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March 1, 2024
Question

Paying rent, etc. with equity account and cash basis

  • March 1, 2024
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

I'm taking over my S corp's bookkeeping from a firm that handled it for me. The corp's reports are on a cash basis (or technically, the firm's year-end reports say "modified cash basis" with some fine print saying that checks are reported when they post to the bank feed). The corp's structure is very simple: single-owner (me), single-employee (me), a couple dozen transactions per month.

 

I noticed that for a few stray business purchases that I made with my personal credit card, in years past the firm reported these transactions as having paid out of an equity account that they called "Additional Paid-In Capital." This makes sense to me, and the company has never been audited due to this practice.

 

Can I continue my prior firm's practice and occasionally pay for things using this equity account? There are a few things that I'd like to expense but didn't necessarily pay for using the company's cash:

 

  • Rent: I set up a home office last year and would like to treat it as a formal rental with a lease, etc. between myself as the lessor and the company as the lessee. No cash was exchanged--could I simply note the payments as credits from my company's equity account? Total amount: less than $5k.
  • S corp owner health insurance premiums: As a 2% shareholder, I qualify for having my individual health insurance premiums reimbursed by the company. I understand that these amounts are W-2 wages--can I note that the wages were paid from equity? Total amount: less than $5k.

 

Since the company is on a cash basis, I can't just set up a liability account to pay things. The previous bookkeepers were OK with paying out of equity for various items, even expensive stuff like laptops. I don't want to make a habit of it, but these are legit expenses that I effectively paid for on the company's behalf and didn't think to pay myself for. It's tax time and I'd really like to deduct them, if possible.

 

Thanks!

1 reply

Rainflurry
March 1, 2024

@Preplan6898 

 

IMO, Additional Paid-In Capital (APIC) was not the proper equity account to use.  APIC is an account for the amount you paid for the stock of the corporation above its par value.  When you pay for legitimate corporate expenses personally, that is a Shareholder Contribution.  Since you own 100% of the shares, it's not a big deal but I think the details are important. 

 

Regarding the home office, you need to have an accountable plan otherwise the expense incurred by the corporation is going to be offset by the personal income you will report on Schedule E.  The office must be the only dedicated office space you have for the corporation and it must be used 100% for business.  I have read stores of the IRS disallowing home office deductions because the taxpayer regularly walked through the office area just to get to their bathroom.  We're talking $5K so it's not a lot but if the home office is a secondary place of business, I would be cautious.