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NEXT Insurance has launched a new multi-location workers’ compensation (WC) coverage option, allowing small business owners operating multiple locations within a single state to secure coverage under a single policy. The move positions NEXT as one of the first WC insurers to offer a fully digital solution for businesses managing multiple sites. The new coverage is designed for small businesses with multiple branches or offices, addressing the increasing complexity of insurance needs as they expand and hire more employees. With workplace accidents posing a growing risk for expanding businesses, the multi-location WC policy enables small business owners to manage their insurance across all locations through an online platform. “Until now, entrepreneurs have struggled to manage multiple locations and scale their operations with the right protection and, ultimately, the peace of mind that coverage offers,” said Jack Ramsey, VP of Agents at NEXT. “Multi-location for workers’ compensation will simplify coverage options for small businesses with multiple locations, saving them valuable time managing their policies. This new offering also gives SMBs the peace of mind that with NEXT, their coverage options will grow in tandem with their business.” NEXT’s digital platform enables real-time policy updates and self-service capabilities, allowing business owners to adjust coverage across all locations at any time. The online binding and servicing features give small business owners and insurance agents greater flexibility in managing policies. The streamlined process also facilitates the sale of policies to larger businesses needing scalable coverage. The multi-location WC policy is available through NEXT’s online platform, NEXT agents, and embedded partners. The simplified application process reduces administrative burdens, allowing business owners in industries such as food and beverage, retail, and professional services to quickly obtain coverage. With this latest offering, NEXT Insurance aims to provide a seamless, digital-first experience for small business owners, ensuring that as their businesses grow, their insurance protection can scale with them. Image: Envato This article, "NEXT Insurance Introduces Multi-Location Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

NEXT Insurance has launched a new multi-location workers’ compensation (WC) coverage option, allowing small business owners operating multiple locations within a single state to secure coverage under a single policy. The move positions NEXT as one of the first WC insurers to offer a fully digital solution for businesses managing multiple sites. The new coverage is designed for small businesses with multiple branches or offices, addressing the increasing complexity of insurance needs as they expand and hire more employees. With workplace accidents posing a growing risk for expanding businesses, the multi-location WC policy enables small business owners to manage their insurance across all locations through an online platform. “Until now, entrepreneurs have struggled to manage multiple locations and scale their operations with the right protection and, ultimately, the peace of mind that coverage offers,” said Jack Ramsey, VP of Agents at NEXT. “Multi-location for workers’ compensation will simplify coverage options for small businesses with multiple locations, saving them valuable time managing their policies. This new offering also gives SMBs the peace of mind that with NEXT, their coverage options will grow in tandem with their business.” NEXT’s digital platform enables real-time policy updates and self-service capabilities, allowing business owners to adjust coverage across all locations at any time. The online binding and servicing features give small business owners and insurance agents greater flexibility in managing policies. The streamlined process also facilitates the sale of policies to larger businesses needing scalable coverage. The multi-location WC policy is available through NEXT’s online platform, NEXT agents, and embedded partners. The simplified application process reduces administrative burdens, allowing business owners in industries such as food and beverage, retail, and professional services to quickly obtain coverage. With this latest offering, NEXT Insurance aims to provide a seamless, digital-first experience for small business owners, ensuring that as their businesses grow, their insurance protection can scale with them. Image: Envato This article, "NEXT Insurance Introduces Multi-Location Workers’ Compensation Coverage for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Massachusetts attorney general noted some consumers were caught by surprise when they realized the full cost of their agreements after signing. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate (RHR) are the metrics that most wearables' "recovery" numbers are based on. I wore five devices to bed for two weeks to see how their readings compared. Those devices were an Apple Watch Series 10, a Fitbit Charge 6, a Garmin Forerunner 265S, an Oura Ring 4, and a Whoop 4.0. Why these five? Well, they're the major brands that people tend to gravitate toward when they want to track sleep, and for each I chose the best (in my opinion) of each company's current offerings. I had most of them on hand due to testing them for recent or upcoming reviews. The Apple Watch Series 10 is the one our Associate Tech Editor Michelle Ehrhardt crowned the best Apple Watch for most people. The Charge 6 is Fitbit's standout no-nonsense fitness tracker (sorry to Fitbit smartwatch lovers, but there are better smartwatches out there.) The fourth-generation Oura ring is the company's newest and best, and Whoop's 4.0 strap is the current hardware for its subscription-based recovery and activity tracking service (which beat Oura in our head-to-head comparison). Garmin makes a multitude of watches that can track your sleep, but the one that I tested here is my personal device, a Forerunner 265S—which is, in my opinion, one of the best running watches out there. As I've discussed before, the numbers we get from our smartwatches fall into a few different categories. Many are scores or icons that we can't really verify with other devices—what does it mean to have a "sleep score" of 87, anyway? Others are measurements, and we can compare those from device to device, since they should all be measuring the same thing. Different devices may use different sensors to pick up the data and different algorithms to process and display it, but we'd expect to see similar numbers from all of the devices tested. Our HRV and resting heart rate numbers fall into this latter category, so let's see how well the devices match. WHOOP 4.0 with 12 Month Subscription – Wearable Health, Fitness & Activity Tracker $239.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $239.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Garmin Forerunner 265S Running Smartwatch (Black/Yellow) $449.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Get Deal Get Deal $449.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Oura Ring 4 - Black - Size 8 - Smart Ring - Size First with Oura Ring 4 Sizing Kit - Sleep Tracking Wearable - Heart Rate - Fitness Tracker - Up to 8 Days of Battery Life $349.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Get Deal Get Deal $349.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M 130-180mm, Sports Band) $399.00 at Best Buy Get Deal Get Deal $399.00 at Best Buy Fitbit Charge 6 Activity Tracker - Heart Rate Monitoring, 7-Day Battery, Google Apps, Maps & Wallet, Comprehensive Health Insights, Sleep & Activity Analysis, S & L Bands, (Coral/Champagne Gold) $149.00 at Amazon $179.99 Save $30.99 Get Deal Get Deal $149.00 at Amazon $179.99 Save $30.99 SEE 2 MORE What is HRV, anyway? HRV, or heart rate variability, is a measure of how steady your heartbeat is. Not how fast or how slow, but how different of a time frame passes between beats. The differences are only measurable with precise equipment, but here's the basic idea: If your heart goes “beat…beat..beat………..beat….beat..beat…….beat,” you have a high HRV (high variability), and that’s a good thing. On the other hand, if your heart goes “beat….beat….beat...beat…..beat,” that’s a low HRV. We tend to have a low HRV when we’re stressed or fatigued, and a high HRV when we’re either not stressed, or recovering well from our stressors. This may seem counterintuitive, because most of us think of an ideal heartbeat as being steady and regular, but subtle variations from one beat to another are healthy and normal. Our heart takes its orders on how fast to beat from two different parts of our nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic). It's thought that a high HRV indicates that the two systems are both active—balancing each other out, in a sense. Your HRV will change from day to day, and that’s where these devices come in. You’ll often see a change in your HRV numbers right after a hard workout or stressful work day, giving you an early heads up about what your body is dealing with. This information, used wisely, can help to guide your choices about how to manage your workout schedule, your stress, and your health-related habits. What counts as a “good” HRV depends on your own history; it’s not worth comparing yourself to others. (I don’t mean that in a feel-good kind of way, but literally, scientifically: your HRV only makes sense when compared to itself.) Whoop reports that the middle 50% of 20-year-olds have an HRV between about 60 and 105, with numbers declining as we get older. If you’re 60, according to that data set, you’re likely to have HRV numbers somewhere between 30 and 50. How does HRV differ from resting heart rate (RHR)?Your resting heart rate is also a number that reflects stress on your body, including fatigue and illness. Unlike HRV, where higher is "better," a higher resting heart rate means you’re more stressed, and a lower one is a sign that you’re well recovered. Resting heart rate can also change over time as you become more fit. Athletes tend to have lower RHR numbers, and people who take up an exercise habit often find that their RHR declines a bit over time. (That said, RHR isn’t a direct measure of cardio fitness; there seems to be a significant genetic component as well. Take me as an example: my RHR is always pretty low, even when my cardio fitness is crap. If I’m doing a lot of endurance training, it will drop by two to three points, but no more.) Most healthy adults have a resting heart rate of between 55 and 85 beats per minute (some sources give 60 to 100 as the typical range). It’s important to note that these numbers usually assume that you’re sitting quietly in a doctor’s office. When you’re asleep in your own bed, your heart rate can dip a bit lower. So it’s normal to see lower numbers on a wearable that records all night than you would see when you go to the doctor. How to track your HRV and resting heart rate with wearablesGone are the days when you may have charged your fitness tracker at night; now, fitness-focused wearables are expected to be worn in your sleep to track these nighttime metrics. During the night, your device monitors your heartbeat. It may sample and average different readings, and each device measures and calculates its numbers slightly differently. (That’s why I didn’t expect much agreement between the devices, but more on that in a minute.) When you wake up, you might be presented with a “readiness” or “recovery” score, but I stand by my position that HRV and RHR are the only numbers really worth paying attention to (aside from time in bed, if you want to monitor your sleep). This data on your HRV and RHR will be presented to you in the device’s companion app or, in the case of devices with a screen, on the device itself. Often the app or device will tell you how your numbers compare to your usual. What you do with that information is up to you. How I gathered my dataFor this experiment, I wore my five devices to bed every night. That meant: The Oura ring on my finger (right hand, middle finger) The Whoop band on my left bicep The Apple Watch and Fitbit on my left wrist The Garmin on my right wrist A pro tip for device testers: when you're wearing two watches on the same wrist, turn one toward the underside of your wrist. That way, the two watch bodies won't clack against each other. Also, make sure the buttons are aligned so they aren't going to bump against their neighbors in the middle of the night. I entered each day’s resting heart rate and HRV from each device into a spreadsheet. Garmin reports your seven-day rolling average as your HRV "number," but I used the nightly numbers instead, the better to match the other devices. When it comes to using this data, I already have a sense of how the numbers compare to my experience. If my HRV is high and my RHR is low, I pretty much always feel good and am ready to take on whatever the day throws at me. If my HRV is low and my RHR is high, I’m either stressed, sick, or maybe didn’t sleep enough; I may or may not do an easier workout that day, but I’ll definitely pay more attention to taking care of myself and getting plenty of sleep going forward. If my RHR and HRV are both high, that tends to mean I’m dealing with a lot of stress or fatigue but am handling it well. For this experiment, I didn’t bother tracking data on how I felt; I already know that the Oura data is good at matching how I feel, so the question was whether the other devices tracked the same trends or not. The results of my testIt was fascinating to watch the results take shape as I added more data points to the spreadsheet. The raw numbers were often pretty different: my resting heart rate on a given night might be 65 or 86 depending on which device I’m reading from. But as I logged weeks’ worth of data, the trend lines all told pretty much the same story: Credit: Beth Skwarecki For HRV, Oura almost always gives me the highest ("best" looking) readings. Whoop tends to stick pretty close, with Fitbit and Garmin not far behind. The Apple Watch, on the other hand, rides significantly lower on the chart than the other devices, and seems to disagree with their trend sometimes. For resting heart rate, things are a bit more consistent. Oura usually gives the lowest readings, flattering me again, with the other devices slightly above, and Fitbit giving the highest of the bunch. This is roughly a 10-beat difference for many of the days I charted: for example, 53 from Fitbit and 43 from Oura. It's hard to say which is right, since I'm not hiring a healthcare professional to stand by and take my pulse throughout the night. In general, the lines tend to all go up together, and all down together. (Mostly...looking at you, Apple Watch.) I'm happy to see that the devices aren't reporting drastically different readings that look like random numbers; they do all seem to be measuring the same underlying phenomenon even if they don't all agree on the exact number to label it with. Personally, when I want to look at my HRV or RHR, I tend to go with the device I'm most familiar with—in this case, the Oura ring. I've been wearing it the longest (through three generations of the product) and so I have a sense of whether a reading of 50 is high or low for me. (It's high for Oura, even though it might be a low number if I saw it on a different device.) The most important lesson I take from this, myself, is that not only is it useless to compare HRV from person to person, it's also not helpful to compare it from device to device. Just like the weight labels on the machines at the gym, the numbers give you a way to compare your progress or trends with the same equipment. Switch devices, and all bets are off. So pick a device, stick with it, and you'll probably get numbers worth paying attention to. What you do with them, of course, is another matter. View the full article

