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L
LauriePB2658
March 3, 2026
Question

Payroll RRSP deductions and employer match

  • March 3, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 12 views

How do you manually catch up with RRSP deductions and employer matching for one employee without going back and adjusting cheques (error found after calendar year end and cannot be changed).  

1 reply

S
ShangYQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
March 4, 2026

Hi there, @LauriePB2658. You may consider processing a liability adjustment in QuickBooks Desktop. This way, you can manually catch up on RRSP deductions and employer matching for an employee without going back and altering past paycheques, especially since the calendar year has already ended.
 

Because you are making an Employee adjustment, this method will correctly update the year-to-date information reported on the employee's T4 form without changing any of their original paycheques. Before doing so, I suggest consulting with your accountant as you go through the steps.
 

Before you start, I recommend pulling up a Payroll Summary report matching your effective date so you know the exact amounts that need adjusting.
 

Here's how to adjust the payroll liabilities for your employee:
 

  1. Go to the Employees menu, select Payroll Liabilities, and then choose Adjust Payroll Liabilities.
  2. In the Date field, enter the date for which you are making the adjustment.
  3. In the Effective Date field, enter the date you want this adjustment to affect your liability balance (QuickBooks Desktop uses this effective date to calculate amounts on your PD7A and payroll liability balances report).
  4. In the Adjustment is for section, select Employee and pick the specific employee's name from the drop-down list to ensure their T4 is updated.
  5. Under the Taxes and Liabilities section, click the Item Name column and select your RRSP deduction and employer match payroll items.
  6. Insert a positive amount in the corresponding field to increase the amount of the liability.
  7. You can also use the Memo column to leave a quick note explaining the catch-up adjustment for future reference.
  8. Click Accounts Affected, then choose either Do not affect accounts (to leave your chart of accounts balances unchanged while still updating the employee's YTD payroll reports) or Affect liability and expense accounts (to record the adjusting transaction in those specific tracking accounts).
  9. Select OK to close the Affect Accounts window, and then OK again to record the adjustment.
     

For more information, refer to this resource: Pay or adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop.
 

Let us know if you have any other questions.

L
LauriePB2658Author
March 4, 2026

How do I show this the employee's paycheque?  I have to deduct his portion for remittance to the RRSP provider and I have to show the employer's matching contribution for remittance to the RRSP provider.  The employee needs to see the deduction on his paystub.

E
EvethCQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
March 4, 2026

Hi there, Laurie. To show both the employee deduction and the employer contribution, you'll need to add two specific pay items to the employee's profile. 

 

To set up a health benefit insurance deduction item:

 

  1. Navigate to Lists, then Payroll Item List.
  2. From the Payroll Item dropdown, select New, choose Custom Setup, and click Next.
  3. Choose either Deduction or Company Contribution, then click Next.
  4. Enter a descriptive name for the item and select Next.
  5. Select or add the payee agency, enter the account number, and click Next.
  6. Set the Tax Tracking Type to Premium Only/125 (for pre-tax) or None (for after tax). Select Next three times.
  7. For the None tax tracking type, select net pay in the Gross vs. net window and click Next.
  8. Leave the default rate and limit fields blank; you can specify these within the individual employee profile later.
  9. Select Finish.

 

Repeat these steps to create the corresponding Company Contribution item.

 

If you want these benefits to appear in your employees' paychecks each time you pay them, you can add the item to their profile.

 

  1. Click Employees, then Employee Center.
  2. Select your employee.
  3. Choose Payroll Info.
  4. In the section for Additions, Deductions, and Company Contributions, add the health benefit insurance items.
  5. Enter the amount per period and the limit.
  6. Select OK.

 

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