Thank you for adding a post here in the Community, @Bmarchuck.

You'll see an orange exclamation mark on the payroll status when there's an alert in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). Please allow me to help check this further for you.

If the status of your payroll/paycheck is To Print and there's an orange exclamation mark beside it, you may need to right click the status and select on Remove from print queue if you're done printing the paycheck.

If the payroll/paycheck wasn't printed yet, you can click on the payroll status itself, click OK under Select Paycheck to Print, click on Print in the Print Checks page and click on OK.

I've added a helpful article for additional reference: Remove paychecks from the print queue.

Please don't hesitate to add a post/comment below if you have any other payroll questions. I'll be always here to assist you!

What if the status states "pending" and the orange exclamation is there?

Greetings, Bmarchuck.

I'd like to join the discussion and ensure you get the right clarification regarding this matter.

Just to confirm, do you see the orange exclamation point and Pending status in the Create Paychecks section of the Payroll Center? If so, it means that you've set up a Pay Schedule that's due on that specific date.

A quick and easy to clear this is to run the scheduled payroll. However, if you've already run payroll for that day using the Start Unscheduled Payroll button, then you may need to update the dates of this pay schedule. Here's how:

1. From the Employees menu, choose Payroll Center.
2. Make sure you're in the Pay Employees tab.
3. Select the schedule.
4. Click the Payroll Schedules drop-down button.
5. Choose Edit Schedule.
6. Update the Dates as necessary.
7. Click OK.

For additional insight about this, I'm also including this article: Set up and manage payroll schedules

Let me know if this isn't quite what you're looking for. I've got your back and am always happy to help however I can.

Good evening AldrinS-   Similar issue but slightly different...

I'm having the same issue with a payroll showing "Pending" with the orange exclamation mark.  This shows up immediately after I completely run a payroll and send to intuit.  

I tried setting up a new Payroll Schedule and changed my employees to the new schedule.  Now the old schedule shows status at "2 weeks" and the newly created payroll schedule now shows "Pending" with the orange " ! "...?? 

I discovered there are two employees causing this-  when I start a payroll schedule by double clicking on the one that shows pending, two employees show in yellow like they have already been edited.  the pay period shows correct, but the hours for these two employees are not shpwn correctly ( I enter hours on a weekly timesheet).  To correct the payroll, I have to edit the PAY PERIOD ENDS date to a different date (normally just a day precious, then quickbooks gives me a message to click "YES" to update the hours to the new pay period.

I click "YES" then change the PAY PERIOD ENDS date back to the correct date, and then quickbooks gives me a message to click "YES" to update the hours to the new pay period.and then finally, quickbooks pulls the correct hours entered into the payroll review screen for the pay period.

It only happens with two employees. Could there be an issue with a previous direct deposit or something?   All of my employees are on Direct Deposit.

Please shed some light on this as it's very frustrating I have to edit the pay period end date twice to pull the correct hours off the time sheets for two employees.  

Thank you for any help!

Thanks for sharing your situation on this thread, Pizzaking1969.

As per my colleague AldrinS shared previously, the exclamation mark and pending status may be a result of a pay schedule that is already due on a specific date. You'll want to make sure that the new pay schedule is linked to the employees. Then, inactivate the ones you will no longer use.

To assign a pay schedule, here's how:

1. Go to Employees > Employee Center.
2. Double-click the employee's name.
3. Click the Payroll Info tab and select the Payroll Schedule drop-down.
4. Select the Payroll Schedule that you wish to assign to this employee.
5. Hit OK to save.

For inactivating the pay schedule, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to the Employees > Employee Center.
2. Under the Create Paychecks table, select the payroll schedule you want to update.
3. From the Payroll Schedules drop-down, click Edit Schedule.
4. Mark Schedule is inactive, then hit OK.

To help manage your employees pay schedule and other payroll process, feel free to read these articles:

• Set up and manage payroll schedules
• Get started with QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you need more help with your payroll account. We'll be around to help you out some more. Have a good day ahead!