Stacker-Small Business

By Kassi Luja for Xero You just hired a seasonal weekend worker to start in November, just in time for the holiday rush. It’s your first employee, and you’re not sure what comes next. The good news is that setup follows a fixed order, regardless of how many employees you have or what type of

By Yolanda La for Brex If you’re a founder or finance lead at a post-seed or scaling startup, you already know that profit on paper doesn’t always line up with cash in the operating account. Customer payments arrive on net terms, often 30 to 60 days after you invoice, while contractor invoices, software-as-a-service (SaaS) renewals,

By Matt Leskanic for Surety Bond Professionals When a new project opportunity arises, the time available to prepare a bid may be limited. If the project requires a bid bond, it helps to have the groundwork in place before the opportunity appears. Reaching out to a surety bond agency in advance can help you understand

By Assyl Yespanova for Higgsfield AI According to recent research, marketing budgets in the U.S., UK and across Europe have remained essentially unchanged. Gartner’s CMO survey reports that in 2026 marketing budgets are at 7.8% of revenue, up from 7.7% in 2025. “CMOs are being asked to deliver growth, efficiency and transformation without meaningful budget expansion,”

By Shiva Kumar for Way Imagine this scenario: It’s 4:45 p.m. Adam, a potential customer, is on his way back home when his check engine light flashes. He takes out his phone and quickly searches for “auto repair shops near me.” Your shop comes up. He taps the listing and notices that your shop is

By Damian Rollison for SOCi.ai For years, local search followed a rough sequence, driven in large part by the dominance of search as a channel and Google as its dominant provider. A consumer searches using keywords, evaluates a set of results, chooses one, and converts. That model is breaking down. According to SOCi.ai’s 2026 Local

By Yolanda La for Brex Many finance teams that receive invoices by email treat that workflow as e-invoicing. If the team still opens each file, reviews it, and keys the data into the accounting system, the process is manual even though the invoice arrived digitally. Many AP software vendors use “e-invoicing” loosely, and buyers can

By Vanessa Bridson for Global Payments If you stop by Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit on Small Business Saturday, you may be in luck. They usually dole out free samples of homemade shortbread biscuits slathered in vanilla icing and topped with sprinkles. “We roll out the welcome mat with special discounts, free samples and plenty of reasons

By Mary Beth Eastman for ERGO NEXT Small Business Saturday (Nov. 28, 2026) is more than a shopping day. It’s a chance for retail shops, restaurants and the nation’s 36.2 million independent businesses to connect with customers who value local businesses and support their communities. Increasingly, marketing strategies can help small-business owners reach customers long before

By Julia Taylor for Simply Business In the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant kitchen, accidents are common. In fact, an estimated 3 million foodservice employees and 1 million guests are injured in slip-and-fall accidents annually. These incidents cost businesses more than $2 billion, and that number keeps rising by about 10% every year.  

By Lisa Greene-Lewis for Intuit TurboTax Remote work has changed the way we work, but what about how we file our taxes?  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 changed the rules, limiting deductions for W-2 employees while keeping tax breaks for self-employed workers. That means not everyone can write off their internet

By Michael Sjolie for SJOLIE E-commerce giants like Amazon or Alibaba have made convenience, speed, and endless product choices the norm. Need something? A few clicks, and it’s at the door in under 48 hours. But not even a giant like Amazon can do it all. While it is unbeatable in efficiency and diversity, it

By Ariadna Thau for Rocket Lawyer The holidays are coming, and so are the time-off requests. Half the team wants the same week off, some of the busiest sales days are approaching, work needs to be finalized before next year, and you’re left figuring out who gets to spend the holidays at home and who

By Ed Grasso for Simply Business Setting up your own business is exciting because it gives you greater control over your time, where you work, and the people you choose to work with. However, like most good things, it also has a drawback. Around 20% of new businesses fail within their first year, yet most

By Mary Beth Eastman for ERGO NEXT Data from the nonprofit Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2025 Business Impact Report found that 81% of small businesses surveyed reported a security breach, a data breach, or both in the last year. Cyber liability insurance could help protect small businesses from some of the costs of data breaches,

