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Navigating QuickBooks Online Core Payroll

by Intuit•28• Updated 6 days ago

Learn how to simplify payroll and stay HMRC compliant with QuickBooks Online Core Payroll. This article walks you through key features, from setting up employees to submitting real-time information (RTI) and distributing payslips.

🛈 This article is for customers who are using QuickBooks Online Core Payroll.

Migrating from Standard Payroll? Find out more about what you’ll need to do before and after moving to ensure a smooth transition.

Get a quick overview of Core Payroll and see how it simplifies your payroll process. Watch our short introduction video below.

Payroll setup checklist

Before setting up payroll in QuickBooks Online Core Payroll, make sure you have the following details ready:

✔ Company information: HMRC credentials (for RTI submissions)

✔ Employee details: Full name, hire date, personal details (to be entered after adding the employee)

✔ Payroll preferences: Pay schedule, and pay types (bonus, commission, overtime, benefits)

✔ Workplace pension setup (if applicable): Duties start date, and re-enrolment date

 ✔ Account mapping: Preferred accounts for payroll categories in the Chart of Accounts

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

  1. Go to Payroll, then select Employees 
  2. Select Add an employee 
  3. Enter your employee’s name, and hire date
  4. Select Add employee.
  5. Once added, enter further details such as personal, employment, and tax information.
  6. Save.

Tip! Invite employees to QuickBooks Workforce so they can securely access their payslips online anytime.

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

Here are some useful links to help you with using the app:

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 in QuickBooks Online Core 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 Payroll and select Employees.
  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, 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 do this:

  1. Select the gear icon, then select Payroll settings
  2. Navigate to Workplace pensions, select the pencil ✏️ icon
  3. Enter the relevant HMRC credentials and payroll information
  4. Select Done

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 pensions, 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 QuickBooks Online Core Payroll.

After a pay run, QuickBooks Online Core 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.
Note: You can automate submissions to Nest.

Once you’re ready to process payroll:

  1. Select Payroll, then Run payroll.
  2. Ensure to select the active Pay period and appropriate Pay date.
  3. Select Preview payroll.
  4. 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. Open the Payroll tax centre.
  2. Find the FPS or EPS you wish to submit for the period.
  3. Select File to submit it to HMRC.

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.

Note: If you migrated from Standard Payroll and had automatic FPS submissions turned on, verify your HMRC credentials in Payroll settings.

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

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

To access a historical payslip:

  1. Go to Payroll and select Employees.
  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.
  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 .

What's next?

For more information, explore:

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