Practical guides for running the books
Honest writing on invoicing, cash flow, AR/AP, sales-tax compliance, and the messy realities of keeping a regulated small business audit-ready.
Three-Way Matching: Tying the Purchase Order, the Receipt, and the Vendor Invoice
A vendor invoice on its own is just a request for money. Three-way matching is the control that answers three questions before you pay it: did we agree to buy this, did we actually receive it, and is the bill for the right amount? Here is how the PO, the receiving record, and the invoice line up — and how a disciplined match stops overbilling, duplicate payments, and phantom charges before the money leaves.
The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast: The Short-Range Radar Every Small Business Needs
Your profit and loss statement can look healthy while your bank account runs dry — profit and cash are not the same thing. The 13-week cash flow forecast is the short-range radar that shows exactly when money will be tight, week by week, far enough ahead to do something about it. Here is how to build one, why 13 weeks is the magic number, and how to use it as a living tool instead of a spreadsheet you build once and forget.
When Your Bank Reconciliation Won't Balance: A Field Guide to Finding the Difference
Everyone learns how a bank reconciliation is supposed to work. Nobody warns you about the night it simply will not tie, the difference is $47.13, and you have no idea where it came from. This is the troubleshooting guide: the usual suspects behind an out-of-balance reconciliation, the arithmetic tricks that find a transposed digit or a doubled transaction in seconds, and a repeatable order of attack so you stop staring and start eliminating.
How to Reconcile Payroll Liability Accounts: Tying What You Withheld to What You Owe
Payroll liability accounts are supposed to fill up on payday and empty out when you remit the money — but on a lot of small-business books they quietly drift, hiding missed tax deposits or double-counted payments. Here is how to reconcile each one so the balance always ties to what you genuinely still owe, and what a growing or negative balance is really telling you.
Bookkeeping for a Business Line of Credit: Draws, Interest, and How It Differs From a Term Loan
A line of credit does not behave like a term loan on your books. There is no lump sum and no fixed amortization schedule — you draw what you need, interest is charged only on what you have drawn, and principal comes back at your own pace. Here is how to record draws, repayments, and interest so a revolving line tells the truth on your balance sheet instead of quietly distorting it.
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) for Government Contractors: Coverage, Thresholds, and What They Require
The Cost Accounting Standards are a separate rulebook from FAR Part 31 — not about whether a cost is allowable, but about measuring, assigning, and allocating costs the same way every time. Most small contractors are exempt, but growth, a big award, or a subcontract can pull you in. Here is who is covered, the difference between modified and full coverage, and what the standards actually make you do.