At-a-glance
| WageProof | RCReports | |
|---|---|---|
| Wage data source | BLS OES, cited per figure | Proprietary; sources confidential per FAQ |
| Methodology | Published at /methodology | Proprietary; methodology report in litigation |
| Cost / Market / Income | All three; Income at every CPA tier | All three (see RCReports pricing for tier inclusion) |
| White-label PDFs | Professional ($999) and Firm ($1,499) | Professional ($2,100) and above |
| Audit support | Methodology Q&A as standard customer support | Standard support included in plans; RCDefense premium add-on at $199/report for 1:1 defense support |
| CPE training | Not offered | RCReports University |
| Court history | Newer to market (launched 2025) | Cited in the Reinsch case (per rcreports.com/faqs) |
| Multi-user firm accounts | Single user | Up to 3 users (Platinum tier) |
The pricing gap, in plain numbers
Both tools sell the same primary deliverable — a reasonable compensation PDF defensible under the IRS Job Aid’s three approaches — so per-report cost is a clean apples-to-apples comparison at comparable tiers.
| Annual report volume | WageProof | RCReports | Per-report difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (one-off) | $199 | $499 | $300 lower per report |
| 10 reports/year | $499 ($50/report) | $1,500 ($150/report — Premium) | $100 lower per report |
| 20 reports/year | $999 ($33/report — Professional includes 30) | $2,100 ($105/report — Professional) | $72 lower per report |
| 30 reports/year | $999 ($33/report) | $3,200 ($107/report — Platinum) | $74 lower per report |
| 50 reports/year | $1,499 ($25/report — Firm includes 60) | $4,800 ($96/report — Platinum 50) | $71 lower per report |
| 100 reports/year | Custom (above Firm tier — contact us) | $7,500 ($75/report — Platinum 100) | Per-report parity range; contact us for high-volume pricing |
Per-report cost only; tier features differ. RCReports Platinum bundles 3 user seats, Entity Planning Tool, and RCDefense add-on availability that WageProof does not include. See the feature comparison below before deciding on price alone.
The two products serve overlapping but not identical customer profiles. RCReports has been in market longer and bundles more adjacent tooling at higher tiers; WageProof prices the report itself rather than a bundled platform. The features-per-dollar trade-off is real and depends on which adjacent tools your firm uses.
Methodology: published vs. proprietary
Both tools follow the IRS Reasonable Compensation Job Aid and produce a number using one or more of the three approaches:
- Cost Approach— task decomposition (the “Many Hats” method, in IRS Job Aid language)
- Market Approach— single occupational comparable
- Income Approach— Independent Investor Test, per Exacto Spring Corp v. Commissioner
The difference is what’s underneath the number.
WageProof: methodology published end-to-end
- BLS Occupational Employment Statistics — public federal data
- Seven-level geographic fallback chain documented at /methodology
- BLS Employment Cost Index forward-adjustment
- 1–5 proficiency mapping to BLS percentiles published
- Every figure traces to a SOC code, percentile, geography, and year
RCReports: proprietary methodology
Per rcreports.com/faqs: “the underlying data sources and calculations are confidential, all results meet strict reliability and confidence standards.”
When reports are used in litigation, RCReports provides a methodology report detailing the analytical framework. The methodology has been “successfully relied upon in both IRS examinations and judicial proceedings, including the Reinsch case” per the same FAQ.
See the difference for yourself
The WageProof PDF reads like a finished audit-defense package.
Every WageProof report includes a cover, an executive summary, the full Cost Approach task breakdown, the Market Approach analysis, the Income Approach (for CPA accounts), a methodology narrative, BLS source citations on every figure, and a board resolution template. A typical report runs 18–24 pages and is designed to be handed directly to an examiner without additional context.
Compare the deliverables side-by-side before you commit. RCReports’ sample reports are available on rcreports.com; the WageProof sample below shows a white-labeled report from a fictional CPA firm (“Ocean Tax Advisors”) — the same brandable PDF your firm gets on Professional and Firm plans.
Feature-by-feature comparison
Report generation
| Feature | WageProof | RCReports |
|---|---|---|
| Cost Approach (task decomposition / Many Hats) | ||
| Market Approach | ||
| Income Approach (IIT) | Included at every CPA plan tier | Available — see RCReports pricing for tier inclusion |
| Multi-approach in one report | ||
| Save & resume drafts | ||
| Duplicate prior report (year-over-year) |
Data and methodology
| Feature | WageProof | RCReports |
|---|---|---|
| Wage data source | BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), public federal data | Proprietary wage data (covers 6,000+ occupations); underlying sources confidential per RCReports FAQ |
| Source citation in report | SOC code and percentile per task; geography and BLS year at document level | Methodology report provided when reports are used in litigation |
| Geographic granularity | MSA-based with seven-level fallback chain; QCEW provides geographic context | Methodology not publicly disclosed |
| Inflation adjustment | BLS ECI, forward-adjusted | Not publicly disclosed |
| Methodology page | Public | Proprietary; methodology report provided in litigation contexts |
CPA workflow
| Feature | WageProof | RCReports |
|---|---|---|
| Client management | ||
| Shareable client questionnaire (no client login) | ||
| White-label / custom branding | Professional ($999/yr) and Firm ($1,499/yr) | Professional ($2,100/yr) and above |
| Multi-user firm accounts | Single user | Up to 3 users (Platinum tier) |
| Entity Planning Tool / scenario modeling | Professional tier and above | |
| Standalone Wage Lookup tool | Professional tier and above | |
| API access | Enterprise tier |
Audit and compliance support
| Feature | WageProof | RCReports |
|---|---|---|
| Methodology documentation in PDF | Included by default | Included by default |
| Standard audit support (methodology Q&A) | Yes — included in all plans | Yes — included in all plans |
| Premium 1:1 audit defense support | Not currently offered | RCDefense — $199/report add-on (must be purchased before finalization) |
| Cited in tax court proceedings | Newer to market | Yes — the Reinsch case (per rcreports.com/faqs) |
| CPE / CE training courses | RCReports University | |
| Sample report available | Yes | Yes |
Both vendors answer methodology questions for customers facing IRS examinations as part of standard customer support. RCReports also offers RCDefense as a paid premium add-on for direct vendor support during an exam.
