MosoFin · Payroll reconciliation, in plain words

Does what payroll says we paid match the bank and the books, taxes included?

Four systems keep a record of each payroll. They are the payroll software, your books, the bank, and what you filed with and paid to the tax authority. This skill compares them. It shows each difference, and the late tax payment first.

The 20-second version

You give it a period and the payroll files. It compares the payroll report with your books, the net pay with the bank, and each tax you owe with what you paid. Then it compares the tax filing with the books. It tells you what agrees, what does not, and why. It suggests a correction for each item. It never pays anything and never changes your books.

Where the money goes

Gross pay splits in two: pay for your staff, and money you hold for others

Each payroll starts with gross pay, the pay before deductions. Some of it goes to your staff as net pay. You keep the rest for a short time and then pay it to the tax authority or a provider. Your own employer costs go to the same place.

Example figures for a made-up company, Northbrook Trading, for July to September 2026, in dollars. Every tax figure comes from Northbrook's payroll provider report. The page uses no tax rate. When you owe a tax, your books show a payable for it. When you pay, the payable goes down by that amount¹. Accountants call these payables payroll liabilities.

Four boxes in the picture are the four records that must agree: the register, the bank, your books, and what you filed and paid. The payroll register is the report from the payroll software. Accountants call your books the general ledger, or GL. The skill compares each pair that can disagree.

What a run finds

One quarter at Northbrook Trading, five checks

Northbrook pays its staff each month in US dollars. It also paid one bonus run on 15 September. A payroll provider calculates the pay. Northbrook makes its federal tax deposits itself. The owner runs the skill on Monday 19 October for the quarter that ended on Wednesday 30 September 2026.

Check	Northbrook's figures	What the skill says
Register to books	Register 150,000. Books 150,300. Bridge: −4,000 wages for software that Northbrook builds, +2,500 wages earned and not yet paid, +1,800 manual entry JE-0912	The bridge explains all 300. The skill lists JE-0912 separately, because no payroll run is behind it
Employer costs	Register 14,250. Books 14,250	Agrees
Net pay to bank	Register 113,700. Bank 112,450. Check #2214, 1,250, not cashed by 30 September	Agrees on the bank statement, with one timing item. A returned deposit for employee EE-07 became that check
Federal taxes owed	12,900 + 39,600 − 25,500 = 27,000. Books 27,000	Agrees with the books, and 12,600 for August is 15 days late
401(k) owed	3,500 + 10,500 − 10,300 = 3,700. Books 3,700	Agrees. Not due until 7 October
State unemployment owed	600 + 450 − 1,200 = −150. Books −150	Below zero. Northbrook paid 600 twice, on 30 July and 3 August
Quarterly filing	Tax on the Q3 Form 941 39,600. Tax in the books 39,600. Federal taxable wages 142,500 on both	Agrees
Wage bases	Each tax against its own base, from the register	Agrees. The skill shows totals and counts only

Check

Northbrook's figures

What the skill says

Register 150,000. Books 150,300. Bridge: −4,000 wages for software that Northbrook builds, +2,500 wages earned and not yet paid, +1,800 manual entry JE-0912

The bridge explains all 300. The skill lists JE-0912 separately, because no payroll run is behind it

Employer costs

Agrees

Net pay to bank

Agrees on the bank statement, with one timing item. A returned deposit for employee EE-07 became that check

Federal taxes owed

12,900 + 39,600 − 25,500 = 27,000. Books 27,000

Agrees with the books, and 12,600 for August is 15 days late

401(k) owed

3,500 + 10,500 − 10,300 = 3,700. Books 3,700

Agrees. Not due until 7 October

State unemployment owed

600 + 450 − 1,200 = −150. Books −150

Below zero. Northbrook paid 600 twice, on 30 July and 3 August

Quarterly filing

Tax on the Q3 Form 941 39,600. Tax in the books 39,600. Federal taxable wages 142,500 on both

Agrees

Wage bases

Each tax against its own base, from the register

Agrees. The skill shows totals and counts only

Example figures for a made-up company, in dollars. Form 941 is the quarterly federal payroll tax return in the US. The owner uploaded it. EE-07 is a reference number: the skill never shows an employee's name or pay.

The register shows pay on the day that staff got it. The books show wages in the period when staff earned them. So the books show 2,500 more for wages that staff earned in September and did not get yet. The 4,000 is wages for software that Northbrook builds. The books record it as an asset, so it is not in wage expense. Both differences are correct, and the skill documents them.

The net pay check has two levels. The payments in your books prove that the bookkeeping agrees. Only the bank statement proves that the money left. At Northbrook the owner uploaded the statement, so the result says "bank-verified". Without the statement, the skill says that it compared net pay with the payments in the books, and nothing more.

