Guides

Guides to US company formation, taxes, and bookkeeping. Each guide is based on the IRS or state source it cites.

A blank payment card standing beside stacks of silver coins that rise toward a thin blue line, suggesting the different 1099-K rules for card payments and payment apps

1099-K threshold 2026: will your LLC get one?

Card payments have no 1099-K threshold. Payment apps and marketplaces report only over $20,000 and over 200 transactions, per platform. Here is how to tell.

2026-10-13

More guides

A hand lifting a black desk phone handset, with a fax machine holding a blank sheet and a sealed envelope behind it, suggesting three ways to apply for an EIN without an SSN

Formation & Compliance

EIN without an SSN: fax, mail, or phone

No SSN or ITIN means no online EIN. Compare the fax, mail, and phone routes for Form SS-4. See which lines slow a no-SSN application and where IRS letters go.

2026-10-13

A green paper map on cream with a thin thread running from a coin on one coast to a small brass key on another, suggesting money a foreign owner puts into a new LLC

US Taxes

Form 5472 in year one with no revenue

A foreign-owned single-member LLC with no sales may still need to file Form 5472 in its first year. The test is a reportable transaction, not revenue.

2026-10-13

Nine circular fields seen from high above in muted terracotta, rust, and rose tones, eight with a thin irrigation arm stopped at a different angle like a clock hand and one field left pale and faded with no arm, suggesting state filings that come due at different times of the year

Formation & Compliance

New LLC annual report and franchise tax: 7 states

See when a new LLC's first annual report or state tax comes due in seven states, what each filing costs, and what happens if you miss one.

2026-10-11

Two smoked amber glass pieces in a quiet room, a single pane beside a doubled one, the doubled piece casting a deeper amber shadow across a pale floor, suggesting the choice between one layer of tax and two

Formation & Compliance

LLC or C corp: what you plan for the next 2 years

A decision table for choosing an LLC or a C corp by your plans for investors, profits, losses, and foreign owners, with 2026 federal tax math comparing the two.

2026-10-11

A person seen from behind pulling one plain box from slate blue shelves of unlabeled cream archive boxes, suggesting records kept for different lengths of time

Bookkeeping & Finance

Business records retention: 3, 4, 6, or 7 years

Which business records to keep for 3, 4, 6, or 7 years, when each clock starts, and the IRS, Labor Department, and Form I-9 rules behind them.

2026-10-10

Four pale stone walkways crossing a sand-colored gravel courtyard and meeting at one open walnut door in a beige wall, suggesting four ways an LLC can become a C corporation

Formation & Compliance

LLC to C corp: four paths, filings, tax treatment

Four main ways an LLC reaches C corp status, Delaware fees, how the IRS treats a conversion, the final 1065 and first 1120, and when the QSBS clock starts.

2026-10-10

A flat grid of small cream paper tiles on a deep teal surface, rows added one column at a time, with a single brass pin set just past the last column to mark the cutoff, soft window light

US Taxes

Form 1065 due date and late-filing penalty by year

When Form 1065 is due, the Form 7004 cutoff, the per-partner, per-month penalty for returns due 2024 through 2027, and relief after a CP162A notice.

2026-10-09

A black abacus with brass beads on an ivory desk, three beads set apart on one rod to suggest three choices, a blank folded paper slip tucked under its edge, soft window light

Bookkeeping & Finance

When to hire a bookkeeper: a decision table

The tax forms and filings that decide when a small US company outgrows do-it-yourself books, what a bookkeeper can and cannot do, and a public wage benchmark.

2026-10-09

A closed deep green ledger book and a single brass coin set a few inches apart on a cream desk, suggesting the gap between when work is recorded and when cash is received

Bookkeeping & Finance

Cash vs accrual accounting on the first tax return

Cash vs accrual for a new US company: where the method goes on your return, who cannot use the cash method, what timing changes, and how to switch later.

2026-10-08

Hands placing the last of four brass coins into a shallow cream dish on a deep green surface, lit by soft window light

US Taxes

LLC estimated tax safe harbor in year one

Who pays estimated tax for an LLC, the 2026 due dates, the 90% and 100% safe harbor, the no-tax-last-year exception, and what differs for C corporations.

2026-10-08

A row of cream blocks of varying heights on deep green, with a thin brass line marking the reporting threshold and a small hourglass for the filing deadline

US Taxes

1099-NEC threshold 2026: $2,000 and its exceptions

For payments made in 2026, the 1099-NEC threshold is $2,000, up from $600. Who files, which payments are excluded, and the exceptions that still apply.

2026-10-07

Two abstract landforms of different sizes linked by a dotted path, comparing two states for forming an LLC

Formation & Compliance

Wyoming vs Delaware LLC: two-year state costs

Wyoming vs Delaware LLC state costs for the first two years, taken from state sources and compared with New Mexico, plus why your operating state matters.

2026-10-07