Tax payments

Tax Payments is your register of every tax payment: payroll deposits, federal unemployment deposits, state withholding, estimated tax, balances due on returns, sales tax and so on. You use it in two steps. First you schedule a payment, which notes what you intend to pay. Then, once you have actually paid the agency, you record it with the confirmation number the agency gave you. Recording is what counts the payment toward your deposits and filings and posts it to your books.

Bokapsys does not send money. You pay through the agency’s own service (for federal payroll tax, EFTPS, the IRS’s Electronic Federal Tax Payment System; for a state, the state’s website) and then record it here.

1. 1Schedule payment
2. 2Pay the agency yourself
3. 3Record payment with confirmation number
4. 4Posted to your books

Open it with Tax → Tax Payments.

Recording a payroll deposit? There is a shortcut

For a federal, FUTA or state withholding deposit, the quickest way is Record deposit on the period’s row in Tax → Deposits Due. It schedules and records the payment in one step, already linked to the right period, and the payment then appears here as Paid. See Deposits due.

Before you start

• Know the amount and what it is for. For payroll deposits, Tax → Deposits Due gives the amount and the period. See Deposits due.
• For a payroll deposit, know the pay date of the payroll it covers.
• Make the payment with the agency first, and keep the confirmation number (EFTPS calls it an acknowledgement number). You cannot record a payment without it.
• Make sure the accounting period of the date you paid is open. See Posting settings.
• For a state withholding payment, the state’s registration exists under Tax Setup → Jurisdictions.
• Your role needs permission to schedule tax payments (for Schedule payment and cancelling) and to release them (for Record payment and Void). If a button is missing, ask the person who manages your team. See Team and roles.

Schedule a payment

There are two ways to start.

• From Tax Payments, for a payroll deposit or any payment not tied to a filing: click Schedule payment.
• From a filing, for a balance due on a return you generated: open the filing under Tax → Filings and click Schedule payment (shown when the filing has money still owed). The amount and who it is paid to are filled in from the filing, and the payment is linked to it.

1. Open Tax → Tax Payments and click Schedule payment (or Schedule payment on the filing). The Schedule a tax payment window opens.
2. Choose Paid to. If you choose Something else, also choose What it is for.
3. Enter the Amount and the Date you plan to pay, and check How you will pay.
4. For a deposit not tied to a filing, say which period it covers (see the table).
5. Click Schedule. You see Payment scheduled, and the payment appears in the table with the status Scheduled.

Schedule payment fields

Field	What it means	Required?	Example	Where to find it
Paid to	Who the money goes to: IRS, Form 941 deposit (federal income tax withheld, social security and Medicare), IRS, Form 940 deposit (federal unemployment tax), …, state withholding for each state you are registered to withhold in, or Something else. It decides which account the payment clears in your books.	Yes	IRS, Form 941 deposit
What it is for	Only for Something else: Quarterly estimated tax, Balance due on a return, Corporate estimated tax, Corporate balance due, Sales tax payment, Use tax payment, Penalty, Interest or Other.	Yes, when shown	Sales tax payment
Amount	The amount in dollars and cents. From a filing, it starts as the amount still owed.	Yes	4000.00	Still to pay on Deposits Due, or the filing’s Still owed.
Date you plan to pay	The date you plan to pay.	Yes (defaults to today)	2026-04-14	The due date on Deposits Due or the calendar.
How you will pay	EFTPS, State website, Bank transfer (ACH), Check, Wire or Card. For your records only.	Yes (defaults to EFTPS, or State website for a state)	EFTPS
Payroll this covers	For a Form 941 deposit not tied to a filing: the pay date of the payroll you are paying tax for.	Yes, when shown	2026-03-27	The pay date of the pay run on the Payroll pages.
Year this covers, Quarter this covers	For a Form 940 deposit not tied to a filing: the quarter of FUTA it pays.	Yes, when shown	2026, Q1	Deposits Due → Unemployment (FUTA).
Period this covers	For a state withholding payment not tied to a filing: the last day of the period the state asked you to pay for.	Yes, when shown	2026-03-31	Deposits Due → State.

Why “Payroll this covers” matters

A payroll deposit counts toward the payroll it pays for, not the day you paid. This is how the IRS counts it too. A monthly depositor pays March’s tax by 15 April, and that payment belongs on the first-quarter Form 941, not the second.

Example: you pay $4,000 on 14 April 2026 for your March payrolls. Set Payroll this covers to a March pay date (for example 27 March 2026). On Deposits Due it lands in the March period, and on your Q1 941 it counts as a Q1 deposit. If you put 14 April instead, March would show unpaid and April overpaid, and your Q1 941 would show a balance due you do not owe.

For a semi-weekly depositor, use the payday itself, so the payment lands in that payday’s semi-weekly period.

When you schedule from a filing, Bokapsys uses the period of the filing instead.

Common mistakes: Enter the pay date of the payroll this deposit is for. means you left Payroll this covers empty. Enter the last day of the period this payment covers. means the state’s period is missing. Add the state registration first, under Tax Setup → Jurisdictions. means you chose a state with no registration.

Pay the agency

Pay outside Bokapsys:

• Federal payroll tax: sign in to EFTPS, choose Form 941 and the quarter the payroll falls in, enter the amount and date. For FUTA choose Form 940. Keep the acknowledgement number.
• State withholding or unemployment tax: sign in to your state’s website (the Open your … portal link on Deposits Due → State if you saved the address). Keep the confirmation number.
• Estimated or other federal tax: pay through EFTPS or IRS Direct Pay. Keep the confirmation number.

