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For a long time, we thought we were doing our part. Our firm gave generously, supported causes we believed in, and showed up when asked. But over time, it became clear that something was missing. Our giving wasn’t balanced. It was concentrated. It didn’t always reach far enough into the communities where we live and work. And it didn’t always invite everyone to take part. That realization led us to rethink how we engage—and why our Day of Giving program matters so deeply. MG2’s Day of Giving is not about a single project or a single group of people. It’s about participation. Once a year, every MG2 employee is invited to step away from their work and spend a day serving alongside colleagues in the community. Not as experts. Not as donors alone. But as neighbors, volunteers, and learners. This matters because community engagement shouldn’t belong to just one cohort of people, one office, or one level of leadership. It should include everyone. SHARED EXPERIENCES, SHARED VALUES Here’s how our program works: Each office or studio chooses a nonprofit organization to support, and employees spend a day—paid—onsite, helping out. Our activities this past year ranged from clearing brush, to preparing meals, to constructing homes, to painting murals—not the typical day for an architect, but a day that reflects the ethos of our firm to be community-based and, above all, helpful. When all employees are encouraged to participate—across roles, locations, and backgrounds—we begin to build something far more meaningful than a volunteer program. We build shared experiences. And those experiences extend to the people who live, work, and play in the spaces we design. Shared experiences reveal shared values. Working together at a food bank, restoring a trail, supporting families in a housing program, or cleaning up a neighborhood creates connection in a way meetings and emails never can. It reminds us why community work isn’t a side effort—it’s central to who we are and how we want to show up in the world. We also learned that writing checks alone isn’t enough. Time matters. Presence matters. Listening matters. Our Day of Giving is a commitment to all three. It’s a recognition that resilience grows when people are willing to engage directly and consistently—not just when it’s convenient, but because it’s necessary. That’s where stewardship comes in. We don’t just want volunteers for a day. We want stewards—people who care deeply, take responsibility, and inspire others to do the same. People like our former CEO Jerry Lee, whose example at MG2 shows us that leadership in community engagement isn’t about recognition; it’s about accountability and follow-through. Stewardship is contagious. When one person models it, others step forward. This approach mirrors how we think about our work as designers. Communities don’t thrive because of one building or one idea. They thrive when many people contribute, when spaces invite connection, and when responsibility is shared. The same is true of giving back. When everyone is invited in, everyone has a stake. And that’s how communities and companies grow stronger. Mitch Smith AIA, LEED AP, is the CEO and chairman of MG2, an affiliate of Colliers Engineering & Design. View the full article

Back in March, Amazon announced new 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options for tens of thousands of items in over 2,000 cities across America. But now the e-commerce juggernaut is making those short wait times look relatively long. Starting today, the company is launching a 30-minute delivery service, dubbed Amazon Now, in several cities across the U.S. Here’s what you need to know. What is Amazon Now? Amazon Now will make thousands of Amazon’s products available for delivery within 30 minutes or less. It joins Amazon’s other existing fast delivery options in the United States. These include under 60-minute delivery with the company’s Prime Air drone service in eight cities, the 1-hour and 3-hour delivery options in more than 2,000 locations, and same-day delivery in more than 10,000 towns and cities. It is also Amazon’s latest salvo in making sure that when you need even the simplest item quickly, it may now be more convenient to order from Amazon instead of hopping in the car and driving to your local Walgreens 15 minutes away. Amazon says Now 30-minute deliveries are possible because they don’t rely on the larger Amazon fulfillment centers, which are often located outside of residential and business areas. Instead, the service utilizes “a network of smaller locations designed for efficient order fulfillment, strategically placed close to where customers live and work,” according to the company. Amazon says that in most areas where Now delivery is available, it operates 24 hours a day. What products are eligible for Amazon Now 30-minute deliveries? While 30-minute deliveries sound convenient, Amazon customers should understand that the Now delivery option is not available for every product Amazon sells. Instead, Now deliveries are limited to select products from certain categories. Those categories include: alcohol (where permitted) baby bakery dairy and eggs electronics fresh produce health personal care pet Where is Amazon Now available? Starting today, Amazon Now is available in only four cities/metro areas in America. They are: Atlanta Dallas-Fort Worth Philadelphia Seattle However, Amazon says the Now delivery option will be “rapidly expanding in dozens more cities.” These include: Austin Denver Houston Minneapolis Oklahoma City Orlando, Florida Phoenix Amazon says it expects to expand the Now service to other cities by the end of 2026. How much do Amazon Now deliveries cost? This is Amazon, so the extra convenience will cost you. Amazon has two pricing structures for its Now delivery option, depending on whether you are a Prime member. If you are a Prime member, an Amazon Now delivery will cost you $3.99 for orders over $15. If your order is under $15, an additional small-order fee of $1.99 will apply. If you are not a Prime member, an Amazon Now delivery will cost you $13.99 for orders over $15. If your order is under $15, an additional small-order fee of $3.99 will apply. View the full article

If you’re managing accounts payable, you know how vital it is to streamline processes and maintain accuracy. You might find that investing in accounts payable software can greatly improve efficiency and simplify your financial operations. With various options available, each customized to unique business needs, it’s important to explore which solution aligns best with your goals. Let’s examine the top ten accounts payable software solutions that can transform your approach to managing payments and invoices. Key Takeaways Tipalti: Offers extensive AP automation with support for global payments and tax compliance, ideal for businesses with international operations. AvidXchange: Tailored for mid-sized to large companies, featuring advanced invoice capture and streamlined payment processes. Coupa: Provides enterprise-grade spend management and procurement solutions, enhancing financial control and visibility for large organizations. Airbase: Combines accounts payable with corporate card management in a unified spend management platform for improved financial oversight. BILL: Designed for SMBs, it delivers a user-friendly, paperless accounts payable solution that integrates seamlessly with existing accounting software. Signs You Need an Accounts Payable Software If you find that manual processes are overwhelming your accounts payable (AP) team and leading to increased errors, it might be time to contemplate investing in accounts payable software. Frequent payment errors, such as duplicate or incorrect payments, can signal that your current system lacks the required checks and balances, making automation crucial. Furthermore, if you struggle with visibility into approval statuses and cash flow, this can hinder your decision-making and indicate the need for real-time insights that accounts payable software can provide. Legacy systems may complicate reconciliation and introduce audit risks, underscoring the significance of adopting modern solutions that easily integrate with existing systems. Finally, managing multiple entities or global vendors can overwhelm your team, highlighting the requirement for software designed to streamline diverse financial operations. Recognizing these signs can help you make informed decisions about upgrading your accounts payable processes. What Is Accounts Payable Software? Accounts payable software is a digital solution designed to automate the entire payment process for businesses, streamlining tasks that were once labor-intensive and prone to errors. This software improves efficiency by filtering, categorizing, matching, and validating critical accounting information. It integrates seamlessly with existing SAP systems, reducing manual tasks by up to 80% and greatly accelerating invoice processing times. Key functions include invoice processing, approval workflows, and cash disbursement reporting, which collectively enhance cash flow management. Additionally, these solutions improve visibility into approval statuses and cash flow, facilitating better financial decision-making and compliance management. By automating accounts payable processes, you can reduce errors and minimize the risk of duplicate or incorrect payments, eventually improving operational efficiency. When considering options, an accounts payable software comparison can help you identify which solution best meets your business needs, ensuring you make an informed choice for your financial operations. Must-Have Features in Modern AP Automation Software When choosing modern AP automation software, you’ll want to prioritize features that boost efficiency and accuracy in your accounts payable processes. Look for real-time automation capabilities that can streamline end-to-end workflows, cutting manual tasks by up to 80%. Crucial features include invoice scanning and approval routing, which improve data capture and speed up payment processing. Advanced modules should additionally offer self-service onboarding for vendors and strong fraud prevention tools to secure your transactions. Furthermore, reconciliation tools are vital, as they provide automatic payment reconciliation and greater visibility into your spending, helping maintain financial control. Finally, ascertain the software can scale with your business, allowing for the management of multiple entities and currencies as well as adhering to local regulations. When you perform an accounts payable automation software comparison, these must-have features could greatly impact your efficiency and accuracy. Overview of Leading Accounts Payable Software Solutions In today’s fast-paced business environment, selecting the right accounts payable (AP) software solution can greatly impact your financial operations. When considering accounts payable software for large business, a few leading options stand out: Tipalti: Offers extensive AP automation, supporting global payments and tax compliance, ideal for high-growth businesses. AvidXchange: Customized for mid-sized to large businesses, featuring advanced invoice capture and a robust supplier network for high invoice volumes. Coupa: Focuses on spend management and procurement, providing enterprise-grade controls and analytics for complex AP needs. Airbase: A unified spend management platform that integrates accounts payable with corporate cards, enhancing real-time visibility. BILL: Targets SMBs with user-friendly AP automation and seamless integration with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero. Choosing the right solution can streamline your processes and improve overall efficiency. Tipalti Tipalti offers a thorough accounts payable automation solution designed to streamline your financial processes. With features like AI-driven invoice processing and advanced fraud prevention tools, it greatly reduces AP workloads and improves visibility into cash flow. Moreover, its seamless integration with existing ERP systems makes it an attractive choice for high-growth businesses looking to enhance operational efficiency. Key Features Overview Accounts payable processes can be greatly streamlined with Tipalti, which offers an all-encompassing automation solution that reduces workloads by up to 80%. This automated invoice management system improves efficiency through several key features, including: AI-based invoice automation for quicker processing Purchase order matching to guarantee accuracy Self-service supplier onboarding for faster integration Global payment support across 196 countries and 120 currencies Mass payments software for simplified employee reimbursements With these features, Tipalti not only enhances financial close times by 25% but additionally guarantees compliance with local regulations and tax requirements. As a result, you gain flexibility and control over your financial processes, making it a crucial tool for modern businesses. Integration Capabilities When businesses seek to improve their financial operations, the integration capabilities of Tipalti stand out as a crucial element. This cloud based accounts payable solution offers seamless live, two-way integrations with over 30 major ERP and accounting systems, automating the flow of invoice and expense data in real-time. By considerably reducing manual entry errors, Tipalti boosts data accuracy. Furthermore, its customizable integration options allow you to tailor workflows to meet specific operational needs, particularly for managing multi-entity and global supplier relationships. The platform likewise automates tax compliance processes, ensuring necessary tax forms and validations are collected in accordance with local regulations. With a centralized dashboard, you can monitor real-time financial data, raising visibility into cash flow and spending. Target User Base Many businesses, especially those experiencing rapid growth, find themselves in need of efficient accounts payable solutions that can handle complex financial demands. Tipalti primarily targets a diverse user base, including: High-growth small businesses Mid-market companies Large enterprises Accounts payable companies managing global payments Organizations with multi-entity operations This software is ideal for companies dealing with intricate tax compliance needs and multi-currency transactions. With the ability to facilitate payments in over 200 countries and across 120 currencies, Tipalti offers advanced features like self-service supplier onboarding and invoice matching. Airbase Airbase serves as a unified spend management platform that combines accounts payable, expense management, and corporate card functionalities, which is particularly beneficial for mid-market organizations. With real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending, you can easily upload or email invoices for streamlined approvals, enhancing your workflow efficiency. This automation not only decreases manual entry errors but likewise syncs transaction data directly to your general ledger, simplifying your accounting processes. Unified Spend Management Platform In today’s fast-paced business environment, having a unified spend management platform can greatly boost financial oversight and efficiency. Airbase integrates digital accounts payable, expense management, and corporate cards, offering real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending. Key features include: Easy invoice uploads or emails for streamlined processing Integrated approval workflows to improve payment efficiency Automated accounting that syncs transaction data to the general ledger Support for thousands of customers across over 100 countries A user-friendly interface with a G2 rating of 4.7 stars These features make Airbase an ideal solution for mid-market businesses seeking consolidated financial management, reducing manual entry errors as well as enhancing accuracy and overall operational efficiency. Real-Time Spend Visibility Real-time spend visibility is essential for effective financial management, and it allows businesses to monitor their expenses with precision. Airbase provides this by consolidating all non-payroll spending in a single system, making it easy for you to track expenses seamlessly. You can upload or email invoices directly, integrating approval workflows that give instant visibility into pending and completed transactions. With invoice processing automation, transaction data is continuously updated in the general ledger, enhancing financial accuracy and oversight. The platform likewise allows you to generate real-time insights on spending patterns and budget adherence, empowering you to make informed financial decisions. Its intuitive interface guarantees quick navigation, so you can access critical spend data without needing extensive training. Streamlined Invoice Approvals When managing invoices, the approval process can often become a bottleneck, delaying payments and complicating financial workflows. Airbase addresses these challenges with its streamlined invoice processing systems, enabling you to improve efficiency. Integrated approval workflows let you upload or email invoices easily. Gain real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending for better tracking. Automated accounting syncing reduces manual data entry and updates your general ledger. Accelerate invoice processing times through improved communication among team members. A user-friendly interface guarantees quick onboarding and minimal training needs. With Airbase, your invoice approval process becomes smoother, guaranteeing timely payments and less administrative burden, ultimately improving your overall financial management. AvidXchange AvidXchange offers an efficient accounts payable automation platform customized for mid-sized to large businesses that face the challenge of managing a high volume of invoices and payments. This accounts payable cloud solution features advanced invoice capture and approval workflows, streamlining your invoice processing. With a robust supplier network, you can make seamless electronic payments to suppliers while enjoying multiple payment options for increased flexibility. AvidXchange integrates smoothly with popular accounting systems, which improves efficiency and guarantees compliance with various industry regulations. It’s particularly beneficial for industries like construction, real estate, and utilities, where managing supplier relationships and compliance is vital. By focusing on improving operational efficiency, AvidXchange greatly reduces manual processing time and the costs associated with paper checks and manual invoice handling. This platform helps you optimize your accounts payable process, allowing you to focus on more strategic business activities. BILL BILL stands out as a versatile accounts payable and receivable automation platform customized for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), freelancers, and accounting firms. This paperless accounts payable software simplifies your financial workflows through automation and efficiency. Automated invoice approvals reduce manual tasks. Multiple payment methods streamline transactions. Seamless integration with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero improves data synchronization. User-friendly interface allows easy management of AP processes, requiring minimal training. Optimized workflows improve accuracy and speed in financial operations. Coupa Coupa offers a robust solution for spend management and procurement, making it an excellent choice for large enterprises looking to optimize their accounts payable processes. This software leverages AI-driven insights to improve visibility and control over spending, ensuring compliance as well as reducing unnecessary costs. With its ability to integrate seamlessly with various ERP systems, Coupa enhances data accuracy and operational efficiency. Designed for scalability, it accommodates the complex accounts payable and procurement workflows of growing enterprises, allowing them to adapt to changing needs. Trusted by over 1,000 customers globally, including many Fortune 500 companies, Coupa has established a solid reputation in the enterprise software market. NetSuite AP NetSuite AP offers you real-time financial visibility and seamless integration with your existing ERP systems, which is essential for effective accounts payable management. By automating invoice processing and enabling features like two-way matching and automated approval workflows, you can streamline operations and reduce manual errors. This solution not only improves your cash management through insightful analytics but furthermore supports multi-entity management for global vendor payments, ensuring compliance with local regulations. Real-Time Financial Visibility In today’s fast-paced business environment, having real-time financial visibility is vital for effective decision-making. NetSuite AP, a paperless accounts payable system, empowers you with immediate access to important financial data. This enables you to make informed decisions swiftly. Here are some key features that improve your financial oversight: Monitor cash flow and financial performance in real time Track invoice processing times and outstanding payments Access customizable reports for budget tracking Automate manual processes to reduce errors Speed up month-end closing by viewing all transactions instantly With these tools, you can improve operational efficiency, accountability, and strategic planning, ensuring your organization remains competitive in a swiftly changing market. Seamless ERP Integration When organizations utilize seamless ERP integration, they release the full potential of their accounts payable processes. NetSuite AP, part of Oracle’s ERP suite, offers real-time visibility into cash flow and financial controls. This integration improves accuracy by automating invoice processing and linking accounts payable data with other financial systems. You can manage multiple entities and currencies efficiently from a single platform, boosting operational efficiency. The centralized dashboard allows for effective monitoring of spend and supports better budgeting decisions. Feature Benefit Impact Automated Invoice Processing Reduces manual errors Accelerates month-end closes Multi-Entity Management Handles subsidiaries seamlessly Simplifies financial oversight Centralized Dashboard Improves budgeting decisions Enhances spend monitoring With NetSuite AP, you’re optimizing your vendor payment management software for success. Frequently Asked Questions What Software Is Used for Accounts Payable? You can use various software for accounts payable, such as Tipalti, AvidXchange, and Airbase. These solutions automate invoice processing, payment approvals, and reconciliations, streamlining your business’s payment processes. Many integrate with existing ERP systems, ensuring data accuracy and real-time insights. Advanced features like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI-driven fraud detection help minimize errors and risks, allowing you to manage your cash flow and vendor payments more effectively. Which Accounts Payable Automation Solution Is the Most Reliable? When evaluating which accounts payable automation solution is most reliable, consider factors like user ratings, functionality, and integration capabilities. Solutions like Nanonets, with its AI-driven accuracy, and Airbase, known for unified spend management, rank highly. Tipalti shines in global supplier management, whereas AvidXchange focuses on electronic payments for mid-sized businesses. Each option has strengths, so assess your specific needs to determine which solution aligns best with your operational requirements. What Is the Most Widely Used Accounting Software? The most widely used accounting software is QuickBooks, popular among small to medium-sized businesses because of its user-friendly interface and thorough features. Many users appreciate its ability to simplify financial management tasks, such as invoicing and expense tracking. An additional notable option is Xero, favored by startups for its cloud-based capabilities. Depending on your business size and needs, other solutions like Sage Intacct and FreshBooks may likewise be worthwhile to evaluate. Which Is the Best Software for Billing? When you’re looking for the best billing software, consider your specific needs. For thorough accounts payable automation and global payment capabilities, Tipalti might be your best choice. If you want unified spend management, Airbase shines in combining AP with expense tracking. For high-volume invoice processing, AvidXchange is worth exploring. BILL offers streamlined AP and AR processes, whereas Coupa provides AI-driven insights for large organizations seeking robust procurement solutions. Evaluate these options based on your requirements. Conclusion In summary, choosing the right accounts payable software is essential for enhancing your financial processes. Each solution, from Tipalti’s global payment capabilities to AvidXchange’s advanced invoice capture, offers unique features customized to different business needs. By comprehending the must-have functions and evaluating your options, you can streamline your accounts payable operations, reduce manual tasks, and improve financial visibility. Investing in the right software not just boosts efficiency but likewise supports your broader strategic financial goals. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 10 Accounts Payable Software Solutions" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

