#### How payroll syncs
Each Gusto payroll run syncs as a single split transaction on the Transactions tab, with each expense line item broken out individually. Kick maps each line to the following GL accounts by default:
| Gusto line item | GL account |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Wages (including employee taxes, retirement contributions, and other employee deductions) | 600000 — Salaries and Wages |
| Employer-paid payroll taxes | 610000 — Payroll Taxes |
| Employer-paid benefits (e.g. health insurance) | 620000 — Employee Benefits |
| Employer-paid retirement contributions | 620100 — Retirement Benefits |
| Contractor payments | 600100 — Contract Labor |
| Reimbursements | 609900 — Salaries and Wages: Clearing |
| All other expenses | 609900 — Salaries and Wages: Clearing |
On the credit side, all payroll expenses post to the **Gusto Integration Account** under **Payroll Liabilities** on the Balance Sheet.
***
#### Reconciling the payroll liability
**Net pay, payroll taxes, reimbursements, and contractor payments**
These amounts are processed directly through Gusto. Reconciliation transactions are generated automatically in the Gusto integration account — no manual steps required.
**Employee benefits and retirement contributions**
Benefits and retirement contributions are paid to third-party vendors — for example, Guideline for 401(k) or BlueCross BlueShield for health insurance. To reconcile these:
1. Identify which vendor your client uses for each benefit type
2. Go to **Transactions** and find the corresponding payments in connected checking accounts or credit cards
3. Select the transactions
4. In the bulk actions bar at the bottom of the screen, click **Reconcile Gusto**
This generates a reconciling transaction in the Gusto integration account to reduce the payroll liability by the corresponding amount.
{% hint style="info" icon="lightbulb" %}
**Reconcile Gusto** is only available in the bulk actions bar. It does not appear in the single transaction details panel.
{% endhint %}
***
#### Reimbursements
Reimbursements processed through Gusto payroll don't include detail on what was reimbursed — only the total amount. They map to **609900 — Salaries and Wages: Clearing** so they can be surfaced for review. Create a [task](/close-workflows/tasks.md) to request an explanation from your client for each reimbursement before reclassifying.
***
#### Rolling liability balance
The Gusto payroll liability account will often carry a rolling balance rather than clearing to zero each period. This is expected — payroll is often paid biweekly while benefits and retirement contributions can be paid monthly or annually, so the timing of outflows doesn't always align with payroll runs. Review the balance at close to confirm it's moving in the right direction rather than expecting it to zero out each period.
***
#### Departments
Gusto Departments automatically sync as [Classes](/bookkeeping-workflows/classes.md) in Kick. Watch the below video to learn how to automate by-department payroll reporting.
{% embed url="" %}
***
### Manual payroll (all other providers)
Kick currently does not have direct integrations with payroll providers other than Gusto. For these clients, categorize all payroll-related transactions in the connected checking account to **609900 — Salaries and Wages: Clearing**.
At whatever cadence you are reconciling payroll, request a payroll journal report from your client and create manual journal entries to reclass amounts from the clearing account to the appropriate payroll expense accounts. If your client's payroll splits are consistent each period, you can set these up as [recurring journal entries](/close-workflows/journal-entries/create-recurring-entries.md) to run automatically.
---
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