RCReports is the name most CPAs hear for a formal, purchasable reasonable-compensation report, and it does a genuinely different job from this page. This free calculator answers the question you have right now -- am I in a defensible range, and what would closing the gap cost in FICA tax -- with numbers you already have, no account and no fee. Here is exactly where each one fits.
| Job | This calculator | RCReports (paid, per report) |
|---|---|---|
| How the comparable-wage figure is sourced | You supply it yourself -- from BLS OEWS, a trade salary survey, or your own judgment. | Matched from a licensed occupational wage-survey database against your stated job duties, location, and hours. |
| Output | An instant on-screen estimate, plus a nine-factor documentation checklist you fill in yourself. | A formal, citable written report under a named methodology, typically produced by or for your CPA. |
| Where it's most useful | A first read on where you stand, or comparing the FICA cost of different salary levels before deciding. | Documentation to keep in the client file, or evidence to produce if the IRS actually examines the return. |
| Cost | Free. | Typically in the low hundreds of dollars per report. |
| Where your data goes | Nowhere -- stays in your browser's local storage, never uploaded. | Collected and stored by the report service to produce and retain the document. |
A formal report is built on licensed occupational wage-survey data (matched to your specific job duties, location, and hours), produced under a named methodology, and typically delivered as a citable document a CPA can put in a client's file or produce in an IRS examination as evidence the salary figure was researched rather than guessed. This calculator does none of that -- it takes a comparable-wage figure you supply yourself and runs the arithmetic and factor checklist around it instantly, for free.
A free self-check is enough for an owner who wants a first read on where they stand, wants to see the FICA cost of different salary levels before deciding, or is nowhere close to a risky pattern (salary already close to or above a reasonable estimate, or no meaningful distribution being taken). A formal report earns its cost when the stakes are higher: a large distribution alongside a low salary, a pending or active IRS examination, or a CPA who wants a citable, licensed-data document in the client file rather than a number the client estimated themselves.
No. It is a self-check and a documentation aid -- a place to see the arithmetic and record your own answers to the nine factors courts weigh. It does not access any wage-survey database, does not certify a figure, and is not something you would hand an examiner as evidence in place of your own preparer's work.
This calculator never uploads anything -- every number you enter stays in your browser's local storage and is never sent to a server. A paid report service necessarily collects your business and compensation details to produce and store the report; that's a reasonable tradeoff for the document you're paying for, but it's a tradeoff this calculator doesn't ask you to make.