The TracePrep Team writes the TracePrep blog for CPA, EA, and accounting firms. TracePrep is a tax-prep platform, and it also produces the Reasonable Compensation Study.
What a tax planning report should contain: baseline, scenarios, recommendation, assumptions, a source manifest and Reviewer sign-off. Copy-ready outline.
Accountable plan S corp rules under Treas. Reg. 1.62-2, the 30/60/120-day safe harbor, and a copy-ready record checklist for owner reimbursements.
Dated Q4 2026 S-corp year-end tax planning checklist: salary true-up, payroll, retirement, basis, distributions and the Jan 15, 2027 estimate.
A copy-ready tax planning questionnaire for S-corp owners, grouped by planning memo section, with the decision each question feeds and a document request list.
Tax planning software for CPAs: how firms evaluate intake, import, output, integrations, evidence trail and pricing, with dated vendor notes.
Proactive tax planning as a year-round firm service: a four-touchpoint calendar, one planning memo per client, the workpaper trail, and the hours it costs.
S-corp tax planning memo, section by section: salary, distributions, retirement plan, accountable plan, estimates and state, each line sourced and signed off.
The IRS rules on S-corp officer salary turn on status, not amount: the one written exception, its two requirements, and the director rule.
Zero wages is deferral, not avoidance: reclassification, the employment tax that attaches, the additions to tax, the interest, and why the years stay open.
How BLS OEWS wage data is built: SOC codes, geography, reference period, percentiles, and the limits that matter when one figure carries a shareholder-employee's file.
The workpaper set behind a defensible reasonable compensation figure, and why the firm should own it rather than a vendor.
The statute, regulation, revenue rulings, court cases, and IRS materials that govern reasonable compensation, each with its plain-English holding.