If you’re managing accounts payable, you know how vital it is to streamline processes and maintain accuracy. You might find that investing in accounts payable software can greatly improve efficiency and simplify your financial operations. With various options available, each customized to unique business needs, it’s important to explore which solution aligns best with your goals. Let’s examine the top ten accounts payable software solutions that can transform your approach to managing payments and invoices. Key Takeaways Tipalti: Offers extensive AP automation with support for global payments and tax compliance, ideal for businesses with international operations. AvidXchange: Tailored for mid-sized to large companies, featuring advanced invoice capture and streamlined payment processes. Coupa: Provides enterprise-grade spend management and procurement solutions, enhancing financial control and visibility for large organizations. Airbase: Combines accounts payable with corporate card management in a unified spend management platform for improved financial oversight. BILL: Designed for SMBs, it delivers a user-friendly, paperless accounts payable solution that integrates seamlessly with existing accounting software. Signs You Need an Accounts Payable Software If you find that manual processes are overwhelming your accounts payable (AP) team and leading to increased errors, it might be time to contemplate investing in accounts payable software. Frequent payment errors, such as duplicate or incorrect payments, can signal that your current system lacks the required checks and balances, making automation crucial. Furthermore, if you struggle with visibility into approval statuses and cash flow, this can hinder your decision-making and indicate the need for real-time insights that accounts payable software can provide. Legacy systems may complicate reconciliation and introduce audit risks, underscoring the significance of adopting modern solutions that easily integrate with existing systems. Finally, managing multiple entities or global vendors can overwhelm your team, highlighting the requirement for software designed to streamline diverse financial operations. Recognizing these signs can help you make informed decisions about upgrading your accounts payable processes. What Is Accounts Payable Software? Accounts payable software is a digital solution designed to automate the entire payment process for businesses, streamlining tasks that were once labor-intensive and prone to errors. This software improves efficiency by filtering, categorizing, matching, and validating critical accounting information. It integrates seamlessly with existing SAP systems, reducing manual tasks by up to 80% and greatly accelerating invoice processing times. Key functions include invoice processing, approval workflows, and cash disbursement reporting, which collectively enhance cash flow management. Additionally, these solutions improve visibility into approval statuses and cash flow, facilitating better financial decision-making and compliance management. By automating accounts payable processes, you can reduce errors and minimize the risk of duplicate or incorrect payments, eventually improving operational efficiency. When considering options, an accounts payable software comparison can help you identify which solution best meets your business needs, ensuring you make an informed choice for your financial operations. Must-Have Features in Modern AP Automation Software When choosing modern AP automation software, you’ll want to prioritize features that boost efficiency and accuracy in your accounts payable processes. Look for real-time automation capabilities that can streamline end-to-end workflows, cutting manual tasks by up to 80%. Crucial features include invoice scanning and approval routing, which improve data capture and speed up payment processing. Advanced modules should additionally offer self-service onboarding for vendors and strong fraud prevention tools to secure your transactions. Furthermore, reconciliation tools are vital, as they provide automatic payment reconciliation and greater visibility into your spending, helping maintain financial control. Finally, ascertain the software can scale with your business, allowing for the management of multiple entities and currencies as well as adhering to local regulations. When you perform an accounts payable automation software comparison, these must-have features could greatly impact your efficiency and accuracy. Overview of Leading Accounts Payable Software Solutions In today’s fast-paced business environment, selecting the right accounts payable (AP) software solution can greatly impact your financial operations. When considering accounts payable software for large business, a few leading options stand out: Tipalti: Offers extensive AP automation, supporting global payments and tax compliance, ideal for high-growth businesses. AvidXchange: Customized for mid-sized to large businesses, featuring advanced invoice capture and a robust supplier network for high invoice volumes. Coupa: Focuses on spend management and procurement, providing enterprise-grade controls and analytics for complex AP needs. Airbase: A unified spend management platform that integrates accounts payable with corporate cards, enhancing real-time visibility. BILL: Targets SMBs with user-friendly AP automation and seamless integration with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero. Choosing the right solution can streamline your processes and improve overall efficiency. Tipalti Tipalti offers a thorough accounts payable automation solution designed to streamline your financial processes. With features like AI-driven invoice processing and advanced fraud prevention tools, it greatly reduces AP workloads and improves visibility into cash flow. Moreover, its seamless integration with existing ERP systems makes it an attractive choice for high-growth businesses looking to enhance operational efficiency. Key Features Overview Accounts payable processes can be greatly streamlined with Tipalti, which offers an all-encompassing automation solution that reduces workloads by up to 80%. This automated invoice management system improves efficiency through several key features, including: AI-based invoice automation for quicker processing Purchase order matching to guarantee accuracy Self-service supplier onboarding for faster integration Global payment support across 196 countries and 120 currencies Mass payments software for simplified employee reimbursements With these features, Tipalti not only enhances financial close times by 25% but additionally guarantees compliance with local regulations and tax requirements. As a result, you gain flexibility and control over your financial processes, making it a crucial tool for modern businesses. Integration Capabilities When businesses seek to improve their financial operations, the integration capabilities of Tipalti stand out as a crucial element. This cloud based accounts payable solution offers seamless live, two-way integrations with over 30 major ERP and accounting systems, automating the flow of invoice and expense data in real-time. By considerably reducing manual entry errors, Tipalti boosts data accuracy. Furthermore, its customizable integration options allow you to tailor workflows to meet specific operational needs, particularly for managing multi-entity and global supplier relationships. The platform likewise automates tax compliance processes, ensuring necessary tax forms and validations are collected in accordance with local regulations. With a centralized dashboard, you can monitor real-time financial data, raising visibility into cash flow and spending. Target User Base Many businesses, especially those experiencing rapid growth, find themselves in need of efficient accounts payable solutions that can handle complex financial demands. Tipalti primarily targets a diverse user base, including: High-growth small businesses Mid-market companies Large enterprises Accounts payable companies managing global payments Organizations with multi-entity operations This software is ideal for companies dealing with intricate tax compliance needs and multi-currency transactions. With the ability to facilitate payments in over 200 countries and across 120 currencies, Tipalti offers advanced features like self-service supplier onboarding and invoice matching. Airbase Airbase serves as a unified spend management platform that combines accounts payable, expense management, and corporate card functionalities, which is particularly beneficial for mid-market organizations. With real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending, you can easily upload or email invoices for streamlined approvals, enhancing your workflow efficiency. This automation not only decreases manual entry errors but likewise syncs transaction data directly to your general ledger, simplifying your accounting processes. Unified Spend Management Platform In today’s fast-paced business environment, having a unified spend management platform can greatly boost financial oversight and efficiency. Airbase integrates digital accounts payable, expense management, and corporate cards, offering real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending. Key features include: Easy invoice uploads or emails for streamlined processing Integrated approval workflows to improve payment efficiency Automated accounting that syncs transaction data to the general ledger Support for thousands of customers across over 100 countries A user-friendly interface with a G2 rating of 4.7 stars These features make Airbase an ideal solution for mid-market businesses seeking consolidated financial management, reducing manual entry errors as well as enhancing accuracy and overall operational efficiency. Real-Time Spend Visibility Real-time spend visibility is essential for effective financial management, and it allows businesses to monitor their expenses with precision. Airbase provides this by consolidating all non-payroll spending in a single system, making it easy for you to track expenses seamlessly. You can upload or email invoices directly, integrating approval workflows that give instant visibility into pending and completed transactions. With invoice processing automation, transaction data is continuously updated in the general ledger, enhancing financial accuracy and oversight. The platform likewise allows you to generate real-time insights on spending patterns and budget adherence, empowering you to make informed financial decisions. Its intuitive interface guarantees quick navigation, so you can access critical spend data without needing extensive training. Streamlined Invoice Approvals When managing invoices, the approval process can often become a bottleneck, delaying payments and complicating financial workflows. Airbase addresses these challenges with its streamlined invoice processing systems, enabling you to improve efficiency. Integrated approval workflows let you upload or email invoices easily. Gain real-time visibility into all non-payroll spending for better tracking. Automated accounting syncing reduces manual data entry and updates your general ledger. Accelerate invoice processing times through improved communication among team members. A user-friendly interface guarantees quick onboarding and minimal training needs. With Airbase, your invoice approval process becomes smoother, guaranteeing timely payments and less administrative burden, ultimately improving your overall financial management. AvidXchange AvidXchange offers an efficient accounts payable automation platform customized for mid-sized to large businesses that face the challenge of managing a high volume of invoices and payments. This accounts payable cloud solution features advanced invoice capture and approval workflows, streamlining your invoice processing. With a robust supplier network, you can make seamless electronic payments to suppliers while enjoying multiple payment options for increased flexibility. AvidXchange integrates smoothly with popular accounting systems, which improves efficiency and guarantees compliance with various industry regulations. It’s particularly beneficial for industries like construction, real estate, and utilities, where managing supplier relationships and compliance is vital. By focusing on improving operational efficiency, AvidXchange greatly reduces manual processing time and the costs associated with paper checks and manual invoice handling. This platform helps you optimize your accounts payable process, allowing you to focus on more strategic business activities. BILL BILL stands out as a versatile accounts payable and receivable automation platform customized for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), freelancers, and accounting firms. This paperless accounts payable software simplifies your financial workflows through automation and efficiency. Automated invoice approvals reduce manual tasks. Multiple payment methods streamline transactions. Seamless integration with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero improves data synchronization. User-friendly interface allows easy management of AP processes, requiring minimal training. Optimized workflows improve accuracy and speed in financial operations. Coupa Coupa offers a robust solution for spend management and procurement, making it an excellent choice for large enterprises looking to optimize their accounts payable processes. This software leverages AI-driven insights to improve visibility and control over spending, ensuring compliance as well as reducing unnecessary costs. With its ability to integrate seamlessly with various ERP systems, Coupa enhances data accuracy and operational efficiency. Designed for scalability, it accommodates the complex accounts payable and procurement workflows of growing enterprises, allowing them to adapt to changing needs. Trusted by over 1,000 customers globally, including many Fortune 500 companies, Coupa has established a solid reputation in the enterprise software market. NetSuite AP NetSuite AP offers you real-time financial visibility and seamless integration with your existing ERP systems, which is essential for effective accounts payable management. By automating invoice processing and enabling features like two-way matching and automated approval workflows, you can streamline operations and reduce manual errors. This solution not only improves your cash management through insightful analytics but furthermore supports multi-entity management for global vendor payments, ensuring compliance with local regulations. Real-Time Financial Visibility In today’s fast-paced business environment, having real-time financial visibility is vital for effective decision-making. NetSuite AP, a paperless accounts payable system, empowers you with immediate access to important financial data. This enables you to make informed decisions swiftly. Here are some key features that improve your financial oversight: Monitor cash flow and financial performance in real time Track invoice processing times and outstanding payments Access customizable reports for budget tracking Automate manual processes to reduce errors Speed up month-end closing by viewing all transactions instantly With these tools, you can improve operational efficiency, accountability, and strategic planning, ensuring your organization remains competitive in a swiftly changing market. Seamless ERP Integration When organizations utilize seamless ERP integration, they release the full potential of their accounts payable processes. NetSuite AP, part of Oracle’s ERP suite, offers real-time visibility into cash flow and financial controls. This integration improves accuracy by automating invoice processing and linking accounts payable data with other financial systems. You can manage multiple entities and currencies efficiently from a single platform, boosting operational efficiency. The centralized dashboard allows for effective monitoring of spend and supports better budgeting decisions. Feature Benefit Impact Automated Invoice Processing Reduces manual errors Accelerates month-end closes Multi-Entity Management Handles subsidiaries seamlessly Simplifies financial oversight Centralized Dashboard Improves budgeting decisions Enhances spend monitoring With NetSuite AP, you’re optimizing your vendor payment management software for success. Frequently Asked Questions What Software Is Used for Accounts Payable? You can use various software for accounts payable, such as Tipalti, AvidXchange, and Airbase. These solutions automate invoice processing, payment approvals, and reconciliations, streamlining your business’s payment processes. Many integrate with existing ERP systems, ensuring data accuracy and real-time insights. Advanced features like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and AI-driven fraud detection help minimize errors and risks, allowing you to manage your cash flow and vendor payments more effectively. Which Accounts Payable Automation Solution Is the Most Reliable? When evaluating which accounts payable automation solution is most reliable, consider factors like user ratings, functionality, and integration capabilities. Solutions like Nanonets, with its AI-driven accuracy, and Airbase, known for unified spend management, rank highly. Tipalti shines in global supplier management, whereas AvidXchange focuses on electronic payments for mid-sized businesses. Each option has strengths, so assess your specific needs to determine which solution aligns best with your operational requirements. What Is the Most Widely Used Accounting Software? The most widely used accounting software is QuickBooks, popular among small to medium-sized businesses because of its user-friendly interface and thorough features. Many users appreciate its ability to simplify financial management tasks, such as invoicing and expense tracking. An additional notable option is Xero, favored by startups for its cloud-based capabilities. Depending on your business size and needs, other solutions like Sage Intacct and FreshBooks may likewise be worthwhile to evaluate. Which Is the Best Software for Billing? When you’re looking for the best billing software, consider your specific needs. For thorough accounts payable automation and global payment capabilities, Tipalti might be your best choice. If you want unified spend management, Airbase shines in combining AP with expense tracking. For high-volume invoice processing, AvidXchange is worth exploring. BILL offers streamlined AP and AR processes, whereas Coupa provides AI-driven insights for large organizations seeking robust procurement solutions. Evaluate these options based on your requirements. Conclusion In summary, choosing the right accounts payable software is essential for enhancing your financial processes. Each solution, from Tipalti’s global payment capabilities to AvidXchange’s advanced invoice capture, offers unique features customized to different business needs. By comprehending the must-have functions and evaluating your options, you can streamline your accounts payable operations, reduce manual tasks, and improve financial visibility. Investing in the right software not just boosts efficiency but likewise supports your broader strategic financial goals. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "Top 10 Accounts Payable Software Solutions" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A wave of new research suggests Donald The President is taking significant risks with his assaults on the US Federal ReserveView the full article