Siri Chilazi is a senior researcher at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Iris Bohnet is a professor of business and government at Harvard Kennedy School and co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program. What’s the big idea? Fairness is not merely a choice; it is a way of moving through the world. For life and work to exhibit more fairness, people need to embed fair behavior into everyday choices, routines, and systems. Everyone can show up in ways that allow for a diversity of people to be seen, heard, and valued at the table. Below, co-authors Siri and Iris share five key insights from their new book, Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results. Listen to the audio version—read by Siri and Iris—in the Next Big Idea App. 1. Fairness must be embedded in our systems. At some hotels, room key cards both unlock doors and control the lights. This little bit of technology makes it more likely that the lights are off when leaving the room. This is our vision for fairness as well. We want to embed it into everything we do. Fairness is not a program, it is a way of doing things, but it does not happen automatically. Only a few years ago, Swedish engineer Astrid Linder and her team developed the first crash test dummy built in the form of a woman’s body. And during COVID-19, personal protective equipment (PPE) was not made for everyone: not for those with small hands or large feet, and not for cultural dress codes that did not correspond with standard overalls. Unfairness can creep in anywhere: cars, protective gear, artificial intelligence, data for decision-making, and workplace procedures. A few years ago, we were approached by one of the largest employers in Australia. People had applied to positions of leadership at this organization and they sent those who were not chosen an email inviting them to reapply. They found that men were about twice as likely to reapply than women. Why was this and what could they do to not lose that talent? We asked the organization, who exactly are you writing to? They responded that they only asked the top 20 percent of applicants to reapply. This was our opener. Given that women have been found to be less self-confident, we suggested that we run a randomized control trial. Some applicants still got the email that was normally sent, but for others, we added one sentence sharing that they were among the top 20 percent of applicants. This edit completely closed the gender gap in reapplication rates. We fixed the system and equalized the playing field for all. 2. Make fairness count. Ros Atkins, a TV presenter at the BBC, made fairness count when he realized he had no data to know if he featured women and men with equal frequency as experts on his nightly primetime news show. Atkins and his team decided to generate that data. They began spending two minutes at the end of each night’s show counting how many women and men had appeared on screen during their one hour on air. This counting exercise illuminated that women made up only 39 percent of experts on air—a much lower share than they had anticipated. They set themselves a target of reaching 50:50 gender representation and became more thoughtful about featuring a diversity of experts on air. Within four months, they hit their target and maintained it for years. They also inspired hundreds of other BBC content-creating teams to join them in what has globally become 50:50 The Equality Project. Even though it wasn’t an organizational mandate, Ros Atkins and his team made fairness count in their work. They simply knew that for journalism to be of the highest quality, it needed to represent the world they reported on. They tweaked their everyday ways of working to better deliver on that goal. “Even though it wasn’t an organizational mandate, Ros Atkins and his team made fairness count in their work.” Another great example is Google, which discovered a few years ago that women were leaving the company at higher rates than men. A deeper dive into the data revealed that new mothers drove this pattern. Google tested a solution: increasing the length of leave available to all new parents from 12 to 18 weeks. Google continued to monitor the data and discovered that this solution worked to close the gender gap. To make fairness count, we need to use the same tools we rely on to manage our daily work on incentives and accountability. Accountability, in particular, is critical because research shows that it’s one of the most powerful influences on behavior. For the 50:50 project, this meant that all participating teams could see each other’s data. When humans know that our actions are being watched, we’re more likely to be on our best behavior. 3. Make fairness stick. For fairness to stick, we must build changes into existing practices and procedures. Consider the resume: perhaps a benign document describing our educational and work experience, but whoever decided what a resume should look like? Two of our collaborators, Ariella Kristal and Oliver Hauser, took this to heart and tested the impact of a redesigned resume. They were interested in one specific issue: how we describe work experience. They explored the impact that different ways of framing work experience on resumes have on the likelihood that an applicant will be invited to an interview. They responded to job postings by more than 9,000 employers in the United Kingdom and presented job history either by displaying a single number indicating how many years a job was held or (as it is commonly done) by indicating the dates during which the applicants worked in a given job. The change in framing made the applicant’s acquired expertise salient while obfuscating employment gaps. When prior work experience was shown by the number of years worked, without any dates, it increased the likelihood that a candidate would be invited to an interview by 15 percent. This finding held for women and men. While this reframing is gender-neutral, it will disproportionately benefit those more likely to have had career breaks: women. 4. Make fairness normal. Before the pandemic, flexible work was typically a special accommodation available only by request and not always granted. For decades, research has shown that providing flexible work options for everyone improves retention, employee satisfaction, and productivity. Studies in the U.K. and Switzerland even showed that job postings advertised as flexible received up to 30 percent more applications, especially from women. It took COVID-19 for most organizations to accept flexible work as a default option for all their workers. “Closing perception gaps shifts what people view as normal and, therefore, what they end up doing.” Employees and job seekers pay attention to company signals about their norms and culture. Drivers do the same. In Montana, 85 percent of drivers reported using seat belts, but they estimated that only 60 percent of other drivers would do so. In Saudi Arabia, married men similarly underestimated the share of other husbands who support their wives working outside the home. Eighty-seven percent of Saudi men said they were supportive, but they believed only 63 percent of their peers would be. Closing perception gaps shifts what people view as normal and, therefore, what they end up doing. Like in meetings, if your workplace has a culture of rampant interruptions, it can be hard to get the full benefit of everyone’s ideas. One simple way to shift this norm is to interrupt the interrupter like this: I look forward to hearing what you have to say, but please let Nicole finish her point first. Soon, interruptions will likely become less common because they are no longer tolerated or viewed as normal. 5. Make fairness personal. In the film Hidden Figures, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan were three brilliant mathematicians who worked for NASA during the space race in the 1960s. Jackson became the first female African American engineer at NASA, Vaughan was the space agency’s first African American supervisor, and Johnson conducted crucial research on flight trajectories for various space shuttle missions. Role models matter. Seeing is believing. A few years ago, India amended its constitution with the provision that a third village head position had to be held by women. Seeing women in leadership changed what women in these villages thought was possible for themselves. They became politically active, spoke up in town hall meetings, and were likelier to run for political office. The role models inspired parents who reported that one of the core career aspirations for their daughters was to become a politician. You can be one of these role models. You can also change the portraits on your office walls to ensure they represent everyone. You can inspire others to dare. The crux of making work fair is that it must be part of every single person’s job. No matter your role, seniority, or activities, there is something that you personally can do to make work more fair. We liken this to communications. Most companies have a dedicated corporate communications department that handles high-profile press releases and CEO speeches. But simultaneously, every employee writes emails, speaks in meetings, and creates slide decks daily. Make small changes in the way you work and share them with others. Shift what people see as normal or what people expect as the way to do things. Together, we can get further faster and see real results unlike ever before. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. View the full article

Sentiment among businesses and consumers cools sharply as tariffs and inflation take a tollView the full article

I love an easy, impressive dessert. It must have few ingredients, require little to no elbow grease, and have a big payoff at the end. The galette des rois delivers on all fronts. Often made for Three Kings’ Day at the beginning of January, there’s really no better time to make this dessert than whenever the heck you want it. Why should January have all the fun? Make it for your partner’s birthday, friends dropping in for dinner, or a fancy spin on the king cake for your upcoming Mardi Gras party. With the wonders of pre-made puff pastry, all the hard work is done. In about 40 minutes, you can have a stunner of a dessert. What is a galette des rois?A galette des rois, French for "king cake," is puff pastry filled with a simple frangipane almond paste. There’s an optional féve (trinket or bean) for Three Kings’ Day, but I don’t find surprise choking hazards in my dessert to be much fun, so I'm leaving that out. The only thing that requires some doing is making the almond frangipane filling, which is, blessedly, easy. Simply mix the six room temperature ingredients in a bowl with a wooden spoon for 60 seconds. Here's the recipe I use, and try not to substitute out the almond extract if you can help it (because it makes all desserts better). How to make a French king cakeOnce the frangipane is mixed, unravel that jewel of the frozen aisle: store bought, all-butter puff pastry. Make sure it’s thawed according to the package’s directions—you won’t get very far if it’s frozen. 1. Trim the puff pastryYou’ll need two sheets of puff pastry cut into equally sized circles. You can use a guide, like a 9-inch cake pan, placed on top and trace it with a knife. Do this with both sheets of pastry. (Technically, you could omit the trimming and make a rectangular cake. No one’s the boss of you.) 2. Layer on the fillingPlace one circle of pastry on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the outer inch with an egg wash. Try not to let it dribble down the edge or it will impede the pastry’s puffing action in those spots. (Egg cooks at a lower temperature than the pastry, so the egg will harden before the pastry has had a chance to rise.) Fill the center with an very thin layer of jam (this is optional, but I like it). Then spread a thick layer of the almond frangipane on top (one-third- to a half-inch thick), but keep it within the egg wash perimeter. 3. Seal the top and bakeLay the second sheet of pastry over top, and press the edges down gently to make contact with the egg wash edge. Egg wash the entire top of the pastry. Again, don't let the egg wash dribble off the edges. If you want to make a classic sun-burst pattern on top, or any pattern at all, now’s the time. Use the back of a paring knife (not the cutting edge) to indent the lines. Bake in a 425°F oven for 25 minutes. Finish with a heavy dusting of powdered sugar. The galette des rois is best served day-of, but you can cut any leftovers into individual slices, wrap them well, and freeze them. When you’re in the mood for a sweet treat, simply revive it in a 350°F oven for 10 minutes. Galette des Rois RecipeIngredients: 2 sheets of store bought puff pastry, thawed ½ batch of frangipane 1 tablespoon of raspberry jam Egg wash Powdered sugar for decoration 1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. 2. Use an overturned 9-inch cake pan to guide you as you cut a large circle out of each sheet of puff pastry. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay one sheet of puff pastry in the center. 3. Egg wash the outer-inch of the pastry. Spread the jam thinly in the center within the egg wash circle. Spread the frangipane over the jam in a thick layer. 4. Top it with the second circle of puff pastry, pressing the edges so they stick to the egg wash. Brush a thin layer of egg wash over the entire top (not the sides). Make a design in the surface with the back of a knife, like a criss-cross pattern or star-burst. 5. Bake immediately for 25 minutes, or until well-risen and the top has deeply browned. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack and dust with powdered sugar before serving. View the full article

