Webinar Details
Course Description
S Corp owner compensation is one of the most dangerous compliance minefields facing accountants and their clients today. Improperly setting or documenting reasonable compensation can trigger IRS audits, costly reclassification of distributions as wages, back taxes, steep penalties, and even the loss of S Corp status, resulting in double taxation and personal liability. This session will expose the most common pitfalls and audit red flags, including low or arbitrary salaries, lack of documentation, and reliance on industry myths. Attendees will learn how to identify and avoid these dangers, understand the IRS’s enforcement priorities, and implement best practices for determining and defending reasonable compensation. Whether you’re new to S Corps or seeking to sharpen your compliance skills, this presentation will equip you to protect your clients and your practice from the very real risks of getting S Corp compensation wrong.
Learning Objectives
- Identify and correct myths about S Corporation compensation, including the 60/40 Rule and Safe Harbor assumptions.
- Apply the three IRS recognized methodologies: Cost, Market, and Income to calculate reasonable compensation.
- Analyze key court cases and IRS guidance to understand how reasonable compensation is evaluated.
- Recognize audit triggers and IRS documentation requirements that increase the risk of reclassification and penalties.
Prerequisites
- None required.
Who Should Attend
CPA & EA practitioners who advise S Corps on the issue of Reasonable Compensation who are interested in learning about current IRS guidelines, and solutions for advising their clients on the issue of Reasonable Compensation.
Advanced Preparation
None required.
Presenter Details
-
Paul S. Hamann
- President
Paul Hamann is an expert on determining Reasonable Compensation for closely-held business owners. He has educated more than 30,000 tax advisors and valuators on the topic of Reasonable Compensation and has been published in numerous state CPA society journals.
Paul, along with other experts in their own fields founded RCReports in 2010. RCReports cloud software determines reasonable compensation for Closely-Held Business Owners and is used by CPA’s, EA’s, Tax Advisors, Valuators, Forensic Accountants and Attorneys when they need to determine a Reasonable Compensation figure for a client.
When Paul isn’t in the office he enjoys spending time with his wife and two chocolate labs, hiking Colorado’s back country or paddling its s... Read more
-
John Morse
- President, John P. Morse, CPA
John Morse has operated his own CPA firm John P. Morse, CPA, LLC, since 2014, specializing in tax, small business accounting, and campaign compliance. Prior to that, he served in the Colorado State Senate, most recently as the President of the Senate. After graduating from college, he worked as a CPA for Fox & Company in Colorado Springs, CO, and then for Deloitte, Haskins & Sells in Denver as an audit manager. So, he has roughly 20 years of CPA experience.
Between the time he left Deloitte and started his own firm he served as a paramedic in Denver, a police officer, detective, and sergeant in Colorado Springs, CO, a police chief in Fountain CO, and the CEO of a nonprofit organization that w... Read more
NASBA Sponsor
-
Encoursa is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: NASBAregistry.org.
IRS Approved
-
Encoursa LLC is an IRS-approved continuing education provider. Provider #: KKRBE
Date & Time
CPE
-
Webinars: CPE certificates will be accessible through your dashboard 1 hour after a webinar concludes.
Self-Study: CPE certificates will be accessible through your dashboard immediately after passing the qualified assessment.
For specific instructions on accessing your CPE, please see our FAQ section on our support page.
- Multiple Attendees on Webinars: Each attendee should register separately for the webinar. If more than 1 attendee participated from the same device, please contact us after the event to let us know. For group signups for paid events, please contact us.
Purchase options
Live Webinar
Reasonable Compensation for S Corps
Sponsored by RCReports
- Jul 16, 2026
- 2:00 PM EDT
- Credits: 2.00
FREE
All-Access Pass
Get a Full Year of Unlimited Training With One Purchase.
- 12+ Unique Premium Webinars Each Month
- 900+ CPE Hours of On-Demand Self-Study Content
- Track CPE Courses and Support in the Cloud
- Save an average of $500+ per year on CPE