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Create a payroll summary report in QuickBooks

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•7•Updated September 01, 2023

Learn how to create a payroll summary report to see what you've paid out in your QuickBooks payroll.

If you want a quick view of your payroll totals, including employee taxes and contributions, you can run a Payroll Summary report for any date range, or group of employees in QuickBooks.

Note: Not sure which payroll service you have? Here's how to find your payroll service.

Create a payroll summary report

The payroll summary report gives you the total payroll wages, taxes, deductions, and contributions. Here's how to run a payroll summary report. 

Note that the dates in this report are by paycheque dates only, not pay period dates.

  1. Go to Reports and select Standard.
  2. Scroll down to the Payroll section, then select Payroll Summary. You can also enter the report name in the search field to find it.
  3. Set a date range, then select Apply.
  4. If you want to include or hide a specific detail in this report, select Customize then Run report.
  1. Go to Reports and select Employees and Payroll.
  2. Select Payroll Summary.
  3. Adjust the date range appropriately.
  4. In the Show Columns dropdown, select Total only.

Create a payroll summary report by employee

Run a payroll summary by employee if you need to view the payroll wages, taxes, deductions, and contributions totalled by employees.

  1. Go to Reports.
  2. Scroll down to the Payroll section, then select Payroll Summary by Employee.
  3. Set a date range, then select Apply.
  4. If you want to include or hide a specific detail in this report, select Customize. Here you can:
    • Select single employee or group of employees.
    • Choose how you’d like your columns to be viewed by (By Employee, Weekly, Bi-weekly, etc).
    • Check the corresponding boxes if you’d like total Hours or Rates to be shown.
  5. Select Run report.
  1. Go to  Reports and select Employees and Payroll.
  2. Select Payroll Summary.
  3. Adjust the date range appropriately.
  4. In the Show Columns dropdown, select Employee.
  5. Select Customize Report tab, then Filters tab.
  6. In the Choose Filter section, scroll down to select Name from the filter list.
  7. From the Name dropdown, select the employee. 
  8. Select OK.

Learn about the report

Here's what different parts of the report mean:

  • Gross Pay: The amount an employee receives before any taxes or deductions.
  • Adjusted Gross Pay: Gross pay minus any pretax deductions, such as an employee contribution to a 401(k) plan.
  • Net Pay: The amount an employee receives after taxes and deductions are taken out. This is the number written on the check or sent through direct deposit.
  • Employer Taxes and Contributions: The section of the report shows the amount accrued during the period covered by the report. Regardless of whether your company paid them or not.

To export this report, see Export reports from QuickBooks Desktop to Microsoft Excel.

To run more reports in QuickBooks Desktop, see Customize payroll and employee reports.

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