Payroll Center

Manage payroll tasks and forms in QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online offers a streamlined way to handle your payroll needs, from processing paychecks to managing tax forms and liabilities. Below are common tasks and how to accomplish them in the current interface.

Accessing the Payroll Center

If you are looking for the “Payroll Center” to manually enter payroll, please note that this feature is specific to QuickBooks Desktop. In QuickBooks Online, you must have an active payroll subscription to process payroll. Once subscribed, you can access payroll features via the Employees or Payroll menu in the left navigation bar.

Working with payroll forms

If you have an Enhanced Payroll subscription, you can prepare and file payroll tax forms directly within QuickBooks.

Setting up E-filing for forms (e.g., California DE34)

To ensure forms like the California DE34 are ready for E-filing, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Employees or Payroll menu.
2. Select Payroll Tax or Payroll Center.
3. Navigate to the Filings or File Forms tab.
4. Look for an option to change your filing method (often found under “Other Activities” or by editing the specific form).
5. Select E-file as your preferred method and save your changes.

Checking filing status

You can verify if the IRS or state agencies have received your forms directly from the payroll tax section. Check the Filings tab to view the status of your submitted forms.

Reprinting past forms

If you need to reprint a form (such as Form 941) from a previous year and see a “Do Not File” watermark, QuickBooks may be displaying the current year’s version. To access the correct version:

1. Go to the Employees or Payroll menu.
2. Select Payroll Tax or Payroll Center.
3. Click the Filings or File Forms tab.
4. Select History or Saved Filings.
5. Locate the specific form and open the PDF link provided in the “Saved PDF” column.

If a saved PDF is not available, you can run a payroll report for that period and download the blank form directly from the IRS website to fill out manually.

Managing payroll schedules

If you use scheduled payroll and see an orange exclamation point indicating a missed payroll, or if you accidentally ran an unscheduled payroll, you can correct this by adjusting your schedule dates.

1. Go to the Employees or Payroll menu.
2. Select Payroll Center or Employees.
3. Click the Pay Employees or Payroll tab.
4. Locate your Scheduled Payroll list.
5. Select the specific schedule name and choose Edit Schedule.
6. Update the dates to the correct information and click OK.

This updates the system to recognize the current payroll date and clears the alert for the next scheduled run.

Adjusting payroll liabilities

If you need to correct the amount owed for payroll taxes, you can create a liability adjustment. For the adjustment to reflect correctly, ensure your dates and accounts are accurate.

1. Go to the Employees or Payroll menu.
2. Select Payroll Tax or Payroll Center.
3. Go to the Pay Liabilities tab.
4. Note the Period End Date for the liability you want to change.
5. Click Adjust Payroll Liabilities.
6. In the adjustment window:
   • Set both the Date and Effective Date to the Period End Date you noted earlier.
   • Ensure Adjustment is for is set to Company.
   • Click Accounts Affected and select Affect liability and expense accounts.
7. Enter the adjustment amount and save.

After saving, verify that the liability amount in the Pay Liabilities tab has updated.

Deleting a liability adjustment

If you made an error in a liability adjustment, you can delete it.

1. Go to the Employees or Payroll menu and select Payroll Center.
2. Under the Pay Liabilities tab, click Adjust Payroll Liabilities.
3. Use the Previous button to navigate to the specific adjustment you wish to remove.
4. Click Edit on the menu bar (or right-click the adjustment) and select Delete Payroll Liability Adjustment.