The mistake it catches

The federal account agrees, and a deposit is still 15 days late

The usual test for a payable is the roll-forward: start balance, plus what you owed, less what you paid. If the result equals the books, the account looks correct. At Northbrook it equals the books exactly. The skill then asks a second question: is any of that balance past its due date?

What the skill does

Roll-forward, then the due date of each part

12,900 + 39,600 − 25,500$27,000

Books on 30 September$27,000

September, due Thu 15 Oct$14,400

August, due Tue 15 Sep, not paid$12,600

The roll-forward agrees, and the skill raises the overdue flag. On 30 September, the August deposit is 30 − 15 = 15 days late.

The common shortcut

Stop when the roll-forward agrees with the books

12,900 + 39,600 − 25,500$27,000

Books on 30 September$27,000

Difference$0

Late depositsnot checked

The account looks settled. Nothing on this side shows that the August deposit is unpaid.

Overdue$12,600Federal taxes for August, due Tuesday 15 September

Days late on 30 September1530 − 15. This example measures it on the last day of the period

Not yet due$14,400September, with the bonus run. Due Thursday 15 October

The due date came from the owner. Northbrook is a monthly depositor. In the US, a monthly depositor deposits by the 15th of the next month. If the 15th is not a business day, the deadline moves to the next business day². Under Publication 15 (2026), an employer is a monthly depositor if its taxes for a lookback period were $50,000 or less². The skill never guesses a due date. Without one, it cannot raise the overdue flag, and it says so.

The late item goes first in the results. The IRS penalty grows the later the deposit is⁴. Part of the 12,600 is money that Northbrook took from its staff's pay for income tax, social security and Medicare. In the US, a person who must pay that money and willfully does not pay it can be personally liable for a penalty³. The skill does not calculate a penalty, and this page is not legal advice. Other countries have their own rules.

The second mistake

Why it never checks the tax against total pay

A quick test multiplies total pay by a tax rate and compares the result with the tax. That test fails for honest reasons. Each tax has its own base, the pay that the tax applies to. Accountants call it the taxable wage base.

At Northbrook, staff put 7,500 into the 401(k) before tax. That amount makes the base for federal income tax smaller: 150,000 − 7,500 = 142,500. It does not change the base for social security or Medicare.
Social security stops at an annual cap for each employee. Two Northbrook employees passed the cap. Their pay above it, 9,000, is not in the base: 150,000 − 9,000 = 141,000.
State unemployment has its own cap for each employee. Five employees passed it.

So a check on total pay shows a difference where no error exists. The skill uses the register, which holds each employee's base. It does the per-employee arithmetic in the session and shows only totals and counts, for example "2 employees at the cap". Without the register, the skill writes NOT PERFORMED for this check. It does not put a check on total pay in its place.

The same register lets the skill compare the quarterly filing with the books. In the US, the IRS compares the four quarterly Forms 941 with the year-end wage statements, Forms W-2. If they do not agree, the IRS or the Social Security Administration may contact you⁵. The skill asks you to clear each difference before the wage statements go to your staff.

What it puts first

Five items, in order of what they can cost

The skill sorts the exceptions by consequence, not by size. A late tax deposit costs more each day. A wrong filing can mean corrected wage statements for your staff. A difference in timing costs nothing.

Order	Item	Amount	Why it is in this place	Suggested next step
1	Federal deposit for August	12,600	Late since 15 September. Penalty and interest grow from the due date	The owner makes the deposit
2	Manual entry JE-0912, 24 September, memo "reclass contractor"	1,800	If it is wages, the register, the Q3 filing and the year-end W-2s are short. People often find this kind of error last	The owner and the accountant decide. Any entry is a proposal
3	State unemployment, below zero	−150	Northbrook paid 600 twice. A payable below zero is always an exception	Claim it back, or show it as a prepayment
4	Check #2214, employee EE-07	1,250	Timing only	Carry it forward. Follow it if nobody cashes it
5	Software wages and wages earned, not yet paid	4,000 and 2,500	Correct differences	Document them. No correction

Order

Item

Amount

Why it is in this place

Suggested next step

Federal deposit for August

12,600

Late since 15 September. Penalty and interest grow from the due date

The owner makes the deposit

Manual entry JE-0912, 24 September, memo "reclass contractor"

1,800

If it is wages, the register, the Q3 filing and the year-end W-2s are short. People often find this kind of error last

The owner and the accountant decide. Any entry is a proposal

State unemployment, below zero

−150

Northbrook paid 600 twice. A payable below zero is always an exception

Claim it back, or show it as a prepayment

Check #2214, employee EE-07

1,250

Timing only

Carry it forward. Follow it if nobody cashes it

Software wages and wages earned, not yet paid

4,000 and 2,500

Correct differences

Document them. No correction

Example figures for a made-up company, in dollars. By size alone, the order would be 12,600, 4,000, 2,500, 1,800, 1,250, 150. By consequence, JE-0912 moves up to second place, and the −150 comes before the 1,250.

