Set up and manage payroll schedules

Create a new pay schedule

1. Go to Settings ⚙ select Account and Settings and then select Payroll Settings.
2. In the Payroll and Services section, select Pay Schedules.
3. Select Create.
4. Enter the pay period and pay date.
5. Select OK.
6. You can rename the Description as necessary, then select OK to save.

Assign employee a pay schedule

1. Select Employees or Payroll menu, then Employees.
2. Select the employee's name.
3. Select Edit Employee.
4. Select the How often do you pay (employee) ▼ dropdown and choose a pay schedule .
5. Select Done.

Update or delete a pay schedule

Important: If you’re deleting a pay schedule, make sure you don't have any employees assigned to it. Reassign the employees to another pay schedule first.

1. Go to Settings ⚙, then select Payroll Settings.
2. In the Payroll and Services section, select Pay Schedules.
3. Select Edit  next to the pay schedule you want to update or delete.
4. Update the pay schedule's info or select Delete to remove it.

Create a payroll schedule

1. Go to the Employees menu, select Payroll Centre.
2. Select the Pay Employees tab.
3. From the Payroll Schedules ▼ dropdown menu and select New.
4. In the What do you want to name this payroll schedule? field, give a descriptive name to the schedule.
5. In the How often will you pay your employees on this schedule? field, select how often you want to pay your employees. If you are paying your employees twice a month, select the Semimonthly (Twice a month) option and enter the details for two pay cheques.
6. In the What is the pay period end date? field, select the time period you are paying your employees for.
7. In the What date should appear on pay cheques for this pay period? field, select the day you want the cheques to go out.
8. After you are done adding the details, select OK.

Assign a pay schedule to an employee

• From the Employees menu, select Employee Centre
• Double-click the employee's name.
• Go to the Payroll Info tab.
• Select the Payroll Schedule ▼ dropdown.
• Select the Payroll Schedule that you wish to assign to this employee.
• Select OK to save.

Update a pay schedule

Important : If you change the dates from the Enter Payroll Information window, the changes only affect the current pay period. They won't affect the next upcoming pay period dates. You can see your pay schedule on the Payroll Centre's Pay Employees tab.

If you want to update all upcoming payroll schedules, edit or update it from the Edit Payroll Schedule window:

• Payroll schedules are optional. You have the choice to set up a payroll schedule when running payroll for the first time a pay
• You may have up to 200 payroll schedules in QuickBooks Desktop.

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Payroll Centre
2. Under the Create Paycheques table, select the payroll schedule you want to update.
3. From the Payroll Schedules ▼ dropdown menu, select Edit Schedule.
4. Make the necessary updates in the Edit Payroll Schedule window. Note: Select Yes to update the payroll schedule for all the employees assigned to it.
5. Select OK.

Next time you go to the Transactions tab in the Employee Centre and select Paycheques, you'll see the new Payroll Periods according to the new Pay Schedule. QuickBooks will adjust your employees' compensation and taxes to calculate for the new payroll period.

Deactivate or delete a payroll schedule in QuickBooks Desktop

Instead of deleting a payroll schedule, you can make it inactive. This way, you could always make it active again if you needed to do so without setting up a new payroll schedule. To deactivate a pay schedule:

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Employee Centre.
2. Under the Create Paycheques table, select the payroll schedule you want to update.
3. From the Payroll Schedules drop-down, select Edit Schedule.
4. Mark Schedule is inactive, then select OK.

If you decide you want to completely delete a payroll, there are two steps:

Step 1: Remove any employees who are on the payroll schedule you want to delete

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Payroll Centre.
2. Double-click the employee's name.
3. Go to the Payroll Info tab.
4. Make sure the schedule in Payroll Schedule field isn't the one you need to delete. If it is, select another payroll schedule for the employee or clear the field.
5. Follow these steps to check the payroll schedule for all your employees.

Step 2: Delete the payroll schedule

1. Go to the Employees menu, then select Payroll Centre.
2. Go to the Pay Employees tab.
3. Under the Create Paycheques table, select the payroll schedule that you want to delete.
4. From the Payroll Schedules ▼ dropdown, select Delete Schedule. Note: If you get a prompt saying you can’t delete or make a payroll schedule inactive, you still have employees on it. Follow Step 1 to check all of your employees.
5. Select OK.