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We are the perfect bookkeeping service for small businesses. Low flat rate pricing (with a starter plan). Now, we do Taxes too!

Live, human support On time, accurate, return-ready financials every month. Visit us: www.mortonbookkeeping.com

09/10/2026

Still using “$600 means a 1099” for contractor payments? That rule needs a 2026 update.

For reportable nonemployee service payments made in 2026, the general federal Form 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000 per payee for the calendar year—not $600.

The $600 threshold still applies to 2025 payments. The year the money was paid matters.

And the threshold is based on the annual total, not the size of one invoice.

For example, three payments of $600, $600, and $800 to the same contractor total $2,000. Looking at each payment separately misses the bigger picture.

Before year-end, review each contractor’s payment total, W-9, and payment method with your tax preparer. Exceptions apply, and the amount alone does not determine every filing requirement.

One more distinction: no 1099 does not make taxable business income tax-free.

A higher reporting threshold may mean fewer forms. It does not mean you can stop keeping records.

Book a Tax or Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

07/10/2026

Job finished. Payment pending.

A full schedule does not tell you which customers still owe you.

Intuit QuickBooks' 2026 Small Business Late Payments Report found that 59% of businesses surveyed had invoices overdue by at least 30 days.

Before looking only for the next sale, take a look at the work you have already billed.

Try a weekly review of unpaid invoices. For each one, check the customer, remaining balance, due date, and next action.

But check the records before sending a reminder. A partial payment, customer credit, or payment that has not been linked to the invoice can change what is actually outstanding.

An accounts receivable aging report helps show who owes you money and how long a balance is past due. Use that information to decide who needs a reminder, who needs a conversation, and which records need correcting.

You should not have to remember every unpaid invoice while doing the next job.

Start With a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

05/10/2026

October 15 is 10 days away.

But if you own a business, do not automatically assume October 15 is “the business tax deadline.”

For 2025 calendar-year returns:

• An individual Form 1040 that was properly extended is generally due October 15, 2026.

• A calendar-year C corporation filing Form 1120 that received a six-month extension is generally due October 15, 2026.

But:

• A calendar-year S corporation filing Form 1120-S on extension was generally due September 15.

• A calendar-year partnership filing Form 1065 on extension was generally due September 15.

That distinction matters.

A business owner’s personal return can still be on extension until October 15 even though the business entity return had an earlier deadline.

And for an individual Form 1040 extension, October 15 extended the time to FILE — not the original time to PAY tax due.

The form matters.
The entity matters.
The deadline matters.

If you are unsure what was due, what was filed, or whether the business books are ready for the remaining return, now is the time to get clear.

Start With a Filing Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

01/10/2026

“I can write it off” is not a payment method.

Before a year-end purchase, separate the price from the tax benefit.

Here is a simplified, hypothetical example:

You spend $1,000 on a business purchase that is fully deductible this year. Assume the entire deduction saves income tax at a hypothetical 25% rate, with no other tax effects.

Tax saved: $250.
Cost after that tax saving: $750.

You still pay the seller $1,000. A deduction does not reimburse the purchase price.

That purchase may be worthwhile. Replacing worn equipment or buying something that genuinely helps you serve customers can make sense.

But “it lowers my taxes” is not the whole decision. Ask what the purchase does for the business—and whether you can comfortably cover the cash outlay.

Equipment deductions have eligibility and timing rules. Confirm the treatment with your tax professional before buying.

Buy for the business. Understand the tax benefit.

Book a Tax or Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

29/09/2026

DIY bookkeeping is fine—until it starts costing more than it saves.
Doing your own books is not automatically a mistake.
It may work perfectly well while the business is small, the activity is simple, and the records stay current.
The problem starts when bookkeeping becomes the job that is always postponed.
It may be time to hand it off when:
- bank and credit-card accounts are not reconciled regularly
- bookkeeping gets updated only when tax season arrives
- you cannot explain balances in the reports
- missing receipts and unanswered transactions keep piling up
- payroll, contractors, loans, or merchant deposits add more complexity
- your tax preparer is waiting on usable financial reports
- business decisions are being made from the bank balance alone
- evenings and weekends disappear into QuickBooks
Delegating the books does not mean the owner stops paying attention.
The owner should still review reports, answer questions, and understand where the business stands.
It means someone else maintains the process so the owner can use the information instead of constantly rebuilding it.
The best time to delegate is before late bookkeeping becomes catch-up bookkeeping.
Book a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

24/09/2026

Suggested is not the same as verified.