If you're an avid e-book reader or someone who has an extensive library of Kindle content, now is the time to back up your books. Starting on Wednesday, Feb. 26, readers will no longer be able to download Kindle e-books to a computer, where you can convert the file from Amazon's proprietary, Kindle-specific .AZW3 to a different format for a non-Kindle e-reader. Once this feature has been eliminated, Kindle e-books can only be transferred to a Kindle device via a wifi or cellular connection or accessed via the Kindle app or Kindle for web. While users who read primarily in the Kindle app or on a Kindle device may not miss this feature, its loss does make it impossible to convert Kindle books to be compatible with other e-readers or to share them. Plus, if Amazon removes a title you've purchased or loses the license to it in the future, you won't have access to it. How to download and save your Kindle booksTo download your Kindle books to your computer now, sign into your Amazon account and go to Accounts & Lists > Content Library > Book. Find the book you want to download from the list, open the More actions menu to the right, and select Download & transfer via USB. The pop-up window will alert you to the impending doom of the USB download with the following message: "Starting February 26, 2025, the 'Download & Transfer via USB' option will no longer be available. You can still send Kindle books to your Wi-Fi enabled devices by selecting the 'Deliver or Remove from Device' option." Until then, you can select your device and hit Download, which will save the file to your computer as a .AZW3 file. Unfortunately, there's no bulk download option, so you'll have to go one by one. You can then transfer books to your Kindle by connecting it using your USB cord and copying the file to the Kindle drive that appears on your desktop. Alternatively, you can convert it to other formats (like PDF) for reading on other devices via a tool like CloudConvert. View the full article

The state's insurance commissioner made the change following analysis of title industry profits and expenses in Texas provided by its stakeholders. View the full article

These home lenders with under 100 employees are considered among their staffs the best mortgage company to work for in 2025. View the full article

Parent company Remax is reporting growing momentum in Wemlo, its technology unit that offers processing automation for loan brokers, which hiked prices last year. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own. I’ve reached a state of eating that I shall call “Deep Winter.” I know there are much colder environments in the world, but my weak New York City constitution makes it impossible to have fun out in the 20-degree weather. I prefer to stay indoors, comment on the snow like a Progressive commercial, and cook hot comfort food. If you share any of these inclinations, I’ve got a great cookbook for you: Fix Me a Plate. A bit about the bookFix Me a Plate is a collection of soul food recipes, both traditionally prepared and dishes with a twist. This cookbook comes to us from chef Scotty Scott, and was published in 2022. It reads as much like a cookbook as it does a personal account of how Scott came to be a chef and his family history with some dishes. I know personal stories are meant to “hook” us, but dammit, it just works. I’m hooked. Probably because we all have some special history with different meals, and many of us can relate to the feeling of choosing one career path and realizing later that maybe we should be feeding our creative side. This book has 60 recipes, from side dishes to sweets, and each one is written with a refreshing dose of Scott’s personality. Many cookbooks take on the air of something official, or the wisened scientific approach. I love that, and there’s a place for that. But cooking is also a joyous activity that you can mess with. Fix Me a Plate is fun to read, and it feels like a friend is teaching you their recipes. There’s space for substitutions and wiggle room with spices. It’s like when the boss is out of work for the day: You get your work done, but you can talk to your buddy for a little longer too. Fix Me a Plate: Traditional and New School Soul Food Recipes from Scotty Scott of Cook Drank Eat $9.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $9.99 at Amazon A great cookbook for hearty eatsEvery recipe in this book looks like I could just nestle in its arms and fall asleep—from the Chicken and Brown Butter Sweet Potato Waffles to Slow and Low Red Beans and Rice. This is not a “diet” cookbook. There isn’t a leafy green salad in sight. There’s nothing dainty in here, and I like it. The last thing I want right now is a light meal that leaves me searching for a snack 20 minutes later. This is the cookbook you grab when your family is grumpy or your weekend getaway plans get ruined. It's the one you reach for when you have something or someone to celebrate or, heck, when you just want to feel full. It works for me in my current state of Deep Winter because all I seem to be craving are soups, stews, powerfully savory meats, beans, and saucy vegetables. Oh, and I almost forgot—carbs. Few things are as delicious to me as pasta, bread, grits, potatoes, or rice with some sort of gravy situation. Fix Me a Plate has it all. As an added benefit (and surely unexpected when it published in 2022), Scott doesn’t eat stand-alone eggs. You won’t be missing out on any breakfast scrambles, omelets, or quiche recipes in here because of skyrocketing egg prices. Of course, there are recipes where eggs are mixed in, but he keeps them to a minimum. (If you need other eggless breakfast ideas, read here.) The dish I made this week Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann I have a bag of shrimp in my freezer this week, (it’s part of my cheap eats shopping list) so I settled on the Blackened Shrimp and Fried Polenta recipe from The Soul Remix chapter. It wasn’t the simplest of recipes I could have chosen—there are multiple components with the polenta, chopped veggies, and shrimp—but it was completely worth the effort. I appreciate how Scott organizes the ingredient list in separate sections if the recipe includes multiple parts, which they often do. Some cookbooks just have a long running list, but seeing what I need for the polenta separated from the shrimp component is less overwhelming. Many of the recipes, including this one, encourage you to take advantage of spices and small amounts of fresh and dried ingredients. The shrimp sauce uses a mixture of dried spices, dried herbs, aromatics, and shrimp stock—shrimp stock that Scott includes a recipe for in the Sauce and Spice section. I made my shrimp stock a little differently, but I did make it myself after shelling my shrimp, and what an incredible difference it made. Each ingredient intentionally layers flavors and aromas, so when you finally chow down, each bite boasts a robust depth of flavor. I had to stop myself from making the Southern Raised Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Cream Gravy (I had just made a loaf of Irish soda bread so I needed to focus), but it’s next on my list. How to buy itFix Me a Plate is available in softcover online, or as an ebook for a great price. But you know me: I’d rather you go to a big, old, gloriously dusty bookstore. Support your local one when you can, even if it’s not dusty; let’s keep them in business. Check their shelves for this cookbook or see if they can order it to their location. View the full article

The US president has shocked allies by opening talks with Moscow and criticising Ukraine. Will this dramatic shift in US foreign policy hold? View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. There are many options these days for smart products to keep our lives organized, like the Skylight Calendar and the Hearth Display, but they often come at a high price and with subscription fees. If you're looking for a cheaper smart display option that is subscription-free, consider the 2021 Amazon Echo Show 15, which is $179.99 (originally $279.99) on Woot, its lowest price yet, according to price-tracking tools. The device itself is new but it comes without a remote—but it's not completely necessary, since it's a touchscreen. (Remember, Woot only ships to the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping; otherwise, it’ll be $6 to ship.) Echo Show 15 Full HD 15.6" smart display with Alexa and Fire TV built in (Remote not included) $179.99 at Woot $279.99 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $179.99 at Woot $279.99 Save $100.00 The Echo Show 15 is a smart display that can mount to your wall, and like the name implies, it's a 15-inch display. It works like an Alexa smart speaker but with a 1,920 by 1,080-pixel touchscreen. If you're not looking to mount it, there is a stand you can buy separately. The display uses Visual ID to scan your face with the front-facing 5MP camera to show you personalized calendars, reminders, to-do lists, and recommendations to everyone in your household who makes an account. The camera and audio on the Show 15 are underwhelming, according to PCMag's "good" review. You can use it to show photos when not in use, or more practical uses like showing the weather, calendars, or whatever widget you think you'd be using the most. There are better non-mounted smart displays from Amazon, but they come at a higher price. Also, be aware that Amazon will be hosting a major event on February 26 where it's expected to announce new Amazon devices and an improved Alexa. But if you want a smart display to mount on your wall at a low price, this is still a good deal. View the full article

