Savings Analysis First
We confirm the net benefit after every cost before you commit — no guesswork, no headline numbers.
S-Corp Elections & Compliance
If you run a profitable single-member LLC, every dollar of profit is hit with 15.3% self-employment tax before income tax even starts. An S-corporation election can legally remove that layer from the distribution portion of your profit — but only when the salary is reasonable and the compliance is handled. Motta runs the whole thing: we confirm it pays off, file the election, set your salary, stand up payroll, and keep you compliant year after year.
Reasonable Comp, Documented
A defensible salary built from market data, with a written memo kept on file as your audit defense.
Election + Payroll Setup
Form 2553 prepared and filed, payroll-tax accounts opened, and your salary scheduled to run cleanly.
Quarterly Filings & 1120-S
Quarterly 941s, your annual W-2, and the S-corp return with K-1 and basis tracking — all handled.
How the election actually saves you money
An S-Corp election does not change your legal entity — your LLC stays an LLC. It changes how the IRS taxes your profit. You pay yourself a reasonable salary through payroll (subject to payroll tax), and take the remaining profit as distributions, which are not subject to self-employment or payroll tax. You still pay income tax on all of it; the savings come from removing the 15.3% layer on the distribution portion.
At roughly $150,000 of profit with a reasonable salary near $70,000, the election typically saves about $10,000 in self-employment tax per year. Net of our package and payroll, most owners keep $5,000–$7,000+ annually — every year the business runs. The election generally starts to pay off once net profit reliably clears about $60,000.
Our end-to-end process
STEP 01
Assess whether you should elect
We model your actual profit, estimate the self-employment-tax savings, and net them against the added costs of an S-corp. If the election does not clear the worth-it threshold, we tell you to wait — and why.
STEP 02
Set a defensible reasonable salary
Reasonable compensation is the most scrutinized part of an S-corp. We build your salary from real market data for your role, hours, and market, and document the basis in writing as your audit defense.
STEP 03
File the election (Form 2553)
We prepare and file the election — including late-relief language under Rev. Proc. 2013-30 if you missed the deadline — and track the IRS acceptance so nothing slips.
STEP 04
Stand up payroll
We open your federal and state payroll-tax accounts, configure payroll through our accountant partner program, and schedule your salary so it runs cleanly from day one.
STEP 05
Quarterly payroll filings & ongoing compliance
We keep payroll running on schedule, file your quarterly Forms 941, issue your W-2, and refresh your reasonable-comp documentation each year so the structure stays sound.
STEP 06
Annual business tax return
We prepare your Form 1120-S and Schedule K-1, track stock and debt basis (Form 7203), and reconcile wages to profit — then carry it through to your personal return.
Reasonable compensation — the rule that matters most
Because distributions avoid payroll tax, there is a temptation to pay a tiny salary and take everything else as distributions. The IRS knows this, and an unreasonably low salary can be reclassified as wages with back taxes, interest, and penalties — wiping out years of savings. There is no magic percentage; "half of profit" is a starting heuristic, not a safe harbor. We build your figure from your actual duties, hours, and market comparables, and the documentation IS the defense. No election is filed without a completed, reviewed comp study on file.
Deadlines and late relief
For an existing calendar-year business, Form 2553 is generally due by March 15 to take effect for the current year. New businesses file within 2 months and 15 days of starting. Missed the deadline? Relief is often available under Rev. Proc. 2013-30 with a proper reasonable-cause statement — and good news for LLCs: you do not need a separate Form 8832 first, since Form 2553 handles the classification change.
Prepared on Intuit ProConnect
Partner-grade Intuit ProConnect access
Motta Financial prepares returns on Intuit ProConnect, Intuit's professional tax platform. Our partner-grade access lets ALFRED Ai do the heavy lifting on your return in minutes — so you get a faster turnaround and a CPA who spends their time on the planning that actually lowers your bill.
Professional tax preparation on Intuit ProConnectWant the full picture first?
Download our plain-English Small Business Owner's Guide to the S-Corporation Election from our Resources page — it walks through the savings, the reasonable-comp rule, the real costs, and a readiness checklist with worked 2026 numbers. When you're ready, we'll run your actual figures before you commit to anything.
Ready to talk this through with a CPA?
Tell us a little about your situation and we'll get back to you — usually within one business day.
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