Calculator

How much can I pay myself?

Raise, hold, cut temporarily with a restoration trigger, or the business cannot yet support it -- from your own numbers, not a salary survey. First the reserve: how much cash has to stay in the business, worked out from your own wait to be paid, your own heaviest and weakest months, and the lumps you already know are coming. Then the draw: what the business generates before paying you, less the tax you will owe on it, less what the reserve needs this month, against what you take today and what you need.

Every field starts blank on purpose. This page holds no figure for what an owner should earn and no figure for how much cash a business should keep; both come out of your numbers. The only numbers it holds are the federal employer payroll rates, used only if you say you are paid through payroll, each cited beside its field and each overridable. The full reasoning, a worked example, and the sources are in the article How Much Should I Pay Myself? Owner Pay Calculator. Your numbers stay in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.

1. A normal month, from the last twelve

Use the bank, not the invoices: money that arrived and money that left. Twelve months is enough to see your heaviest and weakest months; six will do if the business is younger than a year.

Average monthly collections requiredCash that came into the business in a typical month over the last twelve, not sales invoiced

Weakest month of collections in the last twelveThe lowest single month. Leave blank if you do not have it; the floor then carries no cushion for a dip, and says so

Average monthly outflows, not counting what you pay yourself requiredPayroll for everyone else, rent, materials, subcontractors, loan payments, insurance, the taxes the business pays. Leave your own pay out; it is entered below

Heaviest month of outflows in the last twelveThe highest single month, again without your own pay. Leave blank if you do not have it; the floor then carries no cushion for a spike, and says so

Days from invoice to money in the bank requiredYour average, not your terms. Zero if customers pay at the counter or by card at the sale

Lumps due in the next 90 days that are not in the monthly averageAn annual insurance premium, a tax payment, a balloon on a loan, a deposit on an order. Leave blank if none

Cash in the business today requiredOperating accounts, not the line of credit

2. What you take, what you need, and what tax it carries

What you pay yourself per month today requiredGross, before any tax: wages if you run payroll for yourself, or the draws and distributions you actually take averaged over the year. Zero if nothing

What you need per month, gross requiredThe number that runs your household before tax, not the number you would like. This is the target the verdict tests

How is the money taken out today?A fact about your setup, not a recommendation. If you are paid through payroll, the employer taxes on your wage are a cost to the business and are added from the cited federal rates below.

Tax set-aside, as a percent of what the business generatesThe income tax (and, if you pay it, the self-employment tax) that will come due on what the business earns before paying you. Your last return shows the rate; your return preparer can confirm it. No default: blank is treated as zero and flagged

Months you will take to build the reserve, if it is below the floorOnly used if your cash is below the floor. A shorter build means a smaller draw now. Leave blank and the calculator will ask for it if it is needed

3. Employer payroll taxes on your wage (only if paid through payroll)

The federal rates are filled in for you from the IRS and can be overridden; a blank override means the cited rate is used. State unemployment tax on an owner's wage varies by state and is not included; your rate notice has it.

Employer Social Security rateDefault 6.2% of wages, employer share (IRS Topic 751, tax year 2026). Override only if you have a reason

Social Security wage baseDefault $184,500 for 2026 (IRS Topic 751); wages above it are not taxed for Social Security

Employer Medicare rateDefault 1.45% of all wages, no cap (IRS Topic 751). The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above $200,000 is employee-only and is not an employer cost

Federal unemployment (FUTA) rate after the state creditDefault 0.6%: the 6.0% rate less the 5.4% maximum credit for paying state unemployment tax on time (IRS Topic 759). Employers in a credit-reduction state owe more

FUTA wage baseDefault $7,000 of wages per employee per year (IRS Topic 759)

How the verdict is reached

The reserve floor is built from four of your own numbers, not from a rule about months of expenses. First the wait: your average monthly outflows times the days it takes an invoice to become money in the bank, divided by thirty, because those bills get paid before the work that covers them is collected. Then a spike cushion, the difference between your heaviest outflow month and your average. Then a dip cushion, the difference between your average collections and your weakest month. Then the lumps you already know are due in the next ninety days that the monthly average does not carry. Add them and that is the floor, in dollars and in months of outflows. Cash below it: build, at the pace you choose, and the monthly contribution comes off the top before anything is paid to you. Cash within a week of outflows above it: the target is met. Cash further above it: release the excess as a one-time distribution if the business is adding cash after paying you at today's level, and hold it if the balance is falling, because then the excess is runway.

The draw is what the business generates before paying you (collections less outflows), less the percent you set aside for the tax that will come due on it, less this month's reserve contribution. If you are paid through payroll, the gross wage is solved so that the wage plus the employer's Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment tax on it fits inside that amount. That gives two capacities: now, while the floor is being built, and after, once it is reached. If the business generates nothing before paying you, or capacity after the floor is below what you need, or the build you chose leaves nothing, the business cannot yet support the target and the causes are upstream of pay. If your need fits inside capacity now, raise to it or hold. If your need fits only after the floor is reached, hold today's pay with the raise trigger written down, or cut to what fits now with the restoration trigger written down. Capacity is the ceiling; the need is the target; the trigger is the month cash reaches the floor.

Sources for the statutory rates

Internal Revenue Service, Tax Topic 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates: employer share 6.2% and 1.45%; 2026 Social Security wage base $184,500; Additional Medicare Tax 0.9% is employee-only. Page updated 2026-01-20; read 2026-09-12. Used only where the owner is paid through payroll.
Internal Revenue Service, Tax Topic 759, Form 940 and FUTA: 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages per employee; maximum credit 5.4%; net 0.6%. Page updated 2026-02-25; read 2026-09-12. Used only where the owner is paid through payroll.
Every other number on this page comes from your records. There is no benchmark owner salary, no benchmark cash reserve, and no state figure here.

This calculator is informational and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. It uses the numbers you enter plus the cited federal statutory rates; it holds no benchmark pay, no benchmark reserve, and no tax rate. How your business is organized for tax, what compensation is reasonable for the work you do, and what to set aside are questions for your return preparer or an enrolled agent. Consult a qualified professional for decisions specific to your situation.