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v1.3.8

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How to run QB MX Payroll

Download as PDF

Start a QB MX Payroll run

Start here

What QB MX Payroll actually does

You give it the Mexico payroll workbook for a month. It gives you back two journal entries: one for the payroll itself, and one for the part of that month's cost that belongs to the following month.

What makes this process unusual is that there is nothing to choose. The month, the year, the day split and the provision date are all read out of the file. That is deliberate — every one of those is already stated inside the workbook, and asking you to retype them would only create a chance to disagree with it.

Words you will see

Journal entry (JE)
One accounting record, made of lines that must add up: total debits equal total credits.
Accrual / provision
Recording a cost in the month it was incurred rather than the month it is paid. Mexican payroll periods do not line up neatly with calendar months, so part of one month's payroll properly belongs to the next.
Main JE
The payroll cost that belongs to the month being booked.
Provision JE
The leftover part that belongs to the following month. It is dated the 5th of the next month.
Day split
How the month's cost is divided between those two entries. Meridian uses a fixed table based on a normalised 30.33-day month (364 days ÷ 12), so the two halves always add back to the whole — no leftover, no negative days.
Exchange rate
Where a figure has to be expressed in a second currency. It comes from the file or the run's stored settings; you are not asked for it on the form.
The one thing that matters

Getting the file right

Because everything is read from the workbook, a workbook Meridian cannot read is the only real failure mode this process has. It is worth two minutes of checking before you upload.

Before you start, have this ready
  • One payroll export for the month — an Excel workbook.
  • Nothing else. No period, no dates, no figures to type.

Two shapes of file, both accepted

ShapeHow Meridian finds the month
Standard workbook From the sheet name, which must read Costo nomina {Month} {Year} — for example Costo nomina Julio 2026.
Raw export From the title row at the very top of the first sheet (or, if that can't be read, the FECHA column). A one-sheet file with an ACUMULADO… title and Código or No. Empleado headers is a raw export: its sheet name is not used, so renaming the sheet changes nothing.
If the month cannot be read, the run fails on purpose It will not guess and book into a month it inferred from today's date. You will see one of two messages: “Could not find payroll sheet” (the sheet is named something else) or “Could not detect month/year from the file” (the sheet is named right but the month and year are not in it). Both are fixed in the workbook, then re-uploaded.

The file name itself does not matter. Only what is inside it. Rename the file however suits you.

Step by step

Running QB MX Payroll

1
Open QB MX Payroll and drop the file in

Click QB MX Payroll in the left-hand menu, then drag the workbook onto the upload area.

2
Read what it says it found

This is the only checking step you get, so use it. Meridian tells you the month and year it read out of the file. If that is not the month you meant to book, stop. The file is wrong, or it is the wrong file.

3
Start the run

There are no settings to answer. Pressing the button uploads and starts processing in one action.

4
Wait

There is no review, no preview and no approval step — this process has no human step at all once it starts. You can close the tab; the run continues and will be waiting in Runs.

5
Collect two journal entries

Labelled Main and Provision. Check the tie-out strip, download the bundle, load them into the accounting system.

Why there is no confirmation screen An extra “are you sure?” page between upload and processing would add a click and tell you nothing you did not already see on the upload screen. Nothing is written to your accounting system by this run in any case — you upload the files yourself at the end.
When it finishes

The two entries you get

FileWhat it isDated
Main The payroll cost belonging to the month you booked. Within the month
Provision The share of that cost belonging to the following month. The 5th of the next month

Together they account for the whole month. The split comes from the fixed day table, not from anything you chose.

Check the tie-out

Above the files is a strip comparing total debits with total credits. They must be equal. If they are not, do not upload the files — report it with the run open.

Then

  1. Download the bundle.
  2. Import both entries into the accounting system.
  3. The run and its figures stay in Runs as the audit trail.
Booked the wrong month? Fix the workbook so it names the right month, and run it again. Reversing something already loaded into the accounting system is done there, not in Meridian.
Reference

Run states and troubleshooting

What each status means

StatusWhat is happeningWhat you do
ParsingReading the workbook and finding the month.Wait.
BookingBuilding the two entries.Wait. You can close the tab.
BookedFinished. Both files ready.Download and load them.
FailedUsually the month could not be read from the file.See the table below.
ExpiredLeft unfinished too long.Start again.
SupersededA later run replaced this one.Use the newer run.

QB MX Payroll has no Blocked state and no Retry button — there is nothing to review mid-run, so there is nothing to come back to.

Common questions

ProblemAnswer
“Could not find payroll sheet” The workbook has no sheet named Costo nomina {Month} {Year}. Rename the sheet in Excel and upload again.
“Could not detect month/year” The sheet name or title row is there but the month and year cannot be read from it. Check the spelling of the month.
It says a different month than I expected Trust the file, not your memory — then check you uploaded the file you meant to. Do not proceed until they agree.
Where do I set the period? You do not. That is the design. If the file says the wrong month, the file is what gets fixed.
Why is the provision dated the 5th? It is a fixed rule: the provision entry always lands on the 5th of the month after the one you booked.
The day split looks odd It is based on a normalised 30.33-day month rather than the real calendar length, so that the main and provision halves always add back to exactly the whole month.
I cannot see QB MX Payroll in the menu Your account has not been granted it. An administrator adds it under Settings → Roles.
The one thing to remember This process trusts the workbook completely. Every figure it produces traces back to something inside that file — so the minute you check is the minute after upload, when it tells you which month it read.