This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. On April 30, the Financial Times reported Israel had sent a version of its 100 KW Iron Beam high-energy laser weapon to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to help Abu Dhabi fend off hundreds of missiles and drones fired by Iran since the beginning of the U.S. military’s Operation Epic Fury. The FT notes the deployment is one of the first examples of major defense cooperation between the two countries since the 2020 Abraham Accords—a display of “the value of being Israel’s friend,” according to a regional official. There is little information publicly available on Iron Beam’s performance in the UAE. But on May 7, Defence Blog reported a Chinese-made vehicle-mounted laser weapon had been spotted at Dubai International Airport. Tentatively identified as consistent with the Guangjian-21A system first displayed at the Zhuhai Airshow in 2022, there was no announcement of the system’s export from Beijing or an acknowledgement of its arrival in the country from Abu Dhabi. The sudden appearance of laser weapons in the UAE isn’t a total surprise: The government has previously expressed interest in procuring foreign directed- energy systems through both direct sales and strategic partnerships and even pushed to develop its own indigenous research and development ecosystem. But neither story mentioned that the Abu Dhabi was already in the process of acquiring an American laser weapon system as well. A notification to Congress published on April 15 revealed that the UAE had asked to buy 10 counter-drone Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat Systems (FS-LIDS) from the U.S. Defense Department for $2.1 billion—and, notably, the system’s command and control (C2) architecture was being specifically scoped to integrate an unnamed laser weapon “being purchased” by Abu Dhabi through direct commercial sales. Three laser weapons. Two geopolitical blocs. One customer. This is the state of the global laser weapons race: a competitive, proliferating market where systems from rival powers increasingly coexist in the same inventory and even the same operational theaters. In September 2025, I wrote that the world was approaching a laser weapon inflection point. This analysis followed a week in which China unveiled its LY-1 shipborne laser weapon at a Beijing military parade, the United States delivered its first laser-armed Infantry Squad Vehicles to the U.S. Army, France ordered a new counter-drone laser demonstrator, and India tested its Integrated Air Defence Weapon System with a directed energy component. I concluded with a hedge: The winner of the global laser weapon arms race “won’t be a question of technological superiority, but who has the political will to make their directed energy dreams a reality.” If that week in September marked an inflection point, then the UAE’s expanding laser weapon arsenal is part of a larger global wave—one that doesn’t just answer the political will question, but raises another one that will define how directed energy weapons reshape the battlefield for years to come. In roughly four weeks across April and May, the pace of global laser weapon development reached a tempo that I haven’t seen since (and has arguably exceeded) since that inflection point analysis. On April 10, Germany’s Bundeswehr published an account of laser weapon testing at its WTD 91 range in Meppen, detailing four distinct systems at staggered readiness levels, including a JUPITER German-Dutch joint system integrated into a Boxer fighting vehicle and a naval demonstrator tested aboard the frigate Sachsen that’s headed for an operational deployment by 2029. On April 21, the Australian government announced plans to double its investment in counter-drone capabilities to $7 billion over the next decade, with an initial $21.3 million contract to AIM Defence to further develop its Fractl portable high-energy laser system. A week later, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy stated that the Australian Army plans on mounting laser weapons on its next tranche of 300 Bushmaster vehicles. On April 22, Army Recognition reported that China’s Novasky Technology was pitching its 3 KW truck-mounted NI-L3K laser weapon at the Defence Services Asia 2026 weapons expo in Malaysia. Designed as a last line of defense against drones, the company stated that the weapon was explicitly designed for export, the second such system to surface in as many weeks amid Beijing’s increasing involvement in the global directed energy arms trade. On April 24, the Seoul Economic Daily reported, citing sources, that South Korea planned on deploying a second 20 KW Cheongwang laser weapon near Seoul to shoot down North Korea drones, with an accelerating timeline toward broader coverage of critical infrastructure like nuclear power plants, airports, and seaports by 2027. On May 1, state-run TASS reported that Russia’s government had issued a formal decree listing counterdrone laser weapons among the systems on active duty protecting the country’s airspace borders. While Russia’s laser weapons have long existed in the murky overlap between confirmed capability and propaganda, the decree is a solid indication that Moscow’s systems may have tipped into the former category. On May 5, Turkey showed off multiple new laser weapons—namely Aselsan’s 10 KW Gokberk 10 and Tübitak’s 20 KW YGLS (purportedly scalable to 80 KW)—at the SAHA 2026 in Istanbul. Both systems feed into the country’s “Steel Dome” concept, which envisions a unified command-and-control architecture integrating missiles, radar, electronic warfare, and directed energy into a single national air defense network. On May 6, the United States announced that the Pentagon’s Joint Interagency Task Force 401 had selected five military installations to participate in a directed-energy counter-drone pilot program, a major step towards the formulation of a domestic “laser dome” to defend strategic assets and critical infrastructure. Operations are expected to begin later this year, following a 180-day period to finalize deployment plans with installation commanders. On May 7, Ukraine’s Celebra Tech announced that its Tryzub laser complex—first mentioned publicly by the head of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces in December 2024 and demonstrated in April 2025—had been integrated into a trailer-mounted mobile platform and was preparing for a public presentation following final tests. The system now claims an effective range of 1,500 meters (0.9 mile) against reconnaissance drones, 800 to 900 meters (0.5 mile) against FPV drones, and, according to the company, practical capability against Shahed-type UAVs at distances up to 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), with AI-assisted targeting and radar integration added during the most recent development sprint. The question September’s analysis left open has been answered: Multiple militaries, in different ways and at different speeds, have demonstrated that the political and institutional will exists to translate laser weapon technology into operational reality. The UAE is slowly becoming the world’s busiest laser weapon market. Germany is testing parallel programs toward market readiness. Australia is rewriting its defense budget. China is showcasing more and more export-ready systems at defense expos. South Korea is expanding deployments. Russia is enshrining lasers in national air defense doctrine. Turkey is building an indigenous industrial ecosystem. Ukraine is compressing a decade of development into 16 months of wartime necessity. Even the U.S., characteristically deliberate in its development and deployment of next-generation defense technologies, appears to be playing for keeps when it comes to directed energy. Political will, it turns out, is the easy part—and the Iran war revealed the harder problem hiding inside the very deployment that seemed to prove laser weapons had finally arrived. In March, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged it was not using Iron Beam regularly during the U.S.-led war with Iran despite the Defense Ministry’s December 2025 disclosure that the system had been formally rolled out in the field. The gap between that announcement and that admission was three months, during which Iron Beam was simultaneously celebrated as a historic milestone and quietly sidelined from the conflict it was built to fight. In May, the Israel Air Force explained why: Iron Beam requires 14 batteries to have significant enough impact—batteries Israel simply didn’t have. This doesn’t just complicate the subsequent UAE deployment, but Israel’s ostensible laser supremacy as well. Israel developed the Iron Beam, funded it for a decade, used it in active combat operations, formally declared it operational, and deployed it to a foreign ally’s soil, but 14 batteries were still more than it had when it needed them most. Effective ranges, kilowatt counts, engagement times—none of it matters if you don’t have enough critical systems in the field. Those 14 batteries are the most important data point in the laser weapon story of 2026, underscoring the core challenge looming over the extraordinary global wave of laser weapon activity that has unfolded over the last month: Laser weapon technology appears proven, combat-tested, operationally deployed, but its critical components are not yet produced at the scale that modern drone warfare demands. As a result, the next phase of the global laser weapon arms race will be purely industrial. Who has the supply chain depth, production capacity, and procurement urgency to field not one laser weapon or four or ten, but enough of them to matter against the coordinated, multi-vector saturation attacks that the Iran war proved are now the baseline threat environment? The solution to the scale problem is far from evenly distributed: China appears to be in the strongest industrial position. With a defense industrial base that has demonstrated the ability to scale hardware from concept to export catalog at speeds Western procurement systems cannot match, Beijing’s two-track export strategy—budget systems like the NI-L3K for price-sensitive customers, higher-capability systems like the Guangjian-21A for more sophisticated ones—appears designed to dominate the global laser weapon market the same way Chinese drones dominate the commercial market: by being cheaper, faster to market, and available to customers that Western export controls exclude. So far, Israel has the deepest operational knowledge, with dozens of Hezbollah drone kills beginning in 2024. Part of this is a product of the country’s unique organizational culture of defense tech innovation, where the IDF deploys systems that are “good enough,” learns in combat, and iterates. Still, 14 batteries is a supply chain problem, not a culture problem, and solving it requires industrial capacity that Israel does not have in unlimited supply even when operating at wartime levels. Turkey is building the most integrated indigenous approach among mid-tier military powers with the Steel Dome architecture that combines laser weapons like the Gokberk, YGLS, and ALKA-Kaplan “laser tank” into a unified national system designed for both strategic autonomy and export competitiveness. If this architecture succeeds, Turkey becomes the template for a dozen other countries looking to build sovereign laser weapon capability without dependence on U.S. or Israeli suppliers or exposure to Chinese technology concerns. Ukraine is running the world’s most compressed and most instructive directed-energy development program, driven by the most unforgiving possible testing environment. What Celebra Tech has learned about real-world laser weapon performance against real Russian drones is operational data that no test range can replicate, and Tryzub’s development sprint from December 2024 to approved combat sample by May 2026 is a preview of how laser weapon development works when the consequences of failure are immediate and concrete. The U.S., meanwhile, occupies a paradoxical position in the global laser weapon race. It remains the world’s most significant investor in directed- energy R&D and its alliance relationships and export controls continue to shape who gets access to what defense technology and when, but the “valley of death” between American laser weapon R&D and deployments remains persistent and costly compared to, say, Israel and Ukraine’s accelerated efforts. That said, the most consequential role in the global laser weapon market may not be the systems it builds but the architecture it sells: the FS-LIDS counter-drone package the UAE requested is defined by backbone C2 infrastructure that will determine how what UAE acquires plugs into a coherent network. Washington’s ability to set the integration standards for allied capabilities is a different and underappreciated kind of directed energy power. The laser weapon inflection point has passed. The Iran war has revealed that political will may be necessary to transform laser weapons into real-world military capabilities, but it is far from sufficient; indeed, 14 batteries is a political will problem only in the sense that manufacturing more Iron Beam systems requires budget decisions and industrial investment. Every government incorporating laser weapons into their national security strategy, every defense company pitching laser systems at export shows, every military planner now integrating directed energy into layered air defense architecture—all are signing up to face this challenge sooner rather than later. Amid this new global laser weapon wave, the UAE’s expanding laser weapon arsenal offers a clear picture of where the directed-energy arms race actually stands. The world has accepted that laser weapons work. The question that defines what comes next is purely industrial—who can build enough of them, fast, to matter when the next barrage begins. And right now, even the country with the best laser weapon in the world doesn’t have the batteries to answer it. This article is republished with permission from Laser Wars, a newsletter about military laser weapons and other futuristic defense technology. View the full article

