Monthly Bookkeeping
The close that payroll has to reconcile into every month.
Monthly BookkeepingA two-person practice offering all four pay cycles is unusual, and it is deliberate. Businesses do not choose a pay cycle to be difficult. A crew paid on Friday is paid on Friday because that is how the trade works, and a salaried office that budgets to the fifteenth and the last day is not going to change to suit a bookkeeper.
Every run is recorded and reconciled against the payroll liability accounts in the month it is paid. That is the part that gets skipped elsewhere, and it is why so many files we inherit have payroll liabilities sitting on the balance sheet that were settled a year ago.
The run leaving the bank on the right day is the part everyone sees. The part that decides whether your balance sheet is trustworthy is what happens to the liability accounts afterwards.
Wages, employer costs and withholdings each land in their own place, and the liabilities are reconciled in the same month they are settled. A payroll that clears the bank but never clears the balance sheet is a problem waiting for a year end.
Owner-only S corporations taking a reasonable salary on a monthly cycle. Small salaried offices on semi-monthly. Trades and shift teams on weekly or bi-weekly. Restaurants, where a weekly cycle and a tip pool make the run more involved than the headcount suggests.
The common requirement is that payroll has to land in the books correctly, not just leave the bank on time. A payroll run recorded as a single lump withdrawal is a payroll run that will need untangling later.
1
Hours come in on your schedule, or salaried runs simply repeat. You confirm before anything is submitted.
2
Prepared in QuickBooks Payroll against your cycle and your pay dates.
3
Nothing submits without your approval. You see gross, net and the employer cost before it goes.
4
Wages, employer costs and liabilities posted to the right accounts, and the liability accounts reconciled as part of the close.
Texas has no state income tax withholding, which makes payroll here simpler than it is in most states. It does not make it simple. Employer obligations, worker classification and the reconciliation of what was withheld against what was actually remitted all still have to be right, and those are where files go wrong.
Where the run touches something that requires a licensed tax professional, we say so and stay on our side of the line.
Yes. It is common to have salaried staff on semi-monthly and hourly crew on weekly. Both are run and both reconcile into the same close.
QuickBooks Payroll handles the filings and remittances it is configured to handle, and we make sure the setup is right and that what was filed reconciles to what is in the books. Anything that requires a licensed tax professional stays with one.
Yes, though a mid-year change needs planning so the year does not end with an odd number of periods. Tell us before you announce it to staff and we will map it out.
Hours for hourly staff, and confirmation of anything unusual such as a bonus, a reimbursement or a new starter. Salaried runs need nothing unless something changed.
Contractor payments are handled as vendor payments rather than payroll, and we keep contractor records and totals current through the year so vendor reporting at year end is a report rather than a reconstruction.
The close that payroll has to reconcile into every month.
Monthly BookkeepingWeekly payroll and tip handling for kitchens.
Restaurant & Food Service AccountingLabour cost as a figure you can act on rather than a surprise.
Monthly Financial Reporting PackageA consultation with the owners, a straight read on what this would take, and a scope in writing before anything starts.
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