Meet Pyro.
Most of the time, Pyro is nowhere to be seen.
Payroll runs.
People get paid.
STP is reported.
Super moves.
The accounts reconcile.
Exactly how payroll should be.
What Feeds a Payroll Dragon?
Pyro isn't the person making the mistake.
He's the creature waiting around for the leftovers.
Leave enough unresolved payroll problems lying around,
and Pyro has himself a banquet.
The Pyro Alarm
You don't have to wait until payroll is breathing fire.
Sometimes the first clue is simply smoke.
Early warning gives you a chance to find the cause before the same issue gets another payday.
Does the Payroll Story Join Up?
Payroll is not one number sitting inside payroll software.
It leaves evidence all through the books.
The pay run.
The bank payment.
STP.
PAYG.
Super.
Payroll clearing.
Different pieces. Same payroll story.
Pyro's Charge Sheet
We followed the smoke.
We found the evidence.
And there was Pyro.
There is only one problem with the case.
Pyro didn't create the payroll problem.
NOT THE CAUSE.
JUST THE CONSEQUENCE.
Pyro feeds on unresolved payroll environments.
He can be found beside the problem, but he cannot be blamed for creating it.
You can only banish him.
Pyro Has Been Spotted Before.
Payroll problems have a habit of travelling.
These are three places Pyro has already appeared in the My Great Bookkeeper story.
Payroll
The full payroll story — information, processing, review, payment, reporting and reconciliation.
🥕 View SightingBAS Lodgment
PAYG withholding connects the payroll story to the wider activity-statement story.
🥕 View SightingXero Payroll Date Errors
What happens when payroll dates and actual payment dates stop telling the same story?
🥕 View SightingIs Pyro Hiding in Your Payroll?
You don't need to see flames to have a payroll problem.
Let's look for smoke.
It is a quick payroll systems check designed to identify areas that may deserve a closer look.
For example, a payroll clearing account may legitimately contain timing items at a particular point in time.
The important question is whether the balance can be explained, reconciled and cleared as expected.
How Do You Banish a Payroll Dragon?
Not panic.
Not another rushed pay run.
Not hoping the unexplained balance disappears next month.
Remove what feeds him.
Then fix the system that produced the history. No food.
No fire.
No Pyro.
This Is Where We Want Pyro.
When payroll is working properly, there is nothing interesting for a payroll dragon to eat.
Clean data.
Calm payroll. Pyro doesn't have to be destroyed.
Just don't wake him.
Let's Get Pyro Back to Sleep.
If payroll errors keep repeating,
the clearing account carries a balance nobody can explain,
the dates don't line up,
or the payroll story simply isn't joining together,
tell us what is happening.
We can follow the evidence,
look at the bookkeeping behind the payroll,
and help build stronger systems around what happens next.