S corp accountable plan template: the written plan and the monthly log that make it work
Your CPA said you need an accountable plan. It is a one-page policy your corporation adopts, plus a habit of logging receipts and getting paid back each month. Both are below.
Free. No signup, no email address. The plan opens in Google Docs or Word; the log in Google Sheets or Excel.
Quick answer: what does an S corp accountable plan need?
An S corp accountable plan is a written, dated policy under which the corporation reimburses you, as an owner-employee, for business expenses you paid personally. To keep the reimbursements out of your wages it must meet three IRS rules: the expense has a business connection, you account for it with receipts within a reasonable period, and you return any excess. In practice that means a one-page plan the corporation adopts and a monthly expense report with receipts, paid back from the business account.
The accountable plan template (copy it first)
There are two pieces, and you need both. The written plan is what the corporation adopts once. The reimbursement log is what you fill in every month. To use either in Google, upload the download to Drive and open it — the .docx opens in Google Docs and the .xlsx in Google Sheets, with the formulas working — then File → Make a copy if you want a clean version to reuse.
1. The written plan
This is the full text of the download. Replace everything in square brackets.
Accountable Plan — Expense Reimbursement Policy
[Corporation name] (the "Corporation") adopts this accountable plan by resolution of its [board of directors / sole shareholder] on [date adopted]. It applies to reimbursements for expenses paid or incurred on or after [effective date].
- Purpose. The Corporation reimburses its employees, including shareholder-employees, for ordinary and necessary business expenses they pay personally while performing services for the Corporation. This arrangement is intended to meet the accountable plan requirements of Treasury Regulation §1.62-2.
- Business connection. Only expenses paid or incurred while performing services for the Corporation are eligible. Personal expenses are not reimbursed. Where a cost is partly personal — a home office, a mobile phone, home internet — only the documented business share is eligible, and the employee keeps the calculation used to arrive at it.
- Substantiation. To be reimbursed, the employee submits an expense report listing, for each expense, the date, amount, vendor, category and business purpose, together with a receipt or other documentary evidence. Business use of a personal vehicle is supported by a mileage log showing the date, destination, business purpose and miles. Reports are submitted within 60 days after the expense was paid or incurred.
- Advances. Any advance for an expected expense is paid no more than 30 days before the expense is paid or incurred, and is accounted for on an expense report like any other expense.
- Return of excess. Any amount received under this plan that exceeds the expenses substantiated is returned to the Corporation within 120 days after the related expense was paid or incurred.
- Mileage. Business use of a personal vehicle is reimbursed at [the IRS standard mileage rate in effect on the date of travel / a stated rate of $___ per mile], based on the mileage log.
- Approval and payment. [Name and title] reviews each expense report. Approved reimbursements are paid from the Corporation's bank account by cheque or bank transfer, and the payment date and reference are recorded against the report. Reimbursements are paid separately from wages.
- Amounts outside the plan. Expenses that are not substantiated, and excess amounts that are not returned, within the periods above are not reimbursed under this plan.
- Records. Expense reports, receipts, mileage logs and payment records are kept with the Corporation's records.
Sample only. This template is a starting point to adapt with your tax professional; it is not legal or tax advice.
