How to map pay items to my General Ledger (GL) accounts

This article explains how you can map pay items to your General Ledger (GL) accounts using the Chart of Accounts feature in Remote. This helps ensure your payroll data aligns with your internal accounting system, making reconciliation and reporting easier and more accurate.

Note: You're responsible for keeping your Chart of Accounts accurate and up to date

In this article, we will cover:

• How to set up your chart accounts
• Map pay items to GL accounts

To access this feature, make sure:

• Your user role includes both Payroll and payments and Company management.
• Your legal entities are already set up in Remote.
• Your Chart of Accounts is already created or imported.

Set up your Chart of Accounts

1. Go to your Chart of Accounts

   In your dashboard, navigate to Company settings > Legal entities, select the relevant legal entity, then click on the Chart of accounts tab.

2. Add GL accounts

   Click the Add account dropdown. You’ll see two options:

   • Create a General Ledger (GL) account: Add each account manually.

     

   • Import .CSV file: Upload accounts in bulk.

     💡 Tip: You can import your chart of account file in CSV or use the template here.

     

3. Enter required details for each account Note: (If you’re using the “import csv file” flow, ensure you review closely. )
   • Account code: Must match your accounting software.
   • Account name: Should be identical to what’s used in your books.
   • Account type: Choose one of these: Assets, Liabilities, Expenses, Income, or Equity.

   • Description (optional): Add context for internal use.

     

4. Assign a suspense account

   If you haven’t already, assign a suspense account during setup. This can be a newly created account or an existing one. This is used to temporarily hold any unmapped or unclassified transactions.
   

5. Manage your accounts

   • You can edit the account name at any time.
   • You can’t edit the account code after it’s created.
   • You can’t delete accounts, but you can archive them when no longer needed i.e if not currently assigned to any pay item.

   Archiving helps preserve accurate historical data.

Remember to click Continue and Save changes.

Map pay items to GL accounts

1. Go to the Pay items tab

   Still within your legal entity settings, open the Pay items tab.
    

2. Start mapping

   Next to the pay item you want to assign, click the three dots and choose Map to general ledger (GL) account.
   

   Depending on the pay item, you may need to map:

   • A debit account
   • A credit account
   • Or both

   

   You can also bulk map pay items by clicking the checkboxes next to the items you want to map (or select all at once).

   

   Once selected, a blue “Map X items” button will appear at the top.

   Click it to open the GL mapping screen, where you can assign each pay item to the appropriate general ledger (GL) account.

   

   After mapping the accounts, click “Confirm Mapping”, then hit “Continue” to save your changes. 

3. Update existing mappings

   If you need to change the GL account assigned to a pay item, click the three dots again, choose Edit, and select the updated account. We also have the “bulk mapping”, where you can click on the checkbox on each line to map and a “Map now” button will appear on the table header.

   

Good to know

• You can only archive GL accounts, deletion is not supported to maintain audit-ready records.
• If you archive a mapped GL account, you’ll need to remap the pay item to an active account.
• Always use account codes and names that match your accounting software exactly to avoid mismatches during reconciliation.

See also: How to run reports to my General Ledger (GL) accounts