[GNC] Payroll - basic

[Wm Tarr]

Looking on-line to see if there is a prescribed format for Canadian pay 
slips (confusingly called paystubs and nothing to do with cheque stubs) 
I came across

Free Canadian Pay Stub Generator [No Signup] - Download PDF 
<https://smoothledger.com/payslip-generator/canada>

and similar and am now left wondering why you don't just use gnucash for 
the accounting (and possibly cheque printing if desired) and do the 
payslip the easy way?  This seems like a problem that someone else has 
already solved.

Wm

On 2026-08-02 17:56, J. Richard Herbert wrote:
>
> Thanks William and Adrian,
>
>     Wm wrote: "Nice catch, Adrien.  I thought that was the bit Richard
>     couldn't do and didn't think to try the obvious.
>     Richard: perhaps you should remind us again what it is you are
>     getting stuck on?"
>
>     Adrien wrote: "I don't use the checks feature, and perhaps indeed
>     it won't work for you the way you need, but what happens if you
>     select the transaction and choose File > Print Checks...?  You
>     could do a test output to file (say, PDF) to examine the results.
>     I just did this for a cash account transaction and it created a
>     document as if the transaction were a check. While I use the
>     Business Features, this transaction wasn't involving them at all.
>     In short, you should theoretically be able to print any
>     transaction in any account as a 'check'."
>
> Placing the various splits for payroll into an entry in a checking 
> account and then File -> Print Checks cannot not be used for payroll:
>
>   * The memo or account path for each split is nicely printed to a
>     check stub so a cheque might be able to provide paystub detail.
>   * However, the problem with this method is that payroll has expenses
>     and liability account  entries. In that, there are negative and
>     positive entries that change their negatiive/positive when saving
>     the transaction.  So, split amounts on the stub are wrong and
>     transaction split entries are recorded wrong.
>
> However, when doing payroll as a voucher, line entries go in correctly 
> and can be printed as a report for a pay stub. When printing a check 
> for the voucher, the 3 voucher check prints one account line - payable 
> transfer or the main entry Meme when using  SPLITS-ACCOUNT and 
> SPLITS-MEMO in the "voucher.chk" file. for format.
>
> I am pasteing in what printing the voucher can look like for payroll 
> paystub (with redacts for sensitive information since I used a clients 
> name and my business Gnucash books for a test). I also included a line 
> if payroll advances are used. The yellow highlights are what I am 
> working on to address with a request.
>
>   * Different tax number for payroll vs HST with the last 6 digits
>     RT0001 versus RP0001
>   * Blank lines have an amount in total and so are not blank.
>   * There is no needs for a tax line
>   * The payment comment does not work for payroll
>   * The last line - is not appropriate for payroll
>
> Thanks Richard
>
>