Set up and add deductions and contributions to an employee's payroll in QuickBooks Online Payroll

Learn how to set up and add deductions and contributions to an employee’s payroll.

With QuickBooks Online Payroll, you can set up and add deductions or contributions to your employees' payroll. In order to add deductions and contributions to the paycheques you send, you must set these up for each employee.

Add for an employee

New employee

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select Add an employee.
3. Fill in the required fields, then select Add employee. 
4. Select Finish Payroll Info.
5. From Deductions and contributions, select Start.
6. Select + Add deduction/contribution.
7. Select deduction or contribution type from the Deduction/contribution type ▼ dropdown list. 
8. Select Type of the deduction or contribution. You can learn more about each type’s tax implications by selecting the triangle. 
9. Enter the name in the Description box provided. This is how the deduction/contribution will show up on the employee’s paycheque or pay stub. 
10. You can now enter the Employee deduction and Company contribution amount per pay period. You can select Flat amount, Percent of gross pay, Per hour worked or None.
    Note: If you do not see the None option, it depends on the type of deduction or contribution.
11. Add an Annual maximum to avoid over-deducting. If the item is a contribution only, you can select None for the amount per pay period.
12. Select Save then select Done.

Existing employee

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select the employee you want to edit. 
3. From Deductions and contributions, select Start or Edit. 
4. Select the edit  ✎ icon next to deductions and contributions name to open an existing deduction or contribution. Update the details, then select Save.  
5. Or, to add a new deduction/contribution, select + Add deduction/contribution.
6. Select deduction or contribution type from the Deduction/contribution type ▼ dropdown list. 
7. Select Type of the deduction or contribution. You can learn more about each type’s tax implications by selecting the triangle. 
8. Enter the name in the Description box provided. This is how the deduction/contribution will show up on the employee’s paycheque or pay stub. 
9. You can now enter the Employee deduction and Company contribution amount per pay period. You can select Flat amount, Percent of gross pay, Per hour worked or None.
   Note: If you do not see the None option, it depends on the type of deduction or contribution.
10. Add an Annual maximum to avoid over-deducting. If the item is a contribution only, you can select None for the amount per pay period.
11. Select Save then select Done.