Can I write off time spent learning my trade - Two-Man S-Corp

Question

I am a full-time freelance copywriter for an ad agency, who is my sole source of income. I am in the process of forming an S Corp, wherein I will pay myself a salary and take the rest as a disbursement. I am paid hourly for my freelance writing, and, from time to time, I will have to watch tutorials, read manuals, etc., to learn new software applications, etc. I don't charge the agency for this time. Sometimes the activities don't cost me any money in terms of fees (only my time). I have two questions:

1. In cases where these activities don't cost any money (other than my time), should I just consider them part of what I do to earn my salary from my corporation?

2. In cases where I do have to pay for these activities, would it be more advantageous to consider them reimbursable employee expenses or direct corporate expenses?

Sorry if these are no-brainer questions... this is all new and confusing to me!

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you mean by "writing off your time," but to answer your questions:

1. Remember that, essentially, you are a salaried employee of a corporation. So if you are spending time at your job, even if you are not billing anything to a client, you are earning your salary.

2. If there are costs involved with these activities (maybe class fees, a book purchase, or travel expenses), the corporation should be paying the costs as business expenses. However, the logistics of this, whether the corporation writes a business check to the vendor directly, or you put the expenses on a personal credit card and are reimbursed with an expense check from the corporation, don't matter. Your accountant can show you the right way to do this.