Navigating QuickBooks Online Payroll

Before you add an employee to your payroll, make sure you have ‌all the information for that employee ready.

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select Add an employee .
3. Enter your employee’s name, and select their hire date.
4. Select Add employee.
5. Once added, select Finish Payroll Info to enter further details such as personal, employment, and tax information.

Note: Once you have added all your employees, invite them to QuickBooks Workforce. QuickBooks Workforce is an application that allows employees to access their payslips as and when they need them.

Pay types are additional pay items on top of your employee’s regular salary or hourly rate. You can add or change pay types like bonus, commission, overtime, benefits, and more. 

Learn how to add and change pay types.

The date you pay your employees will determine which tax period and year it’s in, even if the pay schedule is different. You can set up multiple schedules for payroll. There are two types of pay schedules: 

• Weekly: Pay your employees every week on a certain day 
• Monthly: Pay your employees once a month on a specific, recurring date

To set up a pay schedule: 

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select your employee.
3. From the Employment details section, select Edit.
4. From the Pay schedule ▼ dropdown, select + Add pay schedule.
5. Select a Pay frequency, Next payday date, and End of next pay period.
6. Enter a Pay schedule name.
7. Select Save.

Learn more about how to set up and manage your pay schedules. 

After you complete a pay run you'll need to submit your real-time information to HMRC. To update your HMRC details in payroll:

1. Select the gear icon, then select Payroll settings.
2. Select pencil icon next to UK tax.
3. Enter the following details:
   • Employer PAYE reference
   • Accounts office reference
   • Unique Taxpayer reference
4. If you will be claiming Employment Allowance, select Yes, I qualify. If you're unsure if you can claim the employment allowance you should check with HMRC.
5. If you are eligible for Small Employers' Relief, select Yes, I qualify. If you’re a new employer or unsure whether you qualify for Small Employer’s Relief, you should check with HMRC.

Before you set up a work-place pension, make sure you have ‌the relevant information ready.

1. Select the gear icon, then select Payroll settings.
2. Navigate to Workplace pension, select the pencil icon.
3. Select the calendar icon to choose your duties start date.
4. If you'd like to choose your own re-enrolment date, select Do you want to re-enrol your employees automatically and enter the date.
5. Select Save, and then Done.

Once your workplace pension is set up, you can set up a pension scheme, add employees to your pension scheme, and more.  Follow our step-by-step guide on how to set-up a workplace pension in payroll.

After a pay run, QuickBooks Online Payroll generates journal entries and posts them to your Chart of Accounts. You can customise these mappings to match your accounting preferences.

How to map accounts:

1. Select the gear icon, then select Payroll settings.
2. Navigate to Accounting, select the pencil icon.
3. Select the dropdown and choose the account you want to use for each category. This will determine where the values are posted.
4. Select Done.

Once you’re ready to process payroll:

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select Run payroll.
3. Ensure to select the active Pay period and appropriate Pay date.
4. Select Preview payroll.
5. Select Submit payroll.

Note: The pay date determines when journal entries post. Ensure it’s correct before submission. This will generate payslips, update reports, and submit real-time information to HMRC about your payroll activity. 

Tip! If you have Salaried employees without pensions or statutory payments, you can run payroll automatically.

Follow the steps based on the experience relevant to you.

Normal pay run

Once you have successfully completed a pay run you'll need to inform HMRC of your employees payments and tax liabilities by submitting a Full Payment Submission (FPS).

If any of your employees are claiming Statutory payments (SSP, SMP, SPP) you will also need to submit an Employer Payment summary (EPS).

To do this:

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Payroll taxes (Take me there).
2. Find the FPS or EPS you wish to submit for the period.
3. Select File to submit it to HMRC.

For more help, see how to Submit an FPS to HMRC in QuickBooks.

Nil pay run

If you haven't paid any employees for a pay period and need to submit an EPS to inform HMRC of the nil payment, no action is required on your part. The EPS will be generated automatically on the 6th of the month and can be submitted before the 19th.

Once you have run payroll, employees can access their payslips via QuickBooks Workforce.

Note: It isn't possible to email a payslip to an employee

To access a historical payslip:

1. Go to All apps , select Payroll, then select Employees (Take me there).
2. Select your employee.
3. Select the Payroll payment list tab.
4. Select Print.

Payroll reports can be found in the Reports section of the left navigation. To run a report:

1. Go to Reports and select Standard reports (Take me there).
2. Use Find report by name search bar to search for reports by name. You can also browse the list in the Payroll report section.
3. Select the report to open it .