How do I post the money payroll paid for child support?

[nadeen]

have an employee that pays child support thru garnishment. When posting my 'Enter Bills' and 'Pay Bills', how is the check to child support posted?

[qbteachmt · Accepted solution]

You need to Answer the question and not keep starting this topic Over as a new topic.

What does your Payroll Entry look like, now?

If you want help, you need to Show Us what you do.

Example:

I have two people making $10 an hour, for a 40 our work week and one has $50 child support deduction.

Gross Wages $800

Employer Share of Taxes $XX

Employee Share of Taxes $YY

Takehome checks = Not including the $50, if You need to send it on. That is a Split out, as if that is a different person's Takehome. You would post it to Liability, then Write Check and Pay that liability.

[nadeen]

thank you. I got it, no further help is needed on this.

[qbteachmt]

This is a Peer User forum. If you had finally posted an example of What you enter, others would have learned, too. Thanks.

[qbteachmt]

Don't use Bills; this is not your vendor and this is not a Bill to be paid later. You, the employer, are handling that employee's share of Taxes and Child Support, because the employee will not be paying it out themselves. None of this is a Bill to a vendor name. It's all part of Payroll Liabilities.

Thanks for linking to an older article; it's nice to know they still exist and still apply :)

[nadeen]

payroll is not done thru QBs we have separate company ADP, would I pay the bill under ads with Child Support Garnishment as label?

[qbteachmt]

"would I pay the bill under ads with Child Support Garnishment as label?"

Child Support divisions or enforcement is not sending you a Bill to Pay Later. AP is not involved. The Child Support is already deducted from Net Take home.

There is no Bill in this process.

Let's take One Example:

Joe is supposed to get $300 takehome, so enter everything as usual.

Now, Job also has $50 to go to child support. You didn't not state if You sent that or ADP sent that. It Doesn't Really matter, because it is a Diversion or further allocation of Joe's $300:

Joe got $250

Child Support enforcement gets the other $50

[nadeen]

this doesn't help me, I still don't know where or how to enter the $50 that enforcement gets

[Rasa-LilaM]

Hi there nadeen,

I'm here to help you account for child support. 

Since the garnishment isn't an employer's expense, it will be posted to your liability account. In addition to this, I've found a helpful answer that was previously posted by our awesome Community AllStar qbteachmt: https://community.intuit.com/questions/826439

This should help you input your child support to the correct account. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below. I'll be here to help.

[qbteachmt]

"I still don't know where or how to enter the $50 that enforcement gets"

You seem to be using a Bill for payroll, instead of a Check? What do you list on that Bill? We don't know what your Input looks like.

And who sends the child support payment?

[MN]

Wow!! Remind me to avoid asking you anything.

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[qbteachmt]

@MN

First, this forum has been "rolled up" from years of prior input, so you don't see that older things happened other than dated Dec 10, 2018, when this transition occurred.

Next, this is a peer user community on the internet; not live chat with Intuit support. Anyone here trying to help, really needs good details and examples, and when anyone is asked for more details, it helps if they provide that, and not keep starting the same question as new topics, which is what happened here.

And lastly, you can certainly help Answer as well as Learn from this forum. That's why it is called a peer Community.

[MN]

Like many, I come here for peer answers and peer support, not to be made to feel like an idiot. If you cannot maintain civility and treat others with respect, even when frustrated, you shouldn't be contributing. Unless you would like me to go further on this public forum, I suggest that you not respond. If you would like to continue this debate, and have it all here for everyone to read, please continue. I must warn you, I am a human rights activist, and I love, and am very good at debating.

[julie31415]

It took me a while to figure out how to do it as it was not obvious.  I had to do a wage levy (in my case for taxes for a particular employee).  I followed steps here to create the wage levy to reduce the check  in the payroll. 

https://community.intuit.com/articles/1762716-set-up-a-payroll-garnishment-item

After that was done, in order to pay out the levy collected,  I created a check to the Name of the agency setup in the payroll garnishment item (where the money would go - for me this was the MA dept of Revenue).  In the account field for the check, I typed in payroll liabilities  - Quick books picked this up and brought me to a screen where i could chose to 'Pay Payroll Liabilities'. I then selected the appropriate liability account  that I had set up in the payroll garnishment item.

