I need to track the fringe benefits paid for our single S-Corp owner in QuickBooks Online. We use a third-party payroll company. What accounts do I need to set up?

In your case, you’ll just want to create a couple of expense accounts in the Chart of Accounts that reflect the types of benefits you’re paying, like Health Insurance - Owner or Retirement Contributions - Owner.

Some folks also create an Owner Fringe Benefits parent account and then subaccounts under it, which makes reporting cleaner. Since you’re not running payroll through QBO, you’ll be booking these as journal entries or vendor bills against those accounts when you pay them. On the equity side, many accountants tie it back to Owner’s Draw or Shareholder Distributions, so it’s clear these are S-Corp owner expenses.

I’d still double-check with your CPA because the tax treatment of owner benefits in an S-Corp can be tricky, but from a QBO setup point of view, adding those dedicated expense accounts will get you what you need.