Cross + Co - Insights
40 Accounts Isn’t Detail. It’s Noise
Your chart of accounts has 340 lines. That isn’t detail, that’s noise. Someone added an account every time a transaction didn’t fit neatly, and nobody ever took one away. Now “Office Supplies” has four cousins, half your COGS sits in operating expenses, and no two months are coded the same way. A good chart of…
The 1099 Threshold Tripled. Your W-9 Discipline Shouldn’t Change
Payments made on or after January 1, 2026 don’t trigger a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC until a vendor crosses $2,000 for the year, but you won’t know who cleared it until the year is over. Stop collecting W-9s because “most of them won’t hit it anyway,” and you’ll spend next January chasing tax ID numbers from…
Your P&L Says You Made Money. Your Bank Account Disagrees
Neither: profit is an accounting opinion, cash is a fact, and the difference hides in exactly four places. Your customers are holding it in receivables, your shelves are holding it in inventory, your lender is taking it as debt principal that never touches the income statement, and you’re taking it out as owner draws that…
Not All Expenses Are Created Equal
Ever look at your P&L and wonder why two “expenses” behave so differently when sales go up or down? That’s because not all costs are created equal — and understanding the difference changes how you make decisions. Fixed costs stay steady no matter what you sell, while variable costs rise and fall with volume. Direct…
Everyone Quotes EBITDA. Few Know What It Hides.
Everyone quotes EBITDA — but very few people can tell you what it’s actually leaving out. EBITDA strips out interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization to show what the operating business earns before financing and accounting decisions get involved. That makes it a useful way to compare two companies on operations alone, which is exactly why…
You’re Not a Bank. So Why Are You Lending to Your Customers?
More small businesses are carrying overdue invoices this year than last — and most don’t call it what it is. When a customer takes 60 days to pay a 30-day invoice, you’ve handed them an interest-free loan out of your own working capital. The fix is rarely tougher collections — it’s tighter terms, deposits on…
You’re making 2026 decisions with a 2025 map.
That’s the quiet problem with the annual close — it’s a history report dressed up as a management tool. The businesses pulling ahead this year reconcile weekly and review margins monthly, adjusting price and spend while the quarter is still in play. The technology to do that is already sitting in your accounting system; what’s…
Your Business Account Isn’t Your Personal Wallet
“Just use the bank statements” is one of the most common shortcuts I see business owners take with their books—and one of the most costly. A bank statement only tells you what moved in and out of your account, not what you actually earned, what you owe, or what’s owed to you—and that gap gets…
What “Transformative” Actually Means at Cross + Co
Most CPA firms show up once a year, hand you a return, and disappear until next tax season — w We built Cross + Co to be different. Our team commits fully to your business, tackling problems by looking for the potential inside them, not just the paperwork. Every engagement is purpose-led, tying our work…
Bookkeeping Isn’t a Chore — It’s Your Competitive Edge
What if the most powerful growth tool in your business is sitting in a folder you only open at tax time? Most small business owners treat bookkeeping like a tax-season chore — something to survive once a year, not something to actually use. As a CPA and CFO, that’s the most expensive mistake I see.…