Payroll

Automate payroll reconciliation by using Gusto, or reconcile manually using journal entries.

Gusto

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.

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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.

Reconcile Gusto is only available in the bulk actions bar. It does not appear in the single transaction details panel.

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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 to request an explanation from your client for each reimbursement before reclassifying.

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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.

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Departments

Gusto Departments automatically sync as Classes in Kick. Watch the below video to learn how to automate by-department payroll reporting.

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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 to run automatically.