A glance at the day’s headlines reveals a universal truth: Leadership matters. Whether uplifting and ethical or toxic and abusive, leaders profoundly shape our lives. And this is especially true on the job. Research consistently shows that leadership influences employees’ attitudes, behaviors and emotions, driving key organizational outcomes such as creativity, employee engagement, well-being and financial performance. Unfortunately, research also shows that supervisors abuse their employees far too often and then try to manage impressions to compensate for their bad behavior. But what happens when a leader tries to “make up” for past abuse by suddenly acting ethically? And do employees have to experience the abuse firsthand for it to hurt them? As professors who study management – and who’ve heard horror stories of employees working under mercurial bosses – we wanted to find answers. So we conducted a study, which was recently published in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Our research includes multiple samples of full-time employees in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. To begin, we surveyed 222 employees and 66 supervisors to gather insights into workplace leadership and work experiences. We focused on two contrasting leadership behaviors: ethical leadership and abusive supervision. We also conducted experiments with 400 people, presenting them with stories about managers who alternately display both ethical leadership and abusive supervision and asking them how they would respond. Across these studies, we found that employees who experience such oscillating leadership often end up worse off – in terms of their emotional well-being and job performance – than if they were consistently being abused. By going back and forth between abusive and ethical behaviors, leaders create greater confusion, leaving their employees emotionally exhausted. Instead of providing relief, acts of ethical leadership ironically serve to amplify the damage done by prior abusive behavior. Jekyll and Hyde leadership in practice As an example, consider Steve Jobs, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Apple for more than a decade until his death in 2011. While Jobs was an icon to many people, he reportedly swung between toxic and positive leadership behavior while dealing with subordinates. For example, when Jobs’ exacting standards weren’t met, he would reportedly storm into meetings and profanely berate the team responsible for not living up to his lofty expectations. Yet, despite these outbursts, he was also described as a leader who believed in his employees’ potential, expressing unwavering confidence in their abilities and empowering them to exceed their own expectations. This kind of unpredictable leadership can leave workers emotionally exhausted, wondering: “Which version of my boss will show up today? Will this kindness last, or is it just a setup for another blow?” Unsurprisingly, this isn’t good for productivity. Employees value stability and predictability in their leaders. A supervisor who bounces between harsh criticism and warm praise creates an emotional roller coaster for the team. When employees see a supervisor as unpredictable, they experience more stress and emotional exhaustion, which hurts their job performance and willingness to share ideas. Interestingly, we found that workers don’t even need to be directly targeted by an abusive supervisor to be affected; employees whose immediate supervisors get the Jekyll-and-Hyde treatment from their higher-ups suffer similar consequences. These negative reactions occur, in part, because employees begin to doubt that their immediate supervisors are able to effectively influence higher-level leaders. In other words, the psychological toll of Jekyll-and-Hyde leaders isn’t limited to direct encounters but can also be experienced vicariously. How companies can banish Mr. Hyde The good news is that organizations can break this cycle – and workers are likely to be less stressed and more productive when they do. Here are three steps every organization can take: • Train leaders to manage stress without lashing out. High-pressure environments are prevalent these days, but abusive leader behavior doesn’t have to be. Providing leaders with tools like emotional intelligence training and conflict resolution skills can help leaders navigate both personal and professional challenges more constructively. • Address the abusive behavior directly. When abusive actions occur, ignoring them or asking the leader to “be nicer next time” isn’t enough. Structured interventions – like one-on-one coaching, counseling or formal sanctions – are essential for generating real change. Employees need to see that the organization is living up to its stated values and ideals. • Foster a culture of trust and accountability. Tools like 360-degree feedback reports – which involve feedback from supervisors, peers and subordinates – can help leaders gain deeper insight into their behaviors. These can be used not just for development, but also for heightened accountability. Creating a climate of psychological safety – in which employees can report concerns without fear of retaliation – is key to rebuilding trust. So is ensuring clear, consistent responses to reports of abusive supervision. Great leaders understand the power of trust and setting an example. Employees want leaders they can rely on, not ones who keep them guessing. So leaders should be wary about employing ethical leadership as a quick fix for past mistakes. Rather, it’s about showing up consistently, authentically, and with integrity every single day. For leaders at all levels, the takeaway is simple: Consistency fosters success. Organizations that prioritize stable, ethical leadership create workplaces where employees feel valued, supported and empowered to do their best work. John Sumanth is a James Farr Fellow & associate professor of management at Wake Forest University. Haoying Xu is an assistant professor of business at Stevens Institute of Technology. Sean Hannah is chair of business ethics and a professor of management at Wake Forest University School of Business at Wake Forest University. Sherry Moss is associate dean of MBA Programs at Wake Forest University School of Business at Wake Forest University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Paint is among the cheapest of home renovations—it freshens things, covers old chips and scratches, and it can make your whole house feel brand new in just a few days. Even if you hire someone to paint a room, the cost isn’t entirely prohibitive—between $350 and $850, on average, per room. That’s pretty cheap compared to other renovation projects, but it’s still a chunk of change. Since painting is generally within most people’s DIY skill set, a lot of folks decide to set aside a weekend, buy some painter’s tape, and tackle the job themselves. If that’s you, here are some tips to make the job a little easier. Liquid masking tapeIf you’re painting a room with windows or any other glass features, you know the pure tedium of applying traditional painter's tape around the edges of the glass (plus the tedium of having to scrape paint off the glass anyway because you got sloppy). That’s where liquid masking tape comes into play: You slather this stuff on your windows (you don’t need to worry about getting it on the trim, because it will act as a primer coating on anything that’s not glass), let it dry, then slather your paint on, let that dry, then just peel the masking tape off like a plastic film. As you can see here, it works like a charm and will save you a lot of time. Catch dripsPainting a ceiling? Sorry to hear that—be prepared to emerge absolutely drenched in paint as it drips down on you, and you’d better have a sturdy drop cloth over everything in the room. That is, unless you use an inverted umbrella. This might sound silly, but it actually works—poke a hole in an umbrella, push your paint roller handle through, seal it up with tape, and proceed to paint the ceiling. The umbrella will catch all the paint drips, and you can safely paint the whole ceiling without worrying about spending the next day scraping tiny drops of paint off of every surface. Pro tip: Buy a cheap clear plastic umbrella so you can actually see what you’re doing. Alternatively, a clear plastic paint tray liner can do the same job with less bulk to maneuver. A dirty paint trayYou may have been advised at some point to line your paint tray, either with a cheap plastic liner or any plastic bag you have lying around (or even aluminum foil). Yes, that spares you a lot of cleanup—but the real hack is to just not clean your paint tray at all. Drain excess paint back into the can, then just let your tray dry out. A layer of old paint won’t affect the tray’s usefulness. The cardboard methodPainting floor trim can be a real challenge. You can either spend a lot of time applying painter’s tape all around the edge of the room to protect the floor, or you can try to spread a drop cloth near the trim—but drop cloths will always get in the way of your brush or roller, and have a tendency to shift away from the wall just when you need it to protect everything. Instead, use a piece of cardboard (or other thin, impermeable material, like a plastic sheet). Insert the sheet into the gap between the wall or trim and the floor, paint that section with wild abandon, then slide the sheet forward and paint the next section. The sheet protects the floor, you get paint all the way to the edge, and you didn’t spend the last hour putting down and endlessly adjusting tape. Petroleum jellyWhen it comes to painting around fixtures and hardware like doorknobs, it’s best to either remove them completely or mask them well with tape. But if you want to avoid that or you have small areas you want to avoid painting—screws, for example—where dabbing a tiny square of painter’s tape is both annoying and ineffective, you have an alternative: Use some petroleum jelly. Dab a bit onto the spot you want to skip painting and any paint that accidentally gets on it will just wipe away when everything’s dried. Paint pensWhether touching up a spot you missed or correcting a mistake, any spot in your room that requires a very fine paint line (like around a wall plate or fixture you can’t or simply don’t want to remove) can be incredibly challenging for even the smallest brush. That’s where a paint pen comes in. These refillable devices make it super easy to get into tight spaces and do quick touch-ups without having to tape the whole area off and try to awkwardly angle a brush. Inspect your work the next day and fill in any thin spots right away, with zero extra prep. Gloves and socksIf you’ve ever painted stair balusters or furniture legs, you know it’s a pain to get good coverage all around with a brush. So, skip the brush: Put on a nitrite glove, pull an old sock over that, dip into your paint can, and just grab whatever it is you’re trying to paint with your hand. This technique is a lot faster when painting any kind of oddly-shaped element, because your hand is a lot more flexible and dexterous than a paintbrush or roller. Radiator brushes and paint padsTrying to paint behind something you’d really rather not remove, like a radiator or toilet? You can get in as close as you can and hope the blank spot behind it isn’t noticeable, or you could buy a specific tool like a radiator brush or a paint pad that allows you to easily and quickly paint the area behind these fixtures—no removal necessary. CaulkGetting crisp, clean lines with painter’s tape sometimes seems like an impossible task. There’s always some element of bleed-through that needs to be cleaned up when the tape is peeled away. But you can avoid this and guarantee sharp lines with something called Back Caulking: Leave a thin space between the edge of your tape and the wall—about the thickness of a dime. Fill that space with a thin bead of caulk. Smooth the bead with your finger and/or a damp cloth as you would with any caulking job. Let paint dry, remove painter’s tape. Ta-da! Perfect lines. View the full article

The benefits of workers’ compensation insurance far outweigh its cost. Do you need workers’ compensation insurance? The answer may be more complex than you realize. For instance, do you need to provide coverage for remote workers? Are workers’ comp benefits necessary for part-time employees? What about subcontractors working on your behalf? Small business owners know how to prevent injuries at work. Still, accidents happen. And that makes workers’ compensation insurance one of the most important types of business insurance. What Is Workers’ Compensation Insurance? Also known as workman’s comp, workers’ compensation insurance is coverage for employees if they are injured or become ill at work. In the majority of states, small businesses are required to have it if they have employees. Why You Should Take Out Workers’ Comp Insurance Let’s say you’re a small business owner from Texas. Workers’ comp insurance isn’t required there. In Arkansas, if you have fewer than 3 employees, you don’t need it. In Alabama, it’s required if you have 5 or more employees. No matter what your state requirements are, you should take out workers’ compensation insurance to protect your business: An employee who is injured or becomes ill at work can sue you, seeking lost wages and payment of medical expenses For the same reason, you should cover part-time workers and subcontractors. Nothing would prevent them from suing you for lost wages and payment of medical bills should they become injured or become ill at your business. You can add them to your workers’ compensation coverage package. It’s your safety net against legal costs and the costs of medical treatment. In most states, workers comp is required for businesses, even if there is only one employee. Even if your employees are no longer physically present at the business, you still need to provide coverage for remote workers. These workers perform job-related tasks during work hours and require insurance protection. What You Need to Know about Workers Compensation and Remote Workers As a small business owner with remote workers, you need to take steps to make sure their work environment is safe. Increasingly, an insurance company may require you to make a physical inspection of the remote employee workplace before providing workers’ compensation coverage. The most common workers’ compensation claims reported by remote workers are slips, trips, and falls. They also report ergonomic injuries due to the poor designs of workstations. As the manager or boss, you should take steps to be sure the workplace of the remote worker is safe and ergonomically correct. Although they are working remotely, you are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for them. What Does Workers Compensation Insurance Cover? Why do you need a worker’s compensation policy? In most states, workers’ compensation laws require that you provide it as business insurance. Here’s what the workers’ compensation system covers: Medical Expenses An insurance company helps cover medical expenses associated with workplace injuries. The workers’ comp benefit helps cover medical bills and expenses related to employee injuries or workplace accidents. Coverage will include medical care, physical therapy, and ongoing support. Lost Wages Workers’ comp coverage will provide the injured party with lost wages, similar to long-term disability benefits. Read More: how much does business insurance cost Death Benefits If an employee passes away as a result of a work-related injury, accident, or illness, the workers compensation insurance for small business policy will provide death benefits. Injuries and Illness to Employees While at Work Injuries and Illness to Part-time Employees and Subcontractors Check with your insurance company to see if you can purchase coverage and add part-timers and independent contractors to your workers’ comp policy. It adds a level of financial protection to your business in the event a worker becomes ill or injured on the job while at your job site. What is Not Covered by Workers Compensation Insurance? Commercial general liability insurance, general liability, professional liability insurance, a business owner’s policy and property insurance cover your business and its products or services. What does worker’s compensation cover? Workers’ compensation coverage is for employees while they’re working. At other times, they’re covered by health insurance. Unique events can happen in the workplace – and away from the workplace. Some things just aren’t included under workers’ compensation coverage. COVID-related illnesses and medical expenses – Consult your insurance provider and state regulations. During the pandemic, coverage was broadened to encompass COVID-related illnesses, particularly for front-line workers like nurses, doctors, and emergency personnel (police, fire). In many states, this coverage period has now concluded. Typically, during non-pandemic times, “routine commonly spread illnesses” are not covered. This is due to the difficulty in proving the specific time and place where the employee contracted the illness. Part-time employees and subcontractors aren’t covered unless you specifically add that coverage. Only Arizona precludes businesses from adding those classes of workers to the coverage for a workplace injury or illness. Injuries occurring during work-related events, like a softball game or picnic, are covered only if participation is voluntary. To ensure workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses covers these events, make it clear in writing that attendance is mandatory. Injuries that take place, like a fight between two employees stemming from personal issues unrelated to work. A work-related injury or illness or work-related accident that takes place because an employee is intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs. Of course, it should be company policy that employees are not permitted to be at work under those conditions. A signed agreement of that should be in your employee files. How Much is Small Business Workers Comp Insurance? You may be able to “umbrella” workers’ compensation insurance under your business owner’s policy. There are several factors that alter the workers’ compensation insurance cost – payroll, type of work performed, and claims history. For instance, the typical cost ranges from $1 to $1.56 for every $100 of gross income. This cost can vary by state and may change each year. The type of work is also considered in the calculation, utilizing 700 class codes for different job types. These two factors are assessed together. The total amount is then multiplied by 1 to determine the worker’s compensation insurance for small business costs, assuming there have been no claims. The multiplication factor will adjust according to the number of claims you have made. Workers Compensation Insurance Requirements in the U.S. Laws vary but in general, you’re required to get workers’ comp insurance if you have employees. There are some exceptions, as previously noted. If you’re required to obtain workers comp and you don’t, you could face felony criminal charges. How to Get Small Business Workers Compensation Insurance You can set up and purchase workers comp insurance online, with just a few clicks. Check the requirements in your state and start coverage with the first employee you hire if required. Network with other business owners to get recommendations. Select an insurance provider that offers comprehensive coverage in the realm of business insurance and has expertise in workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses. Get a workers’ compensation quote from several carriers and review the options. Make a choice and enroll in a policy. Read More: best small business insurance companies Image: Depositphotos This article, "Do You Need Workers Compensation Insurance for Small Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The benefits of workers’ compensation insurance far outweigh its cost. Do you need workers’ compensation insurance? The answer may be more complex than you realize. For instance, do you need to provide coverage for remote workers? Are workers’ comp benefits necessary for part-time employees? What about subcontractors working on your behalf? Small business owners know how to prevent injuries at work. Still, accidents happen. And that makes workers’ compensation insurance one of the most important types of business insurance. What Is Workers’ Compensation Insurance? Also known as workman’s comp, workers’ compensation insurance is coverage for employees if they are injured or become ill at work. In the majority of states, small businesses are required to have it if they have employees. Why You Should Take Out Workers’ Comp Insurance Let’s say you’re a small business owner from Texas. Workers’ comp insurance isn’t required there. In Arkansas, if you have fewer than 3 employees, you don’t need it. In Alabama, it’s required if you have 5 or more employees. No matter what your state requirements are, you should take out workers’ compensation insurance to protect your business: An employee who is injured or becomes ill at work can sue you, seeking lost wages and payment of medical expenses For the same reason, you should cover part-time workers and subcontractors. Nothing would prevent them from suing you for lost wages and payment of medical bills should they become injured or become ill at your business. You can add them to your workers’ compensation coverage package. It’s your safety net against legal costs and the costs of medical treatment. In most states, workers comp is required for businesses, even if there is only one employee. Even if your employees are no longer physically present at the business, you still need to provide coverage for remote workers. These workers perform job-related tasks during work hours and require insurance protection. What You Need to Know about Workers Compensation and Remote Workers As a small business owner with remote workers, you need to take steps to make sure their work environment is safe. Increasingly, an insurance company may require you to make a physical inspection of the remote employee workplace before providing workers’ compensation coverage. The most common workers’ compensation claims reported by remote workers are slips, trips, and falls. They also report ergonomic injuries due to the poor designs of workstations. As the manager or boss, you should take steps to be sure the workplace of the remote worker is safe and ergonomically correct. Although they are working remotely, you are required to carry workers’ compensation insurance for them. What Does Workers Compensation Insurance Cover? Why do you need a worker’s compensation policy? In most states, workers’ compensation laws require that you provide it as business insurance. Here’s what the workers’ compensation system covers: Medical Expenses An insurance company helps cover medical expenses associated with workplace injuries. The workers’ comp benefit helps cover medical bills and expenses related to employee injuries or workplace accidents. Coverage will include medical care, physical therapy, and ongoing support. Lost Wages Workers’ comp coverage will provide the injured party with lost wages, similar to long-term disability benefits. Read More: how much does business insurance cost Death Benefits If an employee passes away as a result of a work-related injury, accident, or illness, the workers compensation insurance for small business policy will provide death benefits. Injuries and Illness to Employees While at Work Injuries and Illness to Part-time Employees and Subcontractors Check with your insurance company to see if you can purchase coverage and add part-timers and independent contractors to your workers’ comp policy. It adds a level of financial protection to your business in the event a worker becomes ill or injured on the job while at your job site. What is Not Covered by Workers Compensation Insurance? Commercial general liability insurance, general liability, professional liability insurance, a business owner’s policy and property insurance cover your business and its products or services. What does worker’s compensation cover? Workers’ compensation coverage is for employees while they’re working. At other times, they’re covered by health insurance. Unique events can happen in the workplace – and away from the workplace. Some things just aren’t included under workers’ compensation coverage. COVID-related illnesses and medical expenses – Consult your insurance provider and state regulations. During the pandemic, coverage was broadened to encompass COVID-related illnesses, particularly for front-line workers like nurses, doctors, and emergency personnel (police, fire). In many states, this coverage period has now concluded. Typically, during non-pandemic times, “routine commonly spread illnesses” are not covered. This is due to the difficulty in proving the specific time and place where the employee contracted the illness. Part-time employees and subcontractors aren’t covered unless you specifically add that coverage. Only Arizona precludes businesses from adding those classes of workers to the coverage for a workplace injury or illness. Injuries occurring during work-related events, like a softball game or picnic, are covered only if participation is voluntary. To ensure workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses covers these events, make it clear in writing that attendance is mandatory. Injuries that take place, like a fight between two employees stemming from personal issues unrelated to work. A work-related injury or illness or work-related accident that takes place because an employee is intoxicated or under the influence of illegal drugs. Of course, it should be company policy that employees are not permitted to be at work under those conditions. A signed agreement of that should be in your employee files. How Much is Small Business Workers Comp Insurance? You may be able to “umbrella” workers’ compensation insurance under your business owner’s policy. There are several factors that alter the workers’ compensation insurance cost – payroll, type of work performed, and claims history. For instance, the typical cost ranges from $1 to $1.56 for every $100 of gross income. This cost can vary by state and may change each year. The type of work is also considered in the calculation, utilizing 700 class codes for different job types. These two factors are assessed together. The total amount is then multiplied by 1 to determine the worker’s compensation insurance for small business costs, assuming there have been no claims. The multiplication factor will adjust according to the number of claims you have made. Workers Compensation Insurance Requirements in the U.S. Laws vary but in general, you’re required to get workers’ comp insurance if you have employees. There are some exceptions, as previously noted. If you’re required to obtain workers comp and you don’t, you could face felony criminal charges. How to Get Small Business Workers Compensation Insurance You can set up and purchase workers comp insurance online, with just a few clicks. Check the requirements in your state and start coverage with the first employee you hire if required. Network with other business owners to get recommendations. Select an insurance provider that offers comprehensive coverage in the realm of business insurance and has expertise in workers’ compensation insurance for small businesses. Get a workers’ compensation quote from several carriers and review the options. Make a choice and enroll in a policy. Read More: best small business insurance companies Image: Depositphotos This article, "Do You Need Workers Compensation Insurance for Small Business?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

