Aureus Advisory Partners
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The Same Dollars That Pay Self-Employment Tax Can Build Your Athlete's Wealth Instead.
At real NIL income, structure alone stops being enough.
This engagement runs the athlete's entire financial operation: full accounting, monthly reporting, automated payroll, tax preparation, and the S-Corp and Solo 401(k) strategy that redirects tax dollars into invested dollars.
NIL TAX & FINANCIAL ADVISORY
Your athlete's engagement is delivered by a team of advisors, accountants, and credentialed tax professionals, anchored by Enrolled Agent representation.
The Enrolled Agent credential is the highest the IRS awards, federally licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, with unlimited authority to represent taxpayers in all 50 states.
When NIL income becomes a real business
Somewhere around $75,000 a year, an athlete's NIL activity stops being income with a tax problem and becomes a business that needs to be run. Deals arrive from multiple sources. Money moves every week. The tax picture spans more than one state. At that point, the entity and quarterly discipline are still necessary, but they are no longer the point.
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The point becomes strategy. Which dollars are wages and which are distributions. What the business deducts and how defensibly. Where the tax savings go instead of to the IRS. Most NIL athletes never get this layer because most firms serving them are set up to file returns, not to operate a financial function.
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This engagement is that financial function. Books closed every month. A financial report the family actually reads. Payroll that runs itself. Quarterly taxes paid by us, not just calculated. The return filed by the same team that kept the books all year. And the strategy layer working underneath all of it.
What NIL accounting and tax strategy includes
EVERY MONTH
Monthly Executive Summary
Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, and budget versus actual, delivered by the 15th of every month with written advisory commentary. The family sees exactly where the business stands, in plain English, every month.
EVERY MONTH
Full Bookkeeping
and Owner Payroll
Every transaction categorized, every account reconciled, income and distributions tracked, and automated owner payroll running on schedule once the S-Corp is in place. Nothing for the athlete or the family to chase.
EVERY QUARTER
Quarterly Taxes Paid,
Not Just Calculated
We calculate the estimated payments and we initiate them. Quarterly deadlines stop being a family responsibility entirely. Each quarter also includes a 60-minute strategy call with the athlete and parents.
EVERY YEAR
Tax Preparation
and Multi-State Filing
Both annual filings handled: the
S-Corp return (due March 15) and the athlete's individual return (due April 15). Multi-state filings for up to three states included, plus an annual tax strategy memo and Q4 planning meeting.
EVERY DEAL
Deal Support
and Full IRS Coverage
Financial review of NIL deal structures before signing, coordination with collectives and brand finance teams, W-9 and 1099 administration, and full IRS and state notice coverage with Power of Attorney on file.
ALWAYS ON
Direct Access to
the Advisory Team
Email, phone, and text access to the team, including our Enrolled Agent, with a 24 to 48 hour response window. When a deal lands on a Friday, you are not waiting for an appointment in three weeks.
How much can an S-Corp and Solo 401(k) save an NIL athlete?
The S-Corporation election
Once income supports it, the athlete becomes an employee of their own business, paid a reasonable wage. Self-employment tax applies to the wage instead of every dollar of profit. We handle the election, the reasonable compensation analysis, and the payroll registrations that make it stick.
Automated payroll
The S-Corp only works with real payroll behind it. We set it up, run it automatically, and file every payroll return, so the structure is airtight instead of theoretical.
The Solo 401(k)
The athlete defers salary into retirement as an employee, and then the business itself makes an employer profit-sharing contribution on top. That employer contribution is a business deduction. The athlete's own company funds their retirement and reduces its tax bill in the same motion.
