Where accounting makes "cents"

  If your financial statements show “Sales Tax Expense” on the P&L — your books are wrong. Period. 🚩 This week I reviewed two different sets of financials from two different prospective clients. One prepared by a tax pro. One prepared internally by the business owner. Both had the same mistake. Sales tax is NOT an expense. ❎ You are not the customer. ✅ You are the collector. It is a liability you hold in trust for the state. When it shows up as an expense, it tells me: • No one understands the flow of sales tax • The liability account isn’t being reconciled • Payments are being dumped to the P&L • Compliance is being treated like guesswork • The reports cannot be trusted at face value Harsh? Yes. But incorrect books are harsher when the state comes calling. #bookkeeping #accounting #salestax #smallbusinessfinance #constructionaccounting #financialcontrols #diagnosticreview #accountant #business #businessowner #balancesheet #dataentry #consultant #cfe #...

There’s a full-blown clown show of financial advice marching through the small business world right now 🤡 Cheap offshore bookkeeping. ➖ Random Facebook group “experts.” ➖ Template-trained data entry masquerading as financial strategy. ➖ Tax tips from someone’s cousin’s neighbor’s podcast. And then people wonder why: • Job margins are wrong • Cash flow makes no sense • Sales tax is a mess • Loan packages fall apart • Fraud goes unnoticed • Profit disappears Cheap books are not a savings strategy — they’re a risk multiplier. Serious businesses deserve serious financial guidance.