Payroll
How payroll posts to the general ledger
Turn on General Ledger integration, map the payroll accounts, and see exactly which journal entry is posted when a payslip is marked paid.
3 min readLast updated
In this article
HR writes to the chart of accounts only when you allow it. General Ledger integration is off by default: until you switch it on and map the accounts, payslips can be marked paid but no journal entry reaches the books. The same switch and mapping also cover end-of-service settlements, loan disbursements and expense claim payments.
Before you start
The accounts exist in the chart of accounts as level-5 (posting) accounts on your branch. The picker offers only those.
The branch has an open fiscal year for the dates you will pay on.
Turn on posting and map the accounts
Open People › HR Admin › Settings and select the Accounting tab.
Under Account Mapping, choose an account for each line you want posted separately. An empty line shows Not mapped.
Switch on Post HR transactions to the General Ledger.
Select Save. This tab saves on its own, apart from the other tabs.
The system refuses to switch posting on until both the salary expense account and the cash or bank account are chosen. Every other account is optional.
Account | Used for |
|---|---|
Salaries & Wages Expense (debit) | Required. The salary cost of each paid payslip, and end-of-service settlements. |
Cash / Bank (credit) | Required. Net salary paid, and anything whose own account is not mapped. |
Tax Payable (credit) | Income tax withheld. |
Social Insurance & Benefits Payable (credit) | The employee's social insurance and benefit-insurance deductions. |
Employee Loan Recovery (credit) | Loan installments and the other deductions recovered from pay. |
Employee Loans Receivable (disbursement debit) and Loan Payout Cash / Bank (disbursement credit) | Both are needed to disburse a loan while posting is on. |
Expense Claims (reimbursement debit) | Paying an approved expense claim. |
What a paid payslip posts
Each payslip posts its own journal entry, dated the day you mark it paid:
Side | Account | Amount |
|---|---|---|
Debit | Salaries & Wages Expense | Gross salary minus the absence, unpaid leave and missing time deductions |
Credit | Tax Payable | Income tax |
Credit | Social Insurance & Benefits Payable | Employee social insurance plus benefit costs |
Credit | Employee Loan Recovery | The remaining deductions: loan installments, recurring deductions and penalties |
Credit | The account set on a branch regulatory deduction | That deduction |
Credit | Cash / Bank | Net salary |
Absence, unpaid leave and missing time reduce the expense because the company never incurred that salary; they are not owed to anyone. When an optional account is not mapped, its amount is added to the Cash / Bank credit, so the entry always balances. The employer's social insurance share and employer benefit costs shown on the payslip are not part of this entry.
Check that a payslip was posted
Open People › Payroll › Payslips and open the payslip.
A posted payslip shows its journal reference. A paid payslip with nothing posted shows Not posted to the ledger, and the system also warns you at the moment you mark it paid.
Common questions
Payslips are paid but nothing is in the ledger. Posting was off or the two required accounts were not mapped when they were paid. Switching it on later does not post them retroactively; record those salaries with a manual journal entry in accounting.
Marking paid fails with a fiscal year message. The branch has no active fiscal year for today's date. Open or activate it in accounting, then mark the payslip paid again. The payslip stays Approved until then.
Can a payroll be reversed after posting? Not from HR. A run with any paid payslip cannot be rolled back; reverse the payment entries in accounting first.