Top 5 year-end questions: Payroll

Let’s get into our Top 5 year-end payroll questions:

1. How do I modify scheduled pay periods?
   Follow this link to complete the steps in product 

1. Select the employee you want to update and edit the Employment details section.
2. Select an existing pay schedule, or select Add pay schedule under the Pay Schedules drop-down menu.

Your options are:

• Every week (52 times a year)
  • Every other week (26 times a year)
  • Twice a month (24 times a year)
  • Every month (12 times a year)

1. To add a new pay schedule, complete the following:

• Pay frequency
  • Next payday
  • End of next pay period
  • Pay schedule name

1. Select Save.
2. If there are multiple employees on the same pay schedule, you will have to update this setting on each employee.

Once a new pay schedule has been created, it can be selected for existing and new employees.

Note: If you mark the Use this pay schedule as the default for employees you add after this one field, that pay schedule will automatically be assigned to all new employees that you add. You'll be able to change the pay period for each employee in the employee window.

• Are there reports I can run to check the accuracy of prior payroll that was entered?

Follow these steps to find and print your payroll reports.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product 

1. Navigate to the Employees section to see the group of payroll reports.
2. Search for the report you need by typing its name in the search bar.
3. Select the report from the suggestions. The report will generate based on a preset date range, such as today or the most recent pay period.
4. Select Customize to adjust the date range or other report options as needed.
5. Select Run report.
6. To print the report, select the printer icon.
7. Choose your preferred orientation and select Print.

You will have a printed copy of your customized payroll report.

You can export reports to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet for further analysis.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product 

1. Search for and run the report you want to export.
2. Select the Export icon, then select Export to Excel.

The report data will be exported into an Excel file.

1. How can I add a bonus cheque for an employee that already got paid and reflect the taxes? 

Employee bonus cheques are not always tied to payroll runs, so you can cut separate bonus cheques any time. If you're creating a bonus cheque separately from a regular paycheque (for example, in an off-cycle or a bonus run), you don't need to set up a bonus pay type. Here's how to create a separate bonus cheque:

Follow this link to complete the steps in product 

1. Select the Run payroll drop-down arrow and choose Bonus only.
2. On the Run Payroll: Bonus Only page, select an option:
1. As net pay — Take-home pay or what's left AFTER payroll withholdings are taken out.
2. As gross pay — Total pay or what you make BEFORE payroll withholdings and applicable deductions are taken out.
3. Select Continue.
4. Enter the pay date.
5. Select the checkbox next to each employee to include in this bonus run.
6. Enter the bonus amount for each employee.
1. (Optional) Enter a message to appear in the Memo box of the cheque or pay stub.
2. (Optional) Select Edit 📝 next to Payroll options, check the options you want, and select Apply. Payroll options include only options relevant to this bonus run.
7. Select Preview payroll and review the payroll.
8. Select Submit payroll.
1. (Optional) Select Print cheques or Print pay stubs. (The cheques or pay stubs open in a separate page.)
9. Once your payroll is all set, select Finish payroll.

4. What effect does making an employee inactive have on my QuickBooks account?

Even if you’ve lost some employees this year, you still need their pay information available to you. Making an employee inactive removes them from your employee list, but all the profile and pay records are nice and safe for whenever you need them. 

5. I made an error and underpaid an employee for a pay period. How do I fix this?

Mistakes happen to the best of us! Sometimes with extra hours worked or other unpredictable events, your employee winds up with less money than they should. All you have to do is create an unscheduled cheque.

You can create unscheduled cheques for the current pay period all the way back to pay periods dating 6 months ago. You can't create a cheque with a date in the past. The only cheque dates that are available are dates that fall after your last cheque date and before your next payday. We do this to keep your payroll taxes error-free. 

Note: If your employee is usually paid via Direct Deposit, you'll need to turn it off first in order to create a cheque. Then, follow the steps below: 

1. Go to the Payroll menu, then select Employees.
2. Select Run payroll.
3. Find the employee you want to pay, and then select Create another cheque.
4. Enter employee compensation, including any salary adjustments, vacation or sick hours, and other pay types.
5. Double-check the pay period and cheque date.
6. Select Preview Payroll, and then select Submit payroll.
7. If creating a paper cheque, hand-write or print the cheque and give it to the employee by the cheque date.
8. Select Finish payroll.

Be sure to check out our QuickBooks Online year-end guide and checklist, and stay tuned for more great year-end content.