Sharing staff allocation from partnership to sole-props in an ASG

[AlbanyConsultant]

I've got a typical ASG - 2 lawyers O and P who each have their own sole-prop practice, and they have a partnership where their receptionist and other staff are paid from (and they receive small K-1s from it).  O owns 1/3 and P owns 2/3 of the partnership.

When I split the pension cost for the staff, does that also affect the Schedule C income because this is treated as one employer (i.e., add the Schedules C and K-1 together and then subtract the portion of staff contribution)?  Or do I reduce only the K-1 compensation and then add the Schedule C compensation?  Or is it the same thing and I'm just overthinking this?  Thanks.

[Kevin C]

I ask their CPA how they split it for their tax returns.  With employer contributions deposited during the year, about half of our clients give us K-1 numbers that are already reduced by the employer contributions for the employees.  We also see a variety of methods used to allocate those costs between partners.