Journal Entries

For each payroll, Nmbr generates two payroll-level journal entries, plus a recording entry for each pay stub.

1) Payroll Recording (Accrual Entry)

Recognises payroll expenses and corresponding liabilities.
Ensures costs are recorded in the correct accounting period.
Debit: Expense accounts (e.g. Wages Expense).
Credit: Liability accounts (e.g. Payroll Payable, Tax Withheld Payable).

Example (simplified):

Account	Debit	Credit
Wages Expense	5,000
Employer CPP Expense	500
Payroll Payable		5,500

2) Payroll Payment (Payment Entry)

Reflects the actual cash movement when payroll and remittances are paid.
Debit: Liability accounts (clearing what was accrued).
Credit: Bank account.

Example (simplified):

Account	Debit	Credit
Payroll Payable	5,500
Bank Account		5,500

Pay stub recording entries

Alongside the two payroll-level entries, Nmbr generates a pay_stub_recording entry for each pay stub, holding the accrual detail for that single pay stub. These carry a pay_stub reference and are returned by the Journal Entries API with the payroll-level entries. Filter by type to narrow the list. Only the two payroll-level entries (payroll_recording and payroll_payment) are exported to the connected accounting platform.

Tracking dimensions

When a line item is allocated across tags, each journal entry row carries the matched tags in its dimension_1_tag, dimension_2_tag, and dimension_3_tag fields, and the row is split per allocation. This breaks down payroll cost by department, project, or location. The tags are returned as stubs by default; resolve them with a nested expand such as journal_entry_rows.dimension_1_tag. See Journal entry tracking dimensions and Retrieving dimension tags for the full model.

Sample Journal Entry JSON

{
  "id": "<ulid>",
  "object": "journal_entry",
  "data": {
    "type": "payroll_recording",
    "title": "Payroll Accrual Entry",
    "payroll": {
      "id": "<ulid>",
      "object": "payroll",
      "links": {
        "self": "/payrolls/<ulid>"
      }
    },
    "pay_stub": null,
    "is_balanced": true,
    "total": 5403.62,
    "is_missing_line_item_accounting_codes": false,
    "is_missing_default_account_payable": false,
    "is_missing_default_bank_account": false,
    "posted_on": "2025-01-15T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "invalid_expense_types": [],
    "invalid_liability_types": [],
    "integrations": {
      "quickbooks": {
        "reference": null
      },
      "xero": {
        "reference": null
      }
    },
    "journal_entry_rows": {
      "object": "list",
      "data": [
        {
          "id": "<ulid>",
          "object": "journal_entry_row",
          "data": {
            "type": "debit",
            "amount": 5000,
            "code": "6000",
            "description": "Semi-Monthly Schedule #1 - Wages Expense",
            "account_code": {
              "id": "<ulid>",
              "object": "accounting_code",
              "links": {
                "self": "/accounting_codes/<ulid>"
              }
            },
            "dimension_1_tag": null,
            "dimension_2_tag": null,
            "dimension_3_tag": null,
            "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
            "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
          },
          "links": {
            "self": null
          }
        },
        {
          "id": "<ulid>",
          "object": "journal_entry_row",
          "data": {
            "type": "debit",
            "amount": 403.62,
            "code": "6010",
            "description": "Semi-Monthly Schedule #1 - Employer Contributions Expense",
            "account_code": {
              "id": "<ulid>",
              "object": "accounting_code",
              "links": {
                "self": "/accounting_codes/<ulid>"
              }
            },
            "dimension_1_tag": null,
            "dimension_2_tag": null,
            "dimension_3_tag": null,
            "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
            "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
          },
          "links": {
            "self": null
          }
        },
        {
          "id": "<ulid>",
          "object": "journal_entry_row",
          "data": {
            "type": "credit",
            "amount": 1930.24,
            "code": "2200",
            "description": "Semi-Monthly Schedule #1 - Statutory Withholdings Payable",
            "account_code": {
              "id": "<ulid>",
              "object": "accounting_code",
              "links": {
                "self": "/accounting_codes/<ulid>"
              }
            },
            "dimension_1_tag": null,
            "dimension_2_tag": null,
            "dimension_3_tag": null,
            "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
            "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
          },
          "links": {
            "self": null
          }
        },
        {
          "id": "<ulid>",
          "object": "journal_entry_row",
          "data": {
            "type": "credit",
            "amount": 3473.38,
            "code": "2210",
            "description": "Semi-Monthly Schedule #1 - Net Pay Payable",
            "account_code": {
              "id": "<ulid>",
              "object": "accounting_code",
              "links": {
                "self": "/accounting_codes/<ulid>"
              }
            },
            "dimension_1_tag": null,
            "dimension_2_tag": null,
            "dimension_3_tag": null,
            "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
            "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
          },
          "links": {
            "self": null
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    "created_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z",
    "updated_at": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000000Z"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "/journal_entries/<ulid>"
  }
}

Journal entries can be retrieved via the Journal Entries API.

Validation flags

Before a journal entry can be exported it must be complete and balanced. Inspect these flags on the entry:

Field	Meaning
`is_balanced`	`false` if debits ≠ credits.
`is_missing_line_item_accounting_codes`	One or more line items lack codes.
`is_missing_default_account_payable`	No default payroll payable code set.
`is_missing_default_bank_account`	No default bank code set.
`invalid_expense_types`	List of `{ type, subtype }` missing an expense code.
`invalid_liability_types`	List of `{ type, subtype }` missing a liability code.

To stop incomplete entries from reaching an approved payroll, enable block_approval_on_incomplete_journal_entries (or block_approval_on_missing_export_identifiers) on the Business Entity’s accounting_settings.

Getting Started

Payroll Fundamentals

Canadian Payroll

Advanced Concepts

Accounting

Usage & Billing

Journal Entries

1) Payroll Recording (Accrual Entry)

2) Payroll Payment (Payment Entry)

Pay stub recording entries

Tracking dimensions

Sample Journal Entry JSON

Validation flags

​1) Payroll Recording (Accrual Entry)

​2) Payroll Payment (Payment Entry)

​Pay stub recording entries

​Tracking dimensions

​Sample Journal Entry JSON

​Validation flags

1) Payroll Recording (Accrual Entry)

2) Payroll Payment (Payment Entry)

Pay stub recording entries

Tracking dimensions

Sample Journal Entry JSON

Validation flags