Resources
Answers to the bookkeeping questions U.S. small businesses actually ask. Every statement is quoted verbatim from a primary or professional source, carries its scope and its verification date, and every gap is stated rather than guessed. How we verify answers.
Release 1.0.0 · sealed 2026-09-12 · 36 pages · also as llms.txt
- A customer disputed a card payment and the processor pulled the money back — how do I record the chargeback and what records do I need?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 46 source-verified statements
- A customer paid a deposit or retainer before the work was done — how do I record it, and how do I apply it to the invoice later?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 22 source-verified statements
- Does my business have to track inventory, or can I just expense what I buy when I buy it?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 36 source-verified statements
- How do debits and credits work in double-entry bookkeeping?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 47 source-verified statements
- How do I accrue wages at month end when the pay period straddles the closing date?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 35 source-verified statements
- How do I create a record of cash sales when nothing generates a receipt, invoice or statement?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 44 source-verified statements
- How do I fix a 1099 I already sent out or filed with the wrong amount, wrong tax ID, or wrong recipient?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 76 source-verified statements
- How do I record buying inventory and turning it into cost of goods sold when it sells?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 28 source-verified statements
- How do I record it in the books when I sell, scrap, or trade in a piece of equipment or a vehicle?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 51 source-verified statements
- How do I record money I take out of the business for myself, and money I put in?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 48 source-verified statements
- How do I record tips — cash tips, credit-card tips and tips shared through a pool — and what tip records do I have to keep?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 46 source-verified statements
- How do I set up a chart of accounts for my small business, and what accounts should it contain?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 122 source-verified statements
- How do I set up my books so that 1099-reportable vendors and payments are tracked correctly all year instead of being reconstructed in January?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 58 source-verified statements
- How does depreciation actually get into my books, and why doesn't it match the depreciation on my tax return?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 68 source-verified statements
- I need to refund a customer or cancel an invoice I already recorded — how do I do it without just deleting the invoice?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 42 source-verified statements
- I received a wage garnishment or child-support withholding order for an employee — how do I record it, pay it, and what do I keep?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 76 source-verified statements
- I sold my unpaid invoices to a factoring company — how do I record the advance, the fee and the holdback so my receivables and revenue stay right?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 40 source-verified statements
- I spent money fixing up something the business already owns — is that a repair I can deduct, or an improvement I have to capitalize?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 62 source-verified statements
- Is this purchase a regular expense, or an asset I have to put on the balance sheet?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 36 source-verified statements
- My accounts receivable shows invoices as unpaid that customers already paid — how do I find and fix the wrong balances?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 54 source-verified statements
- My county sent a business personal property form asking me to list everything the business owns — what do I report and where do I get it?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 72 source-verified statements
- Should I edit, void, delete or reverse a transaction that was recorded wrong?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 37 source-verified statements
- Should I pay myself through owner draws or through payroll, and how is each one recorded?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 72 source-verified statements
- Should the business own the truck (and put it on the balance sheet), or should I keep it in my name and get paid for the miles?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 59 source-verified statements
- What checks can a very small business put in place when the same person records, pays and reconciles?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 59 source-verified statements
- What do I need on file from customers I didn't charge sales tax to, and how long do I have to keep it?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 64 source-verified statements
- What fiscal year should my books use, and what changes if it isn't the calendar year?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 45 source-verified statements
- What has to be on a customer invoice for it to work as a business record, and how should I number and issue invoices?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 51 source-verified statements
- What is an accounts receivable aging report, and how do I read and use it?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 51 source-verified statements
- What is certified payroll, and what do I have to produce each week on a public-works job?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 50 source-verified statements
- What is the Opening Balance Equity account sitting on my balance sheet, and how do I clear it?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 69 source-verified statements
- What payroll records does an employer have to keep, and for how long?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 76 source-verified statements
- What records do I need when my employees drive company-owned vehicles, including taking them home?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 51 source-verified statements
- What records should I keep to support treating a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 60 source-verified statements
- What should I do with bank transactions I can't identify or categorize?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 39 source-verified statements
- Which of the people and businesses I paid actually need a 1099, and which form and box does each payment go on?
Reviewed 2026-09-12 · 58 source-verified statements