Silicon Valley encourages the view that the technology is unstoppable — and The President seems to agreeView the full article

If you’re a sports fan on TikTok, you’ve almost certainly heard the song “Orla” by the British DJ and producer Nimino. Since its release in early March, the song has soundtracked nearly 150,000 videos on the platform. For Nimino, that doesn’t just mean more exposure for his music. It means money. A lot of the sports-world accounts that have used his track are businesses—Atlético de Madrid, the “Men in Blazers” podcast, Major League Baseball, the LPGA, and the Philadelphia Eagles—that accessed the song via TikTok’s growing Commercial Music Library (CML), which ensures artists are paid when their music is used commercially. The library offers the platform’s roughly 7 million business users access to 1.5 million tracks—not just generic royalty-free ones, but songs by label-signed artists, like Nimino. The kind of music, in other words, that allows business to capitalize on TikTok trends and even start one themselves. Whether they’re making an organic post or creating an ad, business accounts have to play by a different set of rules on TikTok. Unlike regular users, they can’t use music from the platform’s general music library without securing commercial rights, a costly and time-consuming effort that requires sign-off from both the track’s label (for the recording) and publisher (for the songwriting). “A lot of the brands on TikTok are actually small-to-medium businesses that don’t necessarily even know about music rights,” says Tracy Gardner, TikTok’s global head of music business development. “Even if they did and they went knocking on the door of the major rights-holders, they wouldn’t be given the time of day.” TikTok’s commercial library, like those of other video sites, was initially created with a focus on production music, or songs produced by companies that own all the rights and can easily license them for commercial use. Production music still accounts for roughly one-third of TikTok’s CML. But unlike the platform’s competitors in short-form video, TikTok’s commercial offerings also now include licensed pop, electronic, and wrap music from label-signed artists. Since 2023, when it expanded its partnership with Warner Music Group and the conglomerate’s publishing arm Warner Chappell Music to include the commercial library, TikTok has been working closely with labels, distributors, and publishers to negotiate partnerships, clear music, and add rights holders to the CML, growing the library to include 125 million associated rights holders. Those rights holders are finding that being part of the CML is creating an entirely new revenue stream—akin to sync, the use of a song in a TV show or movie, but at the scale of virality. That virality is key. Though TikTok doesn’t disclose details of its payment structure, it does confirm that rather than receiving a flat rate for unlimited uses, rights holders in the CML get a revenue share from paid ad buys and money from organic content posted by business accounts, with earnings going up as more people use the song. “We now have a new revenue stream that’s rivaling that of some of our established [streaming] income,” says Marie Clausen, North America managing director at the NinjaTune label, which has opted 2,500 songs from its 54,000-song catalog into the TikTok commercial library. Micro-sync, big money TikTok’s commercial library allows brands to get in on viral moments featuring rising hits. But it also puts newer and lesser-known songs in front of businesses, which can be valuable for labels and artists trying to increase their visibility. “Someone in Brazil that has a corner store is starting to use Thundercat’s music,” says Clausen, referring to a NinjaTune artist. “Even if we were able to reach that person, we wouldn’t want to do millions of licensing agreements with little accounts. Having TikTok facilitating that is a fantastic solution.” The TikTok Music team also helps surface songs and artists from its vast commercial catalog through curated playlists. The TikTok Creative Center, a resource for business accounts, showcases playlists based on genre, virality, or even events like Mother’s Day or Juneteenth. “A lot of the brands that are using the CML, they don’t even know what they’re looking for; they want to quickly slide in a track and get that post live,” NinjaTune’s Clausen says. “The TikTok team who run the CML are music lovers by heart—they want to make sure it’s a bespoke, premium library.” Clausen points to “Boy,” a 2017 song by NinjaTune artist Odezsa. Last year, it was featured on a CML playlist, which helped drive it up the TikTok Billboard Top 50 chart and beyond. “We saw a ripple effect on other platforms—a Spotify uplift of 34% over the next 28 days,” Clausen says. “On Apple Music, we saw an increase in 123%. And we didn’t just see it in America, we saw it around the world.” Eric Fritschi, who founded the independent label and marketing company Ansatz Music in 2021, initially uploaded instrumentals by German band Milky Chance to the CML. Later,he added the band’s song “Naked and Alive” (which he renamed “OK I Like It” to sound brand-friendly). It quickly went viral, and has been used in more than a million videos, garnering 10 billion views. “In general, what CML has done for Milky Chance is take us from getting hundreds of millions of views on TikTok every year to billions of views,” he says. He also notes that as artists add new songs to TikTok’s commercial library, older songs will see renewed interest. In April, while Milky Chance was promoting a new single, an older electronic remix of its “Stolen Dance” was being used in tens of thousands of new videos daily. “TikTok CML has become the number-one revenue driver for me,” Fritschi says. He says that while he initially thought the library would be helpful for driving impressions and listens across TikTok, “it’s actually turned into good money. And we’re taking that money and putting it into streaming marketing, more content, and being able to invest in the artist.” Streamlining new additions As TikTok grows the commercial library, it’s had to navigate cases where the rights to a song are divided in complex ways that can’t be handled via its existing agreements. For those, TikTok is piloting a program with the startup Chordal, which has built a rights-clearance tool called InstantClear. The platform allows anyone with claim to part of a song to pre-clear their permissions and automate royalties payouts from the TikTok commercial library. “Chordal helps us operationally streamline the process of unlocking more complicated split-rights tracks,” says Ben Houston, TikTok’s head of commercial licensing. “Let’s say we get a track from a label that has three different publishers with which we don’t have a blanket deal for commercial use. Chordal steps in.” The partnership, which was announced last July, has so far seen 54,000 rights holders sign off on commercial use, adding 20,000 songs to the library. Chordal’s founder and CEO, Grayson Sanders, says that multiple rights holders have started pulling in six-figure incomes thanks to InstantClear, and 18% of music that’s been added to TikTok via Chordal is already seeing revenue. Los Angeles-based music publisher Heavy Duty Music added songs by U.K. songwriter and producer Louis LaRoche to TikTok’s commercial library via Chordal last summer. Since then, LaRoche’s songs have been used in more than 10,000 videos, garnering 17 million views in his first four weeks in the CML. Chordal also gives rights holders transparency into how much they are earning via TikTok. TikTok’s commercial music offering has been so strong for record labels that Clausen says when NinjaTune is thinking about signing an artist, “we are already identifying, is this a potential candidate that could go into the CML? And we are looking at what the clearance would take, because what we really want to do is not just have back catalog songs in the CML, we want [new music] in it, too. That is where you have the real flywheel effect.” View the full article

Standing out in today’s job market requires more than listing AI tools on a résumé. It demands proof of real-world application and measurable results. So how can professionals signal genuine AI fluency on their résumés or LinkedIn profiles? Industry experts reveal eleven concrete strategies to demonstrate AI competence that hiring managers actually notice. These techniques show how to translate hands-on experience into credible signals that separate casual users from skilled practitioners. Lead With Outcome Statements Stop listing AI tools as skills. “Proficient in ChatGPT, Copilot, and Midjourney” tells a hiring manager you have internet access. Replace it with an outcome statement that proves you used AI to solve a real problem. Something like: “Built an automated report pipeline using LLM-generated narratives and ML-based scoring that cut delivery time from six months to two weeks.” That line shows you identified a bottleneck, chose the right AI approach, integrated it into a production workflow, and measured what changed. I run engineering and product for a K-12 teletherapy platform operating under HIPAA and FERPA across half the US. When I review candidates, I skip the skills section (and education, for what it’s worth). I go straight to accomplishment bullets where AI is embedded in the result. The best résumé I saw this year didn’t mention AI once in the skills block. Instead it described designing a clinical documentation system where AI drafted structured notes that licensed providers reviewed before signing off. That single bullet told me the candidate understood where models fail and where human judgment has to stay in the loop. No certification proves that. On LinkedIn, the move is the same but the format is different. Don’t add “Prompt Engineering” as a skill and collect endorsements. Write a post that walks through a specific problem you solved with AI: what you tried, what failed, what judgment calls you made, what the measurable result was. The Department of Labor’s 2025 AI literacy framework backs this up. It puts directing and evaluating AI in real job context above abstract knowledge. Almost nobody posts this kind of detail, which is exactly why it works. A product manager I researched recently had a LinkedIn post describing how he used an AI agent to audit 6,000 CRM contacts, flag duplicates and low-quality records, then worked with sales ops to archive 40% of them. He walked through what the agent got wrong on the first pass and how he adjusted the filtering criteria. That post carried more weight than any credential on his résumé. It showed he could tell when AI was confidently wrong and had the domain sense to fix it. Meryll Dindin, VP of Product and Engineering, Parallel Learning, Inc. Document Model Workflow Steps Now that practically everyone is proficient with AI, true AI fluency means being able to see which AI output is great and which needs plenty of human supervision as well as operate AI to solve real business problems. A great way to showcase this is to show your thinking process when working with AI, not just the end result. Most candidates present polished outputs and final results, but the real skill and what the employers are truly interested in is how you work with AI. For example, instead of just listing tools you are proficient with, include a short “How I build an AI workflow” line: “Built a research-to-insight pipeline using GPT + manual validation: prompt design -> output comparison -> human refinement -> final recommendation used in X project.” This tells an employer a story of how you are using AI and what your thought process is. You need to show that you are not just blindly generating things but directing the LLM, questioning it, and improving the output. Everyone has access to the same tools, so your differentiator as a job seeker is to show how you operate them. Jan Hendrik Von Ahlen, Managing Director & Co-founder, Career Coach, JobLeads Demonstrate Cross-Functional Impact Via Case Studies On LinkedIn specifically, the most effective thing I’ve seen professionals do is post short case studies of AI projects they’ve completed. Not opinions about the future of AI or commentary on the latest model release. Just “here’s a process I changed with AI last month, here’s what happened.” Those posts perform well because they show applied judgment, which is what hiring managers are actually screening for. One specific example. If you’ve used AI to automate something that touches multiple teams or departments, call that out on your profile. The ability to apply AI across organizational boundaries, not just within your own function, is the signal that’s hardest to find and most valuable to employers. Most people who claim AI fluency used it to speed up their own tasks. The ones who used it to change how their team or company operates are in a different category entirely. Steven Lu, CEO, Pin Update Your LinkedIn Headline Your LinkedIn headline is one of the most underutilized ways to signal genuine AI fluency. Most people bury AI skills at the bottom of their profile. However, the headline is the first thing a recruiter sees and it is heavily weighted by LinkedIn’s algorithm. Updating your headline to reflect how AI actually shapes your work increases your visibility and signals credibility. “AI enthusiast” or “leveraging AI” will read as filler. But a partial headline like “Marketing Strategist | AI-augmented campaigns & content workflows” tells a concrete story about AI usage. It shows that this person uses AI as a tool to generate outcomes instead of a talking point. The formula to use is simple: Your Role + the Specific Function where AI improves your output. Anyone can claim they use AI tools. Fewer people can point to a workflow that changed or an outcome that it generated, and that’s what will make you stand out. Amanda Fischer, CEO & Executive Career Coach, AMF Coaching & Consulting Own Failures Then Fixes Here’s what sets AI experts apart from those who claim to be experts on AI: They own up to what went wrong. Be honest about what didn’t work on an AI feature you shipped. Share that on your résumé or LinkedIn. It’ll make you credible. Most people only brag about their accomplishments on their résumé or LinkedIn. I could claim I shipped an AI-powered notification system that decreased interruptions by 40 percent. That’s true, but boring. I could rewrite my claim like this: “Built an AI-powered predictive notification system for wearables. The problem was that users hated the AI because it took too long to learn their patterns. I tweaked the algorithm so it uses user feedback combined with device data. Now, the AI learns its patterns in three days instead of three weeks.” The key is simple: everyone can build something that works. Everyone can ship version one. But only those who have seen their AI projects fail have any credibility. That’s because AI is hard. It’s messy. And hiring managers know that. They want someone who’s been through the mess and come out wiser on the other side. Don’t hide your failures. Frame them as success stories about something you built. That’s what sets experts apart from pretenders. Experts have battle scars. Nicky Zhu, AI Interaction Product Manager, Dymesty Explain Cost Latency Reliability Tradeoffs To really show you “get” AI in 2026, you have to stop talking about using it and start talking about governing it. Anyone can copy-paste a prompt; very few people can explain why they chose a specific backend architecture to keep that prompt from costing the company a fortune or lagging for the user. Real fluency is about the trade-offs. It’s the difference between playing with a toy and building a machine. On my LinkedIn, I don’t just say I “integrated AI.” I describe how I architected a Smart Notification Engine to solve a specific problem. Instead of just hitting a massive LLM for every alert, which is slow and expensive. I built a tiered pipeline and used a smaller, local model to handle the “noise” and saved the heavy-hitting AI for the high-stakes data. Writing it this way shows I understand the three things businesses actually care about: cost, latency, and reliability. That’s a much stronger signal than just listing “Python” or “OpenAI” as a skill. Yadab Sutradhar, Software Engineer, Nordstrom Ship Real Projects Publicly When I am interviewing, I’m looking for signals around proactive interest. Somebody who has learned a new tool, solved a real problem using AI. Not, “I talk to ChatGPT.” Best way to showcase is to build something and put it out into the world. It has never been easier to build something. Tools like Replit and other tools make it very easy to build prototypes and ship them. Like a lot of engineers, I had a list of “ideas” I never worked on. So I just started working on it, used AI tools to turn some of these ideas into actual applications, and put it out. They are not perfect, but they are out there. Vin Mitty, PhD, Sr. Director of Data Science and AI, LegalShield Put your build out there In the last six months, vibe-coding, open-clawing on Mac Minis, and building agents have taken over as the defining ways to engage with AI. All valid. But none of it signals fluency to the outside world if it lives on your hard drive. All you need in 2026 is a social account demonstrating domain expertise and a public GitHub repo linked from your résumé. Investors, recruiters, and partners are not in the business of theory. Don’t befuddle yourself into thinking your entire codebase is proprietary. Show the bun, the burger, the lettuce, the cheese. Privatize the secret sauce. In 2026, the barrier to entry is lower than ever, which means anything that hasn’t entered will be dismissed in every form or fashion. Spend your time cultivating a social audience around your domain. Then demonstrate what you’ve built and drop the links, so people can fork your repo and build on it. You never know who’s viewing your content or your build until it’s out there. The process itself will make you fluent and demonstrable not just on your résumé, but in every follow-up conversation guaranteed to come after it. Amir Haider, Founder, Amir Gets Jobs Showcase Benchmarks And Guardrails I would look for their work on benchmarking and building guardrails. This signals actual work and that they understand how and where AI works. Some of the examples I would look for are: 1. Developed a Logic Trap Benchmark to stress-test how LLMs handle complex data contradictions; identified specific points where the model guesses instead of calculating, reducing error rates in automated reports. 2. Architected a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) audit for automated customer responses to catch and escalate high-nuance inquiries that LLMs typically miss. It shows that the person understands exactly where the AI’s “blind spots” are and has a data-driven way to catch mistakes before they reach a client or a manager. It turns a “black box” into a predictable tool that a company can actually trust. Snigdha Alathur, Data Engineering Leader Quantify Tools Actions Results Most professionals make the same mistake: they list AI as a skill. That signals awareness, not fluency. Genuine AI fluency is proven through outcomes. The formula is simple: name the tool, state the action, use a hard number. Résumé step 1: AI section at the top The formula: Used [AI tool] to [specific action] > achieved [hard number result] For example: Used Claude (Anthropic) to automate weekly client reporting, cutting production time from 6 hours to 45 minutes and freeing 20+ hours per month for billable work. Built a content pipeline using ChatGPT-4o and Notion AI, increasing publishing output by 3x while reducing copy costs by 60%. Deployed Cursor AI to accelerate internal tool development, delivering a project in 3 weeks that was originally scoped for 3 months. Résumé step 2: Lead every role with an AI bullet • AI: Leveraged Perplexity and Claude to compress market research cycles from 2 weeks to 2 days, enabling faster go-to-market decisions across 4 product launches. • AI: Used HubSpot AI and ChatGPT to personalize outreach at scale, lifting email response rates from 8% to 27% in 90 days. Résumé step 3: Name every AI tool in skills Claude * Claude Code * ChatGPT-4o * Gemini Advanced * Perplexity * Cursor * Midjourney * ElevenLabs * Notion AI * HubSpot AI * Zapier AI * Make LinkedIn: About section LinkedIn truncates your About section after ~300 characters. Use that prime real estate to lead with your AI impact, not your job title. Open with something like: “I use Claude, ChatGPT-4o, and Cursor to cut [process] from [x] to [y]—here’s how I work and what I’ve built.” LinkedIn: Skills & recommendations Add each AI tool as an individual skill: Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Notion AI, so you surface in recruiter searches filtering for those tools specifically. The rule is the same everywhere: never let AI float as an abstract claim. Anchor every mention to a specific tool, a specific action, and a number a hiring manager can hold onto. That is the difference between someone who has heard of AI and someone who has put it to work. Jillian Swisher, CEO, Owner, Wander & Roam Surface Expertise Across Profile Sections For Linkedin, use strategic placement to highlight your expertise and signals about AI fluency: 1. Role Headline and About Section: Use a title such as “Founder & Product Consultant: Designing Human-Centered AI Experiences” or “Conversational AI.” In the About section, clearly explain your involvement in shaping AI-driven solutions, e.g., “Building the future where humans and AI collaborate seamlessly through [company/tech].” 2. Activity and Feature Article/Post: Regularly share feature posts, articles, or content comparing traditional templates to Conversational AI, demonstrating depth in the field. 3. Bonus: Featured Link and Presence: Include links to relevant AI projects, platforms, or companies you’re involved with, and highlight leadership or hands-on contributions in AI projects. Alix Gallardo, Co-founder & CPO, Invent View the full article

