The basic rules for hyphenation deal with hyphenating compound modifiers, not just compounds. A compound modifier is two or more words working like an adjective to modify another word, usually a noun.

A Word, Please: For less confusion, seek the modifier’s noun. By June Casagrande . Feb. 19, 2016 12:33 PM PT ...

Not long ago, I used as an example in this column "Having already missed two mortgage payments, Jane asked her mother if she could loan her some money." I was making the point that editors usually ...

COMPOUND MODIFIERS: When a compound modifier — two or more words that express a single concept — precedes a noun, ... Other two-word terms, particularly those used as nouns, ...