Recording Payroll in Accounting

Though ChurchTrac is NOT a church payroll platform, you still need to enter your final payroll numbers into the Accounting screen to track your church's finances properly. Watch the video above and follow the below steps for recording payroll. (United States only)

Step 1: Create your Categories

Create a Payroll Taxes Category with the following sub-categories in the accounting screen:

State and Local withholdings depend on the state you are located in. Your Payroll Taxes parent Category must be an expense with the "General Fund" as your Default Fund.

Step 2: Create your Payees

Create a Payee for each employee using your main payroll category, followed by the additional payroll taxes you created in step 1. Be sure to mark the Transaction Type as an expense as well.

The amounts you enter are based on the calculations made by your payroll platform. Your top payroll category will be a positive number, while the taxes will be listed as negative.

Step 3: Create a Transaction

Create an accounting transaction on your checking account from your saved payee. Be sure to verify the amounts with your payroll platform for non-salary employees, as those amounts may change for each paycheck.

What about recording my Quarterly 941?

Create a Payee for your Quarterly 941 to make recording your IRS payments quick and easy. We recommend leaving the amounts as "0" since your amounts will likely vary quarter to quarter.

This payroll information is provided to help educate and inform you on using ChurchTrac Accounting. We always recommend seeking the advise of a licensed CPA for Church Accounting, Payroll, and Taxes.