Sources to determine "reasonable compensation?" for web CEO's
sokoloff: As a matter of practicality, any number in the $80K+ range will be fine, though you may feel better about paying yourself $100K given that the spread in taxes is under $1K/year (from 80->100). You can go below "normal"; you just can't go below "reasonable". I'd also set the comparable position as "web developer", not "CEO", as you can make a strong case that your primary function day-to-day is more akin to web-dev than to captain-of-industry.Another important thing to keep in mind, depending on your forecast need for credit: you may find it easier to qualify for a mortgage, to refinance, etc, if you have a higher base salary. Any amount by which you can get more favorable terms on a mortgage will likely BURY that $1K/yr in taxes. Sure you can substantiate with 2 years of tax returns, etc, etc, but that's going to invite human scrutiny, and in the current credit situation, I'd want to have the skids as greased as possible to have my application "look normal".