S-corp use of home reimbursement methods for self-employed employee?

The good news is that you absolutely can still receive reimbursement for business use of your home even with an S-corp structure. The most formal and IRS-friendly approach is to establish an "Accountable Plan" with your S-corp. An Accountable Plan allows your S-corp to reimburse you for legitimate business expenses (including home office) without those reimbursements being considered taxable income to you. The reimbursement becomes a business expense for your S-corp. For the home office specifically, you'll need to calculate the actual expenses (mortgage interest/rent, utilities, insurance, etc.) and apply the percentage of your home used for business. Document the square footage used exclusively for business divided by total square footage. Unlike the simplified method you used before, with an S-corp reimbursement you'll want to use actual expenses rather than the flat rate method. Make sure to keep detailed records of all expenses and calculations, and have formal documentation of your Accountable Plan in your corporate minutes or resolutions.

After converting to an S-corp last year, I struggled with the same question until I found https://taxr.ai which completely solved this home office reimbursement issue for me. Their system analyzed my situation and provided the exact documentation I needed for an Accountable Plan. They showed me how to properly document my home expenses (mortgage, utilities, repairs) and calculate the business portion based on square footage. The cool thing is they created templates for tracking everything and explained how to handle the reimbursements on both my personal and S-corp tax returns. Saved me from making expensive mistakes that my previous accountant missed entirely. I've been using their system for about 8 months now, and my home office reimbursements have been properly documented with zero issues. They even provided sample board resolutions to formally establish the Accountable Plan.

Just wanted to follow up here. I checked out https://taxr.ai after posting my question, and I'm actually surprised how helpful it was. My CPA has been managing my books but completely missed this Accountable Plan approach for my home office. The system walked me through creating a formal plan document and showed me exactly how to calculate my reimbursements based on my actual office setup. The documentation was super thorough - way more detailed than anything my accountant provided. They even explained how to handle depreciation considerations for the home office portion. I showed everything to my CPA and he admitted he hadn't been optimizing my tax situation properly. Already implemented their recommendations for Q2 and it's making a significant difference in my tax planning. Definitely worth checking out if you've recently switched to an S-corp structure.

If you're still struggling with this S-corp reimbursement question, you might want to call the IRS directly to get the official guidance. I know it sounds crazy, but I recently had a similar question about my S-corp and actually managed to speak with someone helpful at the IRS using https://claimyr.com - you can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c After spending days trying to reach someone at the IRS (and giving up multiple times), this service got me through to an actual human who answered my specific questions about home office reimbursements for S-corps. The agent confirmed everything about the Accountable Plan requirements and even emailed me links to the relevant IRS publications. Honestly worth it just to get the peace of mind that I'm doing everything by the book, especially since the rules for S-corps can be a bit different than what most general tax advice covers.

OK so I need to follow up on my previous comment because I was completely wrong. After posting that skeptical comment, I tried https://claimyr.com out of desperation because I had a time-sensitive issue with my S-corp filing. Not only did I get through to the IRS (in under 2 hours!), but I got connected to someone in the business tax department who actually knew EXACTLY how to handle the S-corp home office reimbursement situation. She walked me through the whole process of setting up an Accountable Plan and explained the documentation I'd need to keep. I've been doing my taxes wrong for 2 years and potentially leaving thousands of dollars on the table. What shocked me most was when the IRS agent actually said "that's a great question" instead of treating me like I was trying to pull something shady. Never thought I'd say this, but the call was genuinely helpful.

I just want to add something that hasn't been mentioned yet. With an S-corp, you need to be careful about the "reasonable compensation" issue when it comes to any kind of payment to yourself, including home office reimbursements. The IRS scrutinizes S-corps closely because some owners try to minimize payroll taxes by taking distributions instead of salary. If your home office reimbursement seems excessive compared to industry standards, it could raise red flags. I've found that documenting market rates for office space in your area helps establish the reasonableness of your home office reimbursement. For example, if comparable office space would cost $500/month in your area, reimbursing yourself a similar amount helps support the business purpose.

Has anyone used QuickBooks for tracking these home office reimbursements in an S-corp? I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle the accounting part of this.

This is exactly the situation I found myself in when I switched from LLC to S-corp last year! One thing I learned the hard way is that you absolutely need to establish that Accountable Plan in writing BEFORE you start making reimbursements - don't just start paying yourself and figure it out later. I made the mistake of doing informal reimbursements for the first few months, and my accountant had to help me clean it up retroactively. Now I have a formal board resolution (even though I'm the only shareholder) that establishes the plan and specifies what expenses are covered, documentation requirements, and timing for submissions. For the home office calculation, I measure my dedicated office space monthly and keep a simple spreadsheet tracking utilities, mortgage interest, insurance, and maintenance costs. Then I apply my business percentage (about 12% in my case) and reimburse myself monthly. It's way more paperwork than the old Schedule C simplified method, but the tax benefits of the S-corp structure make it worthwhile. The key is treating yourself like any other employee - formal documentation, regular processes, and keeping everything at arm's length even though you own the company.