S-Corp Salary Examples by Profit Level

• Owner role: full-time service work, modest market salary range.
• Salary: sized to be reasonable for the services performed.
• Distributions: limited; cash flow is tight.
• Reserves: prioritize covering quarterly estimates first.

• Salary: clearly defendable for the role and hours.
• Distributions: more meaningful as profits exceed reasonable salary.
• Reserves: structured quarterly set-aside for personal estimates.

• Salary: reflects management plus production work.
• Distributions: larger share of profit, with basis tracking in mind.
• Reserves: more attention to quarterly cadence and year-end true-up.

• Salary: well-documented based on role, market, and time.
• Distributions: a large lever; planning matters more.
• Reserves: more frequent reviews and tighter cash management.

The reasonable salary number doesn't necessarily scale linearly with profit — it scales with the role and services performed. As profit grows past that salary, distributions become a bigger piece of the picture, and quarterly tax planning matters more.

• Scaling salary with revenue rather than role and services.
• Letting distributions outpace cash flow needs and tax reserves.
• Skipping quarterly reserve planning until year-end.

Every business is different. Use the salary calculator to model your own numbers and discuss with your CPA before finalizing.