Where WageProof wins
- Lower per-report cost at every comparable tier. 10-report Starter is $499 (WageProof) vs $1,500 (RCReports Premium) — $100/report lower. At 30 reports, $33 (WageProof Professional) vs $107 (RCReports Platinum). The per-report margin recovery compounds.
- Methodology you can show the IRS line by line. Every wage figure traces to a SOC code and BLS percentile, with geography and data year stated at the document level. An examiner can verify any number on BLS.gov in a few minutes.
- Income Approach included at every CPA tier. Available on the $199 Pay-Per-Report plan, the $499 Starter, the $999 Professional, and the $1,499 Firm.
- White-label costs less. Custom branding starts at $999/year (WageProof Professional) vs $2,100/year (RCReports Professional).
- Single-report price for owners. A self-employed S-corp owner pays $199 to generate their own report on WageProof vs $499 on RCReports. (Owner $199 includes Cost and Market; CPA Pay-Per $199 includes all three approaches.)
Where RCReports wins
- Established platform with a published court track record. In market for over a decade; the methodology has been cited in IRS examinations and tax court (the Reinsch case, per rcreports.com/faqs).
- RCDefense paid premium audit support. Sold per-report ($199/report, must be purchased before finalization). Direct vendor support during an IRS exam.
- Multi-user firm accounts. Up to 3 users on Platinum.
- CPE/CE training. RCReports University offers continuing education credit.
- Adjacent tooling. Entity Planning Tool, standalone Wage Lookup, Pro Advisor Worksheet are RCReports-only.
Which one should your firm pick?
Pick WageProof if:
- • You generate more than 5 reports per year and per-report cost matters
- • Your audit-defense posture relies on traceable, line-by-line BLS sources
- • You want all three IRS approaches at every CPA plan level
- • You’re an S-corp owner who doesn’t want to pay $499 for a one-off
Pick RCReports if:
- • You specifically want the RCDefense paid audit support service
- • You value RCReports’ published court track record and longer methodology reliance history
- • You need three users on one firm account
- • You use Entity Planning Tool, Wage Lookup, or earn CPE through RCReports University
Run both for one cycle if you’re undecided — WageProof’s $199 single-report price makes it cheap to test on a real client and compare the output, methodology, and PDF deliverable side-by-side.
Or commit to an annual plan now — WageProof Starter ($499/yr, $50/report) is the lowest-friction commitment for a firm running 5+ reports per year.
Switching from RCReports to WageProof
Migration is straightforward because the inputs are similar:
- Data you already have.Client name, business type, hours, geography, primary SOC, and proficiency level all transfer directly. You won’t need to re-collect from clients.
- Tasks for the Cost Approach. WageProof’s task catalog uses BLS SOC codes; if you’ve used RCReports’ Cost Approach, you already have the time allocation breakdown.
- Year-over-year duplication. WageProof supports duplicating a prior report and rolling forward to the new year.
- No data export needed.Reports are independent year by year — there’s no historical archive to migrate.
- Trial run. Use the $199 Pay-Per-Report (CPA) or $199 Owner tier to generate one report on a current client. Compare the PDF, methodology, and number against your most recent RCReports run.
A typical evaluation cycle is 30–60 days: one trial report, one audit-readiness review, one full quarter.
FAQ
Yes. WageProof uses the same three approaches the IRS Job Aid for Valuation Professionals recognizes: Cost (task decomposition), Market (occupational comparable), and Income (Independent Investor Test). All wage data comes from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, a publicly available federal source cited on every figure in the report PDF.
RCReports has been in market longer and serves customers with multi-user accounts, CPE training, and a paid audit-defense add-on. WageProof prices the report itself, not a bundled platform. The features-per-dollar trade-off depends on whether your firm uses RCReports' adjacent tools.
Both WageProof and RCReports answer methodology questions for customers facing IRS examinations as part of standard customer support. RCReports additionally sells RCDefense as a paid premium add-on at $199 per report for direct vendor support during an exam. WageProof does not currently offer a paid premium service of that kind.
Yes. WageProof's Income Approach is the Independent Investor Test as articulated in Exacto Spring Corp v. Commissioner. It is included at every CPA plan level. RCReports also supports the Income Approach; see their pricing page for tier inclusion.
Yes. White-label custom branding is included with WageProof Professional ($999/year) and Firm ($1,499/year) plans. RCReports includes custom branding starting at its Professional tier ($2,100/year).
WageProof offers single reports for $199 with no commitment. You can test on one client before committing to an annual plan. Annual plans renew on the anniversary of purchase.