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Regulatory proposals are boosting interest for banks to grow in mortgage, but sustainability demands deliberate, rather than reactive, strategy, experts say. View the full article

Employees say they worked unpaid overtime by frequently logging into numerous software before clocking in, to answer calls immediately upon their shift starting. View the full article

The headline sounds like a pun: “The wheels are falling off Tesla’s Cybertruck.” But it isn’t a joke. Tesla is recalling 173 Cybertrucks because the wheels can literally fall off while the vehicle is in motion. Yes, friends, you could be driving to Costco, take a right, and off goes one wheel from your six-figure polygonal truck. Goodbye! Your car is now a prop from a Buster Keaton movie. The recall covers Cybertrucks fitted with 18-inch steel wheels, built between March 21, 2024, and November 25, 2025. The problem is as straightforward as it is alarming and surreal. Rough roads and hard cornering can crack the stud holes in the brake rotor, causing the wheel stud to separate from the hub. Tesla acknowledges the separation could cause loss of vehicle control and increase the risk of a crash. The recall takes the crown of quality control problems in the history of Tesla quality control and manufacturing problems (see below). Tesla will replace the affected wheel hubs and rotors at no charge. Owners should expect a notification letter in the mail by early July 2026. An announced disaster This new recall is a perfect metaphor of the Cybertruck’s history. It has been plagued with quality problems since its very design conception. In its presentation, its “indestructible,” bullet-proof driver door window—according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk—was destroyed on stage by Musk himself throwing a simple steel ball against the “armored” glass. It hasn’t gotten much better since. The truck had quality problems during manufacturing, with doors that don’t align and surfaces that are not exactly the same from one unit to the next. The Cybertruck has been recalled over its accelerator pedal getting stuck at full throttle, its windshield wiper failing, its exterior trim flying off at highway speeds, and its cameras losing image while shifting into reverse. That’s before getting to the ones involving the frunk, which can close on people’s hands and sever their fingers. Sales flop The Cybertruck’s sales have been in free fall for years now. Back in 2023, Musk told investors he expected to sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks per year once production was fully ramped. The Cybertruck launched in late 2023 with over a million people reportedly having placed reservations. It delivered around 38,965 units in 2024, its first full year on the market—roughly 15% of Musk’s lower target. In 2025, sales were cut nearly in half to 20,237 units—the sharpest year-over-year decline of any EV in the U.S. market that year. And even those numbers are inflated: according to S&P Global Mobility registration data, Musk’s own SpaceX alone bought 1,279 Cybertrucks in Q4 of 2025—18% of all units registered in the U.S. that quarter—with Musk’s other companies, including xAI, The Boring Company, and Neuralink, accounting for another 60 units. Strip out those purchases by related companies and Q4 registrations would have fallen 51% year over year. Update timeline So, without further ado, here’s our updated line of Cybertruck problems and recalls: NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Elon Musk unveils the Cybertruck. He claims its windows are made of “Armor Glass,” a bulletproof material that won’t even dent when you hit it, even at close range with a steel ball. Seconds later, two windows break in a live demonstration. Musk claims it will reach customers in late 2021 starting at $39,900. AUGUST 8, 2021 Tesla announces it won’t be able to get the Cybertruck out in 2021 due to production problems. The company says it will be pushing the date to early 2022. JANUARY 31, 2022 Musk announces that Cybertruck production is delayed again, to late 2022, due to various design and manufacturing challenges. NOVEMBER 1, 2022 Tesla says it won’t be able to meet its late 2022 release window, pushing the release once again to the end of 2023, with “early production” in mid-2023. “We’re in the final lap for Cybertruck,” Musk says on a financial conference call. JANUARY 24, 2023 In an interview with Fast Company, industry experts say they doubt that the Cybertruck’s design will allow the company to produce it in any significant numbers. Adrian Clarke—a professional car designer who now writes design critiques for The Autopian—and others in the industry believe it’s having and will have lots of problems: “As soon as we saw [the Cybertruck], everyone I know in the industry started laughing. We just thought there is no way they’re gonna be able to get that into production,” he says. Clarke believes it’s going to be extremely hard to make “those dead straight panels.” JULY 20, 2023 The first production prototype of the Cybertruck rolls off the production line at the Giga Texas factory, and eagle-eyed auto industry experts immediately spot one major quality mishap: the front and back passenger doors don’t align. Misalignment like this is not new to Teslas, but Elon Musk vowed to eliminate the problem back in 2021. These problems will continue in models through the entire production run. Also, during a May 2023 shareholder meeting, Musk insisted that the Cybertruck would be built as an exoskeleton, a solid steel skin design that would act as the structure, making the car virtually indestructible. But Cory Steuben, a car and manufacturing expert, pointed out on the automotive video blog Munro Live that the Cybertruck clearly does not have an exoskeleton. According to him, the Cybertruck’s assembly line pictures show a regular unibody chassis, just like the one you would find on “an old Honda Ridgeline or a Model Y,” with its flat panels just acting as your usual body. AUGUST 24, 2023 The Cybertrucks coming out of Tesla’s Texas factory are not good enough, according to Musk. His internal email to Tesla employees is leaked, and reveals his concerns in categorical terms: “Due to the nature of Cybertruck, which is made of bright metal with mostly straight edges, any dimensional variation shows up like a sore thumb.” DECEMBER 1, 2023 Remember the promised $39,900 starting price tag? It was wrong. The real starting point is officially announced: $60,990. JANUARY 25, 2024 Reports of the locking differential feature being inoperative appear, displaying a “Coming Soon” message during use,​ according to The Drive. FEBRUARY 2, 2024 Tesla issues an over-the-air software update recall for 2.2 million vehicles, including the Cybertruck. The font size of the ABS, brake, and park indicators is too small, which could increase the risk of a collision. FEBRUARY 22, 2024 New Cybertruck owners report rust and corrosion on the allegedly stainless-steel body of the truck, especially in vehicles exposed to rain. This was one of the biggest selling points that Musk touted when he announced the truck. FEBRUARY 28, 2024 Multiple owners report seeing 25 critical system errors within a few days of using the truck, including warnings from the high-voltage system, “critical steering issue” system malfunctions​, and “loss of system redundancy” that alerted drivers that the “vehicle may suddenly lose electrical power, steering, and propulsion, and may be unable to apply the parking brake.” There were also alerts for degraded adaptive drive control plus automatically disabled traction, lane departure avoidance, and stability controls. Some users also report door latches that don’t work. MARCH 12, 2024 Musk previously announced a futuristic optional camping tent that matched the polygonal shiny looks of the car, but that sleek render of the future turned out to be a sad hodgepodge of flaccid fabric in real life. MARCH 13, 2024 The Cybertruck Owners Club forum is now flowing with a multitude of reported problems. Owner “cyberstank” reports how they took delivery on March 13, “made it one mile down road, started getting steering error, flashing red screen, pulled off the side of highway. Now the truck is dead and I’m waiting for a tow truck. Dealer couldn’t do anything for me. It was great for 5 minutes. I tried everything, restarting, screen is stuck black and keeps beeping.” The message ends with: “Tesla really rushed these trucks out, what a nightmare.” MARCH 26, 2024 One owner reports problems with the Cybertruck’s autopilot system: “I encountered a truck on the other side of a two-lane highway. My Cybertruck suddenly made a hard brake stop when we both had a clear wide enough space between us. Luckily there is no vehicle at the back as it would have been a definite collision.” In the same thread, others report similar problems but, to be fair, users report this happens with other Tesla models. APRIL 1, 2024 Owners all over the internet show the effects of the Cyberguillotine: Tesla didn’t include anti-pinch sensors for the Cybertruck’s frunk, which could cause severe injuries or amputations if fingers get caught. The truck will slice the hell out of your fingers—or any body appendage—that gets too near its closing front hood. (It happens with its doors too.) APRIL 9, 2024 Apparently, the Cybertruck’s allegedly bulletproof and indestructible, so-called Armor Glass can’t stand hail, as this Redditor shows. The cost for the repair, according to the owner? “Just got an estimate of $2,326.75 via app service request.” APRIL 15, 2024 Tesla halts all Cybertruck deliveries after owners report a problem with the accelerator pedal, which could become stuck down, due to lubricant residue causing the pedal cover to shift and become lodged in place. APRIL 19, 2024 Tesla physically recalls all its Cybertrucks. The recall notice states: “The accelerator pedal can become stuck, sending the truck accelerating beyond control, making it a danger to everyone on the road.” JUNE 25, 2024 Tesla is forced to recall its Cybertruck for the fourth time in the U.S. because of issues with trim pieces that can come loose and front windshield wipers that can fail. The problems announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration affect more than 11,000 trucks. One issue involves the windshield wiper motor controller receiving too much electrical current. This can cause wipers to fail and reduce visibility, posing a crash risk. Tesla will replace the wiper motor for free and must notify all owners by letter by August 18. The other recall concerns a trim piece along the truck bed that may come loose and become a hazard for other drivers. Tesla will fix this issue by replacing or reworking the trim piece and will notify owners on the same date. MARCH 20, 2025 Tesla issues a new physical recall that covers all 2024 and 2025 models built between November 13, 2023, and February 27, 2025: about 46,000 units, most of the Cybertrucks ever shipped. A stainless steel strip could fall because it doesn’t meet durability testing requirements, causing a risk of injury or collision. OCTOBER 23, 2025 Tesla recalls 63,619 Cybertrucks—essentially every Cybertruck on the road at that point—because the front parking lights are too bright, exceeding federal safety standards and blinding oncoming drivers. Tesla fixes it with an over-the-air software update. MAY 7, 2026 Tesla recalls 173 Cybertrucks equipped with 18-inch steel wheels because the brake rotor stud holes can crack under the stress of rough roads and cornering, allowing the wheel stud to separate from the hub. The wheels can fall off. Tesla will replace the front and rear brake rotors, hubs, and lug nuts at no charge. Notification letters go out in early July 2026. View the full article

