Bonus check problem

I'm here to help you sort this out, jmcintosh.

The net pay changed to $7800 because the bonus amount of $8000 was added to the gross wage. Thus the total taxable wage as seen in the screenshot is $12124.45 (4124.45 + 8000). To resolve this, we'll have to create a separate bonus check to ensure the employee gets the exact bonus amount.

Before we proceed, there are things that we should know before issuing a separate bonus check. I suggest checking this article's Understand the tax settings for issuing a separate check section to learn more: Pay an Employee Bonus.

Here's how to create a separate bonus paycheck:

1. Go to the Payroll menu and then select Employees.
2. Click Run payroll and then select Bonus 
3. Choose the applicable settings for the bonus paycheck, then select Continue.
4. Select the employee, then enter the bonus amount.
5. Click the edit icon beside Payroll options.
6. Select the payroll options you want and then click Apply.
7. Choose Preview and Submit payroll.
8. If you selected As net pay, the pay stub includes Employee Taxes Paid by Employer in the pay section.

To learn more about the basics of payroll processing, I recommend checking out this article: Payroll 101. 

Additionally, I've included an article that'll help you learn more about federal and state payroll wage bases and limits. This is to ensure your payroll data is accurate: Payroll Tax Wage Bases and Limits.

It's our pleasure to assist you here in the Community. For other payroll concerns, please get in touch with us. This way, we'll be able to help you out.

I did bonuses for 20 employees. This was the only employee that had their net bonus changed. For this employee I did "Bonus Only"-

I chose "Net Pay" in the next screen-

I entered $8000 for the employee "Net Bonus" which created a "Gross Pay" amount of $12,124.45

When I clicked "Preview Payroll" the Gross Pay amount was still $12124.45 but the Net Pay amount had changed to $7800.

When I "Submit Payroll" and go to the paycheck list, the Total Pay shows $12124.45 and the Net Pay shows $7800.

I'm not going to go through the effort of showing these same screenshots for every other employee, but please trust me that I am telling the truth that NO OTHER EMPLOYEES' Net Pay was changed like this.

I know I can create an additional Bonus Check for $200 so this employee receives her full $8000, but it is ridiculous and embarrassing that I have to.

I'm here to ensure you're able to write the bonus check without changing its net pay, jmcintosh.

To get this sorted out, as an initial step, you might want to check the employee's tax calculation. If the tax calculation is correct, let's delete and recreate the check.

Here's how to delete the bonus check:

1. Click on Payroll at the left panel.
2. Go to the Employees and tap on the Paycheck list link.
3. Select the bonus check you want to remove, then tap the Delete button.

If you're still getting the result, let's do some basic troubleshooting steps to isolate the issue. Access your QuickBooks Online account using an incognito or private browser. Kindly use either of the following shortcut keys:

• Google Chrome: press Ctrl + Shift + N  
• Mozilla Firefox: press Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: press Command + Shift + N

Once signed in, go back to your payroll and see if the net pay is correct. If it works fine in incognito mode, go back to regular browsing then clear the browser's cache. This method removes the cache history to start with a clean slate.

However, if the problem persists, I'd suggest creating a separate bonus check for the $200. Feel free to open the articles from this link in case you need guides while working with QuickBooks or payroll in the future.

Let me know how it goes, as I want to make sure this is fixed. I'll be right here if you need further help. Happy Holidays!

I have deleted the check and recreated it several times already. I just tried the incognito browser suggestion with the same result. It is bizarre that only this employee is affected but I will have to create an additional $200 bonus check and then explain to the Board of Directors why the payroll report will show an $8200 bonus when they only authorized $8000.

Thanks for getting back to us, @jmcintosh.

I appreciate you for following the steps shared by my colleague to resolve this issue. Since none of these solutions worked for you, I suggest contacting our Customer Care Team. This way, we'll be able to take a closer look at what's causing this behavior and provide you other troubleshooting steps.

Here's how to reach them:

1. Go to the Help menu at the upper right.
2. Select Contact Us.
3. Enter your concern.
4. Click Let’s talk.
5. Choose to Get a callback. 
6. Type in your contact info.
7. Select Confirm my call.

Check out our support hours and contact us at a time convenient to you: Support hours and types.

Moreover, you can always run payroll reports to get useful information about your business and employees. Just go to Reports from the left menu. Then, enter a report name in the Search box. To view the list of the payroll reports available in the program, visit this article: Running Payroll Reports. 

Keep in touch if you have any clarifications or other concerns. I’ll get back to answer them for you. Happy Holidays!!

I figured out what is causing this problem, in case anyone else is still struggling with this. It's happens when the employee has requested extra tax to be taken off each cheque. The net pay of the bonus will be reduced by the amount of extra tax they've requested to be taken off. Example: Trying to pay a bonus of net $500. Employee has requested an extra $50 in tax be deducted on each pay cheque. Actual net pay that will calculate in bonus module will be $450. I haven't figured out an easy way around it as the module will not allow you to manually adjust income tax. I guess the solution would be to confirm with the employee if they want that extra tax taken off on bonus payments or not. If not, you have to go into the tax form and remove the extra tax amount, process the bonus payment, and then add it back afterwards. Not very convenient.. Let me know if anyone else comes up with a better solution. 

Thanks for the last post. I had the same problem today trying to create Christmas Bonus checks. After reading the last post, I went into the employee list and change the extra withholding to 0.00 and saved. Then I deleted and recreated the bonus checks. Afterwards I change the extra withholding back to the original amounts so the next regular payroll run will be correct.

Thank you! I ran into this same exact situation.

Thank you! I really thought I was going crazy, it happened to only two employees! Now I guess I will have to do the same with employees that have garnishments....Super inconvenient Intuit!

Thanks for figuring out what is causing this to happen. I couldn't figure out the cause. I know it's been almost a year since your post but I have another work around to add. After you enter the amount, the system let's you edit the check. I'll edit the bonus amount until I get the right net amount. Huge pain though. It'd be nice if QBO could figure out the calculation including the dollar amount. Programing issue.