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Prebiotic soda brand Poppi has come a long way since it first appeared on Shark Tank under its original name, “Mother Beverage,” in 2018. Allison Ellsworth cofounded Poppi with her husband Stephen Ellsworth—but before becoming multimillionaires, though, the Ellsworths were maxing out their credit cards to launch Poppi. “My husband told me I was absolutely crazy, but he trusted the vision,” Ellsworth said. “So we maxed out our credit cards, sold one of our cars to buy bottles [and] opened our own manufacturing facility.” The pair invested $90,000 into the business in the first year, while her husband worked various gigs to cover their mortgage. In 18 months of launching what was then “Mother Beverage,” the Ellsworths generated half a million dollars in revenue. Allison EllsworthFast Company After locking in a deal with Rohan Orza on Shark Tank, the Ellsworths rebranded “Mother Beverage” to Poppi. All the while, Ellsworth was pregnant and the couple was raising their kids, juggling school dropoff with early morning Zoom meetings. “I think it’s OK to live in chaos, and to like it,” Ellsworth told the Wall Street Journal. “A lot of people talk about work-life balance. I think if you want to be successful, you kind of have to sacrifice that.” While some see long hours and endless availability as a badge of honor, that’s not the case for all—and can come with the risk of burnout. Last year, a survey found that 85% of people said work-life balance was more important to them than pay. Still, another 2025 survey found that two-thirds (65%) believed that sacrificing work-life balance is necessary to be successful. While workers want balance, they believe that grinding is the price of success. For the Ellsworths, that risk seems to have paid off. In the years since its rebrand, Poppi’s TikTok marketing during the pandemic—combined with the drink’s vibrant packaging and flavor options—created a loyal following by billing itself as a healthier choice to other sodas. Last year, the Ellsworths became centimillionaires when they sold Poppi to PepsiCo for nearly $2 billion. After the exit, Ellsworth said she felt a sense of sadness. “People don’t talk about the post-exit blues,” she said. One year after the sale, though, Ellsworth feels content and prepared to start her next business venture with her husband. “It almost takes a year, when you get that amount of wealth, to set it up correctly,” Ellsworth said. “We didn’t know how rich we were,” Ellsworth added. “You don’t know how rich you are until you start spending money. I was like, ‘am I spending too much money on clothes? Are we spending too much money on travel?’ And my financial adviser kept saying, ‘you guys are fine.’ But it’s so hard to make that big of a jump.” Since the exit, Ellsworth told the Journal that she’s upgraded her home, bought two more for her mom and aunt, splurged on a $1 million monthlong family vacation to Europe, hired a private chef, spent $27,000 on a stylist and more. “Some might call it materialistic, but I worked really hard for those things,” Ellsworth said. The couple has also opened investment accounts with $5,000 each for their three children between the ages of 4 and 9. “They did buy Pepsi stock […] They said ‘now we can be investors in Poppi.’ It was really cute,” Ellsworth said. In the interview, Ellsworth talked WSJ reporter Gunjan Banerji through her favorite heels, from Prada to Christian Louboutin. “What’s the point of having all this money if we can’t have fun with it?” Ellsworth asked. View the full article

Most of the executive teams I work with have been investing in AI for a few years. The ones who are frustrated are not the skeptics. They are the believers whose programs have not connected to the P&L. They have the pilots, the internal momentum, the board slide showing everything in flight. What they do not have is a clear line between that activity and business performance, and at this point in the AI cycle, that gap is no longer acceptable. I spent several years running AI at scale inside Kroger and its data science subsidiary 84.51°, where we processed millions of predictions per second across thousands of store locations. We measured work in margin, basket size, and customer retention rather than how many models were in production, whether the pilots were impressive, or if the work moved the business. That experience shaped how I think about what AI requires from leadership, and what most leadership teams are still getting wrong. The executives I work with are not confused about whether AI matters. They are managing tighter margins, more expensive capital, and boards that want results rather than roadmaps. In my experience, closing that gap comes down to three things. 1. Value has to show up on the P&L Most companies can tell you exactly how many AI models they have running. Very few can tell you what those models are worth to the business. AI can improve both sides of the income statement through better personalization and smarter pricing that support revenue. Automation and sharper forecasting cut costs and waste, but most companies are spreading investment across too many initiatives with too little connection to enterprise value. They are generating activity without changing their economics. The question worth asking is not where the company is using AI. It is where AI is changing the unit economics of the business. Most organizations cannot answer the second one. 2. Velocity is an underrated strategic advantage Almost every large organization knows more than it can act on. Data and insight exist, but the distance between signal and response is slow. Decision cycles drag, functions operate from different assumptions, and by the time internal alignment happens, the moment has often passed. I watched this play out firsthand in financial services. A team built models to identify customers of competing firms most likely to switch in a specific line of business. The analysis was sound and the models performed. What followed was months of organizational hesitation and revisited governance questions long after the pilot had proven viable. By the time leaders made a decision, the market conditions had shifted, and they exited the business. Someone inside summed it up perfectly, “The surgery was successful, but the patient was dead.” The technology worked. The moment was gone. AI can close that gap through faster reporting, better forecasting, and earlier anomaly detection. It is not about doing things cheaper. It is about being able to move when it matters, and that is as much a leadership problem as a technology one. 3. Confidence is not a soft outcome Today, executives are managing risk in a compressed timeframe that most have never experienced. Markets shift quickly, reputational risk moves faster, and the leaders who hold up tend to be the ones with genuine visibility into what is happening and enough discipline to act decisively. AI can extend that visibility by leveraging earlier signals, better scenario modeling, and a clearer line of sight into where problems are building. It does not replace judgment. It raises the premium on judgment, because faster decisions with better information still require someone who knows what matters and is willing to act. When it works, it shows up in how the leadership runs the business and how they are perceived by boards, investors, and the teams being led. Risk does not disappear with caution. It accumulates when decisions are delayed. OWN THE AGENDA None of this happens because a company acquires the right platform or adds AI to someone’s title. It happens because the CEO owns AI as a business agenda, not a technology agenda. That means being specific about where AI changes the economics of the business, measuring outcomes rather than effort, and being willing to cut work that generates activity without generating value. That last part is harder than it sounds when there is internal momentum behind programs and people whose identities are tied to them. The companies that understand where the connection between the work and the results shows up in the numbers are setting a standard for AI use that is worth following. Todd James is the founder and CEO of Aurora Insights. View the full article

