Justworks + NetSuite Integration

Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that handles payroll, benefits, HR compliance, and workers' comp for small and mid-sized businesses. It simplifies the people side of your operations. But when payroll runs in Justworks and accounting runs in NetSuite, someone has to bridge the gap. That usually means downloading payroll reports, building journal entries in spreadsheets, and entering them into NetSuite every pay period. The Justworks + NetSuite integration automates that bridge, turning payroll data into properly coded NetSuite journal entries without the manual work.

How Justworks + NetSuite Works

Justworks processes payroll, calculates taxes, and administers benefits as your co-employer. The integration extracts the financial output from each pay run and translates it into NetSuite transactions. Because Justworks operates as a PEO, the data structure differs from traditional payroll providers, and the integration accounts for those differences.

The flow works as follows:

1. Payroll runs in Justworks on your normal schedule
2. After the pay run finalizes, the integration retrieves payroll register data
3. Gross wages, taxes, deductions, and employer contributions map to your NetSuite GL accounts
4. Department and class allocations apply based on employee assignments
5. Journal entries post to NetSuite with full line-item detail
6. Employee records sync for new hires, terminations, and organizational changes
7. Benefits costs, including health insurance and retirement plan contributions, post to their designated accounts

Because Justworks is a PEO, some costs like workers' comp and state unemployment are handled at the PEO level. The integration maps these administrative costs to the appropriate expense accounts so your P&L reflects the true cost of employment.

Key Features

• Automated payroll journal entries: Each Justworks pay run generates a complete journal entry in NetSuite, coded to the correct accounts with department and class breakdowns
• PEO fee separation: Justworks' PEO administrative fees separate from actual payroll costs in the NetSuite posting, giving you clear visibility into what you pay Justworks versus what goes to employees
• Employee data sync: New hires added in Justworks create corresponding employee records in NetSuite with proper subsidiary, department, and class assignments
• Benefits cost allocation: Employer-paid health insurance, 401(k) match, commuter benefits, and other Justworks-administered benefits post to designated GL accounts
• Tax liability tracking: Federal, state, and local tax withholdings and employer tax obligations map to the correct liability accounts
• Historical data import: For companies adding the integration after running Justworks for some time, we can backfill historical payroll journals for a consistent ledger

Common Use Cases

Growing companies outgrowing manual processes. Justworks is popular with companies in the 25-200 employee range. At that size, manual payroll posting takes meaningful time every pay period. The integration lets finance focus on analysis rather than data entry.

Companies that need department-level cost visibility. Justworks reports do not always break down costs by department the way your NetSuite chart of accounts requires. The integration applies your allocation rules to create the granularity your reporting needs.

Startups preparing for their first audit. Having clean, automated payroll entries in NetSuite from the start makes your first financial audit significantly smoother. Auditors can trace from Justworks payroll register to NetSuite journal entry without manual reconciliation workpapers.

Multi-state companies with complex tax jurisdictions. As you hire across states, tax withholding and employer tax obligations multiply. The integration handles the GL mapping for each jurisdiction so your finance team does not need to become payroll tax experts.

Getting Started

Justworks + NetSuite integration typically takes 2-4 weeks to implement. The primary setup work is mapping Justworks' payroll output categories to your NetSuite chart of accounts and configuring department allocations. We test with one or two live pay runs before going fully live.

If your finance team currently spends more than an hour per pay period entering payroll data into NetSuite, this integration is worth a conversation.

Talk to us about Justworks integration

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the integration handle Justworks' PEO model differently from standard payroll?expand_more

Can we get journal entries at the employee level or only department level?expand_more

What happens when we add new benefits plans in Justworks?expand_more

Does the integration handle year-end adjustments and W-2 reconciliation?expand_more

Can we run the integration retroactively for past pay periods?expand_more