Enter Manual Payroll Paycheck in QuickBooks

Let’s start our article about the enter payroll paycheck in QuickBooks Online. Though QuickBooks is all you need in order to help you handle all your financial accounting there is always a cost you pay.

In the past few years, the cost of all Intuit products has increased by a substantial margin. This increase has only hurt the budget of people using the Program. Though automation is required, this should not be at the cost of your savings. Thus the only alternative you are left with is manual accounting.

It will be a highly unproductive and utter waste of your time to completely unfollow QuickBooks and follow traditional methods of accounting. The easiest route you can follow is to manualize parts of it. One such activity that you can trail is managing payroll manually.

Enter Payroll Paychecks in QuickBooks Online

With QuickBooks Online Payroll you can print or reprint paychecks. You can go through and see the points related to this topic. You must continue to track those paychecks in QuickBooks even if you use another service for payroll in addition to QuickBooks for accounting. Third-party paychecks are what we refer to as payments made using providers other than QuickBooks, such as ADP or Paychex.

You may import paycheck data directly into QuickBooks using several payroll systems. Know how to manually monitor these payments as journal entries if your provider doesn’t offer this option. Your payroll and account information is kept in one location as a result.

Step 1: Create Manual Tracking Accounts

In case you haven’t already, then you have to follow the steps to create new accounts in your Chart of Accounts to track your payroll liabilities and expenses. You have to create these expense accounts. You can select Expense as the account type.

• Payroll Expenses: Wages
• Payroll Expenses: Taxes

Create these liability accounts. You have to select Liabilities as the account type:

• Payroll Liabilities: Federal Taxes (941/944)
• Payroll Liabilities: Federal Unemployment (940)
• Payroll Liabilities: [State] SUI/ETT
• Payroll Liabilities: [State] PIT/SDI

Step 2: Enter the payroll paychecks into QuickBooks Online

You can create a journal entry after you pay your employees outside to QuickBooks.

• You can get your employee’s payroll pay stubs or payroll reports from your payroll service.
• Then you have to select +New and select Journal Entry.
• Now you have to enter the paycheck date that is under the Journal date.
• In case you want to track the paycheck number, you have to enter it in the Journal no. field.

Make the journal entry using the data from your paycheck report. You can combine all of the paycheck totals for any employees you paid during the pay period into a single journal entry. If you need to break out the specifics, you may also write separate diary entries for each employee.

Add gross wages

• You have to select Payroll Expenses: Wages for the account.
• Then you have to enter the amount as a debit.

Add employer payroll taxes

• You have to select Payroll Expenses: Taxes for the account.
• Then you have to enter the amount as a debit.

Add employer payroll taxes

• You have to select Payroll Expenses: Taxes for the account.
• Then enter the amount as a debit.

Add taxes paid towards 941 or 944 taxes

• You have to select Payroll Liabilities: Federal Taxes (941/944) for the accounts.
• Then you have to enter the amount as a credit.

Add state unemployment insurance taxes

• Select the Payroll Liabilities: [State] SUI/ETT Liability for the account.
• You have to enter the amount as a credit.

Add state income taxes

• Select Payroll Liabilities: [State] PIT/SDI for the account.
• You can enter the amount as a credit.

Add federal unemployment taxes (FUTA).

• Select Payroll Liabilities: Federal Unemployment (940) for the account.
• You can enter the amount as a credit.

Add net wages

• You can select the checking account that you are paying your employees from.
• You can enter each individual paycheck on separate lines, instead of combining them.
• You can enter the amounts as credits.

At last, select Save when you are done entering the debits and credits.

Maintain Payrolls Manually in QuickBooks Desktop

If you want to save those extra bucks and don’t want to go with QuickBooks payroll services (which would have been helpful otherwise) then here is how you can manage payroll checks in the program.

Activate Manual Payroll in QuickBooks

The very first thing you would be required to do is to activate Manual payroll services in QuickBooks. To do just that, follow the steps below.

• Login to your Accounting software and click on the Help button.
• A drop-down menu will now appear. Click the QuickBooks help button.
• In the search bar provided, enter the term “Calculate payroll”.
• You will now get the list of topics. Click on the one that says something related to
  • “Manually calculate payrolls” or
  • “How to calculate payrolls when you are not using QuickBooks payroll” or
  • “How to do payrolls by yourself.”
• The reason we are asking you to read the articles is that at the end of one of the posts you will see a link that would read like this.
  • How to do manual payroll calculations and set up your company.
• Once you find that then click on the link and select the text that says: “I wish to set up my company file doing manual calculations”.
• As soon as you do that, your manual payroll services will become active. All your payroll-related items will now be a part of your manual payroll list.
• Now start by entering and allocating your payroll list items in the order and account you need. Regarding the taxes, mostly you will find them constant but if not then computer them manually by making use of tax tables and feeding some formulas.

If you need help and any Consultant, then dial the QuickBooks consultant number 24/7.