Outlook is among the best Gmail alternatives for most people. Microsoft's email service is free and has a bunch of features that Gmail does not. At the same time, there are some shared features you'll likely want to use if you're coming from Gmail—they're just not enabled by default. I've been using Outlook's email service for over a decade, and these are the best hacks I've discovered while sorting through my inbox. Disable image downloads to prevent email tracking by shady companiesCompanies and organizations often use pixel tracking to see if you've opened their emails. Every one of these emails includes a hidden tracking pixel, which sends read receipts to the sender when opened. Outlook's default settings protect you from the worst of it, but you should take a few additional steps to safeguard your account. Go to Outlook.com and log in to your account. Click the gear icon in the top-right corner to open settings. Now, go to Mail > Junk email. Under "Security options," select Block attachments, pictures, and links from anyone not in my Safe senders and domains list. Note that this might not be for everyone, as it requires you to manually vet people who send emails to you. From a security standpoint, however, it's your best tool against email tracking, phishing, and scam attempts. You can also go to Outlook settings > Mail > Layout, and choose Don't show sender images to add an extra layer of privacy protection. On a similar note, you can go to the Message handling tab in the same settings page, and uncheck For shopping-related messages show a sender logo and relevant links in the message header. Use "Safe senders" to stop Outlook from sending good emails to spamOutlook's "Safe senders" list lets you add people to a trusted contacts list. Emails from these people won't be sent to spam, and won't be subject to restrictions such as blocked links or attachments—perfect for anyone who uses the hack above. You can use this feature to ensure that important emails, such as account statements from your bank, or paystubs from your employer, are never sent to spam. To get started, go to Outlook settings > Mail > Junk email > Add safe sender. You can also select the Safe mailing lists tab to add mailing lists to the Safe senders list. This is great for newsletters from your favorite publications, or safety-related emails from your companies. Run an automated inbox sweep to delete emails every 24 hours Credit: Pranay Parab One of Outlook's best features is Sweep. It automatically checks your inbox for emails from certain senders, and follows your instructions to manage the clutter. For example, my bank sends me an email for every transaction on my credit card. At one point, I was looking at 150+ unread emails that I had no use for. So, I used Sweep to keep transaction emails from the past 10 days, and archive the rest. To set it up, select any email in your inbox, then choose the Home tab at the top of the page in Outlook's desktop or web apps. Select Sweep, and you'll see a pop-up asking what to do with emails from that sender. There are four options here: Move all messages from the Inbox folder Move all messages from the Inbox folder and any future messages Always keep the latest message and move the rest from the Inbox folder Always move messages older than 10 days from the Inbox folder You also have a drop-down menu to select where you want to move these messages. I usually select one of the last two options above, and move the rest of the messages to the Archive folder, or Deleted Items. I've used this feature for a couple years now, and it works flawlessly in the background. If you ever want to change or delete Sweep rules, go to Outlook settings > Mail > Sweep. Configure gestures to delete emails in one swipeOutlook's mobile apps support gestures to quickly triage emails without opening each manually. You can swipe left or right to archive, delete, or report emails. However, you can customize these gestures to suit your needs. Go to Outlook settings in the mobile apps, and navigate to Email > Swipe Options. On this page, select what happens when you swipe right or left. Some useful options include delete, archive, flag/unflag, mark read/unread, snooze, and read and archive. In Outlook's desktop and web apps, go to Outlook settings > Mail > Customize actions. This will let you configure swipe gestures (for laptops with a touchscreen), and quick actions, which are the buttons that appear on each email in your inbox. I used this to replace the Pin button with Archive as I never pin emails in my inbox. You can select a maximum of four actions for each email. Turn off Copilot AI and disable Microsoft's data collection Credit: Pranay Parab In Outlook's mobile, desktop, and web apps, go to Settings > Copilot, and disable Turn on Copilot. This will turn off almost all AI features in the apps. You should also go to Outlook settings > Mail > Smart suggestions, and turn off Show suggested replies. Microsoft also collects a bunch of data and enables AI services in your Outlook account. If you want to disable this, head to Outlook settings > Mail > Privacy and data > Privacy settings. Turn off all options on this page to disable optional diagnostic data collection, prevent Microsoft from analyzing your emails for "connected experiences," and disable online content linked to emails in your inbox. You can also select Delete history to clear your search history from Outlook. While you're at it, go to Mail > Compose and reply, and disable Microsoft Edge Autofill. With this feature enabled, Microsoft Edge will pull from your Outlook inbox to autofill information, namely flight info. This feature may be useful for those who use Edge a lot, but it's not of much use to those who don't. Try this hidden menu to bulk unsubscribe from junk mail listsWhile working on this article, I discovered Outlook's hidden bulk unsubscribe feature. This feature lists all the subscriptions in your inbox and lets you unsubscribe from all of them without opening a single email. To try it out, go to Outlook settings > Mail > Subscriptions. Click the Unsubscribe button next to any of the lists, and Outlook will handle the rest for you. Switch to Gmail's keyboard shortcuts to speed up email actionsI've never liked Outlook's keyboard shortcuts much. As an example, "Ctrl-N" opens a new email in Outlook. In Gmail, it's "C." While Ctrl-N is the more familiar shortcut, it's not as fast as using a single keystroke. The good news is you can use Gmail's keyboard shortcuts in Outlook and save a lot of time. I love this hack because most people have Gmail as their primary email account, and now you don't have to remember two sets of shortcuts for email. To set this up, go to Outlook settings > General > Accessibility > Keyboard shortcuts. Select Gmail, and you're all set. Google has all of Gmail's keyboard shortcuts listed here, if you need a refresher. Use "Quick steps" to mark emails read and archive in one click Credit: Pranay Parab I find myself marking emails read and archiving quite a bit, and I've set up a single-click workflow using Outlook's "Quick steps." You can do that too by going to Outlook settings > Mail > Quick steps. Give your Quick step a name, choose an action such as Mark as read, and click the Add another action button. You can now select Move to, followed by Archive. On the same page, you can add a keyboard shortcut for this action, and click Save. This is a basic example of what you can do with Quick steps. You can set up any multi-step workflow to suit your needs, which could include categorizing emails, turning emails into tasks, or muting an email conversation, among many others. Set up undo send to prevent accidentally sending incomplete emailsIf you're ever regretted sending an email right after hitting the Send button, you're not alone. In Gmail, the undo send feature is enabled, but that's not true for Outlook. You'll need to enable it manually from Outlook settings > Mail > Compose and reply > Undo send. Use the slider to set a timer between 0 and 30 seconds, which is how long you have to stop sending an email where you've misspelled your own name. (Been there, done that.) Configure Outlook's email filters to highlight messages sent directly to youYou can use Outlook's rules feature to filter out messages where you're marked in the cc or bcc fields of an email. This way, you can focus on emails directly addressed to you, and move the rest to a different folder. To set this up, go to Outlook settings > Mail > Rules, and select Add new rule. Give this rule a name, select I'm not on the To line as the condition. In the actions field, select Move to, and pick a folder. Select Stop processing more rules to avoid further rule conflicts, and click Save. Now, all emails where you're in cc or bcc will go to the new folder, keeping your inbox exclusive to direct messages. View the full article

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told members of his Cabinet on Tuesday that he has no intention of resigning as calls within his Labour Party for him to step down grew louder. Starmer is trying to shore up support within his Cabinet following a febrile few days in the wake of hefty losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power. The meeting, which lasted about an hour, took place as around 80 Labour backbenchers, or nearly a fifth of the party’s representation in the House of Commons, said Starmer should stand down, or at least set out a timetable for his departure. Under Labour party rules, 81 lawmakers are needed to formally trigger a leadership contest. However, no one has yet announced they will stand as a candidate for the leadership, directly challenging Starmer. First resignation On Tuesday, junior minister Miatta Fahnbulleh became the first member of his government to step down, urging Starmer “to do the right thing for the country” and set a timetable for his departure. Fahnbulleh, who is considered to be on the left of the party, said she was proud of her service, but that the government hadn’t acted with the vision, pace and mandate for change it had been given by voters. “Nor have we governed as a Labour Party clear about our values and strong in our convictions,” she said. Despite winning a landslide election victory in July 2024, Labour’s popularity has sunk and Starmer is getting much of the blame. The reasons are varied, including a series of policy missteps, a perceived lack of vision, a struggling British economy and questions over his judgment — especially over his appointment of Peter Mandelson as U.K. ambassador to Washington despite the envoy’s ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer defiant At the start of the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Starmer said he took responsibility for the losses in last week’s local elections across the U.K. but that he would fight on. Labour was squeezed from right and left, losing votes to both the anti-immigrant Reform UK and the “eco-populist” Green Party, as well as nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales. The result reflects the increasing fragmentation of U.K. politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives. Starmer said that there’s a process to oust a leader and that it hadn’t been triggered. Under Labour’s rules, candidates must have the support of a fifth of the party’s House of Commons lawmakers — a number that currently stands at 81. “The country expects us to get on with governing,” Starmer said. “The past 48 hours have been destabilizing for government and that has a real economic cost for our country and for families.” That cost was evident in financial markets on Tuesday, with the interest rate charged on British government bonds up by more than those of comparable nations — that shows that investors are putting a higher price on taking on government debt. Some voices of support As Cabinet ministers left 10 Downing Street, some voiced their support for the embattled prime minister. Works and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said nobody publicly challenged Starmer at the meeting, while Business Secretary Peter Kyle said the prime minister was showing “really steadfast leadership.” Health Secretary Wes Streeting, long believed to be preparing for a leadership challenge against Starmer, did not comment as he left the meeting. “Wes Streeting, do you want the job, or not?” one person yelled from across the street. “Are you measuring the curtains?” He was among senior ministers who dodged a barrage of shouted questions from a gaggle of reporters outside. Though no one in his Cabinet has challenged Starmer, he will be aware that someone else within the parliamentary party could trigger the leadership process. The next U.K. national election doesn’t have to be held until 2029, but British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a general election. Starmer had hoped to regain momentum with a speech on Monday intended to kickstart his fightback, and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday. Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report. —Brian Melley and Pan Pylas, Associated Press View the full article