2. The reimbursement log
One row per expense. The download has these ten columns, a worked August filled in, twelve blank rows, and a month summary showing what was logged, what has been paid back and what the corporation still owes you.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Date incurred | The day you paid. A calendar date, not a timestamp. |
| Vendor | Who you paid — the airline, the software company, “personal car” for mileage. |
| Category | Travel, Meals, Software, Phone & Internet, Home Office, Car & Mileage. |
| Business purpose | One specific line. “Lunch with client to agree Q4 scope” beats “meal”. |
| Amount | The business share only, when the cost is partly personal. |
| Receipt attached (Y/N) | Whether the documentary evidence is in the package. |
| Date submitted | The day the expense report went to the corporation. |
| Date reimbursed | The day the corporation paid you back. |
| Reimbursement reference | The cheque number or bank transfer reference. |
| Status | Fills itself in: Logged, Submitted or Reimbursed. |
What one month looks like
| Date incurred | Vendor | Business purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-03 | Mobile carrier | Business share (60%) of personal mobile plan, per usage log | 51.00 |
| 2026-08-05 | Design software | Monthly licence used for client work | 59.99 |
| 2026-08-12 | Personal car | Client site visit — 62 business miles × $0.725 | 44.95 |
| 2026-08-19 | Airline | Return flight to Chicago for client workshop | 386.40 |
| 2026-08-20 | Hotel | Two nights, Chicago, client workshop | 412.18 |
| 2026-08-21 | Restaurant | Lunch with client to agree Q4 scope | 68.50 |
| 2026-08-31 | Home office | 12% of August rent and utilities, per floor-area worksheet | 285.00 |
| August total — submitted 2026-09-01, reimbursed 2026-09-03 by transfer | 1,308.02 | ||
Every row carries a receipt, and the partly personal ones — phone, home office — carry only the business share, with the calculation kept alongside.
What makes a reimbursement plan “accountable”
IRS Publication 463 (chapter 6, “Reimbursements”) and Treasury Regulation §1.62-2 set three rules. A plan that meets all three keeps the reimbursements out of your W-2 wages:
- Business connection. The expense was paid or incurred while performing services for the corporation.
- Adequate accounting within a reasonable period. You give the corporation a record made at or near the time of each expense, with receipts or other documentary evidence.
- Return of excess within a reasonable period. Any advance or allowance beyond the expenses you accounted for goes back to the corporation.
“Reasonable period” depends on the facts, but Publication 463 lists timings that always count as reasonable. Under the fixed date method (the name used in §1.62-2(g)): you receive an advance within 30 days of the expense, account for the expense within 60 days after it was paid or incurred, and return any excess within 120 days after it was paid or incurred. Under the periodic statement method, the corporation gives you a statement at least quarterly asking you to return or account for outstanding advances, and you comply within 120 days of the statement. The written plan above uses the fixed date timings.
If the rules are not met, the payments fall under a nonaccountable plan: they are combined with your wages, reported in box 1 of your W-2, and treated as wages for withholding and employment taxes.
How an S corp owner actually runs it each month
In a one-owner company you sit on both sides of the arrangement, so the discipline has to come from the routine rather than from a manager:
- Pay personally and keep the receipt. The card in your wallet is fine. What matters is that the receipt survives.
- Log it with a business purpose. Add a row to the log the same week: date, vendor, amount and one specific line on why it was for the business.
- Submit one report at month end. Send the month’s log with the receipts attached to the corporation — which, in a one-owner company, means filing it with the corporate records under your officer hat.
- Reimburse from the business account. The corporation pays you back by transfer or cheque from its own account, separately from your salary.
- Record the payment. Write the reimbursement date and reference against the report so the paper trail closes.
What owner-employees commonly run through the plan
- Home office share — the business-use percentage of rent or mortgage interest and utilities, with the calculation kept. Background on the rules: is a home office tax deductible?
- Personal phone and internet — the business share only.
- Business mileage in a personal car — reimbursed per mile, which needs a contemporaneous log with the date, destination, purpose and miles. The mileage log template has the columns.
- Travel and meals paid out of pocket — with the business purpose, and for meals, who attended.
The receipt and report part
Accountable plans rarely fail on the policy. They fail on the paperwork: a receipt that never got saved, a row with no business purpose, three months of expenses reimbursed in one lump in December. The written plan takes ten minutes. The log is the part you have to keep doing.
ExpenseBot is an expense tracker that captures receipts from Gmail, phone photos and forwarded emails into a Google Sheet you own, so the month’s receipts are already in one place when the report is due. Its compliance check prompts you for a missing business purpose, it can pull business mileage from Google Calendar at the IRS rate as estimates, and it builds an expense report for a date range (the month) or a tag, with the receipt images attached — the package you hand your corporation.
