Updated Mar 5, 2014

General Ledger / Chart of Account codes

If you are integrating Payroll with your bookkeeping system, you'll want to match our general ledger codes with the chart of accounts in that system. We keep track of all your payroll-related transactions using General Ledger codes. If you are not familiar with how to use general ledger codes or a chart of accounts in your business, we recommend you read this article or consult your bookkeeper / accountant.

Payroll and accounting background

When recording payroll transactions and expenses in your accounting system you should be aware of liabilities _and expenses_.

Expenses are typically considered items that you/your business has paid for. For example, if you've sent net wages to your employee, this would be considered an expense (you've already paid it out).

Liabilities are items that are not currently paid but will be paid at a future date. For example, the payroll source deductions (CPP, EI, Federal and Provincial tax) are considered liabilities - you are collecting them on behalf of your employees and will be remitting them to the Canada Revenue Agency / Revenu Québec at a later date. When the item is eventually paid, it becomes an expense.

Payroll adheres to these principles and you'll see that payroll transactions have a liability and expense side. You should create these account codes in your accounting system to properly reflect your payroll transactions.

Payroll standard chart of accounts

We adhere to the Canada Revenue Agency's guidance on account codes - the GIFI standard. The following descriptions will help you determine how to match Payroll's chart of accounts / general ledger codes to your bookkeeping system

	Name	Default (GIFI) code	Description
Assets
	Bank	1002	Your bank account
Liabilities
	Payroll clearing	1002	This is typically a zero-balance account used hold funds until they are cleared in your bank account. Your accountant or bookkeeper can provide guidance on how to use this type of account and if it appropriate for your business. For certain add-ons / integrations, the use of this account may duplicate functions in your bookkeeping software. Please refer to specific help articles for those products for details or talk to your bookkeeper.
	Federal Tax	2628	The federal portion of withholding taxes payable. Some businesses may use the same code as Provincial tax to group the values.
	Provincial Tax	2628	The provincial or territorial portion of withholding taxes payable. Some businesses may use the same code as Federal tax to group the values.
	EI	2627	Employee deductions for Employment Insurance payable
	Co Portion EI	2627	Company portion of Employment Insurance payable
	Canada Pension Plan	2627	Employee deductions for the Canada Pension Plan payable
	Co Portion CPP	2627	Company portion of the Canada Pension Plan payable
	Québec Pension Plan	2627	Employee deductions for the Québec Pension Plan payable
	Co Portion QPP	2627	Company portion of the Québec Pension Plan payable
	Québec QPIP	2627	Employee portion of the Québec Parental Insurance Plan payable
	Co Portion QPIP	2627	Company portion of the Québec Parental Insurance Plan payable
	Co Health Ser F.	2627	Company portion of contributions to the Health Service Fund payable
Expenses
	Payroll wages	9060	Salaries and wages such as administrative salaries, casual labour, cost of living allowance, down time, fees to employees, minimum wage levies, payroll remuneration, severance pay, and supervision
	Vacation	9060	Vacation pay provided to employees. You may chose to include this in Payroll wages by using the same code as above
	Vacation balance	9060	Vacation pay accrued but not paid to employees
	Co Portion EI	8622	Company portion of Employment Insurance paid
	Co Portion CPP	8622	Company portion of the Canada Pension Plan paid
	Co Portion QPP	8622	Company portion of the Québec Pension Plan paid
	Co Portion QPIP	8622	Company portion of the Québec Parental Insurance Plan paid
	Co Health Ser F.	8622	Company portion of contributions to the Health Service Fund paid

PaymentEvolution Help Centre

General Ledger / Chart of Account codes

General Ledger / Chart of Account codes

Payroll and accounting background

Payroll standard chart of accounts

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