Need help creating pay schedule

Hello userstetsonelectric,

I'm happy to learn you're using QuickBooks to manage your payroll. The program offers advanced features which enable you customize the way you'd like to pay your staff. I'll be happy to walk you through the necessary steps required to create a pay schedule. 

Here are the steps you'll need to follow: 

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then Payroll Settings.

2. Select Pay Schedules.

3. From the Pay Schedules section, select Create.

4. Select when you're going to pay your employees and select the appropriate option from the Pay Period drop-down menu. Your options are:

• Every Month (12 times a year)
• Twice A Month (24 times a year)
• Every Other Week (26 times a year)
• Every Week (52 times a year)

5. Enter the Starting date and Ending date for each pay period. This determines the days that are included in the pay period, which is especially important for calculating overtime, vacation, sick pay, and other exception pay types.

6. Click OK.

The Pay Schedule Confirmation screen opens to display the pay dates for the next four pay periods based on the information you entered.

7. If everything looks correct, click OK to save the Pay Schedule or select Back to return to the previous window and make changes.

Note: If you mark the Use this schedule as the default for employees I add field, that pay schedule will automatically be assigned to all new employees that you add. You'll be able to change the pay period for each employee in the employee window.

8. Once you click OK, the new pay schedule Is listed under Pay Schedules in the Edit Pay Policies screen.

9. Repeat these steps for each pay schedule you want to set up.

Note: you can set up pay schedules before you add employees, or you can set them up when you add employees.

For more details, watch out our video on setting up payroll.

Check out this link here for a video tutorial. I encourage you to try the steps above and if you have questions, don't hesitate to reach back to me. I'm here to help you maximize the benefits offered in QuickBooks. 

Can I set up custom pay periods? I need to pay my employees on the 15th and last day of the month, and I pay them via direct deposit so I find that the cutoff dates are inconsistent (due to weekends, holidays, length of months, etc.). I would like to set up each pay period individually. Is there a way I can do this?

Hi Maureen69,

Thanks for reaching out in the QuickBooks Community with your questions. It's a fantastic way to get answers to all your queries. I can see where you're coming from. Using the semi-monthly pay cycle, you have to deal with both the 2 or 3 day lead time for direct deposit and be conscious of when the date falls on a weekend. You could create your pay schedule every month, and this would leave you with many schedules that you won't be using again. It's pretty easy to change the pay date when creating your payroll instead of creating new schedules. I can break down the process for you.

To change the pay date, follow these steps:

1. Go to Payroll from the left navigation menu.
2. Choose the Employees tab.
3. Select Run Payroll.
   • If you have more than one payroll schedule, select the schedule, then Continue.
   • Select the employees you'd like to pay.
   • Enter the hours and memos.
4. Change the Pay Date.
5. Select Preview payroll.
6. Select Preview payroll details or Submit payroll.
7. Select Finish Payroll

My colleague shared the steps for setting up a new pay schedule above. I'll also provide you with the link to the payroll hub of articles: QuickBooks Payroll help article hub.

I'm confident that you'll be able to set up a system that'll work for you. Let me know if there's anything else that I can help you with. Have a great evening!