can i generate t4a's? do i need to add payroll to qbo online first?

Welcome to the Community space, Tina. Yes, you can generate T4As in QuickBooks Online (QBO), and the good news is that you don't need a Payroll subscription to do it.

T4As are used for subcontractors (non-employees), so QBO handles them through the Expenses/Suppliers workflow rather than the Payroll module.

Since you aren't using payroll, QBO tracks these amounts based on how you pay your Suppliers. To set this up, you need to mark your contractors correctly by designating them for T4A tracking. Here’s how to do that:

1. Go to Expenses, and select Suppliers.
2. Choose the contractor you want to edit, and click Edit.
3. Under the Additional info section, tick the T4A slip for Taxes. You'll also need to enter their SIN.

Once your suppliers are set up, you can generate T4As by selecting the Prepare Tax Slips button located in the upper right corner of the Suppliers section. Be sure to review all the information to ensure it matches your records. Then, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the generation process.

QBO will generate an XML file. You can download this file and then upload it directly to the CRA’s Internet File Transfer website. Click Done once you've finished.

For more guidance on using T4As in QBO, you can refer to this article: Using T4A forms in QBO.

If you have any additional questions, feel free to return to this thread.