In this lesson, you will learn how to track payroll for your organization, and ensure your salary, withholdings, and tax payments are logged correctly in your bookkeeping. We will walk through the common entries you will need to post, how to import entries, and how to track payroll in Aplos if you are using our partner, Gusto.

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We will cover the following topics and have noted the timestamps if you wish to skip ahead to review a specific area:

Payroll Overview

Payroll is used when your organization regularly pays someone who is on staff, whether they are hourly or salaried. It reflects what someone earns, but it also involves tracking taxes and benefits.

• Taxes [4:14]
  When you withhold taxes from an employee’s paycheck, that amount becomes a tax liability for your organization. It’s money your organization owes the state and federal governments. Your organization likely has an employer portion of taxes you will owe as well, which will be tracked as an additional tax liability.
• Employee Benefits [7:55]
  Your organization many withhold money that will be used for employee benefits, such as retirement, health insurance, dental insurance, etc. Your organization may also have an employer portion you will owe, such as a matching retirement fund contribution. These are tracked as benefit liabilities.

Accounting For Payroll

• Using Journal Entries [11:00]
  Learn how to track payroll expenses and liabilities using journal entries. Go to your journal entries in Aplos. View the resource on recording transactions.
• Using The Account Register [14:25]
  Learn how to track payroll expenses and liabilities using an account register. Go to your account register in Aplos. View the resource on recording transactions.
• Import Payroll From A Selected Payroll System [21:45]
  Download payroll summaries from selected systems to upload those transactions in Aplos. You can upload entries from the following payroll systems: Sage, ADP, PayCycle, and Pathways. Go to Import Payroll in Aplos.
• Import Journal Entry Or Account Register Transactions [23:34]
  Download a template to populate your payroll transactions in Excel. Then you can upload the file and import those transactions into Aplos. Go to Import Journal Entry Transactions in Aplos. View the resource for importing journal entries. Go to Manage Transactions in your account register in Aplos. View the resource for importing transactions into an account register.

Gusto Integration With Aplos

• Gusto Payroll [24:28]
  Aplos has partnered with Gusto so you can easily process payroll and record it in your accounting. Gusto takes care of the tax liability associated with your payroll so you don’t have to keep track of it. Go to your payroll in Aplos. If you have not started an account with Gusto yet, you can get your first three months free from the Gusto partner webpage. View the resource for tracking payroll.