Record the payment

1. Open Tax → Tax Payments. Find the payment; its status is Scheduled.
2. Click Record payment at the end of the row. The Record a payment you have made window opens.
3. Choose Paid from, enter the Date paid and the Confirmation number (see the table).
4. Click Record payment. You see Payment recorded with Your books now show the tax as paid. The row’s status changes to Paid, and the Confirmation column fills in.

Field	What it means	Required?	Example	Where to find it
Paid from	The bank account the money left. Leave it blank to use your default bank account.	No	Operating ····1234
Date paid	The date the money left your account. It cannot be in the future, and it is the date the entry is posted in your books.	Yes (defaults to today)	2026-04-14	Your EFTPS acknowledgement or bank statement.
Confirmation number	The reference the agency gave you when you paid.	Yes	270641234567890	The EFTPS acknowledgement screen or email; your state portal’s receipt.

How to check it worked:

• The row shows Paid and the Confirmation.
• For a payroll deposit, the matching period on Deposits Due shows the amount under Deposited and turns Paid.
• For a payment scheduled from a filing, the filing’s Paid against the balance goes up by the amount.
• In Accounting → General Ledger, there is a new entry described with the kind of payment, who it went to and your confirmation number. See General ledger.

Cancel or void a payment

You want to	When	What to do
Cancel a planned payment	It is still Scheduled and you will not make it.	Click the red cross icon on the row and confirm Cancel payment. Nothing had reached your books, so nothing is reversed.
Void a recorded payment	It is Paid but the payment did not go through, or you recorded it by mistake.	Click Void, type Why you are voiding it, and click Void payment. You see Payment voided with The entry it made in your books has been reversed.

Voiding never deletes anything. Bokapsys posts a reversing entry with your reason, so the tax shows as owed again and your bank balance goes back up. The reversal is dated on the original payment date if that accounting period is still open, otherwise today. The row stays in the list as Voided.

If a planned payment’s date has passed and it is still Scheduled, a warning above the table lists it: record it if you paid it, or pay it now or cancel it.

How a payment posts to your books

Recording a payment posts one balanced entry, dated on Date paid:

Leg	Account	Why
Debit	An account chosen by what the payment is for (below)	You no longer owe the tax, or you have paid it in advance.
Credit	The Paid from bank account’s account in your chart of accounts; if you left it blank, your default bank account’s; if you have none, your Cash / Operating bank account (set on Chart of Accounts → Control Accounts)	The money has left the bank.

What it is for	Account debited (default chart of accounts)
Form 941 deposit, Form 940 deposit, state withholding	Your payroll taxes payable account (Accrued Payroll Taxes). This is the same account payroll posts the tax to when you post a pay run, so deposits clear exactly what payroll accrued.
Sales tax payment, use tax payment	Your Sales Tax Payable account (set on Chart of Accounts → Control Accounts).
Quarterly estimated tax, corporate estimated tax	A prepaid tax account (Prepaid - Federal and State), because the tax has been paid in advance of the return.
Balance due on a return, corporate balance due, other	Your federal income tax expense account (Taxes - Federal). A balance due on a payroll or sales tax return instead clears that return’s payroll or sales tax liability.
Penalty, interest	Your tax penalty account (Penalty).

Don't count the payment twice

The same payment will also appear in your bank feed or uploaded bank statements. The recorded payment has already reduced the liability and your cash, so don’t classify that bank statement to the tax account as well, or the payment is counted twice. If you are unsure how to treat it, ask your accountant. See Mapping statements.

The fiscal year of the entry follows your company’s fiscal year start in Company settings.

Reading the table

Column	Meaning
Paid to	Who the payment went to, for example IRS, Form 941 or a state’s name, with what it is for and how you paid underneath.
Amount	The amount.
Status	Scheduled (amber) until recorded; Paid (green) once recorded; Cancelled or Voided.
Period	The payroll or period it counts toward, or the filing it is linked to.
Date	The date you paid, or the date you planned. A planned payment whose date has passed shows Overdue.
Confirmation	The agency’s confirmation number.

Common problems

Message	What it means	How to fix it
Enter the confirmation number you were given.	The confirmation number is empty.	Copy it from your EFTPS or state receipt.
The payment date cannot be in the future.	Date paid is after today.	Enter the day the money actually left your account.
Cannot record this payment: the 2026-03 accounting period is closed.	The month of Date paid is closed in your books.	Reopen the period, or have someone with access do so, then record again. See Posting settings.
Account … is not in your chart of accounts	The account the payment posts to is missing from your chart of accounts.	Add the account, or point the control account at one you use, then try again. See Chart of accounts.
… is not linked to an account in your chart of accounts	The Paid from bank account has no account in your chart of accounts.	Link it under Company settings → Bank accounts.
A tax payment must be more than zero.	The amount is zero.	Schedule a new payment with the right amount.
Say why you are voiding this payment.	You clicked Void payment without a reason.	Type the reason.
Could not schedule it or Could not record it	The payment could not be saved; the message says why.	Fix what it names and try again.

Related

Deposits due

Payroll in your books

General ledger

Filing a return