cost of fraud, undetected errors, and inaccurate financial reporting can be catastrophic. Proactive accounting and financial oversight are not an expense; they are a critical investment in your company’s long-term health and security.

From Chaos to Clarity: How Designers Can Master Cash Flow in Q4

October 3, 2025

Creative Interior Designers and Graphic Designers thrive on ideas, not accounting software and spreadsheets—but consistent profit requires more than great design

In the creative world, passion sometimes overshadows the practical details—like tracking each project’s true costs or monitoring client payments while new expenses pile up. As the year winds down, this disconnect becomes painfully obvious. Suddenly, tax season looms, vendors expect payment, and that “profitable project” turns out to be a money pit in disguise.

Common challenges for creative businesses:

Slow-paying clients (We can help manage your AR to identify those slow paying clients before it takes a toll on your business)
Unexpected expenses (We can help you put together a budget for your larger projects to help you stay on track)
Tracking costs per project – (To ensure you price your projects profitably it is essential to not just track total revenue and total expenses but understand and measure the revenue and expenses per job)

Let Q4 be the wake-up call and the perfect time to partner with an accounting solution for financial insights, to eliminate chaos, and start the new year confidently, creatively, and with positive cash flow.

Contact Tekio Advisors Today!

Fractional Controller & CFO | Small Business Accounting Blog

Is your accounting hiding a costly mistake? Undeposited Funds – the financial graveyard – where bookkeeping mistakes are buried

August 19, 2025

Undeposited funds can silently disrupt your finances. Watch out for these common issues:

Duplicate entries inflating your income. Is your bookkeeper forcing the bank reconciliation by adding credit card payments received from customers from the bank feed and recording the amount to cash and sales? For accrual basis Companies it is important to coordinate with the accounts receivable person and obtain the merchant statement to ensure the amounts are applied to the customers invoice and then properly recording the batch deposit into the cash account so QBO will reclass the batch credit card deposit out of undeposited funds into the cash account enabling QBO to properly match the transactions during the bank reconciliation process.
Delayed bank deposits messing with your cash flow. Still getting customer checks? After you receive the customers checks, do you apply the customer payment to the invoice timely yet there is a significant delay in depositing them into the bank?
Incomplete records leading to inaccurate month end financial reports.
Ballooning Undeposited Funds Balance: Over time, failure to correctly clear out undeposited funds can lead to a large, inaccurate balance that does not reflect true money in process or cash on hand. This can indicate underlying system problems or bookkeeping errors.
Tax and Reporting Issues: An overstated undeposited funds balance can result in overreported profit, leading to potential overpayment of taxes and an inaccurate balance sheet.

Best Practices to Avoid Undeposited Funds Problems:

Regularly review and reconcile the undeposited funds account—ideally on a weekly basis to ensure the account is zeroing out or if there is a balance due to timing differences that you know what they are from and that they clear out within a reasonable period thereafter (approximately 1-3 days).
Use systematic workflows for receiving payments and grouping deposits.
Double-check that payments are matched to bank deposits properly, especially when multiple payments are bundled together, and that the person preparing the bank reconciliation isn’t forcing the bank and books to match by simply adding the bank feeds to the books without investigating why there is no match when the books are on the accrual basis.

Links to QBO videos regarding the undeposited funds:

What’s the Undeposited Funds Account

How to record a bank deposit

Let Tekio Advisors LLC handle your accounting and bookkeeping services in New York! Get Started today with our small business bookkeeping and Tell Us About You!

We primarily focus on small business bookkeeping growing E-Commerce Companies (Consumer Product Goods industry), SAAS startups, HVAC Companies, and Professional Services – accounting and bookkeeping services for Interior Designers, Architecture Firms, and Occupational & Physical Therapy Companies.

Building the Foundation for Reliable Financial Reporting

August 11, 2025

The Critical Role of Monthly Bank Reconciliations:

Keeping accurate books isn’t just a best practice—it’s a necessity for every successful business. At the heart of reliable accounting and trustworthy financial reports lies one simple but often overlooked process: monthly bank reconciliations. Here’s why making this a non-negotiable habit will set your business on the path to financial clarity and compliance.

What Is a Bank Reconciliation?

A bank reconciliation compares your business’s internal financial records (your books) to the bank statement for the same period. The goal: to ensure all recorded cash transactions actually made it to (or from) your bank account, and that there are no unexplained discrepancies.

Why Monthly Bank Reconciliations Matter

Ensures Accuracy: Catching errors—like missing deposits, double payments, or unauthorized transactions—early prevents small mistakes from snowballing over time. Reconciling monthly means you spot problems when they occur, not months or years later.
Guards Against Fraud: Regular reviews and reconciliations serve as a deterrent to fraudulent activity. You’re more likely to spot unauthorized withdrawals or unusual transfers quickly and take action.
Supports Clean Financials: Most end-of-year accounting headaches can be traced to sloppy monthly reconciliation. Accurate reconciliations feed directly into your financial statements, providing a true and fair view of your company’s performance and cash position.
Simplifies Audits and Tax Preparation: When your books match your bank’s records each month, auditors and tax preparers can work efficiently. This reduces the risk of costly penalties, delays, or unnecessary IRS attention.
Enhances Decision-Making: Up-to-date and accurate information allows owners and managers to make smarter, more timely business decisions—such as managing cash flow, budgeting, or seeking financing.

What Can Go Wrong Without Regular Reconciliations?

Cascading Errors: If a mistake in January isn’t caught until December, every subsequent report—and decision based on that report—may be compromised.
Inaccurate Financial Statements: Profit and loss reports, balance sheets, and cash flow statements lose credibility, making it hard to attract investors, renew loans, or sell your business.
Hidden Bank Fees or Errors: Without reconciliation, recurring fees or accidental charges from the bank may go unnoticed, quietly eroding your bottom line.
Potential Compliance Issues: For companies with investors or lenders, improper reconciliations can lead to compliance problems and internal control issues when undergoing a financial statement audit or review by your CPA firm.

Create a Reconciliation Habit Into Your Monthly Routine

Set a recurring date each month—ideally soon after your bank statement is available.
Use accounting software with bank feeds or reconciliation modules to automate parts of the process.
Audit any discrepancies immediately. Investigate the cause and document your findings.
Keep supporting documentation organized and attached to each transaction.
Have an independent review—if possible, assign someone other than the preparer to review the completed reconciliation.

Accurate, timely bank reconciliations are more than a bookkeeping chore—they’re the bedrock of sound financial management. Make them a priority, and your business will be equipped with better data, fewer headaches, and more trust in every number you report. For QBO users see bank reconciliation guide from intuit: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/accounting/bank-reconciliation/