#inventory
Inventory
Inventory tracking, valuation, and management for businesses
Goatscaping Bookkeeping: How to Account for a Targeted Grazing Business
A working goat herd is livestock the IRS lets you treat as either inventory or depreciable business property — an election that's hard to reverse. How targeted grazing operators should handle herd cost basis, diversified revenue streams, equipment costs, and the May-to-September seasonal cash-flow cliff.
New Jersey Legalizes Human Composting: Bookkeeping for a Natural Organic Reduction Facility
New Jersey's natural organic reduction law takes effect July 1, 2026, making it the 14th state to legalize human composting. The 45-day reduction cycle forces deferred-revenue treatment under ASC 606, unclaimed soil becomes a tracked inventory line, and NOR vessels need their own depreciation class — here's how funeral homes should set up the books.
Odoo vs. QuickBooks Enterprise for Manufacturers: BOM Costing and Multi-Warehouse Inventory Compared
QuickBooks Enterprise's Assembly Builds can't handle sub-assemblies, work orders, routing, or real-time WIP — Odoo's manufacturing orders can. A practical comparison of BOM costing, multi-warehouse inventory, 2026 pricing ($2,700+/yr Platinum vs. ~$25–32/user/mo), and the five signs a small manufacturer has actually outgrown QuickBooks.
Outdoor Power Equipment Dealer Bookkeeping: Floor-Plan Financing, Curtailment, and Manufacturer Rebates
How outdoor power equipment dealers should book floor-plan financing, curtailment payments, and manufacturer rebates — track lender liens by serial number, treat rebates as inventory cost reductions rather than income, and break out floor-plan interest to claim the uncapped IRC §163(j) deduction.
Pottery Studio Bookkeeping: How to Cost Kiln Firings, Glaze, and Clay for True COGS
A ceramics studio's true cost per piece includes two kiln firings, labor, 12–15% clay shrinkage, and a 5–15% failure allowance — not just $1 of clay. Here's the six-line COGS breakdown, per-firing kiln allocation, and the deferred-revenue treatment for classes and memberships.
Private-Label Pet Food Bookkeeping: Costing a Co-Packer's Formulation Fees, MOQs, and Recall Reserves Before You Ever Sell a Bag
Private-label pet food carries costs no co-packer invoice shows — kibble MOQs of 20,000–40,000 lbs, per-state AAFCO registration fees from $30 to $3,500 a year, and recall exposure running 3–5× direct costs. How to structure a chart of accounts, amortize per-SKU formulation fees, and fund a recall reserve before your first production run.
Bookkeeping for Reptile and Exotic Pet Breeders: Breeding Stock, Clutch Valuation, and the Hobby-Loss Trap
How reptile and exotic pet breeders should handle taxes and bookkeeping — the IRS nine-factor hobby-loss test, the one-time depreciate-vs-inventory election for breeding stock, why unhatched eggs aren't inventory, the unit-livestock-price method for hatchlings, and why a die-off of self-raised animals usually isn't deductible.
The SBA's New MARC Loan: A Practical Guide to Revolving Credit for Manufacturers
The SBA's new MARC loan gives NAICS 31-33 manufacturers up to $5 million in revolving working capital secured by business assets only, priced around prime plus 3.25%, with no personal real estate collateral and no borrowing base certificates required.
The SEC's Key Tronic Settlement: What Fake WIP Entries and Out-of-Period Adjustments Teach Small Manufacturers
The SEC found Key Tronic's Oakdale plant inflated pre-tax income by ~$981,000 with fake "Monster Job" WIP entries — cutting one quarter's income 47% when corrected. Here's how the scheme exploited absorption costing, why the company paid no penalty, and the inventory controls small manufacturers should copy.
Storage Unit Auction Reselling: How to Book a Lot You've Never Seen Inside
How storage unit auction resellers allocate one lump-sum bid across an entire unit of unknown items — dividing by item count or by relative fair market value — plus the cash-method small-business inventory election, a lot-based chart of accounts, hobby-vs-business rules, and sales tax registration.
Storage Unit Auction Reselling Bookkeeping: How to Price a Lot You've Never Opened
How to keep books for storage-unit auction flips — allocate one winning bid across dozens of items with the relative fair value method, deduct COGS only when items sell, use the Section 471(c) small-business exception, and report income even below the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold.
Vending Machine Route Bookkeeping: Why Your Total Revenue Number Is Lying to You
Route-wide revenue totals hide losing machines. How vending operators track profit per machine: 5–25% location commissions on gross vs. net, cashless fees that reach 8–10% on sub-$2.25 transactions, and monthly per-machine shrinkage reconciliation.