Finally, some good news. Amid widespread reports of retail closure after closure, a new report on retail market dynamics from the real estate services company JLL outlines the sectors that are leading openings so far in 2026. Restaurants and discount dollar stores lead the way, with Dollar Tree opening 400 new stores and Starbucks opening 175. The growth across these industries is promising, even as other areas are still facing closures in the first quarter of 2026. But the same thing happened last year, with early 2025 closures evening out by the end of the year. Even as store closures continue to create vacancies, other tenants are quick to move into those spaces. When stores like Party City and Bed Bath & Beyond close, their vacant spaces in valuable complexes are being taken over by grocery, fitness, and entertainment stores. National rent growth has slowed overall, but the year-over-year change rate indicates a clear regional split. Markets in Sun Belt cities like Atlanta, Phoenix, and Orlando are experiencing rent growth after years of population growth and expanding retail customer base. Minneapolis is the one exception, with the highest national rent growth percentage at 6.7%. Several coastal markets are pulling down the average, with cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco seeing rent declines. All of these shifts are slowly altering the look of shopping centers across the country. The demand for brick-and-mortar storefronts for apparel, accessories, and electronics is declining as online shopping becomes more prolific. But complexes centered around restaurants, grocery and discount stores, or fitness are staying afloat and expanding into the gaps left by closures. View the full article

As Amtrak continues to roll out new high-speed trains, it’s also improving on another pain point of train travel: unwieldy suitcases. A new partnership with Away is promoting a set of sleek luggage designed to tackle some of the issues of maneuvering a suitcase through the tight spaces on a moving train car. The first feature is small, but undeniably useful—a brake to stop your suitcase from rolling away when you’re standing in a train corridor before disembarking (or in similar situations, like balancing in a crowded subway car). “Luggage has a tendency to shift or roll away at the exact moment you need it to stay put,” says Hannah Clayton, vice president of design at Away. Away’s team designed a new type of wheel brake that locks both the wheels and fork of the suitcase “to eliminate the drifting and shifting that’s common with many other brake systems,” Clayton says. The switch to turn the brake on and off is also easy to reach, sitting on the top of the suitcase where the brand previously had a battery pack. “From a user experience perspective, it was important to us that the system felt intuitive and easy to access while moving through transit environments,” she says. Grabbing something from a suitcase is also less awkward in small spaces. Instead of laying the bag flat to unzip it, there’s a second way to get inside—a vertical opening on the front, so you can reach into the main compartment while the suitcase is still upright. (The collection is named Topside after this feature.) The lid has an interior laptop sleeve and other storage. The bags are as compact as possible to make it easier to roll down aisles or squeeze into luggage racks. “We focused on maximizing capacity while minimizing footprint,” says Clayton. “The design offers significantly more depth within a more compact footprint, making it easier to navigate dense urban spaces and forms of public transportation.” The suitcase has more vertical packing space because its design allows a deeper main compartment than a traditional 50/50 split case, with the top lid for easier access. Along with three sizes of bags (ranging from $375 to $475), the company also designed a separate “closet” system of inserts with hooks and compartments that can be packed vertically, then removed from the suitcase and hung up in a tight space like a sleeper car, so travelers don’t have to live out of an open suitcase. Amtrak’s push to rebrand train travel For Amtrak, a partnership with Away “just felt logical,” says Whitney Cripe, Amtrak’s senior director of brand marketing. When the partnership began, Away had already designed the collection, so the train operator didn’t have input on the features. (That may happen for future products, Cripe says.) But it recognized that the luggage was ideally suited for trains. Away’s design-conscious branding also matches Amtrak’s aspirations. “This partnership really helps us elevate perceptions around rail travel as a more premium modern experience,” Cripe says. “We’re showing up differently and giving people new reasons to talk about train travel and reconsider taking the train.” As Amtrak’s new official luggage partner, Away offered early access to Amtrak’s first-class Acela customers before the luggage launched to everyone else. It’s also offering discounts to some Amtrak customers for a limited time. For Amtrak, it’s a way to gain new—and potentially younger—customers as it tries to reposition itself. More partnerships are coming, Cripe says. Earlier this year, it also launched a limited edition “Trak Suit” designed through a collaboration with students at the New York School of Design. It remains to be seen how much the marketing efforts can convince more people to ride. In theory, trains have some advantages over flying. You don’t have to show up hours early. Train stations are often more centrally located than airports; in some cities, it’s faster to get there. You don’t have to wait in a long security line and go through screening (though as Amtrak considers letting riders put guns in on-board lockboxes, maybe the lack of screening isn’t necessarily a good thing). Once onboard, you aren’t stuck in your seat for long periods; you can walk around, and depending on the train, visit a dining car or go to a lounge car with panoramic views. The carbon footprint is lower than flying or driving, especially on Amtrak’s electric trains, with 72% less emissions than planes. Still, the fundamentals need to be in place for most people to see the train as a better option for a short trip. Despite the rollout of some new trains, Amtrak’s average equipment is still decades old, with many cars dating back to the 1980s or 1970s. The new Acela trains have had mixed reviews, with some riders complaining about uncomfortable seats or “interrogation-style” lighting at night. Though faster than other American trains, it also lags far behind high-speed rail in other countries, like China, where the high-speed rail network now covers more than 30,000 miles. The new Acela trains lack the vintage-inspired, high-tech charm of France’s newest trains. And many smaller cities still don’t have access to Amtrak service. Amtrak says that it hit a record high ridership of 34.5 million passengers last year, and record-high revenue of $3.9 billion. But with faster, more comprehensive service, it’s easy to imagine much bigger numbers. That would take investment: Amtrak’s previous CEO has said that federal funding—even the $66 billion for rail in 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—is a “rounding error” compared to what would be needed to have a rail system comparable with Europe or Asia. But meanwhile, it’s possible that better luggage might be enough to convince more travelers to try the train. View the full article

Although posting lower volume than in the fourth quarter, all six active underwriters remained profitable, even with borrowers facing economic turbulence. View the full article

Core CPI came in above forecasts and Treasury yields surged, while copper's record-high prices add to inflation concerns, the head of correspondent business development at AD Mortgage writes. View the full article

