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J
JeMidi
January 17, 2026
Question

How to update employee records after missing company contribution SIMPLE IRA payroll item was added

  • January 17, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 17 views

Hi All,

In 2025 we started contributing to our employees' SIMPLE IRA accounts; however, we did not set up QuickBooks Payroll to track the payroll item and now when I run W-2s for 2025 the Box 14 code S amount only shows the employee contribution.  I went in and set up a new Payroll Type to be a company contribution SIMPLE IRA but now I need help in making an edit/transaction for 2025 for our contribution to each employee's Simple IRA so the W-2 is correct. 

I know the amounts we contributed and thought I could just do a payroll liability adjustment by going to Employees->Payroll Taxes and Liabilities->Adjust Payroll Liabilities and make an entry dated 12/26/2025 to create a liability for the company contribution.   When I do this it does not show up on the W-2.  I read something about doing another payroll run that is just the data for the company contribution but I'd like to just fix it without sending out $0.00 paycheck notices to our employees (if possible).   Ultimately I guess I could manually override the field on the W2, but I'd like it to calculate correctly.   It's only for 13 employees. 

 

Can I adjust this through a payroll liability or other manner so it will show up correctly on the W-2?

 

Thanks very much in advance for any ideas.

1 reply

J
Jessavell_AQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
January 18, 2026

Welcome to the Community, @JeMidi.

 

In QuickBooks, standard liability adjustments primarily impact your Balance Sheet and Tax Center. However, these adjustments often do not update specific W-2 boxes (such as Box 12 or 14) because these boxes require a direct link to an employee’s payroll record.

 

To update the W-2s for 13 employees without generating actual payments, the $0.00 Net Paycheck method is the most effective solution.

 

To ensure the adjustment is tax-neutral and maps correctly to the W-2, follow these steps to modify the employee profiles:

 

  1. Ensure the SIMPLE IRA (Company Contribution) item is added to each employee's profile and mapped to the correct tax category.
  2. Add a temporary Other Earnings pay type (you can name it Taxable Offset). This will be used to balance the contribution to reach a $0.00 net.
  3. To prevent the system from calculating unintended taxes (like Social Security or Medicare), you may need to briefly mark the employee as Tax Exempt in their profile or manually zero out the taxes during the payroll run.

 

Next, run the Adjustment Payroll using the steps outlined in this article: Create a zero net paycheck.

 

This process creates the necessary payroll event to automatically pull the company contribution into the W-2, providing a clear paper trail for 2025 and closing any reporting gaps before you file.

 

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

J
JeMidiAuthor
January 19, 2026

Thank you @Jessavell_A  !

I've got the new payroll item type applied to the employees and it shows up correctly on paycheck and we are definitely all set for processing new paychecks but I'm stuck on net zero paycheck to get 2025 correct for the W-2. 

 

Per the net zero paycheck guide it shows examples where there is an actual dollar amount of salary being paid and it's being zeroed out against employee deductions, but I want a paycheck that has $0 in wages/salary and just our employer contribution (all for the purpose of having the W-2 correct, as you know, as we have being making this contribution throughout the year to their IRA). 

 

I can set up an employee's check to have no salary/wages and all the taxes are zero and our Simple IRA contribution is set correct for the total year contribution but when I try to save the the paycheck it says that paychecks with $0 in salary/wages are not allowed.  First it said it could not be a direct deposit but I tried to change to paper check and it still said not allowed.  

 

Your answer below said to create an "other earnings" pay type to balance the contribution but I don't understand what I'm doing there as the contribution in this case is the company's and not the employee's.  So wouldn't the 'other earnings' be income to pay to the employee?

 

Thank you again for your help.  

Morgan_B
Morgan_BQuickBooks Team
QuickBooks Team
January 19, 2026

Thanks for following up with these details, JeMidi.

 

I'm happy to provide some additional info to update the W-2s for your employees in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

 

In QuickBooks Desktop, you cannot save a paycheck with $0 total gross wages and a $0 net check, even if you are only recording employer contributions. The system requires a "positive" inflow of money to balance the "negative" liability/deduction, or it will reject the paycheck.
 

To achieve a $0 net paycheck that records the Employer Simple IRA contribution for W-2 purposes, you must create a "dummy" addition/other earning to act as a placeholder. This does not actually pay the employee extra; it just allows the check to process.

 

The following article offers even more info about setting up and managing company contributions. Please don't hesitate to reach back out if you need an extra hand.

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