Why does my net payroll post to an employee account in addition to the regular deduction?

Allow me to address your concerns thoroughly, Frank.

To better assist you, can you clarify what you mean by the "employee account" mentioned in your post? QuickBooks Online Payroll does not use an "employee account" by default unless it has been manually created in the Chart of Accounts. If possible, please share a screenshot so we can better understand why QuickBooks Online is posting the net payroll amount along with the deductions.

It's also worth noting that payroll posting, mapping, and reporting depend on the accounts you’ve assigned during setup. To ensure everything is configured properly, you may find this article helpful: Update your accounting settings in the payroll system.

Regarding your second concern about the A/R Aging report and the customer account discrepancy, it’s important to understand the distinction between how QuickBooks tracks open invoices and customer balances.

The A/R Aging Report shows open invoices and transactions associated with the Accounts Receivable account for a specified date range. In the other account, Customer Balance reflects a running total for all transactions in the customer’s account, including unapplied payments.

For example, if a customer sends a $100 payment but it isn't linked to their $100 invoice, the A/R Aging report will reflect an unpaid invoice, while the customer's balance will show $0 due to the unapplied payment.

To address this issue, I suggest generating a Customer Balance Detail report and comparing it with the Accounts Receivable Aging Detail report using the All Dates filter. Look for unapplied payments or other discrepancies between the two reports. Once identified, linking the unmatched payments to their respective invoices should reconcile the issue.

I know that was a lot of information, but we're here to help you get this figured out. Feel free to reply below to add clarification so we can assist you immediately.