A few weeks ago, a Rhode billboard appeared on the road along the way to Coachella. Powder pink background, hot pink type, and multicolored daisies. It didn’t look like Rhode’s typical visual brand, which is defined by subtle Swiss minimalism, conveyed in cool grays, white, and boxy sans serifs. It signaled something new. “See you down the Rhode,” it said. What was at the other end? The billboard was part of a larger product launch teed up on social the week before: “spotwear” pimple patches and banana peel eye patches in partnership with Rhode founder Hailey Bieber’s husband, Justin Bieber, who performed at the festival (shout-out, Beliebers and lonely girls). The products weren’t yet available, but they would be at the brand’s festival activation, Rhode World. If you didn’t have one of the multi-tiered wristbands that got you into Rhode’s house party, you could still feel you were part of it when the products launched the following week. No matter where you are, all roads lead to the brand. That was kind of the point. That consistent, discerning attention to 360 degrees of detail is also what’s made the brand a success. Bieber, along with business partners Michael D. Ratner and Lauren Ratner, flipped a billion-dollar business in three years. Rhode launched direct-to-consumer (DTC) in 2022, and E.l.f. Cosmetics acquired it a mere three years later in 2025 (and is now in retail). Rhode’s aesthetically refined brand and packaging position its products as aspirational. And its brand marketing, which centers on an elevated, tightly configured visual identity, highly editorial campaigns, is a huge reason why. That it often involves a revolving door of talent we’re all already talking about online (Sarah Pidgeon from FX’s Love Story! Harris Dickinson in his Babygirl moment!) doesn’t hurt. Call it advertorial, call it brandtainment, call it a proven formula: whether it’s Skims, Gap, J Crew, or Rhode. Only one of those companies is a beauty brand, though. That’s because, even though Rhode differentiated its products early by focusing on peptides and “research-backed ingredients,” it doesn’t really position itself as a beauty brand. Instead, it has successfully grabbed the mantle of a lifestyle brand with endless opportunity for expansion, as every brand wants to do these days. “I’ve always approached our marketing and campaigns through a very editorial, fashion-first lens, which helped Rhode stand out early on,” Bieber tells Fast Company. “It’s never been about following a traditional beauty playbook, it’s about what feels organic to me and the aesthetic I’m naturally drawn to.” Bieber says that same instinct drives everything the brand does. “From our campaigns to the talent we work with, it all comes from a genuine place of what I’m excited by in the moment,” she says. “More than anything, I think our success comes from the world we’ve built around the brand. I hesitate to call it a ‘lifestyle’ because it’s really an extension of my own world, something we’re inviting people into through Rhode.” Logging on to its universe I was first struck by Rhode’s creative direction when it launched pocket blushes in June 2024. It was a clear signal of a playbook it’d tap into again and again. A consistent core brand—bright white background, high flash that reflects off the packaging—that created a set fans are familiar with, with set pieces that can change. For the launch, Bieber and her in-house team, which worked with the agency Chandelier Creative, leaned into the pocket size of the blushes by visually playing with the idea of scale. One video features an oversize Bieber waving back to teeny-tiny it-girl models Alex Consani and Paloma Elsesser. In other images, Elsesser and Bieber are perched atop the blush, and Consani peers at one blush the size of a fingernail. In others, they signal the blush name with prop styling: atop a juice box or a burnt marshmallow (Scarlett Johansson’s skincare brand, the Outset, recently posted a very similar image). The strokes of the logo blur with a soft pink gradient, signaling the flush a dab of the product adds to your cheeks. The result is a playful but cleverly sophisticated visual take on the product offering itself. The same is true for the launch of Rhode’s lip shapes (or liners), which again lived within the same tight visual brand codes. This product drop played with scale, but used product naming conventions—spin, move, and lean, for example—as visual inspiration. “I used to be a dancer,” Bieber says, adding that she used that personal experience to lean into body movement as creative inspiration, and tapped Tate McRae to bring it into the campaign in a visual way. Bieber then directly referenced high fashion for styling inspo—specifically these iconic ’90s Versace ensemble ads, which she revamped with socks, strappy heels, mini skirts, and sweaters. But instead of fashion, Bieber is selling beauty—and a highly considered, culturally plugged-in point of view. If you know the reference, it builds cachet and high-end affinity for the brand. If you don’t, it looks like an original and clean take on ’90s nostalgia that’s everywhere these days. “We always really love to tap on nostalgia,” Bieber says. “We always are looking for different ways to be inspired in different ways to articulate the story of that product.” Stepping into Rhode World Rhode World is only the most recent example of this. The brand rented a mansion in Indio, California, where Coachella takes place, and decked it out in colors that synced with the brand’s new spotwear. (If you’re curious what Justin Bieber would be like as a creative director, look to the Rhode x the Biebers collection—he chose the colors, spotwear shapes, and overall look of the campaign, including the logo.) Hailey Bieber, who is the brand’s chief creative officer, was central to the look and feel of the activation. Bieber tells me she wanted the activation to feel like an amusement park, a nostalgic “Rhode World,” with drinks, food, games, and of course, new product. Unlike an actual carnival, Rhode World was invite-only, but everyone had access to all of the online content that came out of it, and that leads to major brand engagement, which leads to sales. (The brand doesn’t have any stand-alone stores, but it does do pop-ups that lead to long lines and lots of content.) In this case, the brand acquired more than 60,000 new consumers in one week, and unit sales of the collaboration were over six figures, according to the company. Rhode-related content surrounding the activation and the Rhode x the Biebers collaboration generated a combined 290 million views, 16.6 million engagements, and $32 million in earned media value, according to CreatorIQ. That’s the highest engagements and likes ever, according to the company. If you can’t tell from those numbers, most fans engage with brand online anyway. To view beauty through Bieber’s lens Engaging today’s consumer requires consistency, community, and tapping into broader culture to gain relevance. Increasingly, it also requires adopting hi-fi editorial practices and the creative talent once only found in magazines and fashion to create cultural moments. “From the beginning of creating Rhode and launching it, I always said that I wanted it to be very editorial storytelling,” says Bieber. “Coming from the world of modeling, editorial was my favorite thing to shoot, because you create a world by doing that. You’re often telling a story through visuals. And that was something that felt really important to me with this brand because, to me, it’s so much more and so much bigger than just the skincare and beauty brand.” Bieber’s creative process begins with the product. From there she considers it how she wants it to be represented and how it makes her feel. “I love when something evokes a feeling,” she says. “That is something that’s really, really important to me, and that was important to me with the packaging, important to me with the imagery, storytelling—with all of it, really, but I think that you invoke those feelings the most through your visuals, through your storytelling and through the product itself. ” Then she digs for inspiration. “I’m like, ‘Okay, well, this product makes me feel this way, and that reminds me of this photographer, and how he used to shoot this, and that reminds me of this one campaign I remember happening in 1994.’ I start with the product, and then I collect the data around it, and then it goes from there, in terms of turning it into our own world and making it the Rhode representation of that product.” What it doesn’t do is engage in social trends. You won’t find any trending sounds, dances, or tiny mics. Instead, there’s a steady stream of lifestyle images that include seemingly candid photos of Bieber and influencers alike, sitting in the back of cars, wearing furs or Miu Miu boxers, and drinking martinis, or that place Rhode products next to Dior makeup or a particular Alaïa Le Teckel bag that subtly build high-end brand affinity. User-generated content (UGC), how-to slides, and product photography closely follow the brand’s neutral color palette too, occasionally with one accent color tied to a product launch, like yellow or pink. This creates a tightly cohesive, if variable, grid (and brand) look for its 4.6 million Instagram and 2 million TikTok followers. “They want to know why they should spend any of their hard-earned money on it,” says Bieber of online brand building and visually forward explainers on its website. “Within the branding and the storytelling, I also think information is important: showing people, explaining to people, describing to people why you want to use it.“ The brand has a vibe, and the vibe communicates a holistic persona. It’s a world consumers can opt into. It balances authenticity with curation; communicating a premium skincare product used by young people with disposable income (though perhaps not La Mer-level spending power), cultural fluency, and discerning taste. Moisturize? No. Peptide-fluent Rhode girls flush, tint, and glaze their way through the day. And build an industry-leading modern brand So how exactly did Bieber, without formal creative or design training, make products that are so covetable? The reach of her public persona and that of the talent she works with is one reason, but the slew of celebrity skincare brands that aren’t B-level (and by that, I mean, billion-dollar level) show that alone is not enough. “The product itself has to be great,” says Bieber. “Especially when it comes to skincare and beauty, the thing that people care about most, the thing that I personally care about most as a product-obsessed person, is that the product itself works really well and it’s really great and it does what it says it’s going to do.” The packaging also helps. “As a woman, I like things that are visually and aesthetically pleasing. I like pulling something out of my purse that is cute. It makes me feel something,” she says. Aesthetics matter, too, online—and especially when her skincare universe makes products into accessories. That might be a lip pencil pulled out of a purse at dinner, a pimple patch, one of its makeup bags, or most notably, its genius lip case, which stores Rhode lip peptide treatment on the back of one’s phone. Content related to the case drove 126 million impressions and 1.1 billion in reach, according to the company—not to mention a cottage industry of dupes. Bieber describes herself as specific and picky. “I know what I like, what I don’t like,” she says. “I’m able to make decisions pretty quickly on how I want something to look, feel, how I want you to experience it.” Although the brand approaches each campaign conceptually, it continuously changes the photographers and concept itself, so the storytelling is always different. I ask Bieber for her do’s and don’ts of branding today, and her response is fittingly decisive. “I think a through line is a do and repetition is a don’t,” she says. “I never want us to repeat ourselves, but I do think a through line that feels consistently familiar is important.” View the full article

Thirty-year gilt yield at highest this century as cabinet ministers pressure PM to consider his positionView the full article