The skill does not decide what JE-0912 is. It lists the entry and says what each answer means. If it is not wages, a reversing entry corrects it. The skill can propose that entry through payroll-journal-entry-builder. A person posts it.

How a run starts

Nine items, in one message

The skill asks these first, in one short batch. It asks only for what it cannot already see. Items D, E and F are requests for files.

Use MosoFin for this run, or upload the data yourself?
MosoFin is the connection to your books and the other platforms that you link. With it, the skill reads from there. Without it, you upload the files, and the checks are the same. It asks only if your account has the MosoFin tools.
Which company? In a group, does one payroll service pay staff for several companies?
The books of each company hold only that company's share. The skill runs once for each company, and never picks one for you.
Which period: a month, a quarter or a year?
Required. The checks against tax filings and wage bases apply at the end of a quarter and a year.
Please give the payroll register for the period, with every extra run, for example a bonus run.
Required. It is the other side of the books, and the only record of each tax's base. Without it, the wage-base check is NOT PERFORMED.
Please give the bank statement, or the payment records, for net pay.
Required. Payment records prove the bookkeeping. Only the statement proves that the money left. The result says which one it used.
Please give the records of each payment to the tax authority and to each provider.
Required for the payables check. They give the "paid" line of each roll-forward. On the MosoFin path, the skill reads the payments, but not the authority's receipt.
When is each payment due: a day of the month, or a rule?
Required for the overdue flag. The skill never guesses a date. US federal dates follow the deposit schedule². In the UK, for example, an electronic payment to HMRC must arrive by the 22nd of the next month⁷.
What are the taxable wage base rules for each tax: deductions before tax, and caps?
Required for the wage-base check. Each tax applies to its own base, not to total pay. The skill never guesses a rule.
Does a payroll provider pay the taxes for you?
Required. If your provider does not pay them, the IRS still holds you responsible⁶. So you check each payment with the tax authority yourself.

Then it reads the plan back and waits for your yes. The skill's own sample is for a UK company. For this US example, it reads like this:

"Reconciling payroll for Northbrook Trading for the quarter ended 30 September 2026 — register, GL, bank and filings — from the files you uploaded: the provider register (4 runs), GL detail and trial balances at 30 June and 30 September, the bank statement for July to September, the remittance records and the Q3 Form 941 as filed. Federal deposits due the 15th of the next month; 401(k) the 7th; state unemployment quarterly. Wage bases: as stated by you. Shall I go ahead?"

It never repeats one person's pay back to you.

What you need

Connect your books, or upload eight items

Connected with MosoFin

It reads the books side, and you supply the rest

It reads back the workspace and the company file by name, and waits for your yes
It checks if a payroll platform is also connected. If yes, it reads the register and the wage bases too
It reads every payroll expense and payable account, the balances at both ends of the period, every entry and every manual adjustment
It reads the payments for net pay and to each authority, by payee
Without a payroll platform connection, you still give it the register. You also give it the bank statement, the due dates, the wage base rules, the provider arrangement and the filing figures. None of them is in the books

Uploading instead

The checklist that the skill gives you

Payroll register for every run in the period, CSV, XLSX or PDF. Required
Your books: entries on every payroll expense and payable account, and the balances at both ends, CSV or XLSX. A trial balance works. Required
Bank statement or payment records for net pay, PDF or CSV. Required
Payment records for each payable, PDF, CSV or XLSX. Required for the payables check
Company name, country, currency, fiscal year, the period, and if a provider pays the taxes, typed in the chat. Required
Due dates and wage base rules, typed in the chat. Required for the overdue flag and the wage-base check
Tax filing figures and wage statement totals, PDF, CSV or XLSX. Recommended
Last period's reconciliation, PDF, CSV or XLSX. Recommended

What you get back

Eight sheets, from the summary to the coverage

SummaryEach check with its status and the total that does not agree. It names the sources that it read and the sources that you supplied, and if it did the wage-base check.

Register to booksThe bridge for gross pay and employer costs, with manual adjustments in a separate list.

Net pay to bankThe tie, with the label "bank-verified" or "recorded".

