FOR COACHES

She Made $180,000 Coaching Last Year. She Paid $14,300 in Tax She Didn't Have To. What Is an S Corp, and Why Didn't Anyone Tell Her?

She crossed $180,000 and nobody had told her the one thing that decides what she keeps.

Jordan closed a $92,000 launch week on Kajabi in June and spent the Fourth of July typing s corp what is into Google instead of watching fireworks. She had just passed $180,000 in coaching revenue, more than she ever made as a corporate VP. By September I had to tell her the answer had already cost her $14,300 the year before.

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Real accountants Flat monthly pricing S-corp setup and payroll included

Phoenix · August 17, 2026 · 6 min read

One coach. Real numbers.

$180,000

coaching revenue last year

“I made $180,000 last year and I genuinely did not know if I was profitable after Kajabi fees, my certification renewal, and my software stack. Amadae set up my S corp, calculated my salary, and I kept an extra $16,400 this year on almost the same revenue.”

Jordan M. · Health and executive coach

The Story

A $92,000 launch week and a question she could not answer

Jordan's mastermind popped confetti when the cart closed. Her bookkeeper asked whether the business was even structured to keep the money, and she did not know. As a single-member LLC, every dollar of her profit was paying self-employment tax. Nobody at a certification renewal or a retreat had ever explained that.

Jordan's year, as a sole proprietor

Kajabi launch week in June$92,000

Coaching revenue for the year$180,000

Self-employment tax at 15.3%, before income tax$22,000+

S corp election on file$0

Tax she did not have to pay$14,300

The Problem

The LLC is a legal shield. It does almost nothing for your tax bill.

Every coach I talk to describes the same moment. Stripe payouts get bigger, Kajabi carts close in the tens of thousands, and then the tax bill arrives feeling like a penalty for finally succeeding. As a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, 15.3% comes off the top of profit before the regular brackets even start. If you are skeptical that a structure change fixes that, good: most of what gets sold to coaches is a nicer spreadsheet.

Fitness tracking — On $180,000 of net profit, self-employment tax alone is more than $22,000 before a cent of income tax.

What We Tried

A CPA in March, TurboTax in April, a spreadsheet never

Jordan had tried the fixes every coach tries, in the usual order. A generalist CPA filed the return in March and disappeared until next year. A TurboTax subscription asked generic questions about a business it did not understand. A spreadsheet chased Kajabi payouts, Stripe fees, and PayPal transfers whenever there was time, which during launch season is never. None of it answered the actual question.

What each fix actually delivered

Generalist CPA: 1 return in March, 0 mentions of an S corp
TurboTax: generic questions, nothing about Kajabi or launches
Spreadsheet: 3 platforms, updated 0 times during launch week
Anyone explaining the 15.3% self-employment tax
A salary and distribution split calculated on her numbers

Sound familiar? A 30-minute call tells you exactly where you stand.

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Free 30-minute review. No pitch deck.

The Discovery

An S corp is a switch, not a new business

Here is the definition her bookkeeper should have given her two years earlier. An S corp is a tax election filed on top of the LLC you already have. Same clients, same programs. You pay yourself a reasonable salary through payroll, taxed normally, and profit above that salary is distributed without the 15.3% self-employment tax. For a coach netting $180,000, a well-calculated split saves $10,000 to $18,000 a year depending on the state and the salary chosen.

Self-employment tax on $180K of coaching profit

Single-member LLC, as Jordan filed$22,000

S corp with a reasonable salary$7,700

Jordan's $14,300 difference; salary split illustrative, varies by state

The FixAMADAE

From "what is an S corp" to "already done"

Understanding the election solves half the problem. Someone still has to calculate the reasonable salary, run payroll, file the election on time, and keep the books clean enough that the IRS never looks twice. Amadae handles the structure end to end: the election, a salary set from IRS guidance and your real coaching revenue, and Kajabi, Stripe, PayPal, and your business checking connected into one picture. Quarterly estimates flex with your launch calendar instead of assuming income you never have in a quiet month.

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Who does the S corp work

	Generalist CPA	DIY
Election filed correctly and on time	If asked
Reasonable salary calculated on your numbers
Payroll run every month	Extra fee
Kajabi, Stripe, PayPal reconciled
Estimates built around launch season
Flat monthly price		Free

The Proof

Almost the same revenue. $16,400 more kept.

Jordan's next year looked a lot like the last one on the top line. The difference was underneath it: a defensible salary, payroll running, distributions taken without self-employment tax, and one number she could trust after Kajabi fees, her certification renewal, and her software stack.

Jordan M.

Health and executive coach

Kept an extra $16,400 in year one

Why NowAMADAE

Your biggest launches of the year are about to be taxed the old way

Summer and the back-to-school push produce most coaches' largest quarter, and their largest tax exposure. Election windows are tighter than most coaches realize, and waiting until spring means paying self-employment tax on launches a properly timed election could have protected. The intro call is free, takes thirty minutes, and ends with a real number for what an S corp would save you this year. If the answer is not yet, we will say so.

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34 of 40

coaching businesses we reviewed this year had never made the S corp election

Amadae coaching client reviews

One coach. Real numbers.

$180,000

coaching revenue last year

$14,300

paid in tax she did not have to

$16,400

kept the next year on similar revenue

34 of 40

coaches reviewed had no S corp election

One client, with permission, plus Amadae coaching client reviews. Your numbers will differ.

Accounting built for launch-based income

Books, payroll, and taxes from real accountants, for one flat monthly price starting at $249.

S corp election filed and a reasonable salary calculated on your numbers
Kajabi, Stripe, and PayPal reconciled by a real accountant
Quarterly estimates built around your launch calendar
Payroll and year-end returns included

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No long-term contract. Cancel any time. The intro call is free.

Plans from

$249/mo

If you make $40K - $69K. Flat, no hourly bills.

Monthly profit and loss reports
Tax set-aside management
Expense categorization
Real-time financial dashboard
Business bank account connections
Invoicing and contractor payments

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Cancel any timeReal accountantsTaxes filed for you

Straight answers

Questions creators ask us

I don't earn enough to need this yet.+

The math usually starts working once net profit crosses roughly $60,000 to $80,000 a year. If program revenue is trending toward six figures, the savings typically outweigh the setup cost inside the first year. The call runs your numbers either way.

Won't an S corp trigger an audit?+

An S corp with a defensible salary and clean books is one of the most common structures in the tax code. The risk lives in doing it sloppily: a salary pulled from a Facebook group and no payroll. That is exactly the part Amadae does for you.

I already have a CPA.+

Most coaches do, and most of those CPAs file once a year and never mention the election, because reactive tax prep was not built for proactive strategy. Amadae reconciles Kajabi, Stripe, and PayPal all year, so the recommendation fits how your revenue actually shows up.

Stop Googling it at midnight

We will review your real Kajabi, Stripe, and PayPal numbers, tell you exactly what an S corp election would save this year, and set it up correctly if it makes sense. Free, no guesswork.

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