When deciding on the best business structure, you might consider an LLC over a sole proprietorship or corporation for several compelling reasons. An LLC provides personal liability protection, keeping your assets safe from business debts. It additionally offers tax flexibility, enhancing potential financial outcomes. Plus, having an LLC can boost your credibility with clients and investors. With a more adaptable management structure and simplified tax filing, the benefits are clear. But what are the other factors to weigh in your decision? Key Takeaways LLCs provide personal liability protection, safeguarding personal assets from business debts unlike sole proprietorships. Tax flexibility in LLCs allows for multiple tax structures, enhancing tax planning strategies compared to sole proprietorships. LLCs enhance credibility with clients and investors, improving access to funding opportunities and perceived stability. LLCs offer a flexible management structure, allowing shared decision-making and adaptation as the business grows. Compliance obligations for LLCs are simpler and less burdensome than those for corporations, streamlining business operations. Personal Liability Protection When considering the structure of your business, personal liability protection is an essential factor to evaluate. An LLC provides this protection, meaning you won’t be personally liable for the business’s debts and liabilities, unlike a sole proprietorship where your personal assets are at risk. If creditors come after your business, they can pursue your home and savings as a sole proprietor. Choosing LLC over a sole proprietorship or an S Corp can considerably impact your financial security, especially for high-risk businesses. The legal separation that an LLC offers improves credibility with clients and investors, making it a more appealing option. In the end, when comparing LLC, sole proprietorship vs. S Corp, you’ll find that the personal liability protection of an LLC is a crucial advantage. Tax Flexibility Options Choosing the right business structure not just affects personal liability protection but also offers various tax flexibility options that can greatly influence your overall tax burden. An LLC can be taxed as a sole proprietorship, C corporation, or S corporation, allowing you to choose the most advantageous method for your situation. In a sole proprietorship vs LLC vs S corp comparison, LLCs enable profit-sharing among members, enhancing tax planning strategies. If you opt for S corporation status, you can pay yourself a salary and take dividends, potentially reducing self-employment taxes. Whereas both LLCs and sole proprietorships benefit from pass-through taxation, LLCs offer more options for structuring income and deductions, which can lead to better tax outcomes compared to the simplicity of a sole proprietorship. Enhanced Credibility With Clients Establishing your business as an LLC can greatly improve its credibility with clients and vendors. This formal structure signals professionalism and adherence to state regulations, enhancing trust in your operations. Clients often see LLCs as less risky since they limit personal liability exposure in case of business debts or lawsuits. By displaying your LLC status in marketing materials and contracts, you communicate a commitment to legitimacy that sole proprietorships may lack. Furthermore, the perception of stability associated with LLCs can help you forge stronger relationships with financial institutions. Overall, clients are more likely to engage with businesses that demonstrate a solid, organized structure, making the LLC formation a strategic choice for enhancing your credibility. Easier Access to Funding Securing funding becomes considerably easier when you form an LLC, as lenders typically perceive these businesses as lower-risk investments. Unlike sole proprietorships, which lack liability protection, LLCs allow you to build a separate credit history independent of your personal finances. This separation is appealing to investors, who prefer the limited liability that an LLC provides, reducing their personal risk. Furthermore, LLCs have access to diverse funding options, including venture capital and angel investors, who are drawn to structured entities. The credibility associated with an LLC improves your business’s reputation, making it simpler to establish relationships with banks and investors. Separate Legal Entity Status When you form an LLC, you create a separate legal entity that can own property, enter contracts, and incur debt independently of you. This legal distinction not just protects your personal assets from business liabilities but additionally improves your business’s credibility with clients and funding sources. Conversely, a sole proprietorship leaves your personal assets vulnerable, highlighting the significant advantages of choosing an LLC or corporation for liability protection and business reputation. Legal Distinction Explained How does the legal structure of a business impact your personal liability? When you choose an LLC, you create a separate legal entity, distinct from its owners. This means that your personal assets are typically protected from business debts and obligations. Conversely, a sole proprietorship lacks this legal distinction, exposing you to personal liability for all business debts. An LLC can enter contracts, sue, or be sued independently, boosting its credibility and making it easier to raise capital. Corporations likewise enjoy separate legal entity status but come with more regulatory requirements, such as adopting bylaws and holding shareholder meetings. Comprehending these distinctions can help you make informed decisions about your business structure and manage your personal risk effectively. Liability Protection Benefits Establishing an LLC provides significant liability protection benefits due to its status as a separate legal entity. This means your personal assets are shielded from business debts and liabilities, unlike in a sole proprietorship where you’re personally liable. Feature LLC Sole Proprietorship Legal Status Separate entity No legal separation Personal Liability Limited liability for members Full personal liability Protection from Lawsuits Yes No Asset Protection Yes No Tax Treatment Pass-through taxation Personal taxation This separation makes LLCs particularly advantageous for high-risk businesses, as it limits your exposure to creditors and legal claims, safeguarding your personal wealth. Business Credibility Enhancement An LLC’s separate legal entity status greatly improves its business credibility, making it a preferred choice for many entrepreneurs. This formal distinction bolsters trust among clients, vendors, and financial institutions, as they recognize the LLC as a legitimate entity. Unlike sole proprietorships, which operate under the owner’s name, LLCs can enter contracts and own property in their business name, further establishing professional credibility. Moreover, the structured nature of an LLC signals a commitment to legal compliance and risk management, which attracts potential investors. This improved credibility can boost branding and marketing efforts, making your business appear more legitimate to consumers. As a result, lenders often view LLCs as lower risk, facilitating easier access to credit and funding opportunities. Flexible Management Structure Though both LLCs and sole proprietorships serve as viable business structures, the flexibility offered by an LLC’s management structure stands out remarkably. An LLC can have multiple members, allowing for shared decision-making and diverse management styles, whereas a sole proprietorship limits operations to one individual. With an LLC, you can appoint managers, who may or may not be members, bringing in external expertise for better oversight. The management structure is typically detailed in an operating agreement, defining roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, LLCs can adapt their management as the business evolves, facilitating leadership changes without legal hurdles. On the other hand, a sole proprietor has no such flexibility in profit-sharing or operational governance, making LLCs a more versatile choice. Simplified Tax Filing Process Regarding tax filing, both LLCs and sole proprietorships enjoy the benefits of pass-through taxation, which means you report your business income on your personal tax return. This setup simplifies recordkeeping, as you won’t have to navigate the intricacies of corporate taxes. Although single-member LLCs use Schedule C like sole proprietors, multi-member LLCs may need additional forms, but overall, the process remains less burdensome than that of corporations. Pass-Through Taxation Benefits Pass-through taxation offers significant benefits, especially regarding simplifying the tax filing process for both LLCs and sole proprietorships. With this structure, you report your business income on your personal tax return, avoiding the double taxation common in corporations. Here are some key advantages: Single-member LLCs file taxes using Schedule C of Form 1040, just like sole proprietors. You only pay self-employment taxes on profits, currently set at 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare. LLCs can elect S-corporation status, potentially lowering self-employment taxes by allowing salary and profit distributions. The straightforward nature of pass-through taxation means less complex accounting and fewer compliance requirements compared to corporations. Choosing this structure can greatly simplify your overall tax experience. Simplified Recordkeeping Requirements Choosing a business structure like a sole proprietorship or an LLC can greatly simplify your recordkeeping requirements. Sole proprietorships have minimal obligations, allowing you to report your business income and expenses directly on your personal tax return with Schedule C. Similarly, LLCs benefit from pass-through taxation, enabling you to report profits and losses on your individual tax returns without corporate filings. Both structures allow you to deduct business expenses from gross income, making recordkeeping straightforward. Although LLCs require some compliance paperwork, like filing articles of organization, their ongoing tax reporting is typically less complex than corporations. Frequently Asked Questions Why Would Someone Choose an LLC Over a Sole Proprietorship? Choosing an LLC over a sole proprietorship gives you personal liability protection, meaning your assets are safer from business debts. An LLC additionally offers tax flexibility; you can decide how you want to be taxed. Plus, forming an LLC boosts your credibility with clients and lenders, making it easier to secure funding. Although it involves more paperwork and costs, it’s a strategic choice if you’re planning for growth or need shared management. Who Pays More Taxes, LLC or Sole Proprietor? When comparing taxes between an LLC and a sole proprietor, it often depends on your specific situation. Sole proprietors pay self-employment taxes of 15.3% on all net earnings. LLC members can opt to be taxed as an S corporation, which might lower their self-employment tax liability. Furthermore, LLCs offer more tax flexibility and might provide deductions for business expenses that sole proprietors can’t claim, potentially affecting overall tax payments. Why Would Someone Choose a Corporation as a Business Form Over a Sole Proprietorship or LLC? Choosing a corporation as your business form offers several advantages. You’ll benefit from limited liability protection, meaning your personal assets are safe from business debts. Corporations can raise capital more easily by issuing shares, which can fuel growth. They likewise continue to exist independently of ownership changes, ensuring stability. Furthermore, you might access certain tax benefits, like retaining earnings at a lower tax rate, which isn’t available with sole proprietorships or LLCs. Do You Pay Less Taxes as an S Corp or LLC? When comparing taxes for an S Corporation and an LLC, you might find both offer advantages. S Corps allow you to reduce self-employment taxes, as only salaries are taxed, whereas distributions aren’t. LLCs provide flexibility in tax classification, letting you choose how you’re taxed. Both structures enable you to deduct business expenses before reporting income. In the end, the choice hinges on your specific financial situation and business goals, so evaluate each option carefully. Conclusion To summarize, choosing an LLC over a sole proprietorship or corporation offers significant advantages that can benefit your business. With personal liability protection, tax flexibility, and improved credibility, an LLC can provide a solid foundation for growth. Furthermore, its separate legal entity status and simplified tax filing process make it an attractive option for entrepreneurs. By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business goals and helps guarantee long-term success. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "7 Reasons to Choose LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship or Corporation" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