PayablesA roll-forward for each payable, with flags for overdue and negative balances.

FilingsWages and taxes in the books, against the filings and the wage statements.

Wage basesThe base of each tax, from totals and counts only. Or NOT PERFORMED, with the reason.

ExceptionsEach item with its type, amount, cause, correction, owner and status, in order of consequence.

CoverageFor each check, where the figures came from and on which date.

The summary has lines for the preparer and the reviewer, and the answer ends with a Data sources line. The skill asks before it makes an Excel file, Payroll_Reconciliation_Q3-2026_Northbrook Trading.xlsx. If you say no, you get the same sheets as tables in the chat. After you see the results, it offers to save your rules for the next run: account map, wage base rules, due dates and provider arrangement. It never saves balances, wage figures, exceptions or anybody's pay.

Two jobs go to other skills. To bring the payroll clearing account to zero in detail, use payroll-clearing-reconciliation. To build a correcting journal entry, use payroll-journal-entry-builder.

What it never does

Six rules that never bend

Never reads MosoFin without asking. A connected account is not permission to read it.
Never reads anything before you answer the nine items and say yes to the read-back.
Never writes, updates or deletes anything, in any system. Every entry it produces is a proposal for a person to post. So it cannot pay a tax or send anything to your provider: a person does that.
Payroll data is personal. It reports totals and accounts, never one employee at a time. It names a person's item by a reference number only, and never saves anybody's pay.
Never puts a check on total pay in place of the wage-base check. Without the register, that check is NOT PERFORMED.
Never reports a tie against a source that it did not get. It never guesses a wage base rule, a due date or the status of a payment.

Words you'll hear

Eight terms, in plain English

Payroll register: The report from your payroll software for each run: gross pay, deductions, employer costs, net pay and the base of each tax.
Register-to-GL bridge: A short schedule that explains why the payroll total and the total in your books are different.
Payroll liability: A tax or deduction that you owe and did not pay yet. Your books show it as a payable¹.
Remittance: A payment of money that you hold to the authority or provider that owns it. The authority sets the due date.
Taxable wage base: The pay that one tax applies to. It is often different from gross pay, and different for each tax.
Cap: An annual limit for each employee. Above it, a tax or contribution stops.
Wage statement: The yearly pay summary for each employee. In the US it is Form W-2, and its totals must agree with the quarterly returns⁵.
Payroll provider: A company that runs your payroll and can pay the taxes for you. You stay responsible for those taxes⁶.

Sources

Where the facts on this page come from

The sources are an accounting textbook, five IRS pages and one UK government page. We found each one on 28 October 2026 in search results. We did not open the pages, so follow each link for today's wording. What the skill does comes from the skill's own files.

OpenStax: Principles of Accounting, Volume 1, 12.5 Record Transactions Incurred in Preparing PayrollThe employer records a payable for each payroll tax and benefit that it owes. When it pays, it reduces each payable and its cash.
IRS (US): Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax GuideThe deposit schedule comes from a lookback period. In the 2026 edition, $50,000 or less makes a monthly depositor. A monthly depositor deposits by the 15th of the next month, or the next business day.
IRS (US): Employment taxes and the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP)A person who must pay the taxes withheld from employees, and willfully does not pay them, can be personally liable. This is a US rule.
IRS (US): Failure to Deposit PenaltyThe penalty grows with the number of days that a deposit is late, from its due date.
IRS (US): Instructions for Form 941 (Rev. March 2026)The IRS compares the four quarterly Forms 941 with the yearly W-2 totals. If they do not agree, the IRS or the Social Security Administration may contact the employer.
IRS (US): Outsourcing payroll and third-party payersA payroll provider does not take over the employer's duty to file and pay on time. If the provider fails, the employer stays responsible.
HMRC (UK): Running payroll / Payroll information to report to HMRC (gov.uk)An employer reports pay on or before each payday. Payment is a separate step: cleared funds by the 22nd of the month after the tax month, if the employer pays electronically.

No outside authority backs the four-source frame, the six causes in the bridge, the eight sheets, the NOT PERFORMED rule or the order by consequence. They are the skill's own rules. We made up Northbrook Trading and every figure in the example for this page. Every tax figure in it comes from Northbrook's payroll provider report, and the page states no tax rate and no wage cap.

About this skill

This page explains payroll-reconciliation, from the MosoFin finance skills library, MosoFin/mosofin-finance-skills on GitHub. Read the skill on GitHub → The skill is in the card format on the main branch. It merged in PR #1 on 26 October 2026, and corrections from a bookkeeping audit followed on 27 October 2026. This page describes that version. The skill works in any country. This example is in the US because the sources are US sources.