When a transaction downloads from the bank into QuickBooks, the system may suggest matching it to an existing record—or categorizing it as something new.

Those actions are not interchangeable.

Match when the transaction already exists in the books
Categorize when a new record truly needs to be created

Adding a downloaded transaction as new when a check, transfer, receipt, bill payment, or deposit is already recorded can make the books tell the same story twice.

Accepting the wrong match can connect the bank activity to the wrong record.

Before posting a suggestion, review:

the bank or credit-card statement
the amount and date
the account involved
the payee or customer
the existing QuickBooks record
any fees, grouped deposits, or timing differences

Automation can narrow the search.

It cannot replace reviewing what actually happened.

Start With a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

22/09/2026

Same job. Two dates. Two different ways of telling the financial story.

Suppose your business finishes a $5,000 job in September, but the customer pays in October.

Under cash-basis accounting, the income is generally recognized when the payment is received.

Under accrual-basis accounting, the income is generally recognized when the work is earned—even though the cash may arrive later.

Expenses follow a similar distinction:

Cash basis generally follows when money is paid.
Accrual basis generally follows when the cost is incurred.

A simple way to remember it:

Cash follows when money moves.
Accrual follows when the business activity happens.

That timing can change which month looks profitable, what appears in receivables or payables, and how the reports should be interpreted.

Neither method is automatically right for every business. The business structure, activity, records, and tax rules all matter.

Book a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

18/09/2026

A shoebox of receipts is not a bookkeeping system.

But it may be a perfectly usable starting point.

There is no benefit in feeling embarrassed about how the records were stored. The useful question is:

What happens to them next?

A practical cleanup process may include:

separating records by month or year
matching receipts to bank and credit-card activity
identifying cash or out-of-pocket purchases
adding explanations for unclear transactions
finding missing statements or invoices
scanning records into a searchable location
creating a simple monthly routine going forward

A receipt can show what was purchased.

It may not explain why the business purchased it, which account paid for it, whether the owner needs reimbursement, or how it should be reflected in the books.

That is where review and context matter.

The shoebox is not the failure.

Letting it remain the entire bookkeeping system is the problem.

Start With a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

17/09/2026

1099 season is not the time to discover your contractor records are a scavenger hunt.

Contractor information is much easier to manage when it is reviewed throughout the year—not reconstructed months later.

A useful monthly process can help answer:

Who was paid?
Is a W-9 on file?
What work did the payment cover?
Is there an invoice or other supporting record?
Was the payment made by check, card, bank transfer, or another platform?
Are payments being made from more than one account?
Is the payee name consistent across the records?
Does anything still need an explanation?

The bank feed may show a name and an amount.

It may not show the full contractor record.

The point is not to prepare information returns every month. The point is to identify missing documents, inconsistent names, and unclear payments while the details are still fresh.

A little organization throughout the year can prevent a major January scavenger hunt.

Book a Tax or Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

16/09/2026

Sometimes the bank did not charge you twice. The books just told the story twice.

Duplicate transactions in QuickBooks can appear when the same activity enters the file through more than one path.

For example:

someone entered the transaction manually, and the bank feed downloaded it later
a file was uploaded for dates already covered by the bank feed
the same activity was imported more than once
a downloaded transaction was added instead of matched
an older bank-feed connection left duplicate activity behind

The important question is not:

“Which one should I delete?”

The first question is:

“How many times did this actually clear the bank or credit card?”

Check the statement first. Then compare the date, amount, account, merchant, and supporting record.

One real charge with two bookkeeping entries usually means the books need correction.

Two real charges may mean something else happened.

The screen can show you the symptom. The statement helps confirm the facts.

Start With a Bookkeeping Review
www.mortonbookkeeping.com
(833) 255-5335

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Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+15616356323

Website

https://mortonbookkeeping.com/

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