When deciding on the best business structure, you might consider an LLC over a sole proprietorship or corporation for several compelling reasons. An LLC provides personal liability protection, keeping your assets safe from business debts. It additionally offers tax flexibility, enhancing potential financial outcomes. Plus, having an LLC can boost your credibility with clients and investors. With a more adaptable management structure and simplified tax filing, the benefits are clear. But what are the other factors to weigh in your decision? Key Takeaways LLCs provide personal liability protection, safeguarding personal assets from business debts unlike sole proprietorships. Tax flexibility in LLCs allows for multiple tax structures, enhancing tax planning strategies compared to sole proprietorships. LLCs enhance credibility with clients and investors, improving access to funding opportunities and perceived stability. LLCs offer a flexible management structure, allowing shared decision-making and adaptation as the business grows. Compliance obligations for LLCs are simpler and less burdensome than those for corporations, streamlining business operations. Personal Liability Protection When considering the structure of your business, personal liability protection is an essential factor to evaluate. An LLC provides this protection, meaning you won’t be personally liable for the business’s debts and liabilities, unlike a sole proprietorship where your personal assets are at risk. If creditors come after your business, they can pursue your home and savings as a sole proprietor. Choosing LLC over a sole proprietorship or an S Corp can considerably impact your financial security, especially for high-risk businesses. The legal separation that an LLC offers improves credibility with clients and investors, making it a more appealing option. In the end, when comparing LLC, sole proprietorship vs. S Corp, you’ll find that the personal liability protection of an LLC is a crucial advantage. Tax Flexibility Options Choosing the right business structure not just affects personal liability protection but also offers various tax flexibility options that can greatly influence your overall tax burden. An LLC can be taxed as a sole proprietorship, C corporation, or S corporation, allowing you to choose the most advantageous method for your situation. In a sole proprietorship vs LLC vs S corp comparison, LLCs enable profit-sharing among members, enhancing tax planning strategies. If you opt for S corporation status, you can pay yourself a salary and take dividends, potentially reducing self-employment taxes. Whereas both LLCs and sole proprietorships benefit from pass-through taxation, LLCs offer more options for structuring income and deductions, which can lead to better tax outcomes compared to the simplicity of a sole proprietorship. Enhanced Credibility With Clients Establishing your business as an LLC can greatly improve its credibility with clients and vendors. This formal structure signals professionalism and adherence to state regulations, enhancing trust in your operations. Clients often see LLCs as less risky since they limit personal liability exposure in case of business debts or lawsuits. By displaying your LLC status in marketing materials and contracts, you communicate a commitment to legitimacy that sole proprietorships may lack. Furthermore, the perception of stability associated with LLCs can help you forge stronger relationships with financial institutions. Overall, clients are more likely to engage with businesses that demonstrate a solid, organized structure, making the LLC formation a strategic choice for enhancing your credibility. Easier Access to Funding Securing funding becomes considerably easier when you form an LLC, as lenders typically perceive these businesses as lower-risk investments. Unlike sole proprietorships, which lack liability protection, LLCs allow you to build a separate credit history independent of your personal finances. This separation is appealing to investors, who prefer the limited liability that an LLC provides, reducing their personal risk. Furthermore, LLCs have access to diverse funding options, including venture capital and angel investors, who are drawn to structured entities. The credibility associated with an LLC improves your business’s reputation, making it simpler to establish relationships with banks and investors. Separate Legal Entity Status When you form an LLC, you create a separate legal entity that can own property, enter contracts, and incur debt independently of you. This legal distinction not just protects your personal assets from business liabilities but additionally improves your business’s credibility with clients and funding sources. Conversely, a sole proprietorship leaves your personal assets vulnerable, highlighting the significant advantages of choosing an LLC or corporation for liability protection and business reputation. Legal Distinction Explained How does the legal structure of a business impact your personal liability? When you choose an LLC, you create a separate legal entity, distinct from its owners. This means that your personal assets are typically protected from business debts and obligations. Conversely, a sole proprietorship lacks this legal distinction, exposing you to personal liability for all business debts. An LLC can enter contracts, sue, or be sued independently, boosting its credibility and making it easier to raise capital. Corporations likewise enjoy separate legal entity status but come with more regulatory requirements, such as adopting bylaws and holding shareholder meetings. Comprehending these distinctions can help you make informed decisions about your business structure and manage your personal risk effectively. Liability Protection Benefits Establishing an LLC provides significant liability protection benefits due to its status as a separate legal entity. This means your personal assets are shielded from business debts and liabilities, unlike in a sole proprietorship where you’re personally liable. Feature LLC Sole Proprietorship Legal Status Separate entity No legal separation Personal Liability Limited liability for members Full personal liability Protection from Lawsuits Yes No Asset Protection Yes No Tax Treatment Pass-through taxation Personal taxation This separation makes LLCs particularly advantageous for high-risk businesses, as it limits your exposure to creditors and legal claims, safeguarding your personal wealth. Business Credibility Enhancement An LLC’s separate legal entity status greatly improves its business credibility, making it a preferred choice for many entrepreneurs. This formal distinction bolsters trust among clients, vendors, and financial institutions, as they recognize the LLC as a legitimate entity. Unlike sole proprietorships, which operate under the owner’s name, LLCs can enter contracts and own property in their business name, further establishing professional credibility. Moreover, the structured nature of an LLC signals a commitment to legal compliance and risk management, which attracts potential investors. This improved credibility can boost branding and marketing efforts, making your business appear more legitimate to consumers. As a result, lenders often view LLCs as lower risk, facilitating easier access to credit and funding opportunities. Flexible Management Structure Though both LLCs and sole proprietorships serve as viable business structures, the flexibility offered by an LLC’s management structure stands out remarkably. An LLC can have multiple members, allowing for shared decision-making and diverse management styles, whereas a sole proprietorship limits operations to one individual. With an LLC, you can appoint managers, who may or may not be members, bringing in external expertise for better oversight. The management structure is typically detailed in an operating agreement, defining roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, LLCs can adapt their management as the business evolves, facilitating leadership changes without legal hurdles. On the other hand, a sole proprietor has no such flexibility in profit-sharing or operational governance, making LLCs a more versatile choice. Simplified Tax Filing Process Regarding tax filing, both LLCs and sole proprietorships enjoy the benefits of pass-through taxation, which means you report your business income on your personal tax return. This setup simplifies recordkeeping, as you won’t have to navigate the intricacies of corporate taxes. Although single-member LLCs use Schedule C like sole proprietors, multi-member LLCs may need additional forms, but overall, the process remains less burdensome than that of corporations. Pass-Through Taxation Benefits Pass-through taxation offers significant benefits, especially regarding simplifying the tax filing process for both LLCs and sole proprietorships. With this structure, you report your business income on your personal tax return, avoiding the double taxation common in corporations. Here are some key advantages: Single-member LLCs file taxes using Schedule C of Form 1040, just like sole proprietors. You only pay self-employment taxes on profits, currently set at 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare. LLCs can elect S-corporation status, potentially lowering self-employment taxes by allowing salary and profit distributions. The straightforward nature of pass-through taxation means less complex accounting and fewer compliance requirements compared to corporations. Choosing this structure can greatly simplify your overall tax experience. Simplified Recordkeeping Requirements Choosing a business structure like a sole proprietorship or an LLC can greatly simplify your recordkeeping requirements. Sole proprietorships have minimal obligations, allowing you to report your business income and expenses directly on your personal tax return with Schedule C. Similarly, LLCs benefit from pass-through taxation, enabling you to report profits and losses on your individual tax returns without corporate filings. Both structures allow you to deduct business expenses from gross income, making recordkeeping straightforward. Although LLCs require some compliance paperwork, like filing articles of organization, their ongoing tax reporting is typically less complex than corporations. Frequently Asked Questions Why Would Someone Choose an LLC Over a Sole Proprietorship? Choosing an LLC over a sole proprietorship gives you personal liability protection, meaning your assets are safer from business debts. An LLC additionally offers tax flexibility; you can decide how you want to be taxed. Plus, forming an LLC boosts your credibility with clients and lenders, making it easier to secure funding. Although it involves more paperwork and costs, it’s a strategic choice if you’re planning for growth or need shared management. Who Pays More Taxes, LLC or Sole Proprietor? When comparing taxes between an LLC and a sole proprietor, it often depends on your specific situation. Sole proprietors pay self-employment taxes of 15.3% on all net earnings. LLC members can opt to be taxed as an S corporation, which might lower their self-employment tax liability. Furthermore, LLCs offer more tax flexibility and might provide deductions for business expenses that sole proprietors can’t claim, potentially affecting overall tax payments. Why Would Someone Choose a Corporation as a Business Form Over a Sole Proprietorship or LLC? Choosing a corporation as your business form offers several advantages. You’ll benefit from limited liability protection, meaning your personal assets are safe from business debts. Corporations can raise capital more easily by issuing shares, which can fuel growth. They likewise continue to exist independently of ownership changes, ensuring stability. Furthermore, you might access certain tax benefits, like retaining earnings at a lower tax rate, which isn’t available with sole proprietorships or LLCs. Do You Pay Less Taxes as an S Corp or LLC? When comparing taxes for an S Corporation and an LLC, you might find both offer advantages. S Corps allow you to reduce self-employment taxes, as only salaries are taxed, whereas distributions aren’t. LLCs provide flexibility in tax classification, letting you choose how you’re taxed. Both structures enable you to deduct business expenses before reporting income. In the end, the choice hinges on your specific financial situation and business goals, so evaluate each option carefully. Conclusion To summarize, choosing an LLC over a sole proprietorship or corporation offers significant advantages that can benefit your business. With personal liability protection, tax flexibility, and improved credibility, an LLC can provide a solid foundation for growth. Furthermore, its separate legal entity status and simplified tax filing process make it an attractive option for entrepreneurs. By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your business goals and helps guarantee long-term success. Image via Google Gemini and ArtSmart This article, "7 Reasons to Choose LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship or Corporation" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Understanding cable tech can be hard at times—harder than it should be, really—and weighing the pros and cons of a new gadget is complicated enough without having to know the differences between HDMI 2.1 and HDMI 2.2, or the reason some USB-C ports are also Thunderbolt ports. Help is at hand, though: WhatCable does a fine job of analyzing the cables attached to your Mac—not just giving you a list of specs but also explaining what those specs mean. One way the app can be useful is in explaining why your MacBook isn't charging as quickly as it could be. This can be down to the charger and the cable you've got connected, and WhatCable will break all of this down for you without any jargon. You'll see the rate your laptop is charging at, and the reasons why. Why your cables matterTo fully explain the modern cable landscape would take an article many times the length of this one, but it is possible to get to grips with the basics relatively quickly. Every connection has three elements that you need to consider together: The port on the device you're connecting to (like a monitor or charger), the cable in between, and the port on the device you're using (like a phone or laptop). For the best results (the fastest charging or the smoothest display performance, for example), all those elements must be supporting the same standards. If they aren't, you might not get optimum results, or the setup might not work at all. Unfortunately for us as consumers, simply finding a cable that fits a port isn't enough to guarantee everything will work, or work as well as you might like. Both cables and ports come with supported standards that you need to weigh, like the various flavors of USB (we're up to USB 4.0 version 2 now, for reference). Always double-check the specs when buying a new cable. Credit: Lifehacker The most common port you'll see on laptops and phones today is USB-C, but this is only the start of the story. USB-C ports can also support Thunderbolt and DisplayPort protocols, as well as a variety of USB speeds—you need to check the device spec for details. Even similar-sized ports on the same device may be configured differently. When you've determined what the ports on your computer or phone are capable of, you need to find a cable that supports the same standard, to get the best possible results. Be careful when reviewing cable listings before buying, both in terms of specs and length—cables beyond one meter (a little over three feet) typically require extra tech to support the highest data speeds, and will therefore usually be more expensive. To add to the confusion, these standards are changing pretty regularly, with manufacturers sometimes adopting the changes promptly and sometimes waiting a while to implement them. The short version is, don't rush cable buying, or think that all cables and ports are the same. Spend a few extra minutes analyzing the relevant specs in detail, and it'll pay off. How WhatCable can help figure out your cablesYou can download WhatCable for free from its website or GitHub page, which will both direct you to a zip archive. Launch the app, and WhatCable shows up on the menu bar; click its icon to see details of connected USB cables. Via the cog icon (top right) you can have WhatCable launch with macOS, and run as a regular app rather than from the menu bar. As soon as you get connect a cable, you'll see information on the charging speed and data transfer rate (where applicable), and a breakdown of what the cable can do. If you've connected a charger, then you'll be told whether or not it's a good match for your MacBook. Look for the "charging well" message for confirmation, alongside the charging rate. If a cable isn't charging your MacBook at the maximum speed, or the MacBook is itself limiting the charging (because the battery is almost full), you'll be told about this too. WhatCable presents its data in a simple, understandable way. Credit: Lifehacker If you've hooked up a phone or another peripheral, then its identity will be reported inside WhatCable, and it's here that the data transfer speeds might be more relevant. If an external storage device has been connected, then you'll see the transfer speed it's negotiated with the Apple operating system. WhatCable also looks at the e-marker inside a cable, which is essentially its digital ID, advertising its capabilities to the computer it's plugged into. If there are discrepancies between this e-marker and commonly followed technology standards, then you'll see an orange flag. It's not necessarily saying the cable is a fake, but just alerting you to something that doesn't quite seem right. In short, any details that the cable is reporting to macOS will get shown by WhatCable, and you should see a significant difference between cheap and limited cables and the more expensive and powerful ones—which will be a reassurance if you've paid extra. View the full article

