Small Business Accounting

What is a Trump Account?

July 30, 2026

Trump Accounts are a new, tax-advantaged savings vehicle for eligible children, created under the Working Families Tax Cuts/One Big Beautiful Bill framework and described by both the IRS and the White House as a way to give kids a long-term financial head start. They are structured as a type of individual retirement account for minors, with the account generally established by a parent or legal guardian.

Notice 2025-68 provides a general overview of how Trump Accounts work and addresses certain initial questions about creating initial and rollover Trump Accounts, the $1,000 pilot program contribution, other contributions – including qualified general contributions and section 128 employer contributions – eligible investments, distributions, reporting, and coordination with the rules applicable to other types of IRAs.

Key eligibility rules

An account can be opened for a child who has not turned 18 before the end of the calendar year in which the election is made and who has a valid Social Security number. The federal $1,000 pilot contribution applies to children born between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2028, who are U.S. citizens with valid Social Security numbers.

Contributions and limits

The IRS says contributions cannot be made before July 4, 2026, and annual contributions are capped at an aggregate limit of $5,000, with employer contributions allowed up to $2,500 of that amount under an employer program. The account can receive deposits from parents, relatives, friends, employers, and certain governmental entities and charities, subject to the annual limit.

Investment and tax treatment

Funds in Trump Accounts must be invested in certain mutual funds or ETFs that track the S&P 500 or another index of primarily American equities. The account generally cannot be accessed before January 1st of the calendar year the child turns 18, and after that it is generally treated as a traditional IRA. Contributions are not deductible, but growth is tax-deferred, and later withdrawals are generally taxed under traditional IRA rules.

Why it matters for families

For families, the main appeal is long-term compounding with a government seed contribution for eligible children. The White House describes the program as a tax-advantaged investment opportunity for children, while IRS guidance emphasizes the account’s IRA-like structure, contribution rules, and age-based restrictions.

General Purpose and Difference from 529 Plans

Trump Accounts are broader long-term child savings accounts with IRA-like tax treatment and are serve as a great long term retirement planning tool. 529 plans are designed specifically for education savings and offer tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals when used for qualified education expenses.

Opening the Account

Fill out IRS Form 4547 to make the election to set up the account. Then, an activation email will be sent to officially set up the account.

Sources: IRS Guidance and Trump Accounts

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.

150 Days of an Additional 15% Tariff

February 22, 2026

Trump is invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974

Trump is invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, enabling him to bypass Congress and impose a 15% tax on imports from around the world. The new tariffs would come under a law that restricts them to 150 days.

This is the new baseline, often layering on top of the already active, higher-duty, or industry-specific measures such as:

•Section 232 – National Security Tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, and softwood lumber

•Sector-Specific Duties: Tariffs on automobiles, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and certain electronics

•Furniture and Household Goods: current 25% tariff on certain upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets, and vanities

Textiles and apparel from Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua will remain duty-free under the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

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.

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

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