Gaining insight into fundamental accounting tasks is crucial for the financial health of your small business. Daily cash management, monthly reconciliations, quarterly tax estimates, and annual reviews all play significant roles in maintaining compliance and strategic planning. Each task builds on the last, forming a foundation for long-term success. Grasping these tasks can prevent costly mistakes. As you consider how to implement these practices effectively, think about where your business currently stands in its financial progression. Key Takeaways Maintain accurate records of daily cash sales and transactions to ensure real-time cash position awareness. Regularly reconcile bank and credit card accounts to balance books and verify financial accuracy. Process payroll consistently, managing tax withholdings to comply with regulations and avoid penalties. Follow up on outstanding invoices to enhance cash flow and minimize overdue payments. Generate and review financial statements monthly to track performance and identify improvement areas. Daily Accounting Tasks Daily accounting tasks are fundamental for maintaining a healthy financial status in your small business. These tasks guarantee accuracy and organization in your finances. One of the key accounting tasks is depositing all cash and check payments into your business checking account daily, making funds readily available for expenses. It’s also important to enter credit card transactions each day to keep track of spending and initiate fund transfers. Summarizing daily cash sales provides you with an up-to-date cash position, which is crucial for managing liquidity. Furthermore, checking incoming invoices and entering them into your accounting system helps you stay organized and guarantees timely payments. Finally, maintaining receipts and documents for tax purposes is important for audit readiness and supports accurate financial reporting. Comprehending what accountants do on a daily basis can streamline your bookkeeping tasks and ultimately contribute to your business’s financial health. Monthly Accounting Tasks After establishing a solid foundation with daily accounting tasks, monthly accounting responsibilities take on a broader scope, focusing on overall financial health and compliance. These accounting tasks for small businesses are vital for maintaining accurate records and guaranteeing smooth operations. Here’s what you need to tackle each month: Balance your books by reconciling all bank and credit card accounts to identify discrepancies. Review credit card payments to verify proper deposits and confirm all transactions are accounted for. Process payroll monthly, managing tax withholdings and reporting to comply with federal and state regulations. Generate financial statements, such as the income statement and cash flow statement, to gain insights into your company’s performance. Additionally, following up on outstanding invoices is significant for maintaining healthy cash flow and reducing the risk of bad debts. Quarterly Accounting Tasks Quarterly accounting tasks are crucial for maintaining your business’s financial health and guaranteeing compliance with tax regulations. Each quarter, you should estimate and pay your federal taxes to avoid penalties. Don’t forget to review your financial performance by analyzing income statements and cash flow statements, which helps identify trends and areas for improvement. Adjust your forecasts based on actual results to inform your strategic planning. Additionally, you must pay necessary state taxes, which can differ by state, to maintain compliance and avoid fines. Consulting with accountants or financial experts during these reviews can provide valuable insights into tax-related tasks, guaranteeing accurate financial reporting. Here’s a quick overview of key quarterly tasks: Task Purpose Estimate Federal Taxes Avoid penalties and guarantee compliance Review Financial Statements Identify trends and areas for improvement Adjust Forecasts Inform strategic planning Consult Professionals Guarantee accurate financial reporting Annual Accounting Tasks In the process of managing a small business, it’s essential to understand that annual accounting tasks play a pivotal role in guaranteeing both financial accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements. Here are four key tasks to prioritize: Review Fixed Assets: Regularly check your records of acquisitions and disposals to verify they’re accurate for financial reporting and tax compliance. Prepare W-2 and 1099 Forms: Timely issue these forms to employees and contractors by January 31 to meet IRS requirements and avoid penalties. File Tax Returns: Adhere to IRS guidelines specific to your business structure to maintain compliance and optimize your tax obligations. Conduct a Year-End Financial Review: Assess your financial performance, identify trends, and set goals for the upcoming fiscal year, guaranteeing you’re well-prepared for future challenges. Completing these tasks diligently will strengthen your business’s financial foundation. Importance of Cash Management As annual accounting tasks lay the groundwork for financial stability, managing cash flow is equally important for the day-to-day operations of small businesses. Effective cash management guarantees you have sufficient funds to meet operational expenses, preventing cash flow crises. By summarizing daily cash balances, you gain an accurate picture of available cash, which helps in making informed financial decisions and optimizing liquidity. Monitoring cash flow trends can reveal insights into seasonal fluctuations and customer payment behaviors, guiding better forecasting and planning. Implementing cash management strategies, such as establishing minimum cash reserves, can mitigate risks from unexpected expenses or revenue declines. When you actively manage your cash flow, you’re more likely to sustain operations and achieve long-term growth, as adequate liquidity supports ongoing investments and expansion opportunities. In short, achieving proficiency in cash management is crucial for the health and longevity of your small business. Frequently Asked Questions What Software Is Best for Small Business Accounting? When choosing accounting software for your small business, consider options like QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks. QuickBooks offers extensive features for invoicing and expense tracking, whereas Xero provides excellent integration with other apps. FreshBooks is user-friendly, ideal for service-based businesses. Assess your specific needs, like payroll processing or inventory management, to determine which software aligns best with your operations. Furthermore, look for scalability to accommodate your business growth in the future. How Do I Choose an Accountant for My Business? To choose an accountant for your business, start by evaluating your specific needs, such as tax preparation or financial advice. Look for an accountant with experience in your industry and check their credentials, like CPA designation. Ask for referrals from trusted sources and interview potential candidates to gauge their communication skills and approach. Furthermore, consider their fees and verify they align with your budget. A good fit will help your business thrive financially. What Are Common Accounting Mistakes to Avoid? When managing your finances, avoid common accounting mistakes like neglecting to reconcile bank statements, which can lead to discrepancies. Failing to track expenses accurately can inflate profits, misleading your financial outlook. Overlooking tax deadlines might result in penalties, whereas misclassifying employees as independent contractors can lead to legal issues. Furthermore, not backing up financial data regularly puts your information at risk. How Can I Improve My Cash Flow Management? To improve your cash flow management, start by tracking your income and expenses closely. Create a detailed budget to forecast future cash needs and identify potential shortfalls. Regularly review accounts receivable and follow up on overdue invoices quickly to guarantee timely payments. Consider negotiating better payment terms with suppliers, and maintain a reserve fund for emergencies. What Records Should I Keep for Tax Purposes? You should keep several key records for tax purposes. First, maintain detailed income statements that show all revenue sources. Next, track your expenses, including receipts for purchases, invoices, and payroll records. Don’t forget to keep documentation for deductions, like home office expenses and mileage logs. Furthermore, retain bank statements and tax returns from previous years, as they can serve as references during audits. Proper organization of these records simplifies tax filing and compliance. Conclusion mastering these five vital accounting tasks is important for your small business’s financial health and compliance. By effectively managing daily cash flow, completing monthly reconciliations, estimating quarterly taxes, and conducting annual reviews, you set a solid foundation for sustainable growth. These practices not solely keep your records accurate but additionally help you make informed decisions. Prioritizing accounting tasks guarantees you’re prepared for challenges and opportunities, ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your business. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Essential Accounting Tasks for Small Businesses to Master" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Gaining insight into fundamental accounting tasks is crucial for the financial health of your small business. Daily cash management, monthly reconciliations, quarterly tax estimates, and annual reviews all play significant roles in maintaining compliance and strategic planning. Each task builds on the last, forming a foundation for long-term success. Grasping these tasks can prevent costly mistakes. As you consider how to implement these practices effectively, think about where your business currently stands in its financial progression. Key Takeaways Maintain accurate records of daily cash sales and transactions to ensure real-time cash position awareness. Regularly reconcile bank and credit card accounts to balance books and verify financial accuracy. Process payroll consistently, managing tax withholdings to comply with regulations and avoid penalties. Follow up on outstanding invoices to enhance cash flow and minimize overdue payments. Generate and review financial statements monthly to track performance and identify improvement areas. Daily Accounting Tasks Daily accounting tasks are fundamental for maintaining a healthy financial status in your small business. These tasks guarantee accuracy and organization in your finances. One of the key accounting tasks is depositing all cash and check payments into your business checking account daily, making funds readily available for expenses. It’s also important to enter credit card transactions each day to keep track of spending and initiate fund transfers. Summarizing daily cash sales provides you with an up-to-date cash position, which is crucial for managing liquidity. Furthermore, checking incoming invoices and entering them into your accounting system helps you stay organized and guarantees timely payments. Finally, maintaining receipts and documents for tax purposes is important for audit readiness and supports accurate financial reporting. Comprehending what accountants do on a daily basis can streamline your bookkeeping tasks and ultimately contribute to your business’s financial health. Monthly Accounting Tasks After establishing a solid foundation with daily accounting tasks, monthly accounting responsibilities take on a broader scope, focusing on overall financial health and compliance. These accounting tasks for small businesses are vital for maintaining accurate records and guaranteeing smooth operations. Here’s what you need to tackle each month: Balance your books by reconciling all bank and credit card accounts to identify discrepancies. Review credit card payments to verify proper deposits and confirm all transactions are accounted for. Process payroll monthly, managing tax withholdings and reporting to comply with federal and state regulations. Generate financial statements, such as the income statement and cash flow statement, to gain insights into your company’s performance. Additionally, following up on outstanding invoices is significant for maintaining healthy cash flow and reducing the risk of bad debts. Quarterly Accounting Tasks Quarterly accounting tasks are crucial for maintaining your business’s financial health and guaranteeing compliance with tax regulations. Each quarter, you should estimate and pay your federal taxes to avoid penalties. Don’t forget to review your financial performance by analyzing income statements and cash flow statements, which helps identify trends and areas for improvement. Adjust your forecasts based on actual results to inform your strategic planning. Additionally, you must pay necessary state taxes, which can differ by state, to maintain compliance and avoid fines. Consulting with accountants or financial experts during these reviews can provide valuable insights into tax-related tasks, guaranteeing accurate financial reporting. Here’s a quick overview of key quarterly tasks: Task Purpose Estimate Federal Taxes Avoid penalties and guarantee compliance Review Financial Statements Identify trends and areas for improvement Adjust Forecasts Inform strategic planning Consult Professionals Guarantee accurate financial reporting Annual Accounting Tasks In the process of managing a small business, it’s essential to understand that annual accounting tasks play a pivotal role in guaranteeing both financial accuracy and compliance with regulatory requirements. Here are four key tasks to prioritize: Review Fixed Assets: Regularly check your records of acquisitions and disposals to verify they’re accurate for financial reporting and tax compliance. Prepare W-2 and 1099 Forms: Timely issue these forms to employees and contractors by January 31 to meet IRS requirements and avoid penalties. File Tax Returns: Adhere to IRS guidelines specific to your business structure to maintain compliance and optimize your tax obligations. Conduct a Year-End Financial Review: Assess your financial performance, identify trends, and set goals for the upcoming fiscal year, guaranteeing you’re well-prepared for future challenges. Completing these tasks diligently will strengthen your business’s financial foundation. Importance of Cash Management As annual accounting tasks lay the groundwork for financial stability, managing cash flow is equally important for the day-to-day operations of small businesses. Effective cash management guarantees you have sufficient funds to meet operational expenses, preventing cash flow crises. By summarizing daily cash balances, you gain an accurate picture of available cash, which helps in making informed financial decisions and optimizing liquidity. Monitoring cash flow trends can reveal insights into seasonal fluctuations and customer payment behaviors, guiding better forecasting and planning. Implementing cash management strategies, such as establishing minimum cash reserves, can mitigate risks from unexpected expenses or revenue declines. When you actively manage your cash flow, you’re more likely to sustain operations and achieve long-term growth, as adequate liquidity supports ongoing investments and expansion opportunities. In short, achieving proficiency in cash management is crucial for the health and longevity of your small business. Frequently Asked Questions What Software Is Best for Small Business Accounting? When choosing accounting software for your small business, consider options like QuickBooks, Xero, or FreshBooks. QuickBooks offers extensive features for invoicing and expense tracking, whereas Xero provides excellent integration with other apps. FreshBooks is user-friendly, ideal for service-based businesses. Assess your specific needs, like payroll processing or inventory management, to determine which software aligns best with your operations. Furthermore, look for scalability to accommodate your business growth in the future. How Do I Choose an Accountant for My Business? To choose an accountant for your business, start by evaluating your specific needs, such as tax preparation or financial advice. Look for an accountant with experience in your industry and check their credentials, like CPA designation. Ask for referrals from trusted sources and interview potential candidates to gauge their communication skills and approach. Furthermore, consider their fees and verify they align with your budget. A good fit will help your business thrive financially. What Are Common Accounting Mistakes to Avoid? When managing your finances, avoid common accounting mistakes like neglecting to reconcile bank statements, which can lead to discrepancies. Failing to track expenses accurately can inflate profits, misleading your financial outlook. Overlooking tax deadlines might result in penalties, whereas misclassifying employees as independent contractors can lead to legal issues. Furthermore, not backing up financial data regularly puts your information at risk. How Can I Improve My Cash Flow Management? To improve your cash flow management, start by tracking your income and expenses closely. Create a detailed budget to forecast future cash needs and identify potential shortfalls. Regularly review accounts receivable and follow up on overdue invoices quickly to guarantee timely payments. Consider negotiating better payment terms with suppliers, and maintain a reserve fund for emergencies. What Records Should I Keep for Tax Purposes? You should keep several key records for tax purposes. First, maintain detailed income statements that show all revenue sources. Next, track your expenses, including receipts for purchases, invoices, and payroll records. Don’t forget to keep documentation for deductions, like home office expenses and mileage logs. Furthermore, retain bank statements and tax returns from previous years, as they can serve as references during audits. Proper organization of these records simplifies tax filing and compliance. Conclusion mastering these five vital accounting tasks is important for your small business’s financial health and compliance. By effectively managing daily cash flow, completing monthly reconciliations, estimating quarterly taxes, and conducting annual reviews, you set a solid foundation for sustainable growth. These practices not solely keep your records accurate but additionally help you make informed decisions. Prioritizing accounting tasks guarantees you’re prepared for challenges and opportunities, ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your business. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Essential Accounting Tasks for Small Businesses to Master" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Launching into the magic of the Altman-osphere could prove to be quite a windfallView the full article

I flew Spirit Airlines out of LaGuardia on April 28th. With the announcement just days later that the carrier was shutting down, it felt a little like catching the last chopper out of Saigon. Then again, every time you flew Spirit felt a little like catching the last chopper out of Saigon. There were the improbably tiny bags, people packed tightly in seats, and an everpresent sense that the simmering confusion could at any moment break out into full blown calamity. Like most people, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Spirit. Unlike most people, I once expressed it to the face of Ben Baldanza, the former CEO of Spirit. In 2015, I wrote an essay for The New Republic with the subtitle “A business school professor studies the world’s worst airline.” Within an hour of it appearing online, the CEO of said airline had emailed me to propose a debate. We met a few weeks later at the downtown campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where I still teach business ethics, and before a large crowd that included his executive team, we debated the moral hygiene of Spirit’s unusual business practices. By then, Baldanza had been the head of Spirit Airlines for nearly a decade, and he was the driving force behind its transformation from merely a low-cost carrier, like Southwest or Jet Blue, to an ultra-low-cost carrier. The distinction between them turns on relative deprivation. No one will ever confuse the cabin of Jet Blue for a Learjet, but at least in 2015, air travel on both involved choosing your seats, bringing your bags aboard, and chowing down on snacks. Not Spirit. Not for free, at least. The ‘bare fare’ Spirit pioneered à la carte pricing in American air travel with the introduction of what it called the “bare fare.” When you bought a ticket to fly on Spirit, you didn’t get snacks, seat choice, or (God forbid) a carry-on. These were privileges. You had to pay for them. You got a seat. Period. Baldanza ballyhooed this invention as a cost-saving strategy for customers. “All of our differences are about saving our customers money,” he maintained in our debate, a declaration that seemed more a rhetorical sleight of hand than an accurate description of the carrier’s practices. Yes, Spirit could typically get you from place to place more cheaply than other airlines, but to buy what Ben was selling, you had to assume a different understanding of air travel. Sitting with your kids, packing more than a single set of drawers, and noshing on peanuts were all part of what it meant to fly. Yes, flying was the essential part of flying, but eating is also the essential part of eating, and if a waiter tries to sell you a knife and fork at a restaurant, you will still feel an urge to tell him to stick his frittata where the sun don’t shine. Back in 2015, it didn’t seem like Spirit was selling tickets for air travel, not in any way that didn’t seem ridiculous. Indeed, I argued in our debate that Baldanza had effectively bet his company’s future on the idea that Spirit could change customary expectations around flying, that it could make the “bare fare” seem less like barely a fare than a legitimate baseline for air travel. ‘Eccentric, opaque, or simply indecipherable’ But that was only one half of Spirit’s innovative approach – the better half, in fact. Hand-in-hand with these changes seemed to me a sustained effort to stay one step ahead of customers trying to figure out exactly what was going on. The previous fall, I had flown Spirit a dozen times between New York and Chicago, and for all of the time I put in to understanding the company, their charges still seemed incredibly confusing to me or, as I put it more piquantly in my opening remarks of the debate, the company seemed stubbornly committed to being “eccentric, opaque, or simply indecipherable.” At the time, Spirit had five price points for a carry-on bag, depending on when you decided to purchase that privilege, and their website often made it seem like you had no choice but to pay for certain options, such as seat selection, by making the opt out selection the font size of an eye exam. More importantly, Spirit seemed to profit handsomely from this confusion. In the years before our debate, more than 40% of Spirit’s revenue had come from non-ticket sales—in other words, passengers paying for the very things they had otherwise gotten for free—and let’s just say that, in my experience, it was not uncommon to see a young traveler dissolve into tears when she discovered at the gate that her carry-on bag was going to cost her $100. Altogether, by October 2014, such practices had made Spirit, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, the “Most Profitable Airline in the World.” Two months later, the stock price reached an all time high of $85.35. Oh, how things change. Baldanza, who passed away in 2024, was forced out of Spirit in January 2016, less than a year after our debate. The stock price had tumbled into the low $40s, but there was also a sense that some of Spirit’s shenanigans had gone too far. The à la carte approach to pricing would stay, together with the rows of seats that were (quite literally) tighter than the benches in a Roman slave galley, but the carrier eased off its prurient approach to marketing (Strippermobiles, anyone?) and undertook sincere efforts to make its alarming array of upcharges, if not necessarily consumer friendly, then a lot less confusing. Yet it also benefited from a change in baseline expectations among passengers. Travelers learned to expect less, not only or even principally because Spirit made them cry uncle, but because all other carriers have followed its example. Today, every major domestic airline has adopted some version of Spirit’s à la carte model for its “Basic Economy” class. United doesn’t give you a carry-on. American won’t let you choose your seats. And if you buy a ticket on Delta, the carrier announced in December that you don’t deserve any air miles. And where did such changes leave Spirit? A victim of its own success. All of these carriers are now more or less doing what Spirit has done but without the slave’s galley and the stigma of being a trailblazer in debasing domestic air travel. This will be the enduring legacy of Spirit Airlines. It set off a race to the bottom, one that made air travel a little cheaper, perhaps, but also a lot more miserable. It’s bankrupt now, and we’re all the poorer for it. View the full article