An iconic eyewear brand has a new creative icon at its helm. Ray-Ban announced today that rapper and fashion trendsetter A$AP Rocky will be its first-ever creative director. In his new role, Rocky will lead Ray-Ban Studios, a sub label of Ray-Ban that it calls “a creative hub celebrating self-expression.” More broadly, he’s tasked with reinventing and contemporizing the brand by overseeing creative projects including a new Blacked Out Collection, which will release in April. The collection redesigns iconic frames (think the Wayfarer and Clubmaster) with a brand-new black-out lens and gold-plated details. “Today, we are welcoming A$AP Rocky into our family; he’s a visionary artist and creator,” Ray-Ban president Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio says in a statement. “His ability to push the boundaries of the diverse worlds he explores aligns with the Ray-Ban DNA. We are reinforcing the brand’s values of innovation, pioneering spirit, and courage.” Rocky has a history of wearing Ray-Bans. Most recently, in what is now seemingly a tell of the collaboration to come, Rocky wore Ray-Bans to his trial for two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, which ended last week with a not guilty verdict. He also wore Ray-Bans to his first-ever fashion show “American Sabotage” last summer. The announcement follows the release of Rocky’s fourth album “Don’t be Dumb” earlier this year. This isn’t his first foray into fashion collaborations, either. The rapper, 36, has previously collaborated with JW Anderson, Guess, Puma, and Moncler. Rocky’s onboarding comes at a moment of growth for the eyewear brand’s parent company, EssilorLuxottica. The holding company acquired Supreme last July, and announced a long-term partnership with Meta last September. Time will tell if A$AP Rocky’s affiliation with Ray-Ban will have a positive knock-on effect for the Meta partnership. That depends on whether he can counter public perception of Mark Zuckerberg, who has a Midas touch of uncool and makes everything in his arm’s reach turn cringe, including the Ray-Ban wayfarers that are the center of the EssilorLuxottica-Meta smartglasses partnership. EssilorLuxottica saw group revenue up 9.4% in Q4, and has sold two million smartglasses since launch, according to its most recent quarterly report. Rocky’s creative leadership at Ray-Ban will extend beyond glasses design. He’ll also have a hand in the brand’s creative campaigns and redesign its retail stores, signaling a pivot point and an overhaul of the brand and its public perception at large. The company wrote that Rocky “joins in a critical time in the evolution of Ray-Ban,” in its announcement. EssilorLuxottica did not respond to a request for additional comment by time of publication. “I’ve always admired Ray-Ban’s ability to stay true to its roots while constantly evolving,” Rocky said in a statement. “I’m excited to be part of the strong heritage and develop the next chapter for an iconic brand like Ray-Ban.” View the full article

You’ve probably heard AI is coming for many of our jobs. But how would you feel about getting a medical diagnosis from an AI doctor? Would you trust a verdict delivered by an AI judge? A new study of 10,000 people in 20 countries, including the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and China, found when it comes to artificial intelligence replacing human jobs, people are most concerned about AI replacing doctors and judges, and least concerned about AI replacing journalists. The findings, published in American Psychologist by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development, focused on the study participants’ attitudes to AI taking over six occupations: doctors, judges, managers, caregivers, religious leaders, and journalists. Researchers looked at eight psychological traits—warmth, sincerity, tolerance, fairness, competence, determination, intelligence, and imagination—and assessed AI’s potential to replicate these traits. The study’s findings suggest that when AI is introduced into a new job, people instinctively compare the human traits necessary for that job with AI’s ability to imitate them. The level of fear that study participants felt about AI taking certain jobs appeared to be directly linked to a “perceived mismatch between these human traits and AI’s capabilities.” For example, the prospect of AI-driven doctors and care workers elicited strong fears in some countries due to concerns about AI’s lack of empathy and emotional understanding. But when researchers looked at widespread concerns about AI replacing human workers, they found people’s attitudes also varied widely among nations. For example, people in the U.S., India, and Saudi Arabia reported being most afraid of AI’s role in jobs, particularly of judges and doctors, reflecting concerns about fairness, transparency, and moral judgment. (AI-driven journalists were the least feared, likely because people feel that they retain autonomy over how they engage with the information provided by journalists.) However, people in China, Japan, and Turkey were least afraid of artificial intelligence overall. And other studies have found that people in China place less importance on controlling AI and more on connecting with AI compared to European Americans. They’ve also found that 47% of North Americans are worried about harmful AI, while only 25% of Southeast Asians and 11% of East Asians have similar feelings. That is due, at least in part, to different countries having different traditions of depicting AI as benevolent or malicious, as well as different historical interactions with intelligent machines. It’s also affected by people in countries having been exposed to different governmental policies about AI. View the full article

