“How much should I be paying myself?”

If you’re an agency owner or partner, you’ve probably asked that question more than once. In this episode of Creative Outcomes, Upsourced partners Ryan Watson and Craig Baldwin break down what partner compensation should look like in a modern agency.

We get into:

- How to think about “the maximum you can pay yourself” without starving the business

- Why cash reserves and forecasting are critical before you touch distributions

- The difference between S corps and partnerships when it comes to salary vs. distributions

- How often to run profit distribution calculations (monthly vs. quarterly vs. annually)

- Why borrowing from client prepayments or lines of credit to “pay yourself” is a huge red flag

- The tough question: “At what point am I better off just getting a job?”

- What it really means to be a partner and why sloppy equity promises are so dangerous

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re paying yourself enough, too much, or in the wrong way, this episode is for you.

Subscribe for more conversations on agency finance, profitability, and building a business that actually pays you what you’re worth.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Intro

1:10 – What do we mean by “partner compensation”?

3:45 – How much should I actually pay myself?

7:00 – Cash reserves and distributions

9:30 – S corp vs. partnership: how structure changes comp

17:20 – How often should I take profit distributions?

19:40 – Basis, loans, and why “extra cash” might not be profit

28:00 – When your business isn’t paying you enough

34:30 – Partner dynamics, equity, and bad cap tables