Elect S-corp status and cut your self-employment tax
An S-corp election in force and operating correctly: the break-even math run on your actual net income, Form 2553 filed inside the election window, a defensible reasonable-compensation salary benchmarked and documented, payroll running with the right federal and state registrations, and the distribution and bookkeeping routine set up.
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- Your own copy — keep it forever
- Gets better over time — free updates included
- Run it on web and mobile
- Invite a partner to go through it with you — you share the same progress
- 8 knowledge checks to test what you've learned
- The playbook's community — ask questions, get additions, and see how other buyers improve it, right on the step
Who it's for
U.S. single-member LLC owners clearing roughly $60,000+ in net business income who currently pay self-employment tax on all of it, keep clean books, and can commit to running payroll on a schedule. Also useful for owners near the $40,000–$60,000 edge who want the math settled before the election.
About this playbook
This playbook walks a single-member LLC owner through the honest arithmetic and the paperwork of electing S-corp status. You run the break-even on your actual net income before spending anything, file Form 2553 inside the election window, benchmark a defensible reasonable salary with sources an examiner would accept, stand up payroll federally and with your state, and settle into the wages-versus-distributions routine with a calendar of quarterly and annual filings. It treats the election as a national procedure and flags the states whose fees or taxes erode the benefit. It does not cover multi-member LLCs, C-corp conversions, or choosing your salary number — the math and the documentation standard are here, the figure is your business judgment.
What you'll do, step by step
Free preview — these steps are open to read in full before you buy.
Phase 1: Decide whether the election pays
0/5Eligibility, the real numbers, and the state treatment — the decisions that determine whether everything after this is worth doing.
- 30 min
- 1 hour
- 1 hour
- 45 min
Phase 2: File the election
5 stepsPhase 3: Set your salary
3 stepsPhase 4: Set up payroll
5 stepsPhase 5: Run the new routine
4 stepsDetails
What you need first
A domestic single-member LLC taxed as a disregarded entity whose sole member is a U.S. citizen or resident; at least one full year of Schedule C history showing the net income the break-even will use; access to prior-year tax returns; a calendar tax year or willingness to adopt one; an EIN for the LLC (obtainable in Phase 2 if missing).
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About the creator
I write playbooks about running and growing a business. Step by step, in the order things actually happen.
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