By Katharina Reekmans, EA for Intuit TurboTax The home office tax deduction allows qualified taxpayers to write off certain home expenses related to the business use of their home when they file their taxes. Qualifying for a home office deduction depends on things like whether you are a remote or self-employed worker, whether you use

By Elliot Gajadhar for 1-800Accountant The typical annual revenue for an independent business is near $19,200 at the midpoint of 31 industries, closer to supplemental income than to a full salary, data from 1-800Accountant’s 1099 Earnings Report shows. That describes the situation for a lot of Americans: About 1 in 3 report having a side hustle, according

By Karen Guglielmo for Simply Business Setting up a small business is exciting, but it can also be a huge effort. The owners have to take into account a number of external factors, for example, economic pressures, labor shortages, and changing regulations. A small business may close permanently if it cannot keep up with consumer

By Will Gordon for Nutshell Integrating your CRM with accounting software like QuickBooks Online is most effective when your accounting team and sales team have agreed on what is shared and when. It only takes one meaningful conversation to ensure a seamless connection between these applications and avoid duplicating contacts. With a market share of

By Kassi Luja for Xero Q4 is when small business owners sit down to reconcile the year. They’re chasing W-9s, confirming vendor payments and preparing for the Form 1099-NEC deadline on Feb. 1, 2027. It’s tedious work, but it’s also the moment when invoice fraud becomes visible, if an owner knows what to look for.

By Shannah Pittman for Rocket Lawyer On July 14, 2026, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent rather than having most of the country return to standard time each fall. If this policy does become the new standard, winter sunrise and sunset will both occur

By Caroline Price for Toast It’s 11:40 a.m., and the invoices from the morning delivery are still stacked by the pass. Two servers have asked to swap shifts, and the pre-shift meeting notes are half-written on a check pad. You have a cook waiting on the prep list, a driver knocking at the back dock,

Starting a business is one of the best ways to build financial independence and work on your own terms. The challenge isn’t a lack of options. There are plenty of strong small business ideas out there. The challenge is figuring out which one fits your life. Your skills, interests, budget, and the time you can give

By Laci Buzzelli for ADP A small business owner has a decision to make. Overtime has climbed for the third month in a row, and the team is stretched. Adding another employee could ease the workload, but it also means adding to payroll at a time when cash flow needs to be watched closely. It’s

By Bliselle Martin for Rapid POS There is a lot of AI in the retail industry. From writing product descriptions, to creating marketing, helping with customer service, forecasting sales, displaying products, etc. While all these are great, what can AI actually help a retailer with? If you have a current POS system, you’re already halfway

When the holiday season arrives, corporate gifting can oftentimes feel impersonal: a basic water bottle with the company logo splashed on it or the twisty pen that sometimes works. What many folks in HR don’t know is that intentional gifting is the most overlooked retention tool in businesses. Here’s why. According to a Holiday gifting

The annual holiday shopping season typically gives retailers an opportunity to increase sales. Or for some businesses, earn the majority of their annual revenue. But the end-of-year shopping months also come with more risks for any business, including crowded stores, increased deliveries, technology bottlenecks and small teams stretched thin. Is your retail business or online

It’s mid-October. Holiday orders are in with a dozen suppliers, each with different payment terms. The first invoices are arriving, with more in November, but most of the holiday revenue won’t come in until December. That’s an accounts payable squeeze: You owe suppliers for goods that haven’t sold yet. For most retailers, that means inventory

Many businesses are approaching automation exactly like most people approach a new hobby: a lot of enthusiasm but shaky planning. And it’s happening at scale. The majority of SMBs (76%) have adopted some form of automation, ranging from simple rule-based workflows (38%) to AI that makes decisions across multiple systems with limited human input (30%). Unlike hobbies,

A customer opens your returns page. The jacket didn’t fit. They’re disappointed, a little impatient, and one bad experience away from never buying from you again. What happens next could determine whether they become a repeat customer—or move on to a competitor. That’s because a return isn’t just the end of a sale. It’s another