Owner Pay Worksheet
How much can your business actually afford to pay you? Plug in a few numbers from your Profit & Loss and you’ll see a monthly amount you can pay yourself without shorting taxes or your cushion.
Your business
Your monthly numbers
Use your average from the last 6 to 12 months. Your Profit & Loss report has these. Round numbers are fine.
Set aside before you pay yourself
Safe to pay yourself
- Monthly profit
- $0
- Set aside for taxes (25%)
- $0
- Cushion & growth (10%)
- $0
- Safe to pay yourself
- $0
- Upper limit, only if you already have 3 months of expenses saved
- $0
One more step for S corp owners
Part of what you pay yourself has to run through payroll as a reasonable salary, with the rest taken as distributions. The IRS expects you to be able to show how you arrived at that salary, and a number picked from thin air is one of the most common S corp problems I see.
My Reasonable Comp Audit gives you a documented salary based on your role, hours, and location, checked against your actual payroll, with a report you keep on file.
Get your reasonable salary documented →Not sure how you’re set up?
That’s more common than you’d think, and it matters: how your business is taxed changes how you’re allowed to pay yourself. A quick call is the easiest way to sort it out.
Book a free discovery call →Right now, there isn’t profit to pay yourself from
That doesn’t mean your business is failing. It usually means prices, costs, or timing need a closer look, and that’s exactly what advisory is for.
Let’s look at it together. I’ll help you figure out where the money is going and what to change first. No judgment, just clarity.
Book a free discovery call →Not sure your numbers are right?
If your books are behind or you couldn’t find these numbers, that’s the first thing to fix. Every answer above depends on them. My Bookkeeping Cleanup starts with a Diagnostic Review so you know exactly where you stand.
Get the spreadsheet version
Keep your numbers in one place and redo them every quarter. I’ll email you the Owner Pay Worksheet spreadsheet, with a Quarterly Check-In tab built in.
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This worksheet is general information, not tax advice for your situation. Your actual tax bill depends on your full return, state, and deductions. Talk with a CPA before making changes to how you pay yourself.