The payroll ledger

Pop Books does not calculate payroll taxes. Enter the amounts your payroll advisor or a government calculator gives you.

What it does record is the money side of payroll: who was paid, what was held back, what you still owe, and the entries for the books. Open Payroll in the side rail. The tabs are Pay runs, Employees, Pay items, Reports and Settings.

What it records

• Pay runs. One run for each pay date. It posts one entry to the books.
• Liabilities. Money held back from pay, and employer costs, are credited to the liability accounts you choose, so the books show what is still owed.
• Claims paid through pay runs. An approved expense claim from a person linked to an employee can be added to a pay run as a reimbursement. When the run posts, the claim is paid out of net pay.
• Payment. You record that the net pay was paid, by hand or with a bank file. Pop Books sends no money.

What to do

1. Open Settings and choose to set up payroll. This makes the accounts and four starter pay items.
2. Add each person under Employees: name, pay schedule, rate and default pay items.
3. Add or adjust Pay items: an earning, a deduction, an employer contribution or a reimbursement. Each one points to an account.
4. Start a pay run. Type hours and amounts. A typed amount is never recalculated.
5. Send the run for approval. Posting needs the latest decision to be approved. A rejected run is unlocked.
6. Post the run, then record the payment.

Employees are switched off, never deleted. A posted run cannot be changed. You can undo a payment, and void a run that has not been paid.

Reports

• Payroll summary by pay item and employee.
• What you owe, read from the books account by account.
• Year to date by employee.

Each can be downloaded as CSV. A payslip can be made as a PDF for each person. It shows the amounts you typed and the year to date. It is a record of your entries, never a tax document.

What it does not do

• It does not calculate payroll taxes or withholding.
• It does not file payroll forms or make deposits.
• It has no tax tables, paid time off, garnishments or partial payments of a run.
• It does not handle foreign-currency pay runs.

Good to know

• Only people with the Payroll permission can see employees, rates and bank details. Owner and Admin have it.
• Payment files for NACHA, ABA, SEPA and CSV were checked for shape only, and not accepted by a bank. Ask your bank first.
• The screens have not yet been tried by hand against a real company file.