Cash-basis Reporting and Payroll Accounts

By default, timesheet postings are not cash entries. To include payroll postings in your cash-basis reporting general ledger, you must enable Cash-basis Reporting, then map payroll accrual accounts to cash-basis accounts.

• If you do not enable this option, the entire labor expense amount is posted to one overhead account (the cash-basis payroll expense account that you have mapped to the job cost variance account).
• If you enable this option, the labor expense amount is posted to separate accounts for direct and indirect labor, and separate accounts for labor types.

Mapping Payroll Accounts for Cash-basis Reporting

How you map your payroll accounts depends on how you want to manage payroll accounts in your cash-basis general ledger.

The following table provides you with details on mapping payroll accounts for cash-basis reporting purposes. It uses account numbers from the standard chart of accounts and refers to the following settings:

• Post net payroll directly to bank option on the General tab of Settings > Payroll > General.
• Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions option in Settings > General Ledger > Options.

Payroll Settings	Timesheet Settings	Comments
Post net payroll directly to bank = ON	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = OFF	DPS posts the net payroll amount to the cash account. Map the job cost variance account (703.00) to the cash-basis labor expense account (709.00). Do not map the payroll liability accounts to cash-basis accounts. The liability balances will clear as paid.
Post net payroll directly to bank = OFF	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = OFF	DPS makes no cash-basis posting for the payroll amount. You must enter a cash-only journal entry to record the payroll disbursement (debit labor expense account (709.00)). Map the payroll liability accounts and the job cost variance account (703.00) to the cash-basis labor expense account (709.00).
Salaries Payable Account = Liability	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = OFF	DPS makes no cash-basis posting for the payroll amount. You must enter a cash-only journal entry to record the payroll disbursement (debit labor expense account (709.00)). Map the payroll liability accounts and the job cost variance account (703.00) to the cash-basis labor expense account (709.00).
Post net payroll directly to bank = ON	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = ON	DPS posts the net payroll amount to the cash account, including the debit to the job cost variance account (703.00). The timesheet posting represents the labor expense as the total of the labor expense debits along with the job cost variance amount. Do not map the payroll liability accounts or the job cost variance account (703.00) to cash-basis accounts. The liability balances will clear as paid.
Salaries Payable Account = Liability	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = ON	DPS makes no cash-basis posting for the payroll amount. You must enter a cash-only journal entry to record the payroll disbursement (debit labor expense account (709.00)). The timesheet posting represents the labor expense as the total of the labor expense debits along with the job cost variance amount. Map all payroll liability accounts to the job cost variance account (703.00). Do not map 703.00 to 709.00.
Manual journal entry to record payroll disbursement	Enable Cash-Basis Postings for Labor Transactions = OFF	The journal entry can be posted to both the accrual and cash-basis general ledgers, or you can post cash-only amounts. If you do not use the DPS Payroll application, you need to complete a journal entry for both the accrual-basis and cash-basis general ledger. The journal entry debits the job cost variance account and the employer portion of the FICA expense account on the accrual side, and debits the cash-basis labor expense account. The journal entry credits the appropriate salaries payable and payroll liability accounts on the accrual side, and credits the mapped cash-basis accounts.