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Set up and track time off in QuickBooks Payroll

by Intuit•2• Updated 1 week ago

Set up your paid or unpaid time off policies, then track the accruals in QuickBooks Payroll. You can update these policies anytime. 

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Prerequisites

Note: If you have QuickBooks Online Payroll Premium or Elite, you can set up your time off policies in QuickBooks Time to match your payroll account. You and your team members can track time off using QuickBooks Time, which syncs to payroll.



Set up time off pay policy

Here’s how to set up your time off policies in QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service.
  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
  2. Select employee’s name.
  3. In the Time off section, select Start or Edit.
  4. For Sick pay, select Add new sick pay policy from the Sick pay ▼ dropdown.
  5. Select the required option from the Hours are accrued ▼ dropdown and enter the Hours per year or Hours per hour worked and Maximum allowed (optional) fields.
  6. Select Save.
  7. Select Add new unpaid time off policy from the Unpaid time off ▼ dropdown.
  8. Select the required option from the Hours are accrued ▼ dropdown and enter the Hours per year or Hours per hour worked and Maximum allowed (optional) fields.
  9. Select Save.
  10. When finished, select Save.

Step 1: Create a time off payroll item

  1. Go to Lists and select Payroll Item List.
  2. Select Payroll Item â–Ľ dropdown, then select New.
  3. Select Wage (Hourly, Salary, Commission, Bonus) then select Next. 
  4. Select Annual Salary or Hourly Wages, then select Next.
    Note: Select Regular Pay or Overtime Pay if you select Hourly Wages. 
  5. Enter a name for the item, then Next.
    Note: If you use time off you can rename this item to TO.
  6. Select the expense account you want for the item, then select Next. 
  7. Select the appropriate Reporting Period, then select Finish.

Step 2: Add a time off policy to your employee

  1. Go to Employees and select Employee Centre.
  2. Select the employee's name.
  3. Select Payroll Info, then select Vacation Pay for [Employee Name].
  4. Enter the amount that is currently available for the employee in the Pay ($) available as of mm/dd/yyyy field and select OK. 
    Note: This is the total amount of pay available as of the date you add vacation to the employee profile.
  5. Select Accrual Hours for [Employee name].
  6. Enter the number of hours that are currently available for the employee in the Hours available as of mm/dd/yyyy field. 
    Note: This is the total amount of hours available as of the date you add sick to the employee profile.
  7. In the Accrual period ▼ dropdown, select one of the four accrual periods for sick time listed.
  8. In the Hours accrued field, enter the number of hours that will be accrued (based on your selection in step 7). 
    Note: If you select Enter manually for Actual period, you will not see the Hours accrued field.
  9. In the Maximum number of hours field, enter the maximum balance of sick hours that the employee can have.
  10. If you do not allow hours to roll over to the next year, select Reset hours each new year? checkbox and select OK. 
  11. Select OK to record your changes.


Change your time off pay policy settings and balance

When you need to, you can always go back in and update your policy’s accrual period, current balance, and other settings.

  1. Go to All apps A bunch of numbers and letters on a tile wall., select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
  2. Select employee’s name.
  3. In the Time off section, select Edit.
  4. Select edit ✎ icon next to the policy to make changes. Or update the Current balance.
  5. Edit the policy, then select Save.
  6. When finished, select Save.

Edit a vacation or sick pay policy.

Update your employee’s time off balance

  1. Go to Employees and select Employee Centre.
  2. Select the employee's name.
  3. Select Payroll Info, then select Accrual Hours for [Employee name].
  4. Enter the number of hours that are currently available for the employee in the Hours available as of mm/dd/yyyy field. 
    Note: This is the total amount of hours available as of the date you add sick to the employee profile.
  5. Select OK to record your changes.
  6. Select OK.