Payroll Hub

Your payroll, your choice — connected to Kantivo for seamless accounting.

Introduction

Kantivo's Payroll Hub serves as your central command for payroll operations. Rather than tying you to a single embedded payroll engine with expensive platform fees, Kantivo integrates with whichever payroll service you prefer — giving you flexibility without sacrificing accounting accuracy.

The process follows three straightforward steps:

1. Launch your provider directly from Kantivo with one click
2. Process payroll within your provider's platform as usual
3. Import the results back into Kantivo as balanced journal entries

Choosing Your Payroll Provider

Configuring your preferred provider takes just a few seconds:

1. Navigate to Payroll from the main sidebar
2. Locate the "Your Payroll Provider" selector at the top of the hub
3. Choose from the list of supported providers or select "Other / Custom" for unlisted services
4. Kantivo saves your preference instantly — no confirmation needed

Provider preferences are stored independently for each company. Organizations managing multiple entities can assign a different payroll service to each one.

Processing Payroll

With your provider configured, the payroll workflow becomes effortless:

1. Click the "Run Payroll" action card on the hub
2. Kantivo opens your provider's payroll interface in a separate browser tab
3. Complete your payroll run following your provider's standard process
4. Export the payroll journal report or payroll summary as a CSV file
5. Return to Kantivo to bring the data into your books

Importing Journal Entries

Once you have your payroll CSV file ready:

1. Click "Import Journal Entry" from the Payroll Hub
2. Choose your provider from the selection grid to activate intelligent column detection
3. Upload your CSV via drag-and-drop or the file selector
4. Click "Upload & Detect Columns" to parse the file
5. Verify the column mapping — Kantivo automatically matches recognized column headers, with manual override available for any field
6. Specify the pay period range and disbursement date
7. Click "Preview Journal Entries" to inspect the proposed transaction
8. Confirm the summary — employee count, gross compensation, withholdings, and net disbursement — and verify the trial balance
9. Click "Post Journal Entries" to commit the transaction to your ledger

Quick Re-Import

After completing your first templated import, a "Quick Re-Import" card appears on the Payroll Hub. This shortcut streamlines recurring payroll by:

• Navigating directly to the file upload step
• Pre-selecting your most recently used template
• Bypassing provider selection entirely

For businesses running biweekly or monthly payroll, this reduces the entire import process to approximately 30 seconds — upload the latest file, verify the preview, and post.

Provider Directory

Kantivo ships with pre-configured import templates for ten major payroll platforms:

Provider not listed? Select "Other / Custom" and Kantivo's column recognition engine will attempt to match standard payroll header names automatically. Any undetected fields can be mapped manually and preserved in a custom template for future use.

How Payroll Accounting Entries Are Structured

Each payroll import generates a fully balanced double-entry transaction conforming to GAAP standards. A representative payroll entry appears as follows:

Kantivo maps each CSV column to the appropriate general ledger account and validates that total debits equal total credits before permitting the transaction to post.

Template Management

• Creating templates: During any import, activate the "Save as template" checkbox and provide a meaningful name
• Applying templates: Choose a saved template from the dropdown before uploading your file — column mapping applies instantly
• Removing templates: Custom templates can be deleted from the import interface; built-in provider templates are permanent

Templates capture the complete field-to-column relationship, eliminating manual mapping on subsequent imports. Each company maintains its own template library, allowing organizations with multiple entities to store provider-specific configurations independently.

Common Questions

Why does Kantivo connect to payroll providers instead of processing payroll directly?

Payroll processing demands specialized expertise in tax computation, regulatory filings, and ongoing compliance monitoring. Dedicated providers such as Gusto, ADP, and Patriot invest heavily in these capabilities. Kantivo concentrates on delivering exceptional accounting functionality and connects to payroll specialists for the operational side. The result is best-in-class performance in both domains without the compromises inherent in a one-size-fits-all approach.

What if my payroll service isn't in the provider list?

Any service capable of exporting payroll data as CSV or Excel is compatible with Kantivo. Choose "Other / Custom" as your provider, upload the export file, and map columns manually during the first import. Save the configuration as a template and all future imports will apply the same mapping automatically.

Can I adjust column mappings if auto-detection is inaccurate?

Absolutely. Step 2 of the import process displays every column from your file alongside dropdown selectors for each payroll field. Override any auto-detected mapping and save the corrected configuration as a template to prevent the same adjustment in the future.

What is the recommended import frequency?

Import after each completed pay run to keep your books current. Whether your payroll cadence is weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly, the Quick Re-Import feature ensures the process remains efficient regardless of frequency.

Which payroll-related accounts does Kantivo create automatically?

During company setup, Kantivo provisions the following accounts in your chart of accounts:

• 2200 Payroll Taxes Payable (Current Liabilities) — accumulated employee withholdings
• 2300 Benefits Payable (Current Liabilities) — accumulated benefit deductions
• 6600 Wages Expense (Expenses) — gross compensation costs
• 6700 Payroll Tax Expense (Expenses) — employer tax obligations
• 6800 Employee Benefits Expense (Expenses) — employer benefit contributions

Can each company in a multi-company setup use a different provider?

Yes. Provider preferences and saved templates are stored at the company level. Each entity within your Kantivo account can operate with its own payroll service and maintain independent template configurations.

Employee Document Attachments

Kantivo lets you attach files directly to employee profiles, keeping essential HR paperwork organized alongside the employee record it belongs to.

Uploading a Document

1. Open an employee's profile and navigate to the Documents tab
2. Select a document category from the dropdown (W-4, I-9, Offer Letter, Contract, ID/Passport, Certification, Performance Review, Disciplinary, or Other)
3. Click Upload File and choose a file from your computer
4. The document appears immediately in the file list

Supported File Types

PDF, PNG, JPG, GIF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xls, .xlsx), CSV, and plain text files are accepted. Maximum file size is 15 MB per upload.

Downloading and Removing Documents

Each row in the documents table includes a download button to retrieve the original file and a delete button to permanently remove it. Deleted documents cannot be recovered, so exercise caution before removing compliance-related files.

Document Categories

• W-4 and I-9 — Federal tax and employment eligibility forms
• Offer Letter / Contract — Employment agreements
• ID / Passport — Government-issued identification
• Certification — Professional licenses or training certificates
• Performance Review / Disciplinary — Internal HR records
• Other — Anything else relevant to the employee's file