Paying your kids through the business
When it can make sense, what changes by entity type, and why timesheets, job duties, W-2 handling, and actual payment matter.
Free guide for small business owners
The Small Business Tax Strategy Playbook
Ten tax decisions that matter before the return is prepared. Built for small businesses, startups, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, consultants, realtors, trades, coaches, and owners who make enough money for the details to matter.
- Kids on payroll, done with records
- Solo 401(k) savings example using 2026 limits
- S-election readiness and reasonable W-2 pay
What the guide covers
The moves that need clean books before they work.
The offer is intentionally not a basic deduction checklist. Social traffic already knows mileage exists. The guide is for owners who need a decision path.
Solo 401(k) tax-deferral math
A plain-English example using current contribution limits, with the catch that employee deferrals and employer contributions need the right compensation base.
S-election fit test
When an S election starts to become worth modeling, when it is just extra payroll work, and why shareholder pay cannot be guessed after December.
W-2 wages you pay yourself
How reasonable compensation, retirement contributions, QBI, cash flow, and payroll timing pull against each other.
Accountable plan reimbursements
The underused S-corp recordkeeping habit that can make reimbursements cleaner when the business connection and documentation are real.
Home office without sloppy math
Regular, exclusive use, storage exceptions, and why the deduction is easier to defend when the books separate owner payments from business costs.
Health insurance and HSA planning
Where the self-employed health insurance deduction enters the return and why payroll structure changes the answer for S-corp owners.
QBI, estimates, and year-end cleanup
Why pass-through income, retirement deductions, self-employment tax, and estimated payments should be reviewed while there is still time to act.
Why current books matter
Tax decisions work better with reliable numbers.
Entity choices, payroll, retirement contributions, estimates, and deductions depend on accurate business activity. ClearClose can prepare and file the return, clean up the books, or handle both in one workflow.
Find the decision
Identify which tax questions matter for the business now.
Check the records
Confirm the books can support the return and the decision.
Choose the service
Start tax preparation, a books review, or monthly bookkeeping.
Start securely
Pay online, then upload records through the secure portal.
Tax Strategy Readiness Review
Download the playbook, then check whether your books support the moves.
The guide is educational, not a tax opinion. If the ideas apply, the next step is a clean monthly close, bookkeeping cleanup when needed, and a scoped review before implementation.
Want this handled?
ClearClose can prepare and file the return, clean up the books, or keep them current monthly.