WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ACCOUNTING FOR PAYROLL

Accounting for Payroll is a major task in Book Keeping. What do you need to post as a Payroll Officer? In this article, I have listed the major Accounts that are affected by Payroll and the various Entries to be made in the System.

ACCOUNTS AFFECTED BY PAYROLL  
  1. Salaries & Wages
  2. Pension Payable
  3. Paye Payable
  4. Staff Account
  5. Salary Payable
  6. Cash & Bank Accounts
The big question is this; "How do all these connect to the Payroll? First of all, your Payroll is made up of the following items (depending on the structure of your Organization's Payroll); Basic, Housing, Transport, Utility, Entertainment, Overtime, Leave & Other Allowances. The Addition of all these sums up to the Gross Salary of a Staff. The Total Gross Salary of the Organization is posted to "Salaries & Wages" under the Profit or Loss Accounts (Income Statement). This is posted irrespective of if the Salaries were paid immediately or not (Accruals Basis).


In most cases, the Gross Salary is not paid to the Staff. There are some deductions that could reduce the Gross Salary depending on the Organization. Some of these Deductions include but not limited to; PAYE, PENSION (Employee Contribution), NHFC (National Housing Fund Contribution), Loan & Other Staff Deductions. The Net balance after all these deductions is the Net Salary.

PAYE DEDUCTIONS
Paye deductions are posted to "Paye Payable" under Current Liabilities and appears in the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet).

PENSION DEDUCTIONS (Employee Portion)
Pension deductions are posted to "Pension Payable" under Current Liabilities and appears in the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet).

NHFC DEDUCTIONS
NHFC deductions is posted to "NHFC Payable" under Current Liabilities and appears in the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet).

STAFF LOAN/SALARY ADVANCES/STAFF ADVANCES
These deductions are made from the Gross Salary if; there were Loans given to a staff of which monthly deductions are being made to offset the loan, a Salary Advance was made to a staff before the Payroll was prepared and approved and if IOUs were to be retired from Payroll. Staff Deductions are posted to "Staff Accounts" undercurrent Assets and appears in the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet).

NET SALARIES & WAGES
This is the Net Pay from the Gross Salary after all the above deductions are made. Net Salaries & Wages are posted to "Salary Payable" under Current Liabilities and appears in the Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet).

ACCOUNTING ENTRIES
To Properly Account for your Payroll, Post the following into the System;
  • WHEN PAYROLL IS APPROVED FOR THE MONTH.
Dr. Salaries & Wages (With Gross Salary)
Cr. Paye Payable (With Amount of Tax Deduction)
Cr. Pension Payable (With Amount of Employee Portion)
Cr. NHFC Payable (With Amount of Deductions Made)
Cr. Staff Accounts (With Amount of Deductions)
Cr. Salary Payable (With Net Pay)
  • WHEN PAYMENTS ARE MADE TO STAFF
Dr. Salary Payable (With The amount that was paid)
Cr. Cash or Bank Accounts (With Amount that was paid)
  • WHEN PAYE/PENSION/NHFC REMITTANCES ARE MADE
Dr. Paye Payable (With The amount that was Remitted
Dr. Pension Payable (With Amount that was Remitted)
Dr. NHFC Payable (With The amount that was Remitted)
Cr. Cash or Bank Accounts (With Amount that was Remitted)


I hope this article was helpful. For more details on the issue of Payroll Accounting, kindly contact us.

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