The average balance per consumer now stands at $6,580—up 3.5% year over year, according to a recent report from TransUnion. Altogether, consumers owe a record $1.21 trillion on their credit cards, according to a separate report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. If you're struggling with credit card debt, it's safe to say you're not struggling alone. Carrying a growing balance on high-interest credit cards can put a huge financial strain on your monthly budget. Whether it's an unexpected expense—like a car repair or medical bill—or you're going through a period of reduced income, being saddled with credit card debt can make it feel impossible to get ahead financially. If you're struggling to make a dent in your credit card debt, here are some of the best ways to create a plan to become debt-free once and for all. The debt snowball method The debt snowball method focuses on paying off your debts in order of smallest balance to largest. You make minimum payments on every debt except the smallest, where you pay as much extra as possible until it's paid off. The idea is that getting "wins" by paying off smaller debts quickly can provide much-needed motivation to keep going. However, this method typically results in paying more in interest over time. Here's my guide to deciding if the debt snowball is right for you. The debt avalanche method Compared to the snowball method, the avalanche method involves listing out all your debts from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate. You make minimum payments on every debt except the highest interest rate one, where you throw all extra money until it's paid off. This is the fastest mathematical way to get out of debt while paying the least amount of interest charges. This can be especially helpful if you have one or two debts with significantly higher interest rates than the others. The downside is you may not see entire debts paid off for a while, which may sap a bit of your motivation. The debt snowball method is often recommended for individuals who need the psychological motivation of quick wins to stay motivated in their debt repayment journey. The debt avalanche method, on the other hand, is considered the most cost-effective approach from a pure numbers perspective, as it minimizes the amount of interest paid over time. Debt consolidation loan Debt consolidation can look like an easy solution if you have multiple loans or credit cards and are struggling to keep up with all the separate payments. Taking out one loan with a lower interest rate to pay off all your credit card balances at once can streamline the repayment process to a single payment. You may qualify for a much better interest rate than your cards through a bank, credit union, or online lender with a debt consolidation loan or personal loan. Balance transfer credit cards that offer 0% interest for 12-18 months can provide breathing room if you can pay off the full balance during that period—more on that below. But first, keep in mind: Debt consolidation loans aren't necessary in many cases. At the end of the day, debt consolidation loans are financial products, which means financial institutions wouldn’t offer them to you if they didn’t make money from them. Balance transferWith a balance transfer, you move your existing credit card balance(s) over to a new credit card that offers an introductory 0% APR promotion for a set period of time, usually 12-18 months. If executed properly, you can use those months to aggressively pay down the debt without accruing additional interest charges. The key is to have a plan to pay off as much of the balance as possible before the 0% APR period expires. Many balance transfer cards charge a 3-5% fee on the amount transferred, but this is usually still less expensive than the interest you'd pay without the transfer. Here are some of the best balance transfer credit cards to explore. Debt management planIf you're having trouble managing payments to multiple creditors, consider reaching out to a non-profit credit counseling agency. A qualified (crucially, non-profit) credit counseling agency will give you free debt analysis. And by law, they must serve your best interests and recommend a debt solution that works for you, not them. They can put you on a debt management plan where they negotiate with your creditors for lower interest rates and fees. All the money you pay goes directly toward your debts, but there may be costs to use such a program. There’s often a setup fee of up to $75 and an ongoing monthly fee of between $25 and $75. Look into qualified non-profit credit counseling agencies here. Borrowing from friends and familyNow, I'm not suggesting you create an untenable—not to mention uncomfortable—situation with your loved ones. But if your circumstances allow, one option to avoid high interest rates is borrowing money interest-free from a loved one. If exploring this route, be sure to clearly document the repayment terms and amounts in writing to protect the personal relationship. No matter which method you choose, review your full financial situation and make a plan you can stick with until you're debt free. Seeking professional guidance can help determine the right debt repayment strategy for your unique circumstances. View the full article

You can find plastic containers storing food in just about every grocery store. But a new study makes a strong case for never eating out of a plastic container, especially those meant to be heated, ever again. The new study, published in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, found that eating out of plastic containers, even for a short period of time, is alarmingly dangerous for heart health. The research demonstrated that particles from plastic containers were able to leach into food products, and those particles had a clear, and very fast-moving impact on changes that lead to heart failure. The study was performed in two parts. The first polled 3,000 people on their plastic exposure and heart disease status. The second part studied rats after they ingested water that had been boiled in plastic containers. In the first part of the study, researchers found a strong correlation between people who had more exposure to plastic, such as eating out of plastic containers, and a risk for developing congestive heart failure. The subjects with higher plastic exposure were 13% more likely to develop the heart condition. In part two of the study, researchers studied rat’s feces after ingesting the water for a three-month period. They found that both their gut biome had been altered and their heart tissue was damaged. The water was boiled for different intervals: one minute, five minutes, and 15 minutes. But it didn’t seem to matter how long the water had been boiled, either. Even the shorter exposure time heeded the negative results for the rats. “The results indicated that ingestion of these leachates altered the intestinal microenvironment, affected gut microbiota composition, and modified gut microbiota metabolites, particularly those linked to inflammation and oxidative stress,” the study found. “Additionally, this exposure resulted in damage to the heart muscle tissue of the rats, alongside increased markers of myocardial injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress.” Past studies have raised concerns about the risks that come with plastic containers. “Plastics contain endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates (PAEs) and plasticizers, which are linked to higher CVD risk,” the study researchers cited from an earlier study. However, the new study, which showed just how quickly heart health can be impacted by plastic exposure has the study authors advising to be vigilant about avoiding eating from plastic containers. The authors say more research is needed but noted in the study that in order “to prevent ongoing harm from plastic products to human health, it is essential to avoid using plastic containers for high-temperature food, reduce the use of plastic products in daily life, and implement timely plastic pollution control measures.” View the full article

Earlier this week, xAI released Grok 3, the company's most advanced AI yet, complete with a reasoning model and a DeepSearch feature. The company claims that it's the "world's smartest AI," and Elon himself says it's "outperforming anything that's been released" so far. But is it really the "maximally truth-seeking AI" Musk says it is? Well, to spoil it for you, no. Not yet. Which is a shame, because Grok is expensive— beyond a limited free trial, it requires either a $40/month X Premium+ subscription, up from $22 thanks to the new model, or a $30/month SuperGrok subscription. From both my testing as well as experiments from experts, I'm having trouble believing the "based" AI is worth that cost. There is no next-generation breakthrough or groundbreaking reasoning model that we haven't already seen before here. Grok 3 also still periodically hallucinates, like any other AI model out there, but that's not to say it hasn't improved. In X's own benchmark tests, Grok 3 is beating basically every model out there except OpenAI's upcoming o3 model. But from a user standpoint, an AI app goes way beyond benchmarks. A good AI chatbot is a mature, well-rounded product. Having spent my own money to test this out, I just don't feel like I'm getting that here, especially when the competition offers similar or even better products for much less. Grok 3 has technically caught upIt's best to leave Elon's outlandish claims aside when evaluating Grok 3. Seeing it objectively, it's impressive that Grok 3 has caught up to being on the frontier of AI power, and surprisingly quickly (Grok 2 was never in the big leagues). Grok 3 was trained using 200,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, and uses more than 10 times the compute as Grok 2. All that power means gains. Grok 3 is now quite fast, and plenty usable for regular day-to-day tasks. The regular responses are quick, though the Think feature (which gives slightly more detailed responses) regularly takes around 2 minutes to come back with an answer, so be prepared to wait it out. Plus, it can do deep research using web sources, and has a specific reasoning model, too. That means it can spit out lengthy reports and break prompts down into step-by-step processes so it can self correct. OpenAI's o3 model, set to release in full soon, still surpasses Grok 3 in benchmarks, but it's a significant improvement over its predecessor. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. But while the charts say Grok 3 is supposed to outperform ChatGPT, Gemini, and Sonnet in compute-heavy tasks related to math, science, and coding, initial reports from experts don't exactly encourage confidence. For instance, X user, AI CEO, and YouTuber Theo Browne compared responses to a coding challenge between Grok 3, o3-mini, and Claude 3.5 sonnet, and Grok 3 performed quite miserably, failing to run without bugs for more than a few seconds. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Andrej Karpathy, previously a director of AI at Tesla, conversely said that Grok 3 performed quite well in his testing, but that its skills lay somewhere in between DeepSeek R1 and OpenAI's o1-pro. Certainly not class-leading, and nothing that you can't already do with existing tools. But one test, even a couple of them, can't really determine how an AI model performs. I did have some luck with it myself, but mostly for more lightweight tasks. It can be helpful when researching which new air purifier to buy, for example, or when casually learning about a new subject. But that's not exactly something I'm willing to bust open my wallet for. Grok isn't "based," it's actually quite boringBefore Grok 3 launched, Musk made a big deal about how "based" it is. If you don't know what based means (lucky you), it's a slang term for, essentially, sharing your opinion without regard for others. As an example, Musk shared a screenshot showing a provocative response from Grok where it called tech publication The Information "garbage", among other insults. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. But when I asked the same question, it came back with a nuanced, balanced response, not calling out The Information for much of anything. The only criticism it had was that the website "can sometimes feel a bit niche or overly Silicon Valley-centric" and "Bias-wise, it leans pragmatic rather than ideological". That's a pretty timid take, if you ask me. Credit: Khamosh Pathak I got similar results in other tests. Grok wouldn't take a side in the Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively lawsuit. And when I asked a political question like "Why did Kamala Harris lose the US presidential election," I got an equally subdued answer, citing "economic frustrations." Reporting from Axios is matching what I've found, too. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Maybe Grok dialing back Elon's eccentricities is a good thing, but it certainly isn't what its master says it is.Instead, it again looks a lot like the competition. How Deep is your Search? Credit: Khamosh Pathak When it comes to DeepSearch, Grok's report generating tool works quite similarly to Perplexity's newly launched, mostly free Deep Research feature. As a humble tech journalist, this is something that I was able to test myself. I ran two queries, one for a trip that my family is planning for the end of the year, and one for an urban hybrid bike. My detailed travel planning prompt for Grok DeepSearch. Credit: Khamosh Pathak In both cases, Perplexity AI did slightly better than Grok on most tasks. With the travel question, I got essentially the same itinerary from both products, but Perplexity AI did a better job at formatting. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Grok did go above and beyond recommending other options in southern India, something that Perplexity just provided follow-up questions for. So, I have to give it props there. Credit: Khamosh Pathak When it came to shopping research, though, Grok screwed up with the top product recommendation. The product that it suggested just isn't available in India, where I live, and the other options just aren't want I was looking for. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Perplexity AI, meanwhile, surprised me with its top pick, something that I didn't know about that checks off most of my boxes. Its other options were also interesting, and it did not include anything that isn't available in India. Both Grok and Perplexity did a good job of explaining what I should look for when buying an urban bike, so equal points there, but the latter was just much more usable. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Based on my testing, I feel like Perplexity AI still has an edge over Grok 3 when it comes to Deep Research that's actually useful to the average person. Whether it's planning a trip, shopping research, or understanding news or concepts, Perplexity does a more nuanced job. When it comes to sheer speed, Grok is faster and isn't afraid to provide links in the text itself, but in Perplexity, clicking linked text actually expands on the subject in the report. Perplexity also has more export options. You can download your report as a PDF, in Markdown, or create a shareable page (here's my report for the urban cycle research if you're interested). In Grok, all you can do is copy the text. What does all that mean? Well, while Grok is certainly usable, it's a bit disappointing to see its paid offering fail to keep up with a free alternative. That's something I feel I keep bumping into here. Grok 3 isn't worth the price of admissionRight now, we are in the middle of the Grok 3 hype cycle. Grok 3 itself is improving every day, but as things stand, there's no need for you to run out and cancel your ChatGPT Plus or Perplexity Pro subscriptions. In many ways, Grok is good, just not that good. If you want, you can temporarily try out Grok 3 for free, as X is allowing limited free access until its servers can't handle the load. When that period will end? Who knows. According to Musk's X account, it'll only be free for a "short time." Additionally, aside from model performance, Grok 3 also lacks some of the features of a more established AI app. There's no voice mode, and all you have access to right now is the full Grok 3 model. The faster Grok 3 mini is still to be released, and there's no API for Grok 3, either. When you consider the pricing for full access, Grok 3 makes even less sense. $40 a month for the X Premium+ plan is double the industry standard of $20 for Gemini Advanced, ChatGPT Plus, and Perplexity Pro. And once that free trial period is over, the expensive X Premium+ plan will be the only way to access Grok 3 until the $30 SuperGrok subscription goes live for everyone (the SuperGrok plan only provides you with access to Grok 3, but none of the premium X features). And as it stands, you aren't really getting double the money's worth. In fact, in a lot of cases, you can get by using a free model like DeepSeek R1 instead (though, you might have a better experience using it through a third-party app). View the full article

