The Payroll Import process is a key part of the monthly accounting tasks. This process is where the gross wages, employer-paid taxes, and bank withdrawals are entered. Payroll entries affect the Operating Statement, Balance Sheet, and the Bank Reconciliation - this is a major function!


To import payroll, you will need payroll information that outlines Gross Wages by Position, Employer and Employee Tax Amounts, Deductions (if applicable), and all amounts that were withdrawn from the bank account for the batch you're preparing to import. 


The Gross Wages + Employer Taxes - Deductions - Employee & Employer Taxes = Amount Withdrawn from the Bank.



Find a Payroll Report that has the below items shown:

  • Gross Wages by Position 
  • EmployER Taxes 
  • Deductions
  • EmployEE Taxes
  • Amount(s) Withdrawn from the Bank (direct deposits, live checks, delayed taxes)


This information is usually found in a report called Payroll Register, Payroll Details, or Payroll Requirements. Ask your payroll representative for additional assistance. 



Using the Payroll Import Template downloaded from Inn-Flow's Accounting module on the Payroll Import page within the triple dot menu on the top-right of the page ... > Download Template.



The template's column headers are listed below:


Date: Use the last date of the pay cycle. For example, if the pay cycle is 1/13 -1/26, enter 1/26/2024 into the template.


ActPer: Accounting Period - This is the month the wages will appear on the Operating Statement. For the date example above, the ActPer would be 1/1/2024 since the wages are for January. If the pay cycle extends over two months, like 1/27 - 2/9, use the ActPer of the last day of the pay period, so 2/1/2024 for this example.


Vendor: Payroll or your Payroll Provider (you must set this up before importing payroll)


EHID: Inn-Flow Entity ID that incurred expenses 


COA: Chart of Account for the expense


CkNo: Check Number or ACH if paid as a withdrawal. Rows with CkNo will post a withdrawal to the bank account. This should be used in the bottom half of the entry as you first need to expense the gross wages, then enter the bank entry amounts. Do not enter a CkNo for chart of accounts like Front Desk, Housekeeping, etc.


Description: Additional Information related to this expense. Note: This will be your GL description when drilled down on reports. 


Payment: The Amount to expense or post to the Chart of Account



Using the Payroll Reports, find the Gross Wages per position. For each position, enter the COA into column E, the Description of the position (position name) into column G, and the amount into column H.



Attached is a sample import template. The first tab is what the actual import will need to look like (no data in columns past column H). 


The 2nd tab has more information into the fields for additional instruction.


The 3rd tab is what the import would look like if you want to code the taxes by position to the tax chart of account per department (Rooms Taxes, A&G Taxes, etc.)


Note: The Payroll Import Template only imports the first tab. 





IF PRO TIP: If you receive an error message when attempting to upload a payroll import template, try these troubleshooting steps:    

  • Download a fresh template, and copy and paste your data into a new template, and try again. 
  • Ensure that you have not made any updates to the Headers of the template. 
  • Check to be sure that the format of your Date and ActPer are MM/DD/YY, and that the format of the Payment column is "Numbers"