How to Post Payroll to the General Ledger
Payroll is a big, easy-to-unbalance journal entry. Here’s how to post it correctly - split by department, balanced by construction - into your accounting.
The journal entry
| Side | Line | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| DR | Wage expense (by department/cost-center) | Gross |
| DR | Employer tax expense | ER SS + Medicare + FUTA + SUTA |
| CR | Net-pay liability | Net |
| CR | Tax liability (per agency) | Employee + employer taxes |
| CR | Deduction liability | Pre-tax + post-tax |
| CR | Garnishment liability | Garnishments |
Map to your chart of accounts
A configurable GL account map assigns each payroll key (wage expense, employer tax expense, and each liability) to your account code, with sensible defaults. Department/cost-center tags ride on each wage line so expense lands in the right dimension.
Reconcile
Tie payroll to the books
- Confirm the entry balances (it’s asserted by construction)
- Post wage expense to the right departments
- Watch liability accounts clear as deposits are made
- Reconcile the net-pay liability to cash disbursed
One source, three outputs
Because the journal, remittance liabilities, and year-end forms all derive from the same paychecks, your books reconcile to your deposits and your W-2s without a separate tie-out.
Frequently asked questions
Does the payroll journal balance?
Yes. Fintra builds the entry from the run’s paychecks and asserts debits equal credits before producing the payload, so it balances by construction.
Can I map payroll to my accounts?
Yes - a configurable account map assigns each payroll key to your account code with sensible defaults, and department tags ride on each wage line.
Does Fintra post the entry automatically?
It produces a balanced journal-entry payload for Fintra Accounting; direct posting is a documented stub, so account codes are mapped to account ids first.
How does payroll reconcile to the books?
The journal, remittance liabilities, and year-end forms all derive from the same paychecks, so books tie to deposits and W-2s without a separate reconciliation.
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