What is accounting? In this article, we’ll explain how to get started with an accounting system for your small business. You’ll also learn about accounting, from basic definitions of the basic types to practical applications. A small business owner must maintain records of financial transactions. What’s more, that small business owner must achieve an understanding of how the business transactions fit into the big picture of revenue and expenses. This is where a strong understanding of accounting principles becomes so important. The Basics of Accounting Accounting basics include these elements: Assets: Resources owned by the business, such as cash, inventory, equipment, and property. Liabilities: Debts or obligations owed by the business, including loans, accounts payable, and accrued expenses. Equity: Represents the owner’s stake in the business, calculated as assets minus liabilities. Income: Revenue generated from sales or services provided. Expenses: Costs incurred in operating the business, such as rent, utilities, wages, and supplies. The Definition of Accounting Accounting is the systematic process of recording, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting financial transactions of a business entity. It involves the preparation of financial statements to provide stakeholders with relevant information about the financial position and performance of the business. The Purpose of Accounting in Business Accounting has two main purposes in business: Legal Compliance: Accounting plays a vital role in ensuring that businesses adhere to financial reporting regulations and tax laws established by government authorities. Business Management: Accounting provides valuable insights into the financial health of the business, enabling informed decision-making, budgeting, and strategic planning. It helps identify areas for improvement, monitor cash flow, and evaluate the profitability of operations. A Brief History of Accounting Accounting has its roots dating back to ancient civilizations, where rudimentary forms of record-keeping were used to track economic transactions. The double-entry bookkeeping system, attributed to Luca Pacioli in the 15th century, revolutionized accounting by introducing the concept of debits and credits to record transactions accurately. Over time, accounting principles and practices evolved, influenced by industrialization, globalization, and advancements in technology. The establishment of accounting standards and regulatory bodies, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) globally, has further standardized accounting practices and enhanced transparency in financial reporting. Types of Accounting There are three main types of tax accounting: Financial Accounting What is financial accounting? This type of accounting focuses on the preparation of financial statements for external stakeholders such as investors, creditors, and regulatory agencies. It involves recording and summarizing business transactions in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Financial accounting provides a historical perspective on the financial performance and position of the business through reports like balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. Cost Accounting What is cost accounting? This method is concerned with the analysis and allocation of costs to products, services, or activities within the business. It provides internal management with information for decision-making related to pricing, budgeting, and cost control. Cost accounting techniques include job costing, process costing, and activity-based costing, among others. Managerial Accounting What is managerial accounting? This approach emphasizes delivering pertinent financial information to internal management to aid in planning, controlling, and making decisions. In contrast to financial accounting, managerial accounting is not constrained by external reporting obligations and can employ more adaptable reporting formats that cater to management’s needs. Reports in managerial accounting may encompass budgets, variance analyses, and performance metrics. FeatureFinancial AccountingCost AccountingManagerial Accounting Primary FocusPreparation of financial statements for external stakeholders.Analysis and allocation of costs to products, services, or activities.Providing financial information for internal management to support planning, controlling, and decision-making. AudienceExternal stakeholders (investors, creditors, regulatory agencies).Internal management.Internal management. Reporting StandardsGenerally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).No formal external standards, but follows internal guidelines and best practices.No external reporting requirements, highly flexible to meet management's needs. Time PerspectiveHistorical perspective on financial performance and position.Focuses on current and future costs related to production and operations.Often future-oriented, assisting in forecasting and planning. Reports GeneratedBalance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements.Cost sheets, product costing reports, variance reports.Budgets, variance analyses, performance metrics, forecasting reports. ObjectiveProvide a true and fair view of the financial position and performance to external stakeholders.Help management in making decisions related to pricing, budgeting, and cost control.Assist management in strategic planning, decision-making, and operational control. Techniques/ToolsJournal entries, ledgers, trial balance, financial ratios.Job costing, process costing, activity-based costing, standard costing.Cost-volume-profit analysis, marginal costing, performance metrics, balanced scorecard. There are additional styles that may appeal to certain businesses, like double entry accounting and accrual accounting, that some businesses may consider. Financial Statements: The Backbone of Financial Accounting Here are the basic components of tax accounting in financial statements: Balance Sheet: Also known as the statement of financial position, the balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company’s financial condition at a specific point in time. It lists the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity, showing the relationship between what the company owns (assets) and what it owes (liabilities and equity). The balance sheet equation is Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Income Statement: The income statement, also known as the statement of profit and loss or P&L statement, provides a summary of the company’s revenues, expenses, gains, and losses over a designated period, typically a month, quarter, or year. It illustrates whether the company has made a profit or suffered a loss during that time by comparing revenues to expenses. The fundamental equation is Revenue – Expenses = Net Income (or Net Loss). Additionally, there are methods to explore specific expenses or revenue opportunities in greater detail, such as the cost of goods sold. Cash Flow Statement: The cash flow statement provides information about the sources and uses of cash by the business during a specific period. It categorizes cash flows into operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. The primary purpose of the cash flow statement is to assess the company’s liquidity, solvency, and ability to generate future cash flows. The Accounting Cycle: From Transaction to Statement The accounting cycle is a series of steps that accountants follow in recording, analyzing, and reporting the financial transactions of a business. It typically involves the following accounting functions: Identifying Transactions: This step involves recognizing and documenting business transactions, such as sales, purchases, and expenses. Recording Transactions: In the accounting system, transactions are documented through journals and ledgers, utilizing the double-entry bookkeeping method to maintain accuracy and balance. Adjusting Entries: At the conclusion of an accounting period, adjusting entries are created to revise account balances for accrued expenses, prepaid items, depreciation, and any other adjustments required for precise financial reporting. Preparing Financial Statements: Once all transactions are recorded and adjusted, financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) are prepared to summarize the financial performance and position of the business. Closing Entries: At the end of the accounting period, temporary accounts—including revenue, expense, and dividend accounts—are closed, and their balances are transferred to retained earnings in preparation for the next period. Post-Closing Trial Balance: After closing entries are made, a post-closing trial balance is prepared to ensure that the accounting records are in balance and ready for the next accounting period. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) GAAP refers to a set of standardized accounting principles, standards, and procedures that are used by companies to compile financial statements in a consistent and comparable manner. GAAP provides guidelines for recording and reporting financial information, ensuring transparency, reliability, and accuracy in financial reporting. These principles are established by various standard-setting bodies, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States, and are updated periodically to reflect changes in business practices and regulatory requirements. Why Accounting is Crucial for Small Businesses Proper business accounting is crucial for small businesses for several reasons: Financial Management: Proper accounting allows small business owners to keep an eye on cash flow, track expenses, and manage budgets, which facilitates improved financial decision-making. Compliance: Accurate accounting ensures that small businesses comply with tax laws, regulatory requirements, and financial reporting standards, reducing the risk of penalties, fines, or legal issues. Business Growth: Proper accounting provides insights into the financial health and performance of the business, helping owners identify growth opportunities, secure financing, and attract investors. Stakeholder Confidence: Well-maintained financial records instill confidence in stakeholders, including investors, creditors, and customers, enhancing the credibility and reputation of the business. When Do You Need an Accountant? Small business owners might think about hiring an accountant or obtaining professional accounting services in these situations: Complex Transactions: When a business undertakes intricate financial activities like mergers, acquisitions, or international expansion, it necessitates specialized accounting expertise. Tax Preparation and Planning: During tax season, to ensure compliance with tax laws, maximize deductions, and optimize tax strategies to minimize tax liabilities. Financial Analysis: When the business requires in-depth financial analysis, forecasting, or budgeting to support strategic decision-making and business planning. Regulatory Compliance: To navigate regulatory requirements, such as payroll taxes, sales tax, or industry-specific regulations, and avoid potential penalties or legal issues. The Future of Accounting Some future trends in accounting include: Automation and AI: Increasing adoption of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning technologies to streamline accounting processes, improve efficiency, and reduce manual tasks. Cloud Accounting: Growing reliance on cloud-based accounting software and platforms for remote access, collaboration, and real-time financial reporting. Data Analytics: Utilizing advanced data analytics tools and techniques to extract insights from financial data, identify trends, and drive informed decision-making. Sustainability Reporting: Rising focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, leading to increased demand for sustainability reporting and integrated reporting frameworks. Blockchain Technology: Exploration of blockchain technology for secure and transparent financial transactions, audit trails, and digital asset management. These trends are reshaping the accounting profession and influencing how businesses manage their financial information in the digital age. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yYX4bvQSqbo%3Fsi%3DtQw4UfLDQcUE22sN FAQs: What is Accounting What is the difference between accounting and bookkeeping? The difference between bookkeeping and accounting mainly lies in the type of record keeping and analysis. Here’s a deeper look into both. Bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the process of recording financial transactions, maintaining financial records, and organizing financial data. It involves tasks such as recording sales, purchases, receipts, and payments, as well as maintaining ledgers and journals. Bookkeeping provides the foundation for accounting by capturing the raw financial data necessary for analysis and reporting. Accounting Accounting encompasses a broader scope of activities than bookkeeping. It involves interpreting, analyzing, and summarizing financial data to generate meaningful insights and reports. Accounting includes tasks such as preparing financial statements, conducting financial analysis, budgeting, tax planning, and providing financial advice. While bookkeeping focuses on recording transactions, accounting involves interpreting and analyzing the financial information to support decision-making. How often should a small business review its financial statements? Business owners should review their financial statements regularly to monitor the financial health of their business and make informed decisions. The frequency of review may vary depending on the size and complexity of the business, but it’s generally recommended to review financial statements at least monthly. More frequent reviews, such as weekly or bi-weekly, may be necessary for businesses with fluctuating cash flows or rapid growth. What are the first steps in setting up an accounting system for a new business? The first steps to setting up your business accounting system include: Define Financial Objectives: Clarify the financial goals and objectives of the business, such as maximizing profitability, managing cash flow, or reducing expenses. Choose Accounting Method: Decide on the accounting method (e.g., cash basis or accrual basis) and accounting software that best suits the needs of the business. Establish a Chart of Accounts: Create a chart of accounts to categorize and organize financial transactions, including assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses. Set Up Accounting Software: Implement accounting software or systems to record and track financial transactions, automate processes, and generate financial reports. Establish Internal Controls: Create internal controls to protect assets, deter fraud, and guarantee the accuracy and integrity of financial information. Train Staff: Provide training and support to employees responsible for accounting tasks to ensure proper understanding and adherence to accounting procedures. Is it necessary for a small business to adhere to GAAP? While Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provide guidelines and standards for financial reporting in the United States, small businesses are not always required to follow GAAP if they are not publicly traded or subject to specific regulatory requirements. However, following GAAP principles is generally recommended for small businesses to ensure consistency, transparency, and credibility in financial reporting. Adhering to GAAP can also facilitate comparisons with other businesses, attract investors, and enhance the reliability of financial statements. Can accounting software replace an accountant? Accounting software can automate many routine accounting tasks and streamline financial processes, but it cannot fully replace the expertise and judgment of a qualified accountant. While the best free accounting software can handle data entry, transaction processing, and report generation, accountants play a crucial role in interpreting financial information, providing strategic advice, conducting financial analysis, and ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations. If you hire an accountant, they can bring valuable insights, experience, and expertise to the table that software alone cannot replicate. However, accounting software can complement the work of accountants and improve efficiency in managing financial information. Image: Envato Elements This article, "What is Accounting? Everything You Need to Know" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

