Free Payroll Journal Entry Template (Excel)
What's in the payroll journal entry template
The template is a single Payroll Journal Entry table pre-filled with 15 account lines commonly used to record a pay run: wages expense, payroll tax expense, benefits expense, federal and state withholding, Social Security and Medicare payable (both employee and employer sides), FUTA and SUTA payable, 401(k) and health insurance withholdings, garnishments payable, and cash.
Each line has a Type column (Expense, Liability, or Asset), a debit column, a credit column, and a memo field for the pay period — so the entry is organized the way a bookkeeper or accountant expects to see it, not a blank list you build from scratch.
Adjusting it to your chart of accounts
The 15 pre-filled lines are a US-standard starting point, not a fixed list — rename any account to match your own chart of accounts, delete lines you don't use, or add rows for benefits or deductions specific to your company.
Because the balance check formula sums whatever is in the debit and credit columns regardless of how many rows are filled, you can edit the account list freely without breaking the check.
Checking that debits equal credits
Below the account table, the sheet totals all debits and all credits separately, then a balance check reads BALANCED or OUT OF BALANCE depending on whether the two totals match to the cent.
This is the same discipline every double-entry journal entry needs before it's posted — the file just does the arithmetic and the comparison for you instead of you re-adding two columns by hand every pay run.
Who this is for
Bookkeepers and small-business owners who run payroll through a provider (or manually) and need to record the resulting GL entry themselves rather than through payroll software that posts it automatically.
It pairs naturally with a reconciliation step: once the entry is posted and balanced here, you can tie the posted amounts out to your bank and payroll register using the separate Payroll Reconciliation template.
How to use it
- Use the pre-filled account lines (wages, taxes, withholdings, cash) and adjust to your chart of accounts.
- Enter the debit or credit for each line of the pay run.
- The balance check flags the entry until total debits equal total credits.
Download the free Free Payroll Journal Entry Template (Excel)
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Small Business Bookkeeping & Tax Dashboard
Once your payroll entry is balanced, the paid Bookkeeping template ($19) handles the rest of your books: Schedule C categorization, a quarterly tax dashboard, and a CPA-ready export.
See the full versionFrequently asked questions
Can I use this payroll journal entry template in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the downloaded file to Google Drive, then open it and choose File > Save as Google Sheets. The debit, credit and balance check formulas keep working.
Is this template really free?
Yes. You give an email address to download it, and then it's yours to use with no further cost.
Can I change the pre-filled account list?
Yes. The 15 lines are a US-standard starting point — rename, delete, or add rows to match your own chart of accounts. The balance check keeps working regardless of how many rows you use.
Does this also reconcile the entry against my bank or GL?
No, this file only records and balances the journal entry itself. To tie the posted amounts out to your bank and GL per pay period, use the separate Payroll Reconciliation template.
What's the usage license?
Personal use or use within one business. It's not meant to be resold or redistributed as a template product.