The Consumer Price Index for April showed consumer prices rising across all categories, including food and shelter costs, and up 3.8% year-over-year. Grocery prices rose 0.7% from the month prior. View the full article

Moscow now expects growth of 0.4% this year compared with previous forecast of 1.3%View the full article

Twelve years ago BuzzFeed Inc reportedly valued itself at almost $1 billion, scaring off rumored interest from the Walt Disney Company. Fast-forward to this week and BuzzFeed is selling a controlling stake to Allen Family Digital for $120 million—$100 million of which isn’t due for five years. Allen Family Digital, associated with Byron Allen, will control about 52% of BuzzFeed’s outstanding shares at $3 each. BuzzFeed’s shares were up more than 101% to over $1.49 on Tuesday morning. The stock has been trading at under a dollar a share for most of this year. What the deal means for BuzzFeed As part of the deal, BuzzFeed CEO and founder Jonah Peretti will transition into a new role, president of BuzzFeed AI. Notably, BuzzFeed hasn’t exactly had success with its AI strategy, which included AI-generated quizzes and articles, as Futurism reported. Meanwhile, the title of CEO will transfer to Allen—a comedian and the CEO, founder, and chairman of Allen Media Group. “Byron’s vision, operational experience, and long-term commitment to premium content makes him exceptionally well-positioned to lead BuzzFeed and HuffPost into our next phase of growth,” Peretti said in the announcement. “To prepare for his arrival, we are planning to make significant changes, including cost reductions and setting up BuzzFeed Studios . . . and Tasty as a new independent entity,” Peretti continued. Peretti also noted how Allen’s long-running show, Comics Unleashed, is taking over Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show slot on CBS. Allen originally found success as a comedian and pays CBS for the airtime, according to the Los Angeles Times. Peretti is “highly confident that his relationships with talent will bring some incredible stars to the BuzzFeed platform.” How is BuzzFeed doing as a company? BuzzFeed has taken quite a tumble from its mid-2010s heyday when it claimed a nearly $1 billion value, according toThe New York Times. The landscape for social media, where BuzzFeed generated much of its traffic, has changed dramatically in the decade since. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter (now X) stopped prioritizing links and instead now focus on keeping users on their own platforms. The announced sale came alongside BuzzFeed’s sluggish quarter-one earnings report. The first quarter for 2026 saw BuzzFeed earn $31.6 million in revenue—a 12.4% decline year-over-year (YOY). The company’s advertising revenue decreased 19.8% YOY, and its net loss worsened by 22% YOY, rising from $12.5 million to $15.1 million. In a post-earnings call, BuzzFeed CFO Matt Omer said the company would withhold full-year guidance for the time being due to the sale. View the full article

April figure marks highest level in three years as effects of conflict reverberate through US economyView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Google’s second-generation wired Nest Doorbell is down to $97.99 on Woot, a steep drop from its usual $179.99 price. That undercuts Amazon’s current price for a new unit by more than $80, and even beats Amazon’s refurbished listing by a couple of dollars, making this its lowest price ever, according to price trackers. Woot says the deal will last for two days or until stock runs out, and Prime members get free shipping while everyone else pays an extra $6. For anyone already using Google Home devices, this is one of the more approachable smart home upgrades in this price range, because the installation process and app setup are both fairly straightforward. Google Nest doorbell (wired, 2nd gen) $97.99 at Woot $179.99 Save $82.00 Get Deal Get Deal $97.99 at Woot $179.99 Save $82.00 This model needs to connect to your existing doorbell wiring, so you can’t mount it wherever you want, like the battery-powered version—but that also means you won’t have to worry about recharging it every few months like you would with the battery-powered version. Video quality is sharp at 1280x960 with HDR, and the night vision performs better than many cheaper doorbells, which turn dark footage into a blurry mess. During the day, it captures clear detail across a porch, sidewalk, and driveway area, while nighttime footage still makes people and packages easy to identify. Audio quality is also surprisingly solid. Conversations through the two-way speaker sound clear on both ends, and background noise from traffic or wind doesn’t completely overpower voices. Google also includes some genuinely useful smart detection features without immediately forcing a subscription. The doorbell can recognize people, packages, vehicles, animals, or general motion, and the alerts are more selective than you might expect. It can usually tell the difference between someone approaching your door and someone simply walking down the sidewalk across the street. That said, the biggest downside is Google’s free cloud storage window—event recordings stay available for three hours unless you pay for a Google Home subscription, which starts at $10 per month. Also, its field of view is narrower than some competing doorbells, especially if your existing wiring places the camera too close to the wall or door frame, notes this CNET review. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $229.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple Watch Series 11 [GPS 46mm] Smartwatch with Jet Black Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band - M/L. Sleep Score, Fitness Tracker, Health Monitoring, Always-On Display, Water Resistant — $329.00 (List Price $429.00) Apple iPad 11" A16 128GB Wi-Fi Tablet (Silver, 2025) — $319.99 (List Price $349.00) Shark AV2501AE AI XL Hepa- Safe Self-Emptying Base Robot Vacuum — $299.99 (List Price $649.99) Dell 15 DC15250 (Intel Core i7 13th Gen, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM, Touch Display) — $599.99 (List Price $839.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