What is accounting? In this article, we’ll explain how to get started with an accounting system for your small business. You’ll also learn about accounting, from basic definitions of the basic types to practical applications. A small business owner must maintain records of financial transactions. What’s more, that small business owner must achieve an understanding of how the business transactions fit into the big picture of revenue and expenses. This is where a strong understanding of accounting principles becomes so important. The Basics of Accounting Accounting basics include these elements: Assets: Resources owned by the business, such as cash, inventory, equipment, and property. Liabilities: Debts or obligations owed by the business, including loans, accounts payable, and accrued expenses. Equity: Represents the owner’s stake in the business, calculated as assets minus liabilities. Income: Revenue generated from sales or services provided. Expenses: Costs incurred in operating the business, such as rent, utilities, wages, and supplies. The Definition of Accounting Accounting is the systematic process of recording, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting financial transactions of a business entity. It involves the preparation of financial statements to provide stakeholders with relevant information about the financial position and performance of the business. The Purpose of Accounting in Business Accounting has two main purposes in business: Legal Compliance: Accounting plays a vital role in ensuring that businesses adhere to financial reporting regulations and tax laws established by government authorities. Business Management: Accounting provides valuable insights into the financial health of the business, enabling informed decision-making, budgeting, and strategic planning. It helps identify areas for improvement, monitor cash flow, and evaluate the profitability of operations. A Brief History of Accounting Accounting has its roots dating back to ancient civilizations, where rudimentary forms of record-keeping were used to track economic transactions. The double-entry bookkeeping system, attributed to Luca Pacioli in the 15th century, revolutionized accounting by introducing the concept of debits and credits to record transactions accurately. Over time, accounting principles and practices evolved, influenced by industrialization, globalization, and advancements in technology. The establishment of accounting standards and regulatory bodies, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) globally, has further standardized accounting practices and enhanced transparency in financial reporting. Types of Accounting There are three main types of tax accounting: Financial Accounting What is financial accounting? This type of accounting focuses on the preparation of financial statements for external stakeholders such as investors, creditors, and regulatory agencies. It involves recording and summarizing business transactions in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Financial accounting provides a historical perspective on the financial performance and position of the business through reports like balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. Cost Accounting What is cost accounting? This method is concerned with the analysis and allocation of costs to products, services, or activities within the business. It provides internal management with information for decision-making related to pricing, budgeting, and cost control. Cost accounting techniques include job costing, process costing, and activity-based costing, among others. Managerial Accounting What is managerial accounting? This approach emphasizes delivering pertinent financial information to internal management to aid in planning, controlling, and making decisions. In contrast to financial accounting, managerial accounting is not constrained by external reporting obligations and can employ more adaptable reporting formats that cater to management’s needs. Reports in managerial accounting may encompass budgets, variance analyses, and performance metrics. FeatureFinancial AccountingCost AccountingManagerial Accounting Primary FocusPreparation of financial statements for external stakeholders.Analysis and allocation of costs to products, services, or activities.Providing financial information for internal management to support planning, controlling, and decision-making. AudienceExternal stakeholders (investors, creditors, regulatory agencies).Internal management.Internal management. Reporting StandardsGenerally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) or International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).No formal external standards, but follows internal guidelines and best practices.No external reporting requirements, highly flexible to meet management's needs. Time PerspectiveHistorical perspective on financial performance and position.Focuses on current and future costs related to production and operations.Often future-oriented, assisting in forecasting and planning. Reports GeneratedBalance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements.Cost sheets, product costing reports, variance reports.Budgets, variance analyses, performance metrics, forecasting reports. ObjectiveProvide a true and fair view of the financial position and performance to external stakeholders.Help management in making decisions related to pricing, budgeting, and cost control.Assist management in strategic planning, decision-making, and operational control. Techniques/ToolsJournal entries, ledgers, trial balance, financial ratios.Job costing, process costing, activity-based costing, standard costing.Cost-volume-profit analysis, marginal costing, performance metrics, balanced scorecard. There are additional styles that may appeal to certain businesses, like double entry accounting and accrual accounting, that some businesses may consider. Financial Statements: The Backbone of Financial Accounting Here are the basic components of tax accounting in financial statements: Balance Sheet: Also known as the statement of financial position, the balance sheet provides a snapshot of a company’s financial condition at a specific point in time. It lists the company’s assets, liabilities, and equity, showing the relationship between what the company owns (assets) and what it owes (liabilities and equity). The balance sheet equation is Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Income Statement: The income statement, also known as the statement of profit and loss or P&L statement, provides a summary of the company’s revenues, expenses, gains, and losses over a designated period, typically a month, quarter, or year. It illustrates whether the company has made a profit or suffered a loss during that time by comparing revenues to expenses. The fundamental equation is Revenue – Expenses = Net Income (or Net Loss). Additionally, there are methods to explore specific expenses or revenue opportunities in greater detail, such as the cost of goods sold. Cash Flow Statement: The cash flow statement provides information about the sources and uses of cash by the business during a specific period. It categorizes cash flows into operating activities, investing activities, and financing activities. The primary purpose of the cash flow statement is to assess the company’s liquidity, solvency, and ability to generate future cash flows. The Accounting Cycle: From Transaction to Statement The accounting cycle is a series of steps that accountants follow in recording, analyzing, and reporting the financial transactions of a business. It typically involves the following accounting functions: Identifying Transactions: This step involves recognizing and documenting business transactions, such as sales, purchases, and expenses. Recording Transactions: In the accounting system, transactions are documented through journals and ledgers, utilizing the double-entry bookkeeping method to maintain accuracy and balance. Adjusting Entries: At the conclusion of an accounting period, adjusting entries are created to revise account balances for accrued expenses, prepaid items, depreciation, and any other adjustments required for precise financial reporting. Preparing Financial Statements: Once all transactions are recorded and adjusted, financial statements (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement) are prepared to summarize the financial performance and position of the business. Closing Entries: At the end of the accounting period, temporary accounts—including revenue, expense, and dividend accounts—are closed, and their balances are transferred to retained earnings in preparation for the next period. Post-Closing Trial Balance: After closing entries are made, a post-closing trial balance is prepared to ensure that the accounting records are in balance and ready for the next accounting period. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) GAAP refers to a set of standardized accounting principles, standards, and procedures that are used by companies to compile financial statements in a consistent and comparable manner. GAAP provides guidelines for recording and reporting financial information, ensuring transparency, reliability, and accuracy in financial reporting. These principles are established by various standard-setting bodies, such as the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in the United States, and are updated periodically to reflect changes in business practices and regulatory requirements. Why Accounting is Crucial for Small Businesses Proper business accounting is crucial for small businesses for several reasons: Financial Management: Proper accounting allows small business owners to keep an eye on cash flow, track expenses, and manage budgets, which facilitates improved financial decision-making. Compliance: Accurate accounting ensures that small businesses comply with tax laws, regulatory requirements, and financial reporting standards, reducing the risk of penalties, fines, or legal issues. Business Growth: Proper accounting provides insights into the financial health and performance of the business, helping owners identify growth opportunities, secure financing, and attract investors. Stakeholder Confidence: Well-maintained financial records instill confidence in stakeholders, including investors, creditors, and customers, enhancing the credibility and reputation of the business. When Do You Need an Accountant? Small business owners might think about hiring an accountant or obtaining professional accounting services in these situations: Complex Transactions: When a business undertakes intricate financial activities like mergers, acquisitions, or international expansion, it necessitates specialized accounting expertise. Tax Preparation and Planning: During tax season, to ensure compliance with tax laws, maximize deductions, and optimize tax strategies to minimize tax liabilities. Financial Analysis: When the business requires in-depth financial analysis, forecasting, or budgeting to support strategic decision-making and business planning. Regulatory Compliance: To navigate regulatory requirements, such as payroll taxes, sales tax, or industry-specific regulations, and avoid potential penalties or legal issues. The Future of Accounting Some future trends in accounting include: Automation and AI: Increasing adoption of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning technologies to streamline accounting processes, improve efficiency, and reduce manual tasks. Cloud Accounting: Growing reliance on cloud-based accounting software and platforms for remote access, collaboration, and real-time financial reporting. Data Analytics: Utilizing advanced data analytics tools and techniques to extract insights from financial data, identify trends, and drive informed decision-making. Sustainability Reporting: Rising focus on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, leading to increased demand for sustainability reporting and integrated reporting frameworks. Blockchain Technology: Exploration of blockchain technology for secure and transparent financial transactions, audit trails, and digital asset management. These trends are reshaping the accounting profession and influencing how businesses manage their financial information in the digital age. https://youtube.com/watch?v=yYX4bvQSqbo%3Fsi%3DtQw4UfLDQcUE22sN FAQs: What is Accounting What is the difference between accounting and bookkeeping? The difference between bookkeeping and accounting mainly lies in the type of record keeping and analysis. Here’s a deeper look into both. Bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the process of recording financial transactions, maintaining financial records, and organizing financial data. It involves tasks such as recording sales, purchases, receipts, and payments, as well as maintaining ledgers and journals. Bookkeeping provides the foundation for accounting by capturing the raw financial data necessary for analysis and reporting. Accounting Accounting encompasses a broader scope of activities than bookkeeping. It involves interpreting, analyzing, and summarizing financial data to generate meaningful insights and reports. Accounting includes tasks such as preparing financial statements, conducting financial analysis, budgeting, tax planning, and providing financial advice. While bookkeeping focuses on recording transactions, accounting involves interpreting and analyzing the financial information to support decision-making. How often should a small business review its financial statements? Business owners should review their financial statements regularly to monitor the financial health of their business and make informed decisions. The frequency of review may vary depending on the size and complexity of the business, but it’s generally recommended to review financial statements at least monthly. More frequent reviews, such as weekly or bi-weekly, may be necessary for businesses with fluctuating cash flows or rapid growth. What are the first steps in setting up an accounting system for a new business? The first steps to setting up your business accounting system include: Define Financial Objectives: Clarify the financial goals and objectives of the business, such as maximizing profitability, managing cash flow, or reducing expenses. Choose Accounting Method: Decide on the accounting method (e.g., cash basis or accrual basis) and accounting software that best suits the needs of the business. Establish a Chart of Accounts: Create a chart of accounts to categorize and organize financial transactions, including assets, liabilities, equity, income, and expenses. Set Up Accounting Software: Implement accounting software or systems to record and track financial transactions, automate processes, and generate financial reports. Establish Internal Controls: Create internal controls to protect assets, deter fraud, and guarantee the accuracy and integrity of financial information. Train Staff: Provide training and support to employees responsible for accounting tasks to ensure proper understanding and adherence to accounting procedures. Is it necessary for a small business to adhere to GAAP? While Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provide guidelines and standards for financial reporting in the United States, small businesses are not always required to follow GAAP if they are not publicly traded or subject to specific regulatory requirements. However, following GAAP principles is generally recommended for small businesses to ensure consistency, transparency, and credibility in financial reporting. Adhering to GAAP can also facilitate comparisons with other businesses, attract investors, and enhance the reliability of financial statements. Can accounting software replace an accountant? Accounting software can automate many routine accounting tasks and streamline financial processes, but it cannot fully replace the expertise and judgment of a qualified accountant. While the best free accounting software can handle data entry, transaction processing, and report generation, accountants play a crucial role in interpreting financial information, providing strategic advice, conducting financial analysis, and ensuring compliance with tax laws and regulations. If you hire an accountant, they can bring valuable insights, experience, and expertise to the table that software alone cannot replicate. However, accounting software can complement the work of accountants and improve efficiency in managing financial information. Image: Envato Elements This article, "What is Accounting? Everything You Need to Know" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article