paycheck question

[Mike C.]

Just a suggestion but I would reduce the entries to make it simpler by:

Income: Salary (Taxable)                                   $700
Income: Salary (Pretax)                                       300
Liability: (Tax)                         300
Expense: S125 benefit             100
Asset: 401k                             200
Asset: Bank Account               300
Expense: Social Security            75
Expense: Medicare                    25

It was suggested by others to treat withholding and estimated taxes as a 
negative liability and it has worked well for me.  It is really not an 
expense until you file your income taxes.  It is really an accounts 
payable but that is not available except for business accounts.  I 
assume you are in the US since you have a 401k so you probably have 
Social Security and Medicare deductions that have to be accounted for 
somewhere.
Mike

On 1/30/2010 10:49 AM, Jeff Kletsky wrote:
> I'm not an accountant or tax attorney. Given that, you can take my 
> answer as you wish.
>
> I wanted to track:
> * total salary paid
> * taxable portion of salary
> * pre-tax deductions portion of salary
> * Where it all went
>
> I made a decision that, for me, tracking total salary as well as the 
> pre-tax portion was sufficient, as I could subtract the two come tax 
> time. If you use a professional tax preparer or accountant, you should 
> ask them on this all anyways.
>
> So, super-simplified, my paycheck-related accounts look something like:
>
> Income:Salary
> Income:Salary:Pre-Tax
>
> Expense:Tax
> Expense:S125 Benefit
>
> Asset:Bank Account
> Asset:401(k)
>
> and a paycheck looks something like:
>
> Income:Salary            1000   -- my total pay
>
> Expense:Tax              -300   -- taxes just an expense
>
> Income:Salary            -100   -- Section 125 benefits
> Income:Salary:Pre-Tax     100   -- are paid w/ pre-tax dollars
> Expense:S125 Benefit     -100
>
> Income:Salary            -200   -- 401(k) deposits are also
> Income:Salary:Pre-Tax     200   -- paid w/ pre-tax dollars
> Asset:401(k)             -200
>
> Asset:Bank Account       -400   -- and the rest goes in my bank
>
>
>
>
> At the end of the transaction:
>
> Income:Salary             700
> Income:Salary:Pre-Tax     300
>
> Expense:Tax              -300
> Expense:S125 Benefit     -100
>
> Asset:401(k)              200
> Asset:Bank Account        600
>
> While I could have made Income:Salary:Taxable and split all my salary 
> up that way, then used Income:Salary as a roll-up, it would have meant 
> one more pair of entries on each paycheck. I haven't decided if I want 
> to do that or not -- it will depend on how budgeting works in 2.4.x.
>
> On 1/29/10 10:40 PM, Jeffrey Schneider wrote:
>> Hi,
>> I am really enjoying gnucash, thanks.
>> I am using a standard household file.
>> When entering a paycheck with all the deductions,
>> where do I place a deduction for my retirement contributions?
>> Thanks,
>> Jeff
>>
>
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