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How do I manually enter employer payroll liabilities into Quickbooks online?
We do not run our payroll in house. We outsource our payroll to a third party. Can you please show me the journal entry I should use in order to record the liabilities Also after I record the Journal Entry, do I need to write a check towards the liability after it has been paid in order for the account to have a zero balance in the balance sheet? Can you please be as detailed as possible. Previous links that I have used have different answers. The more detailed the better
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Employees and payroll
Hi khaleds,
According to this article, Recording payroll transactions manually, you may use either the Expense or Liability account when creating a Journal Entry (for payroll transactions). If you use the Expense account, there's no need to write checks. If you use the Liability account, you'll need to write checks. This will zero out the liability or lower it to the current amount outstanding.
Please take time to read the article above. It'll help you record the payroll transactions correctly.
I'd be glad to help you if you have other questions about recording payroll transactions.
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Thanks for letting me know how it goes.
Please undo the Journal Entry and a Check you've created.
How did you previously record the check for this payroll liabilities? Can you tell what account did you select when creating a check?
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Employees and payroll
Using the numbers I create a Journal Entry:
employee Gross Wages (debit) 10,859.58
employee Social Security (debit) 835.20
employee Medicare (Debit) 195.33
Employee Fed income tax 1159.03
employee state income tax 121.24
employer Social Security (debit) 835.20
employer Medicare (Debit) 195.33
employer Fed Unemp.(debit) 21.24
Employer state unemployment (debit) 120.38
Employer State employee Training (Debit) 3.54
Paychex processing admin fees (debit) 618.98
Delivery fee (debit) 11.00
Checking Account (credit) 15,276.57
Then do I check my balance sheet and I have a negative -3787.01 in the payroll liabilities section. How do I zero it out. Am I doing something wrong?
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I appreciate you posting the details.
Let me take a look at this for a moment. I'll have to replicate it in my QuickBooks Online account to find where the error is. Than you so much for your patience.
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Thank you so much for your patience.
Here's what I've got. I assume that you are responsible of paying the payroll tax liabilities. According to the article above, you will need to credit the payroll liabilities (employee taxes) and debit payroll expenses (employer taxes) when creating a Journal Entry. The Paychex processing admin fee isn't part of the employee liabilities but it's an employer expense. Please check this out:
Payroll Expenses: Gross Wages (Debit) 10,859.58
Payroll Liabilities: Employee Social Security (Credit) 835.20
Payroll Liabilities: Employee Medicare (Credit) 195.33
Payroll Liabilities: Employee Fed Income Tax (Credit) 1,159.03
Payroll Liabilities: Employee State Income Tax (Credit) 121.24
Payroll Expenses: Employer Social Security (Debit) 835.20
Payroll Expenses: Employer Medicare (Debit) 195.33
Payroll Expenses: Employer Fed Unemploy... (Debit) 21.24
Payroll Expenses: Employer State Unemploy.. (Debit) 120.38
Payroll Expenses: Employer State Emp Train... (Debit) 3.54
Payroll Expenses: Paychex Processing Ad Fee (Debit) 618.98
Checking (use to offset the Paychex fee) (Credit) 618.98
Expenses: Delivery Fee (Debit) 11.00
Checking (use to offset the Delivery fee) (Credit) 11.00
Checking (used for processing paycheck net amount) (Credit) 9,724.47
As I have understood, the employee gross wage is 10,859.58. Let's deduct the employee taxes for a total of $2,310.80 ($835.20 (SS)+$195.33 (Medicare)+$1,159.03 (FIT)+$121.24 (SIT)) to the gross wage that is equal to the employee paycheck net amount $8,548.78.
In the last line item, QuickBooks Online automatically adds the paycheck net amount and employer taxes. Since the net amount is $8,548.78, it adds the employer taxes of $1,219.25 ($835.20 (SS)+ $195.33 (Medicare)+ $21.24 (FUTA)+ $120.38 (SUTA)+ $3.54 (State Emp. Training)) that is equal to $9,724.47.
Now there is $2,310.60 sitting in the Payroll Liability accounts (Employee SS, Employee Medicare, Employee SIT, Employee FIT) waiting to be paid. You will create a check for this liability and you will use the liability accounts that were used in the Journal Entry. This will zero out the liability or lower it to the current amount outstanding.
In your Balance Sheet report, it should show positive amounts for the employee tax liabilities. After you've created checks for these taxes, they will go away from that report.
Please let me know if you need further clarification.
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I don't think that the employer liabilities should be in your Balance Sheet report. Let's try to review the journal entry above.
The employer taxes (Medicare, SS, SUTA, FUTA, and Training) are categorized as Payroll Expense accounts. If the detail type of these taxes is Other Current Liabilities, you'll need to change it to Payroll Expense. Then, there's no need to write a check for these taxes. Once you update the accounts, the Journal Entry will also be updated.
Payroll Expenses: Employer Social Security (Debit) 835.20
Payroll Expenses: Employer Medicare (Debit) 195.33
Payroll Expenses: Employer Fed Unemploy... (Debit) 21.24
Payroll Expenses: Employer State Unemploy.. (Debit) 120.38
Payroll Expenses: Employer State Emp Train... (Debit) 3.54
Let me know how it goes.
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The checks (to the IRS and State agency) are for the employee's payroll withholding. Do not include the employer's taxes. Please try to edit the Check you've created and remove the employer taxes. Then, the negative amount for the employer liabilities in your Balance Sheet report will go away.
Please let me know the result. Thank you so much.
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Yes, they are. Employer taxes are company's expenses.
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@khaleds wrote:
After I did this Journal entry, my payroll liability account is about negative -$3000. Am i Supposed to zero it out? How would I do that? I tried writing a check towards it and it and it turned into negative -$6000. We already paid the liability and it has cleared our bank account for the $3000
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Hi there, Beltranisaias0.
Thanks for joining the Community today. I'm want to make sure you'll get the best help possible.
May I ask in which specific part of this thread you need assistance with? I just need some more details about the issue to ensure that were on the same page.
I'll be on the lookout for your reply and look forward to further assisting you. Wishing you and your business continued success.
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Thanks for your prompt response, KobaBookkeeping.
Allow me to bring clarifications with your concern about handling payroll transactions in QuickBooks Online (QBO).
Yes, your e-payments will go in the payroll expenses account. Also, liability payment (epayment) will also be taken out of the liability account to reduce or zero out the liabilities.
For the taxes it should be Negative For payroll expenses then positive for the payroll liabilities.
Don't hesitate to get back to me if you have other questions while working with payroll transactions. I'll be around to help you.
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I am also posting payroll manually through the Bank Feed option using QB online. I understand the posting of the payroll check as far as debiting Gross Wages and crediting the payroll liability accounts to equal the net check and then when I post the payment to the IRS through EFTPS it will zero those accounts out. However, how do I create the Payroll expense account for the Employer match portion? If I add a line to the bank transaction to debit the Payroll expense accounts of Social Security Match and Medicare Match, what account do I credit to balance the transaction?