QuickBooksHelpIntuit

Set up and manage your Auto Payroll

by Intuit•219• Updated a day ago

With Auto Payroll in QuickBooks Online Payroll you can save time running payroll each payday. If all or some of your team works the same hours each pay period, paycheques can be created for you. Payday becomes one less thing for you to remember in your busy schedule. And it works if you pay your employees with paper cheques or direct deposit.

For a better experience, open this article in QuickBooks Online Launch side-by-side view

We’ll show you how to:

Prerequisites
Make changes for the upcoming Auto Payroll
Pay your employee manually
Turn off Auto Payroll

This feature isn’t available in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

What you’ll need

Prerequisites

Before you can set up Auto Payroll, you must complete your initial payroll setup and run your first payroll.

Your team members must also meet the following criteria to be eligible:

Have an active employment status.
Are paid by salary, or hourly with default hours set.
Are on a pay schedule.
Tax info (T4 and provincial taxes)

To set default hours

Follow this link to complete the steps in product .
Select your employee.
From Base pay, select Start or Edit.
Add or edit your employee’s base pay info:
- From Select compensation type, select Salary option.
- Enter the Pay frequency and Salary details.
- Enter the Hours per day and Days per week.
Select Save.

Auto Payroll doesn’t work for commission-only, inactive, and hourly employees with varying hours each pay period.

Set default hours for ‌hourly employees

If you have hourly employees who work the same hours each work day, set their default hours to make them eligible for Auto Payroll.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product

Select your team member.
From Pay types, select Start or Edit.
Enter the Hours per day and Days per week.
Select Save, then select Done.

Add or remove eligible team members from Auto Payroll

You must be the Primary Admin to manage Auto Payroll settings.

Go to Settings and select Payroll settings.
In the Auto Payroll box, select Edit ✎.
Select the employees you want to enroll in Auto Payroll.
Select Save changes.
Review the confirmation display for the total number of employees and important dates related to your Auto Payroll processing.
Select Done.

Sign in as the Primary Admin.
Go to Settings and select Payroll settings.
In the Auto Payroll section, select Edit ✎.
Select Select employees for Auto Payroll. Select the employees you wish to pay on Auto Payroll. You'll only be able to select eligible employees.
- Uncheck employees to remove them from Auto Payroll.
Select Save changes.
Review the confirmation display for the total number of employees and important dates related to your Auto Payroll processing.
Select Done.

Once your employees are enrolled, you’ll receive an email with the details of your upcoming payday, 2-business days before Auto Payroll processes. You’ll get a second email after your Auto Payroll has been processed.

Manage your Auto Payroll

Make a one-time change to an upcoming autopaycheck

You can make your changes to your employee’s pay or tax info 3-business days prior to the cheque date, until 8 PM ET.

Follow this link to complete the steps in product .

Select Run payroll.
Note: If there are multiple pay schedules, select the one you want and select Continue.
Select Make updates to upcoming pay period.
From the Actions column, select, then select Edit paycheque.
Edit the payroll items, then Save.
Select Save & preview Auto Payroll.
Select Save Auto Payroll.

Pay your employee manually

Pay a team member manually for one pay period

If you need to pay a team member outside of the normal schedule, you can pause Auto Payroll for a single pay period. It'll resume on the next scheduled pay run.