IRS Allows Bonus Deduction even if who finally gets the bonuses is not known when the deduction is declared.
An IRS ruling allows an employer using an accrual method of accounting to take a deduction in the current year for a fixed amount of bonuses payable to a group of employees, even though the employer does not know which of the employees will receive a bonus or the amount of any particular bonus until after the end of the taxable year.
In other words, the entire amount of the bonus pool will be paid to members of the group of employees in the following year, but at the end of the current year the employer does not yet know which particular employees will receive any bonus or the amount of the bonus.