Balancivo · Payroll and taxes

Run payroll

Start a pay run, calculate suggested paychecks, review and sign off, post it to the books, and print pay stubs.

Who can do this: Owners.

Run payroll · 57 sec · shown with a sample organization.

Read the transcript

Each pay run is one payday. To pay your people, click New pay run. Enter the pay date, and check the pay period. Balancivo starts it the day after your last one. Everyone active is checked. For anyone paid by the hour, enter their hours. Click Calculate, and Balancivo suggests each paycheck from their pay, their W-4, and this year's paychecks so far. Check every amount: the pay, what's taken out of the paycheck, and the employer taxes you pay on top. You can type over anything that's wrong. Then look over the totals for the whole payday. Check the sign-off box and confirm who reviewed it. Add your tax professional if you have one. Click Post to the books. Remember, no money moves. You still pay your people and deposit the taxes yourself. To hand out pay stubs, click Pay stubs, then Print pay stubs. Each stub prints on its own page.

A pay run is one payday: everyone you paid on that date, what each person earned, what was withheld, and what you owe in employer taxes. Balancivo suggests each paycheck; you check every amount, sign off, and post it to the books.

Before you start

Set up payroll: agree to the payroll terms and add the people you pay.

Steps

Go to Payroll. On the Pay runs tab, click New pay run.
Set the dates. Enter the Pay date (the day people are paid), and check Pay period starts and Pay period ends. Add a Memo (optional).
Choose who's on this pay run. Everyone active is checked. Uncheck anyone you aren't paying this time. For hourly people, enter their Hours.
Click Calculate. Balancivo fills in each paycheck from the person's pay, their W-4 and this year's paychecks so far.
Check every amount. Look at Pay, Taken out of the paycheck and Employer taxes (you pay, on top) for each person. Type over any amount that's wrong. Notes under a person explain anything unusual.
Review the totals. Check Total gross pay, Total withheld, Employer taxes, Net pay and Total cost.
Sign off. Under Review and sign off, check the box, confirm Reviewed by, and enter the Tax professional who reviewed it (optional).
Click Post to the books. Or click Save draft to finish later.
Print pay stubs. Click Pay stubs, then Print pay stubs. Each stub prints on its own page.

Good to know

Amounts are estimates for you to review, not tax advice. Federal withholding follows the IRS percentage method. Other deductions (like a retirement contribution) aren't calculated; type them in.
Post to the books stays off until an owner has agreed to the payroll terms, the sign-off box is checked, and Reviewed by is filled in. Changing amounts after signing off clears the sign-off.
A professional review is strongly recommended for your first payroll, any pay for ministers, and whenever someone's W-4 changes.
Posting records wages and employer taxes as expenses on the pay date, and what you now owe. No money moves. Next, in Review, file the net pay withdrawals under Payroll clearing and tax deposits under Payroll liabilities.
Posted pay runs are locked. To fix one, open it and click Undo posting. That isn't possible if the month is closed; reopen the month first.
Hand out stubs only after posting, so the amounts match the books.
To throw away a draft, open it and click Delete draft.
The Summary tab has a W-2 helper and a Form 941 helper with totals from posted pay runs. For the full quarterly worksheet, see Prepare the Form 941 worksheet.

← Set up payroll and add an employee Prepare the Form 941 worksheet →