Jeffrey Epstein’s death on August 10, 2019, sparked a flurry of conspiracy theories, and the release of Epstein’s purported suicide note on May 6, 2026, is a good bet to be fodder for more. But Epstein’s death is only one facet of the convicted sex offender’s story to spawn and sustain conspiracy theories. The Department of Justice has released more than 3 million publicly available documents related to the shadowy sex-trafficking networks surrounding Epstein. Journalists and researchers are working to make sense of the massive trove of data, but it is going slowly, and the interface built by the Department of Justice for the documents is unwieldy. In response, some Americans have taken it upon themselves to dive into the archive. They are using artificial intelligence to develop platforms to make navigating the Epstein files easier and to conjure up new assessments of all the information. As a scholar of online conspiratorial activity, I’m seeing that these tools are also helping conspiracy theorists craft their narratives. Do-it-yourself conspiracy platforms Because the Epstein files are a massive, unstructured dataset made up of PDF files, videos, photographs, and other materials, these platforms make it easier for people to see connections where none exist. Some of the platforms are intentionally masquerading as neutral, data-driven AI research tools but are actually designed by conspiracy theorists to encourage and amplify conspiracy thinking, leading to what I call “platform conspiracism.” Epstein conspiracy theories often follow a classic logical fallacy known as “post hoc ergo propter hoc”—assuming that because event A happened before event B, event A must have caused event B. For example, in 2017 QAnon participants claimed there was a secret cabal of satanic pedophiles trafficking children, so by this faulty logic, the subsequent Epstein revelations must be evidence that QAnon was right. Some Epstein platform operators are supplementing their thinking with ideas from QAnon and other online conspiracy movements about cannibalism, satanism, or the CIA’s experiments with mind control in the 1950s known as MK Ultra. The platform conspiracists have a ready audience because many Americans are concerned about the vast tentacles of Epstein affiliates reaching into government, entertainment, academia, and the tech industry. And of course, many people simply want to know who is in the files and why. The unintended, or in some cases intended, consequences are that the do-it-yourself conspiracy platforms encourage paranoia and conspiracism. Each time the Department of Justice releases or tries to not release a new crop of documents, it sparks widespread interest. Social media influencers, for example, immediately share videos of their own interpretations of the files. Conspiracy masquerading as data analysis One platform, called the WEBB, promises to use AI for “document intelligence” that can purportedly help researchers explore the Epstein files, flight logs, court documents, and depositions. Using a slick interface with literal red threads animating the screen as a reader moves their mouse, WEBB automates the messy data cleaning tasks that are required when working with unstructured data. The site says WEBB converts, optically records, and indexes the files’ contents automatically, making the documents “structured, searchable intelligence.” Named for Gary Webb, an investigative journalist who reported on an alleged CIA drug trafficking operation, WEBB invites users to imagine themselves as scrappy open-source intelligence researchers. It presents the platform as an objective resource that will be transparent about its functions. But even in the necessary first step of cleaning data, researchers make decisions that can steer the results. One of the creators of WEBB is purported antisemitic conspiracy influencer Ian Carroll, who has appeared on Alex Jones’s Infowars and other far-right shows espousing conspiracy theories about Jewish cabals, 9/11 Trutherism, Epstein, and Pizzagate, the discredited conspiracy theory in which child sex trafficking was allegedly happening at the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria in Washington, D.C. Carroll, or someone on his team, engages with people who mine the Epstein files through the WEBB interface, sharing their interpretations with his 1.4 million followers. Carroll also posts explainer videos showcasing his own conspiracy theory research with WEBB. Other platforms such as Epstein Exposed and Epstein File Search offer similar platforms for “doing your own research” in the Epstein files. While they are less overtly conspiratorial, lacking endorsements from conspiracy theorists such as Candace Owens, such platforms use social media posts to encourage conspiracy research on their platforms. An expanding web WEBB also promises to begin adding datasets to its AI-powered platform that are related to other conspiracy theories, such as those about the 9/11 attacks and UFOs. Added “files” even include books of the Bible that were removed. The WEBB team stated that their AI tool won’t hallucinate (create false or nonsensical content) because it is only trained on the file data, even though large language models routinely hallucinate because they are driven by probabilities. It remains unclear how WEBB won’t hallucinate when it jumbles the Epstein files, JFK reports, 9/11 documents, and Book of Enoch together. Carroll is now promoting a product called WEBB Enterprise, which presumably will include more access and tools for a fee. Conspiracy of data Whenever Americans are hungry for answers, platforms such as these can more easily masquerade as objective data analysis tools. They feed into a “conspiracy of data,” in which false or misleading information is presented in charts and graphics that create the impression of accuracy and authority. Legitimate data analysis is complicated, messy, and challenging, and best practices call for data analysis tools to emphasize transparency and context. For example, journalists at The New York Times use AI to supplement their work while also acknowledging the potential sloppiness of such tools and need for experts and journalists to do the work. And as platforms like WEBB add their own datasets, the fodder for the paranoid fantasy of online conspiracy theories grows. Matthew N. Hannah is an associate professor of rhetoric, politics, and culture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

A useful rule of thumb is that when a problem persists for decades despite serious effort, the failure is usually not one of effort or intelligence, but of framing. Climate change sits squarely in this category. We have poured talent, capital, policy, and good intentions into solving it, and yet the core dynamics continue to worsen. This suggests that something foundational is off in how we are thinking about the problem. One of the clearest illustrations of that deeper issue sits far from financial centers and climate summits, in the Arctic. About 50 years ago, Denmark made a decision that looks increasingly unusual by modern economic standards. It removed around 40% of Greenland—nearly 1 million square kilometers—from economic use. This was not a marginal conservation effort. It was the largest protected land designation on earth, an area over 100 times the size of Yellowstone. The land remains a functioning Arctic ecosystem, supporting polar bears, seals, walruses, musk oxen, Arctic foxes, wolves, and vast seabird populations. From a narrow economic lens, this choice appears irrational. Greenland contains valuable mineral resources. It also holds growing geopolitical importance as Arctic shipping routes open and strategic competition intensifies. By standard economic logic, leaving that much land “unused” looks like a forfeited opportunity. But Denmark’s decision reveals something important: Not everything that can be monetized must be. And, more important, not everything should be exposed to economic optimization. In today’s dominant economic framework, nature is treated primarily as an input. Land, minerals, forests, water, and even stable climate conditions are framed as raw materials for industrial activity. Protection, when it occurs, is often justified as a temporary or charitable act—acceptable only until a more profitable use emerges. Under this logic, conservation survives only as long as it loses less money than extraction. This is not an accident. It is a direct consequence of how we have structured the economy. The limits of capital Capitalism functions through optimization. It compares assets, allocates resources, and directs effort toward whatever produces the highest returns under the current rules. But to be optimized, something must first be defined as capital. Once that conceptual conversion happens, it becomes tradable, comparable, and expendable. Over the past century, we have steadily expanded what qualifies as capital. People became “human capital.” Ecosystems became “natural capital.” Social systems became “social capital.” Each step made it easier for the economic algorithm to operate, but it also stripped away dimensions that are essential to long-term stability. The problem is not that capitalism is malicious. The problem is that it is literal. It has no intrinsic sense of restraint, sufficiency, or long-term system health. It follows the math it is given. When nature is framed as capital, the system will exploit it until the marginal costs exceed the marginal returns. By the time that happens at planetary scale, the damage is already locked in. When the human population was smaller and the gift of the historically accumulated health/wealth of nature was much greater, it was an economically workable assumption to pretend that nature was effectively infinite. It is no longer plausible to maintain that assumption. Every habitable corner of the planet has been explored and settled. According to global wildlife assessments, monitored populations have declined by roughly 70% in just the past half-century. Today, almost all mammalian biomass on planet Earth is livestock and humans. The living systems that support clean air, stable water cycles, fertile soil, and biodiversity are being eroded faster than they can regenerate. Diminishing returns In economic terms, we have reached diminishing returns. The gains from continued exploitation are now smaller than the costs imposted by destabilized ecosystems. Floods, fires, heat waves, water scarcity, crop failures, and forced migration are not externalities anymore. They are direct expenses, borne by all. This exposes a core misconception: that the economy and ecology are separate domains that must be balanced against each other. In physical reality, the economy is a subset of ecology. If you look around, you’ll see that everything in the economy is either mined or grown, which means it came directly from nature. Even digital businesses use real metal, stone, water, and vast amounts of electricity to construct and run data centers, a reality that is becoming apparent to more and more people who live near data centers. In other words, even our virtual economy is physical, and comes directly from mined and grown resources. Once this is acknowledged, the Greenland decision looks less like charity and more like sound systems thinking. Denmark implicitly recognized that some portions of the biosphere function as critical infrastructure. Arctic ecosystems regulate climate patterns, ocean circulation, and planetary albedo. They are not interchangeable with financial assets. Exposing them to short-term economic optimization would undermine their long-term value—not just to Greenland, but to the global system. This is where modern economic thinking struggles. When everything is treated as capital, the only protection mechanism available is pricing. Carbon markets, biodiversity credits, and ecosystem service valuations all attempt to make nature “visible” to the market. While well-intentioned, this approach contains a structural flaw: If a higher-value use emerges, the same pricing logic can justify destruction. We have seen this dynamic repeatedly. Forests preserved for carbon value are later logged when timber prices rise. Wetlands protected for ecosystem services are drained when development yields higher returns. The algorithm is doing exactly what it was designed to do. The alternative is not to abandon markets, but to place boundaries around them. The effectiveness of boundaries We already do this in other domains. The global ban on the sale of human organs is a clear example. We collectively decided that allowing organs to be traded as capital would produce outcomes that were morally unacceptable and socially destabilizing—even if the market demand were real. History offers darker reminders of what happens when human beings themselves are fully converted into capital. The same logic applies to essential ecological systems. Some functions are so foundational to life and long-term prosperity that they must be categorically excluded from economic trade-offs. Once those boundaries are set, economic optimization can resume within them, and often performs better as a result. Land that is managed in alignment with ecological regeneration tends to retain productivity longer. Agricultural systems that invest in soil health reduce dependence on external inputs. Landscapes that preserve biodiversity lower long-term operational risk. Take, for example, palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia. They start by clear-cutting a landscape, trucking out all the timber, and planting vast monocultures of oil palms. Within 25 years, these monocrop plantations end their commercial life, leaving the communities and land in a degraded state. To maximize the long-term economic value of the land, they could instead set aside 20% of it to maintain proximity to biodiversity, which substantially reduces the recovery time from deforestation. Corporate yield per managed acre would be slightly less for the short term, but would be economically superior even in the medium term. When you use up a landscape, you need to incur the additional cost of procuring new land, training new people, setting up new supply-chain lines. These are costs that would be avoided or reduced with more thoughtful land planning and set-asides. A nation that wanted to optimize its long-term prosperity would get interested in the exact set-aside percentage that gives the optimal blended return, factoring in long-term economic value and natural resource value. Greenland’s smart play Greenland’s protected lands are not idle; they are performing climate regulation services that would be prohibitively expensive, if not impossible, to replace technologically. The path forward begins with a simple shift: Stop assuming everything should be capital. Decide, consciously and explicitly, which systems constitute our planetary life support infrastructure. Protect them by design, not by pricing gymnastics. Then allow markets to operate vigorously everywhere else, informed by the true physical constraints of the world they depend on. The economy is paying the price for ignoring this distinction. The longer we delay making it explicit, the higher that price will climb. —By Tom Chi, Founding Partner at One Ventures This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy. View the full article

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From sugary cereals to Pop-Tarts and other pastries, many of the things Americans are used to eating first thing in the morning aren’t optimal for health. But according to new research, one traditional breakfast food could help protect your brain, and no, it’s not coffee. It’s eggs. The new report, recently published in the Journal of Nutrition, comes from researchers at Loma Linda University who followed 39,498 participants for 15-plus years. Their study found that regular egg consumption may be linked to a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The benefit appears to be significant. But in order to achieve the maximum reward, you need to make eggs a staple in your diet, not just a Saturday morning meal. The study found that those who ate at least one egg per day at least five days per week reduced their chances of developing Alzheimer’s by up to 27%. Consuming at least one egg two to four times a week saw Alzheimer’s risk go down 20%. And even occasional egg consumption—such as one to three times per month—made an impact, as it was linked to a 17% reduction in Alzheimer’s risk. “Compared to never eating eggs, eating at least five eggs per week can decrease risk of Alzheimer’s,” Dr. Joan Sabaté, a professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health and the study’s principal investigator, said per Science Daily. Sabaté explained that eggs are essential for brain health for a number of reasons. First, they contain choline, which is important because it allows the body to produce acetylcholine and phosphatidylcholine, compounds that contribute to memory and communication between brain cells. Eggs also contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which have shown links to cognitive performance and lower levels of oxidative stress. Likewise, omega-3 fatty acids, mostly found in egg yolks, are key to maintaining neurotransmitter receptor function. Vitamin B12, also found in egg yolks, “plays a multifaceted role in brain function,” according to the published report. More than 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and the costs are massive. According to the National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias cost the U.S. around $781 billion in 2025. “With the rapid aging of the United States population and projected increases in healthcare costs, understanding the potential role of egg consumption in reducing Alzheimer’s risk carries important implications, especially for Medicare, the largest source of healthcare spending in the United States,” the report in the Journal of Nutrition said. View the full article