Here is what the stack looks like at $120,000 of NIL income:
LLC Only, no strategy | Aureus strategy installed | |
|---|---|---|
NIL Income | $120,000 | $120,000 |
Structure | Sole proprietor / LLC | LLC + S-Corp + Solo 401(k) |
Self-employment / payroll tax | $16,950 | $9,180 |
Federal income tax (est.) | $16,250 | $8,500 |
Total tax |
$33,200 | $17,680 |
Solo 401(k) contributions | $0 | $39,000 |
Tax-deferred wealth built | $0 | $39,000 |
Illustrative figures: single filer, standard deduction, reasonable compensation set at $60,000, employee deferral of $24,000 plus employer profit-sharing contribution of $15,000. Every athlete's numbers are modeled individually.
Two numbers matter. Roughly $15,500 less in tax, and $39,000 in tax-deferred retirement that did not exist in the first column. The athlete in the second column ends the year with $102,320 in combined cash and retirement instead of $86,800. And that $39,000 is one year's contribution with four decades of compounding ahead of it before this athlete reaches retirement age.
Everything handled. Nothing to chase.
The promise of this engagement is operational.
Bookkeeping happens automatically. Payroll runs without anyone touching it. Quarterly taxes are paid by Aureus, not just calculated. 1099s and IRS notices land in our inbox, not the athlete's.
The family's job is a monthly report and a quarterly call. Everything else is ours.
We are honest about fit in both directions. If the athlete's income has not yet reached roughly $75,000 a year, the strategy tools on this page do not have enough income to work with, and quarterly tax compliance is the responsible engagement until they do.
If income has crossed $250,000, or a professional contract is coming into view, the athlete has outgrown this page too, and our strategic advisory engagement is built for exactly that.
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Either way, we will tell you.
How NIL accounting and tax strategy works
1
NIL Strategy Call
A no-cost conversation about the athlete's income, deal flow, and goals. We model the athlete's actual numbers, not a brochure scenario.
2
Structural setup
S-Corp evaluation and election, reasonable compensation analysis, payroll installed, Solo 401(k) established, and books rebuilt around the new structure.
3
The monthly rhythm
Books closed every month, payroll running automatically, and the Executive Summary in the family's hands by the 15th. The business runs.
4
Strategy
A 60-minute strategy call every quarter, estimated taxes paid by us, Q4 planning while moves can still be made, and both returns filed by the same team.
Frequently asked questions
Does every athlete in this engagement get an S-Corp election?
No, and that is deliberate. The election is evaluated against the athlete's actual income and made when the numbers support it, with a documented reasonable compensation analysis behind it. An S-Corp installed too early or without real payroll creates problems instead of savings, and we do not file elections to look busy.
What makes the Solo 401(k) such a big deal for an NIL athlete?
Two contributions instead of one. The athlete defers part of their salary like any employee, and then the business makes an employer profit-sharing contribution on top of it, and that employer contribution is deductible to the business. Very few 20-year-olds in America can put tens of thousands of dollars a year into tax-deferred retirement. NIL athletes with the right structure can.
What is actually in the Monthly Executive Summary?
Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and budget versus actual with trend, plus written commentary from the advisory team on what the numbers mean and what deserves attention. Delivered through the client portal by the 15th of every month. It is designed to be read by a parent, not an accountant.
Do you actually pay the quarterly taxes, or just tell us what to pay?
We pay them. Aureus calculates each estimated payment and initiates it on schedule. The difference between a calculated payment and a made payment is the difference between advice and an operation, and this engagement is an operation.
What about NIL income earned in multiple states?
This engagement includes multi-state filings for up to three states, with the analysis to know which ones apply. Appearance fees, camps, and game-day income create filing obligations in the states where they are earned.
What does this cost?
A flat monthly retainer, quoted at your Strategy Call after we model your athlete's actual numbers. You will know the exact figure before anything begins. The engagement is designed so the strategy produces more than it costs.
The difference between paying taxes and building wealth
Compliance preserves the structure. Strategy builds wealth.
At real NIL income, the question is no longer whether the taxes get paid. It is what the same dollars could have been doing instead.
Most athletes find out after the window closes. Yours does not have to.
This page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or investment advice.​
Each athlete's situation must be reviewed individually. NIL regulations vary by state and institution and continue to evolve.