The limits matter here. ExpenseBot does not adopt or administer your accountable plan, run an approval workflow, or pay reimbursements, and it does not certify that a plan is accountable. It is the capture and the report; your corporation still approves the report and pays you back from its own account.
Only want the report layout? The expense report template is the standalone version. For keeping paper and emailed receipts together, see the receipt organizer app. If you are a W-2 employee of someone else’s company rather than the owner, the employee expense reimbursement page covers that job.
Accountable vs nonaccountable plan
| Accountable plan | Nonaccountable plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Substantiation | Required, within a reasonable period | Not required, or not met |
| Excess advances | Returned within a reasonable period | Not returned |
| For the owner-employee | Not income; not in W-2 box 1 | Wages, included in W-2 box 1 |
| Withholding and employment taxes | None on the reimbursement | Apply, as for wages |
| For the corporation | A reimbursed business expense | Paid and reported as wages |
Put plainly: under an accountable plan the reimbursement is not income to you, and under a nonaccountable plan it is wages. Sources: IRS Publication 463, chapter 6; Treasury Regulation §1.62-2(c) and (h). Accountable plans are a US concept; Canada’s CRA has its own rules for employee allowances and reimbursements.
Setting it up — a five-step checklist
- Adopt the written plan and date it. Fill in the template’s placeholders, sign it for the corporation and file it with the minutes or corporate records before the reimbursements start.
- Decide the submission cadence. Monthly is simplest and keeps every expense well inside the 60-day accounting window.
- Set up the reimbursement log. Download the log, delete the example rows and start logging expenses as you pay them.
- Reimburse from the business bank account. Pay reimbursements from the corporation’s account by transfer or cheque, and record the reference.
- Keep the plan and logs with the corporate records. The signed plan, each month’s report, the receipts and the payment records belong together.
The plan above is a sample, not legal or tax advice. Estimates — confirm with your tax professional. Last updated September 25, 2026.
The plan is one page. The receipts are every month.
Connect Gmail and ExpenseBot captures the receipts into a Google Sheet in your own Drive, then builds the month’s report with the receipt images attached.
Start free — no credit cardFrequently asked questions
Does an S corp need a written accountable plan?
The rules in Treasury Regulation §1.62-2 describe the arrangement rather than a mandatory form, but a written, dated plan is the practical way to show the arrangement existed before the reimbursements were paid, and most CPAs ask for one. The template on this page is a starting point to adapt with your tax professional.
Is this accountable plan template free?
Yes. Download the written plan (.docx, opens in Google Docs or Word) and the reimbursement log (.xlsx for Google Sheets or Excel, or .csv). No signup and no email address required.
Can I reimburse myself from my S corp for my home office?
An owner-employee can generally be reimbursed for the business share of home office costs under an accountable plan, provided the costs are substantiated and the business-use calculation is documented. The reimbursement is then a corporate expense rather than a personal one. Confirm the calculation method with your tax professional.
How often should I submit expenses to my corporation?
Monthly is the simplest cadence. IRS Publication 463 treats accounting for an expense within 60 days after it was paid as a reasonable period, so a month-end report stays well inside it. Log each expense when you pay it, then submit one report with the receipts at month end.
What happens if my plan is not accountable?
Reimbursements under a nonaccountable plan are combined with your wages and reported in box 1 of your Form W-2, and Treasury Regulation §1.62-2(h) treats them as wages for withholding and employment taxes. A business connection, substantiation of each expense and returning any excess are what keep the plan accountable.
I pay for business stuff on my personal card all the time and I only elected S corp this year. Can I start the plan now?
Yes — adopt and date the written plan now and run the monthly routine from here on. What you already paid before the plan existed is a question for your CPA, not something to backdate the plan for.
Does ExpenseBot run my accountable plan?
No. ExpenseBot captures the receipts, prompts for a missing business purpose, and builds the monthly report with receipt images in your own Google Sheet. Your corporation still adopts the plan, approves the report and pays the reimbursement.