Today, Spotify is releasing some never-before-seen data to users—and it’s coming in a format that looks strikingly familiar. To celebrate its 20-year anniversary, Spotify is launching Your Party of the Year(s), an in-app experience designed to hit users with a blast of nostalgia by walking them through highlights of their own user journey with the app, including their first song ever streamed. The format is a click-through, interactive infographic, and it looks a whole lot like Spotify Wrapped. Since it debuted in 2014, Wrapped has become a core pillar of Spotify’s business. In 2025, more than 300 million users engaged with the launch, up 20% from 2024. And that’s not even counting the free promo that Spotify raked in as a result: The campaign inspired 630 million shares across social media, up 42% year-over-year. In a February earnings call, Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström revealed that day one of last year’s Wrapped marked the highest single day of premium subscriber intake in Spotify history. Today, Wrapped is such a golden goose in the marketing world that countless other companies have tried to dupe the format, with varying degrees of success (looking at you, LinkedIn). Its success comes in large part due to the anticipation that builds around the campaign, which rolls out only once a year—in December—to celebrate users’ year in music. Your Party of the Year(s) feels like the closest Spotify has ever come to a Wrapped-inspired experience outside of end-of-year—and, for Spotify’s executive team, it’s part of a delicate balance between bringing learnings from Wrapped into the rest of the year and ensuring that Wrapped remains its own distinct brand moment. What to know about Your Party of the Year(s) Last year, Wrapped 2025 embraced a retro, scrapbook-inspired aesthetic as a response to fans’ negative response to its more techy, AI-centric experience in 2024. Your Party of the Year(s) seems to be taking a similarly analog-looking approach: The whole experience is designed to look like a homemade (if very artistically crafted) birthday letter. Jeremy Wirth, Spotify’s global executive creative director, says his team took inspiration from the early days of Spotify. “A lot of us behind the campaign lived the party night subculture of the early aughts. It was important to pay homage to 2006, the year Spotify was founded, so we referenced the iconography and typography of DIY party flyers,” he says. “We then combined that handmade design language with the photography style that defined the indie sleaze era—high flash dance floor candids.” The experience opens with an animation of a wax seal—featuring the Spotify logo, of course—parting to reveal a home page with big, blocky text and a smattering of gold stars, like the kind you’d be awarded in elementary school. From there, the platform takes you on a glitzy romp down memory lane, starting with your first day on the app and moving on to a quiz about your first-ever song; your most-streamed artist of all time; and a playlist of 120 of your top-listened-to songs. Each slide is decorated with tinsel cut-outs, disco tiles, and colorful confetti. And, of course, several of the key slides are designed to be shared directly to socials. In all, Your Party of the Year(s) is clearly a lower lift than Wrapped in terms of design and scope, but it’s drawing users in by sharing personal data that the company has never revealed before. Can Your Party of the Year(s) shine without dimming Wrapped’s sparkle? Your Party of the Year(s) is guaranteed to drive new engagement, user-generated content (UGC), and subscriptions for Spotify. It might seem like a no-brainer for Spotify to start rolling out more Wrapped-style experiences like these—except, at a macro level, the brand runs the risk of diluting Wrapped’s impact by over-saturating its audience with data storytelling. According to Mark Hazan, Spotify’s SVP of marketing and partnerships, the brand doesn’t take a launch like Your Party of the Year(s) lightly. Any personalization experience at Spotify is measured against one key goalpost: It has to feel like a “genuine gift” to fans, not just a data showcase. “Our 20th anniversary felt like a once-in-a-generation occasion. The kind of milestone that genuinely warranted doing something we’d never done before outside of Wrapped,” Hazan says. “We were very deliberate in how we designed this experience so it would feel truly distinct: less about what defined a year, and more about the broader, personal story of a listener’s entire time on Spotify.” On the design side, Wirth’s team intentionally made Your Party of the Year(s) visually distinct from Wrapped, opting for several unique choices like full-bleed photography and stop-motion animation to give the experience its own look and feel. The result is more intentionally imperfect than Wrapped’s dialed-in aesthetic to lean into the nostalgia of 2006. Wirth says his team also chose to highlight only stats that would work in the context of an all-time retrospective—offering them a peek behind Spotify’s data curtain that even Wrapped has never pulled back. More broadly, Spotify has been working in recent months to incorporate more and more permanent in-app features that directly capitalize on users’ clear desire for personalization. These include AI-prompted playlists, a concept called Taste Profile that would let users control how Spotify understands their listener profile; and listening stats, which give users a bite-sized look at their week in music. The features bring learnings from Wrapped into the app without stealing the annual experience’s spotlight. “While we will always protect the magic of Wrapped, we also know that users want to learn more about their listening data—so, we’ve found fun new ways to package it up for them,” Hazan says. View the full article

After a rough start to the year, America’s four major publicly traded quantum computing companies are surging once again. The latest rally kicked off about a month ago, right around World Quantum Day, and since then, all four quantum computing companies—D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ), Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT), and Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI)—have recovered much of their 2026 losses. And today, their stocks are up even more. Here’s why. Quantum stocks are finally reversing their bad start to 2026 America’s so-called Quantum Four publicly traded companies saw an incredible year of stock gains in 2025. But in the first part of 2026, investor sentiment soured. Some of this was likely due to simple profit-taking after a stellar run and a little post-high clarity that while quantum computing may be the future of computing, that future is still years away. And of course, external factors, including geopolitical uncertainty, AI bubble fears, and generalized anxiety about the economy, also helped pull down quantum stocks (as with most other tech stocks). But in the last month, the fortunes of quantum stocks began to turn. As Fast Company previously reported, this all started around World Quantum Day in mid-April. And that April rally is now continuing into May. As of this writing, all four quantum computing companies are seeing their stock prices jump yet again in premarket trading, including: D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS): up almost 7% IonQ, Inc. (NYSE: IONQ): up 4.5% Quantum Computing Inc. (Nasdaq: QUBT): up 24% Rigetti Computing, Inc. (Nasdaq: RGTI): up 5% Keep in mind, those premarket gains are in addition to gains seen over the the previous five trading sessions. Since that time, Rigetti is up nearly 16%, Quantum Computing Inc is up over 7%, IonQ is up over 24%, and D-Wave is up nearly 15%. Why have the Quantum Four surged so much over the past week? It’s quantum earnings season The most significant reason why quantum stocks are surging recently is that we are in quantum earnings season, when all four major quantum computing companies report their latest results—and those results have been good. IonQ kicked off the quantum earnings season last week, reporting its Q1 2026 results on May 6. The company reported a staggering 755% year-over-year revenue growth. Rigetti and Quantum Computing Inc. were up next, with both companies reporting their Q1 2026 results yesterday, May 11. Rigetti reported revenue growth of 193% year over year, while Quantum Computing Inc. posted an astronomical revenue growth of over 9,300% year over year for its Q1. Finally, this morning, D-Wave reported its Q1 results. While the company’s revenue actually declined 81% year over year, it reported Q1 bookings of $33.4 million—a growth of 1,994% versus Q1 2025 bookings. “Bookings” are signed contracts for future business, and surging bookings signify that the company’s business dealings are picking up pace. A long road ahead Despite the recent stock price surge in all four quantum companies, the firms and the technology have a long road ahead before quantum computing represents as big a shift in the technology landscape as AI does today. Many experts believe that the widespread use of quantum computers will not arrive until the mid-2030s at the earliest. However, when it does, the shift in computing has the possibility to upend everything from communications to national security, and the companies operating at the center of that shift stand to gain the most. For now, before today’s premarket gains, three of the four Quantum Four had stock prices in the red year-to-date, including Rigetti (down 7.4%), Quantum Computing Inc. (down 0.78%), and D-Wave (down 8.1%). Only IonQ was positive for the year, up a respectable 26.7%. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. If you find a tick on yourself, it’s totally normal to want to climb out of your skin and burn it and live your life with your bones and muscles on display. Since I wasn't able to do that the last time I tried, I’m glad to report there is a safe, effective, hands-off way to remove the tick from your skin. More than one, in fact. Put down the matches, though. And the soap, and the alcohol. Those can make a tick release itself, but they also make the tick vomit its stomach contents into your bloodstream. That’s gross and it increases your risk of catching tick-borne diseases like Lyme. Instead, you need specialized equipment. Get your hands on it now, before you need it. You have several options, and they’re all under $10 each. Original Tick Key for Tick Removal 3 Pack (Multi Color) $20.49 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $20.49 at Amazon I prefer the Tick Key. I have actually used this one in real life, while freaking out just a little (I respect arachnids and insects as important parts of the ecosystem but I really do not enjoy touching them) and it’s pretty easy. You put the large end of the keyhole over the tick, then just slide it over so the tick gets wedged into the small end. That’s it. Doing this removes the tick. If you do it right, pressing down into the skin, you can remove the whole creature. If you’re a bit skittish, like me, you might end up leaving the mouthparts buried in the skin. But at that point they’re not attached to a living breathing monster, so it’s really no biggie. The mouthparts are very very tiny, and they’ll work their way out as the bite heals. Once the tick is off your skin, your job is done. Tick Twister Tick Remover for Dogs and Humans $7.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $7.99 at Amazon My vet prefers the Tick Twister, which is easier to use without fur getting in the way. You slide the forked part around the tick, then twist until it pops off. There are other brands, like the Ticked Off, that work in similar ways. You can also, if you’re not too squeamish, grab the lil guy close to the skin with fine-tipped tweezers. (Either special tick tweezers or just a regular pair that’s pointy enough). When you’ve got the tick, you can drop it into a jar of alcohol to make sure it’s good and dead. I usually put it in a baggie, so it can’t crawl away, and drop it in the trash; sandwiching it in masking tape is another reasonable approach. Finally, try to stop this from happening ever again by checking yourself for ticks every day. A shower is pretty good at washing the little guys off before they get a chance to attach. If you’ve just finished a hike and worry that you’re crawling with the things, give yourself a few swipes with a lint roller to tide you over until shower time. View the full article

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