Gather employee-level facts before the last shift
BC employment standards require daily hours records and wage statements each payday. Preserve approved hours, rate changes, absences and pay-period records, together with the information supporting any correction. A final bank transfer alone cannot explain what the employee was paid for.
Ask supervisors to identify missing time approvals, outstanding expenses and disputed entries while the details are still available. Separate the factual record from the decision about an entitlement. Uncertain vacation, statutory holiday or termination calculations need review under the rules that apply to the employee.
Reconcile payroll reports with the books
Compare gross wages, deductions, employer amounts, net pay and related balances between the payroll reports and ledger. Confirm that payments clear the intended balances. Staff advances and expense reimbursements should not be mixed with wages simply because they were transferred on the same day.
Retain a clear responsibility list for processing, remittances, required employee documents and year-end work. Agree dates with the responsible provider. A seasonal business still needs someone to receive and resolve payroll correspondence after the busiest operating period finishes.
Illustrative example: a visitor activity team
A Victoria activity operator finishes its main season with $1,460 of approved staff reimbursements and a $280 payroll correction awaiting provider review. Two supervisors are leaving for other work. The owner assigns a replacement contact, collects the receipts and records the correction reason before either supervisor departs.
The next reconciliation checks the reimbursements separately from the payroll adjustment. If the provider changes the correction after reviewing the evidence, the accounting entry follows the approved result. A handwritten note that everyone has been paid would not reveal these remaining steps.
Leave a small, complete outstanding-items list
For each open item, record the employee or account, amount where known, missing evidence, responsible person and next review date. Use a secure exchange for personal information. The list should be accessible to the authorized business contact without exposing employee details to unrelated staff.
Finish with a reconciliation of the payroll-related balances and a handover of future tasks. This routine is useful when returning employees will be rehired as well as when staff leave permanently. It prevents the next season from beginning with unexplained opening balances and unanswered questions from the previous one.
Put this into practice
Sources and current guidance
A practical next step
Bring the records you have.
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