UZIO Accounting and General Ledger

UZIO currently does not have an in house accounting module. However, UZIO’s Payroll system supports accounting platforms like QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Online and Xero. While UZIO has real time integration with QuickBooks Online (click here to learn more), it can generate a general ledger file formats that can be uploaded to the QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Enterprise (Intuit Interchangeable Format .IIF) and Xero (.CSV)

What is an IIF File?

Intuit Interchange Format (.IIF) files are ASCII text, TSV (Tab-Separated Value) files that QuickBooks Desktop uses to import or export transactions. These files make it easier to transfer data to and from different platforms to better manage company payroll records in QuickBooks.

What is a Xero template? 

Xero template is a comma separated file with predefined fields, which is used to import bills in Xero accounting software. The items in the bills created by imports are linked to expense and liability accounts, thus automatically creating journal entries in Xero.

How can I set up a general ledger in UZIO?

The general ledger feature is available on the Global menu Payroll > Payroll Setup.  Simply click General Ledger to begin the setup process.

How do I configure my General Ledger?

In UZIO, the general ledger Setup is a two-step process i.e., File Setup, then chart of accounts mapping. 

Step 1 - File Setup:

This section determines the structure and content of the file generated by the UZIO system. 

1. File Group By: This field determines if the IIF file will have classes (Tracking Categories in Xero) or not. In QuickBooks, class tracking lets you track account balances by department, business office or location. 
• For example, if your business has 3 departments and you are maintaining classes as departments in QuickBooks, you can choose the file group method as Department to track account balances by department in quick books. If None is selected, the GL file will not have any tracking.
2. Account Code Group: Many organisations structure their chart of accounts so that expense information is separately compiled by department or by work location. If that is the case with your organisation, you can select either of the options available. If None is selected, the same account code will be used for a selected pay type.
   

Step 2 - Chart of Accounts: 

Chart of accounts mapping is another step in the general ledger set up. Click on the Add Account button to begin adding your accounts and map it with the payroll components.

1. Account Type: Select whether your account is a debit account or a credit account.
2. Account Number: Enter an account number. Please ensure this number matches with the number on your accounting platform. For e.g., the account number in your accounting books is 24001 for Income withholding then ensure the account number mapped to in UZIO is also 24001.
3. Account Name: Enter any account name for your reference. Not to be used on the file. However, it is recommended to keep the account names the same as in your accounting software for easy reference.
4. Account Group: This field is dependent on how you have set up the Accounts Code Group under file set up. There, 
• If you have selected None, this field will not appear.
• If any other option is selected, the label of the field will be “Account Group: <Selected Group>” with all the available options in the group populated in the drop list.
• For e.g., if Department is selected, the label of the field will be “Account Group: Department” with all the departments populated in the drop list along with ALL. Employers will have the option of selecting one or more departments. 
5. File Group: This field is dependent on how you have set up the File Group under file set up. There, 
• If you have selected None, this field will not appear.
• If any other option is selected, the label of the field will be “File Group: <Selected Group>” with all the available options in the group populated in the drop list.
• For e.g., if Department is selected, the label of the field will be “File Group: Department” with all the departments populated in the drop list along with ALL. Employers will have the option of selecting one or more departments.
• Note: If you map your account to ALL file group options, a Yes/No radio button appears to determine whether one consolidated account entry should be created for ALL groups, or separate account entries should be created for each group.
6. Pay Type: Select the pay component i.e., Earnings, Deductions, Contributions, Taxes, Workers’ Comp, Employee/Contractor Direct Deposit Net Pay, Employee/Contractor Check Net Pay, or Contractor’s 1099 Earning to set up your chart of accounts. You must set up the chart of accounts for each of the pay components applicable to your company.
• Pay Type “Direct Deposit Net Pay” is for employee salaries paid through direct deposits, while “Check Net Pay” is for employee salaries paid through checks. If you have the same liabilities account for both direct deposits and check payments, you can create two accounts with the same account number and map them to each of the two pay types mentioned above.
• Pay Types “1099 Box 7 (Nonemployee Compensation)” is for the contractors’ earnings, while “Contractor Check Net Pay” and “Contractor Direct Deposit Net Pay” is for contractors’ net payments. In case you select any of these three pay types for mapping with an account, the system will ignore file and account code grouping. This is because contractors cannot be grouped into departments, divisions, or work locations in the UZIO system.

