Learn · Editorial standards
How we research, review and correct our content
Who writes our content
Learn guides and Research analyses are written by RB Consulting Services, LLC, the executive compensation consulting firm that builds and maintains CauseComp.
Sources we rely on
- Executive pay: IRS Form 990 and Form 990-EZ filings (Schedule J and Part VII), sourced directly from the IRS.
- Workforce pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), the Employment Cost Index (ECI) and Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC).
- Role context: O*NET.
Our guides cite the statute and regulations themselves, such as IRC §4958 and Treas. Reg. §53.4958-6, and link each to its official text. The full method is on our methodology page.
Publication rules
- A public salary median on our salary pages is published only when it rests on at least 20 filings.
- Executive figures from Form 990 filings are shown as filed. They are not projected to a later date unless you choose to project them.
- Every benchmark and report shows its data vintage.
How guidance articles are reviewed
Every guide is written by the firm's compensation practice from the primary sources: the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations, IRS form instructions and published IRS guidance, each linked from the article. Before a guide is published, the firm's principal reviews it and approves every sentence; nothing goes live until it is approved word for word.
Counts and figures that describe our own data are drawn from the data itself, not typed by hand, so they stay in step with each refresh. When the law or IRS guidance changes, the affected guides are re-checked and updated, and the article's last-reviewed date moves. For example, our §4960 guide reflects the 2025 change to the covered-employee definition and IRS Notice 2026-36.
Refresh cadence
We refresh the data quarterly, bringing in new IRS filings and federal survey releases as they are published. Every Learn article shows the date it was last reviewed, and every Research analysis shows the date it was published.
Corrections
If you find an error, email support@causecomp.org. When we correct a page, the correction is dated on that page.
Independence
CauseComp provides data and documentation tools, not legal or tax advice. Documented comparability data supports — but does not by itself establish — a board's rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under IRC §4958 (intermediate sanctions). The presumption also requires advance approval by an independent board body and contemporaneous documentation. CauseComp provides comparability data for informational purposes and does not provide legal or tax advice.