we have re employed a worker. payroll will not let us set up a new employee as it is same ni number?

When an employee is marked as terminated in QuickBooks Online (QBO) Payroll, the system won't allow a new profile to be created using the same National Insurance (NI) number because it's already linked to an existing record. Instead of creating a new setup for the reemployed worker, you'll want to reinstate their existing one.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Employees page and filter the employee list to show All Employees. This'll also include terminated employees.
2. Select the name of the terminated employee.
3. Under the Details tab, scroll down to the bottom.
4. Click the Re-Activate Employee button.

If you prefer to start fresh, you can delete their previous profile from your records. Then, set up a new employee and enter their NI number again.

If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to click the Reply button below. I'm here to help!

This happens because QuickBooks enforces a unique National Insurance number across active employees. The system is preventing a duplicate, which is correct behaviour -- but there are two simple ways around it depending on how you want the records to look.

Option 1 -- Reactivate the existing employee record (recommended). Go to Payroll then Employees, and change the filter from "Active" to "All" or "Inactive." Locate the original employee, select Make active, and update any details that have changed (address, bank details, pay rate, tax code, start date). This keeps the full employment history in one continuous record, which is usually what HMRC and your accountant will prefer.

Option 2 -- Create a new record with a temporary NI number. If you specifically need a separate employee profile (for instance, a different role or department), enter a placeholder in the NI number field such as "TN" followed by the employee's date of birth and gender letter, or simply leave the field blank if your version of QuickBooks allows it. Once the previous record is made inactive, you can go back and correct the NI number on the new profile to the real one.

The key point: QuickBooks only blocks duplicate NI numbers among active employees. So either reactivate the old record, or set the old one to inactive first and then create the new one with the correct NI number.