jbonett
Level 1

Section 125 not balancing properly

We started offering our employee health insurance in June of 2018.  His health insurance premium year is therefore June - June (not January to January).   We pay our employee weekly.   The insurance company bills us Monthly.   We calculated his payroll deduction based on the weekly premium.   Unfortunately, from June 1, 2018 to Dec. 31 2018 --- their were 29 weeks, so 29 deductions.   In the same period of time there were 6 monthly premium bills from the insurance company.   So, as of 1/1/19 - QuickBooks is showing that we have overdue payments.   (Ie, we deducted more than we paid).  This would have caught up rolling into the next year, however, for some reason QuickBooks is resetting at January 1.   How can we change the reset date to be June 1 so that it would be consistent with his health care plan year?

Alessandra_B
QuickBooks Team

Employees and payroll

Welcome to the Community, @jbonett.

 

There's currently no option to change the limit type of an employee's deduction. However, I have a workaround that you can consider.

 

In QuickBooks Desktop, there are three Limit Types when it comes to your employee deductions. These are:

  • Annual - Restart each year
  • Monthly - Restart each month
  • One-time limit

Since your deduction resets annually, you can either edit the payroll item to set a the amount to zero to stop it from deducting. Or you can temporarily deactivate the payroll item every end of December and May, and re-activate it every January and June.

 

You can edit or deactivate your payroll item from your Payroll Item List. Here's how you can edit the amount:

  1. From the Payroll Item List, select the deduction.
  2. Click on Next until the Default rate and limit section.
  3. Enter the deduction amount intended for each paycheck.
  4. Click on Finish.

If you want to temporarily deactivate the payroll item, here's how:

  1. From the Payroll Item List, select the deduction.
  2. Tick on the Payroll item is inactive box.
  3. Click on Next until set up is done.
  4. Click on Finish.

Lastly, to correct your prior paychecks, you can make a payroll correction. Here's how:

  1. Click on Employees from the menu bar.
  2. Select Payroll Taxes and Liabilities, then choose Adjust Payroll Liabilities.
  3. In the Date field, enter the date for which you are making the adjustment. QuickBooks prefills today's date, but you should enter the date that you want the adjustment to be effective.
  4. In the Effective Date field, enter the date that you want this adjustment to affect your liability balance.
  5. Choose whether to associate this liability adjustment with the company or a specific employee.
  6. In the Taxes and Liabilities section, from the Item Name column drop-down, select the correct Payroll Item.
  7. In the Amount column, enter a positive number to increase the tax owed. And a negative number to reduce the tax owed amount.
  8. If you have additional employees, select Next Adjustment and repeat the steps for each affected employee. If there are no additional employees, select OK to save your entry.

You may refer to this article for more information: Adjust Payroll Liabilities.

 

Please let me know if you have any other concerns. I'll be here to help.

jbonett
Level 1

Employees and payroll

Thanks for your quick response Alessandra!

 

I tried both work arounds you mentioned above and I am still showing an Overdue Liability for 2018?   Do I just have to live with the Red warning labels?   Should I set up a new payroll item moving forward?   I noticed if I change the dates of the previously submitted payment periods... Quickbooks will recalculate.... unfortunately this doesn't help me long term because for two reasons... one it's not accurate and two I end up having the same problem for the next half of the policy period since every month does not have the same number of weeks.

Alessandra_B
QuickBooks Team

Employees and payroll

Thank you for getting back to me, @jbonett.

 

I appreciate your efforts in trying out the workaround I've provided above.

 

You can also consider creating a new payroll item as you suggested in your response. This way, you can correctly track your payroll deductions moving forward.

 

Also, QuickBooks will automatically recalculate your deductions when you change the date on your previous payments.

 

As for the correct recording of the deductions on the payroll, I've edited my answer above. I've provided some steps in creating a payroll adjustment for your employee or for your company. You may follow the steps above.

 

I've also attached an article above that will come in handy for adjusting your payroll liabilities.

 

Feel free to leave a comment below if you have any other concerns.

Sibyl
Level 4

Employees and payroll

How did you set up the Section 125 plan pre-tax deduction in Quickbooks Online?
MirriamM
Moderator

Employees and payroll

Hello there, Sibyl,

 

Let me show you on how to set up Section 125 plan pre-tax deduction in QuickBooks Online.

 

Here's how:

  1. Click Workers in the left navigation menu.
  2. Go to the Employees tab, then click the name of the employee you'd want to set up the deduction.
  3. Go to the Pay section, then click the pencil icon.
  4. Go to question number 5 if your employee have any deductions, then click the +Add deductions link.
  5. Select Deduction/contribution in the Deduction/contribution or garnishment field.
  6. In the Deduction/contribution, select New deduction/contribution.
  7. Select HSA plans in the Deduction/contribution type.
  8. Under Type field, select Pretax HSA.
  9. Enter Description.
  10. In the Employee deduction section, enter amount and click OK.

For more detailed information on this process, you can check out below articles:

I'd appreciate if you can update me on how it goes. I'm always here to answer any questions you may have. Have a wonderful day ahead.

Sibyl
Level 4

Employees and payroll

Thank you, problem solved!
Sibyl
Level 4

Employees and payroll

Sorry, I spoke too soon. The HSA option does allow me to enter the Section 125 Health insurance deduction but does not have an option to match the payment for the company portion. How should I set that part up?
Adrian_A
Moderator

Employees and payroll

Thanks for coming back to us, Sibyl.

 

When setting up your HSA deduction, you'll have to add the pay type and company health savings account for employee. Here's how to do it:

  1. Click the Workers tab, then select Employees.
  2. Double-click your employee's name.
  3. Go to the Employee details tab.
  4. Click the pencil icon on the Pay field.
  5. Then, click the pencil (edit) icon on the How much do you pay employee's name.
  6. Select Company HSA Contribution Recurring amount.
  7. Then Done.

 

You can go to the Chart of Accounts tab to check if you've successfully set up your company contribution.

 

I'm always around to help you. Have a good day!