• If you select Earnings, Deductions, Contributions or Workers’ Compensation Classes, a grid appears with all the Company Earnings, Deductions, Contributions or Workers’ Compensation Classes (depending on your selection). You can select one or more items from the grid and map to the account.

• Similarly, if you select Taxes, another drop list appears with Options Federal and State. If you select Federal, a grid appears with all the federal taxes. You can select one or more taxes from the grid and map to the account. 

• If you select State in Tax Type, a multi select drop list appears with state codes for all the states where your company has work locations or your employees have home locations. On selection of one or more states, the grid appears with all the taxes for the selected state(s).

Can I upload the IIF file or XERO template to any other platform?

While the chart of accounts setup is Accounting Platform agnostic, .IIF and .CSV files are specific to QuickBooks and Xero respectively, and cannot be uploaded on any other platform.

Can I map all my taxes to the same account?

Yes, you can map all your federal taxes to one account, and map all the states’ taxes to another account. But you cannot map all federal and states’ taxes to the same account.

Can I map different accounts for different types of local taxes?

You would not get to map the accounts with each possible individual tax rather you can do the set up on the available tax categories. 

While adding the account, after you select Pay Type as Taxes and the Tax Type as Federal or State, the system will list all the possible tax categories that may be applicable to your state location.  For e.g., EIT (Earned Income Tax) and LST (Local Service Tax) for PA. If you select EIT and map it to an account, all the EITs in PA will get mapped to the account. Similarly, in MD all the county taxes will have to be mapped to one account code. 

Can I create multiple accounts with the same account number?

Yes, you can create multiple accounts with same account number, provided the combination of following attributes is unique:

• Account Type
• Account Number
• Pay Type
• Tax Type (if Pay Type is Taxes)
• State (if Tax Type is State)

For e.g., the system will allow the following accounts because they all have different pay types or tax types.

However, the system will not allow the following accounts.

In the above example, even though different earnings are mapped to the two accounts, the system will not allow creation of the second account. You need to create one account and map both the earnings from the grid to it.

Many taxes or categories are not applicable to my company. How do I ensure the tax would not be applied to my company? Do I need to select or not select the particular category?

Only the taxes processed in the payroll will be considered in the GL file, irrespective of the tax categories mapped to account codes. So, if you are not sure about which tax categories are applicable to your company, you can safely map all the tax categories to one or more account codes.

Can I add all my federal taxes and state taxes to the same account?

You can add all your federal and state taxes to different accounts with the same account number, but you cannot map them to the same account. The system will allow you to create multiple accounts with the same account number that you can map to different federal and state taxes.

There will be an enhancement in the set up by the end of February and you will be able to map all the state taxes to one account.

If I add a new earning, deduction, or contribution after setting my chart of accounts, will it automatically reflect in my GL file?

No. You will need to revisit the chart of accounts and map the newly added earning/deduction/contribution to an account code.  In the current UZIO version, if you map ALL earnings in the grid to an account code, any new earnings added in the system will automatically get added to the account. Same for contributions, deductions, and workers’ comp classes.

Can I include the payments made to contractors in my GL file?

Yes, if you use UZIO to pay your contractors, you can easily include those payments in your GL file. All you need to do is map the contractor specific pay components in the pay type drop list to an account and select the Contractor payroll along with other payrolls while running the GL file.

How do I download the General Ledger File?

Once the setup is complete, after every payroll runs, a General Ledger file can be downloaded from the Payroll Reports section. You can download the General Ledger either as an IIF file, .CSV file or as an Excel report. You can create one file/report for multiple payrolls.

What if my GL is not balanced? What are some troubleshooting steps to fix?

Incorrect chart of accounts set up would result in an unbalanced GL. The reason for incorrect chart of accounts could be 

1. A pay component considered in payroll but not mapped to any account code
2. A pay component mapped to a debit account but not to an equivalent credit account or vice versa
3. A pay component mapped to two debit or credit accounts resulting in double counting.
4. File Group or Account Group selected as Department, but one or more employees are not assigned to any department.
5. File Group or Account Group selected as Division, but one or more employees are not assigned to any department.

If you fix the above issues, your GL should be balanced.

While the chart of accounts setup is accounting platform agnostic, the report generated is in QuickBooks IIF format designed specifically for QB Desktop and QB Enterprise. It cannot be uploaded on any other platform, including other QuickBooks platforms like QB Online. Similarly, .CSV file is a Xero template which cannot be imported into any other accounting software. However, you can use the information in the excel report to manually create journal entries on any accounting platform.