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Description

Personnel Costs: Recording Payroll, Controlling and Justifying Your Accounts

Move from the payroll journal to fully justified accounts, with no unexplained balances left on the balance sheet

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Payroll is often posted through an automated entry that nobody is able to explain. Employee-related liability accounts carry aged balances, leave provisions are rolled forward without any recalculation, and adjustments with pension or insurance bodies remain outstanding. At closing, reconciling payroll records with the accounts becomes a painful exercise.

These two days cover the full chain: reading the payroll journal, posting salary and contribution entries, handling absences, allowances and benefits, then justifying each account. The work is carried out on real payroll reports, with the build-up of a justification file that can be reused immediately.

Learning objectives

  • Read a payroll journal and identify the items to be recorded
  • Post salaries, contributions and advances
  • Record absences, allowances and benefits in kind
  • Measure and record the annual leave provision
  • Reconcile employee-related liability accounts with payroll records
  • Justify personnel accounts at closing

What makes this programme different

Entries are built from real anonymised payroll journals
A justification file for employee-related accounts is prepared and taken away by participants
The most frequent anomalies are traced in a deliberately flawed trial balance

Programme

1From the Payslip to the Payroll Journal

Read before you post

  • Structure of the payslip and nature of each component
  • Composition of the payroll journal and summary reports
  • Expense and liability accounts involved
  • Link between payroll registers, wage transfer files and the accounts

2Recording the Monthly Payroll

The monthly entry and its variants

  • Recording gross salaries and social or pension contributions
  • Handling advances, salary deductions and garnishments
  • Benefits in kind and reimbursement of business expenses
  • Payment of salaries through wage transfer channels and settlement with contribution bodies
  • Treatment of directors' and owners' remuneration

3Absences, Allowances and Specific Situations

The cases that trip people up

  • Sick leave, medical certificates and paid sick leave entitlements
  • End-of-service gratuity and final settlements on termination
  • Manpower supply, outsourced and seconded staff
  • Deferred bonuses and long-term incentive schemes

4Control, Justify and Close

Accounts that can be explained

  • Annual leave and air ticket provisions and related costs
  • Reconciliation of liability accounts with payroll and contribution statements
  • Analysis of aged balances and corrective adjustments
  • Build-up of the account justification file
  • Control points before handover to the external auditors

Who is it for

Accountants and accounting assistants, payroll officers new to accounting, and practice staff responsible for payroll and employee-cost matters on client files.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping and of the structure of a chart of accounts.

Dates & locations

24 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.