Hope this helps!

[vero714]

In this case - Which liability account do you have for this garnishment? 

Currently my child support payment is being associated to my payroll wages account, however I think that is incorrect. Your thoughts? 

This is making my payroll wages increase tremendously. 

[daisydays22]

@vero714 

I have this same question. Currently child support payment for one of our employees is being associated to payroll wages account as well. I think this is accurate, although I have my doubts. As someone stated above this is not a company bill but a Diversion or further allocation of the employee's money. That's what makes me think it should be correct but would love to hear otherwise if not.

[CCF20]

I have the same question. Except that I Have an outside payroll company doing my payroll for 1 an employee who has a child support deduction. When I get the forms back from the payroll I input the information into QuickBooks, but for some reason when inputting the check information as I would any other employee without a child support garnishment I can't seem to balance the end of the month reconciliation. When inputting the check information and liabilities, the garnishment is going in as a "liability", but its a separate check that I send out, but it combines on the paycheck stub. Therefore, my register is all screwed up. Help! how do I enter a check from an outside payroll company correctly with a child support garnishment that splits the actual check and child support check? Thank you in advance. 

[AileneA]

Hello, CCF20. 

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. The reason why it posted in liabilities, it's because the garnishment isn't an employer's expense.  

You can read through this link which, answers by our all start community. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/employees-and-payroll/we-use-an-outside-source-for....  

From there, it will help you distinguish the right account to input your child support. 

Additionally, if you're unsure of what account to use for the employee's wage garnishment, it is best to contact an accountant for further assistance. They can provide the best legal and accounting advice for your business and can add in-depth information on recording your payroll manually.

 In the event that you should have questions about this, or need anything else concerning QBDT, you can find me here. Have a great day!

[jcs88]

I have a wage garnishment order from a court with a due date for the garnishment 3 months later.  I am only allowed to withhold 25% of weekly earnings until total owed is withheld.  Is there a way to enter a "bill" for those garnishments so I don't forget to pay them on the due date?

[Mark_R]

Thank you for joining the thread, @jcs88.

Paying wage garnishment should be entered as a check. As mentioned by qbteachmt above, it's not advisable to use a bill to pay payroll liabilities, as it isn't your vendor. However, I recommend seeking help from your accountant if you want to enter it as a bill. If you don't have an accountant, you can find one through this website: Find-a-ProAdvisor website.

In addition, you might want to set up calendar notices in your QuickBooks Desktop to ensure you won't forget the due date for your wage garnishment payment. This way, you'll be able to create a check once QuickBooks reminds you of your due date. Here's how:

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Employee Center.
2. Select the Payroll tab and choose the Pay Liabilities tab.
3. Choose the wage garnishment you want to add reminders.
4. Select the Set payment reminder dropdown, then click Add Reminder to Calendar.
5. Click OK to add the displayed reminders to your calendar.

I'm adding this article for more details: Set up and pay scheduled or custom (unscheduled) liabilities.

Please let me know if you need clarification about paying payroll liabilities in QuickBooks. I'll be standing by for your response. 

[kimsmoke20]

I have a third party for payroll. They deduct the child support from the employee and pay it to the state. My bank sends this as a separate payroll expense from the actual payroll, taxes and monthly cost. Do I need to do anything at all or just list it as payroll expense like the others?

[Rubielyn_J]

Thanks for joining this thread, @kimsmoke20.

Since you're using a third-party app to process payroll, you can consider the steps provided by @qbteachmt in the thread. This way, you can record the child support that was deducted from the payroll and paid to the agency. 

In addition, I advise seeking additional assistance from an accountant. They are more qualified to know how to record this so that your books are accurate. 

I'm also attaching the following articles to help add deductions to your employee:

• Set up, change, or delete employee-paid payroll deductions
• Set up and collect garnishments.

Please let me know if you have any other queries about recording child support in QBO. I'll be happy to offer my assistance. Have a good one!