Cost of Labor

Hello pjtas,

Changing your employee's payroll account by groups is possible in QuickBooks. That said, we'll run some steps to isolate why you're unable to do so.

Let's try modifying their payroll accounts on a private window. There are instances that issues like this occurs when the system encounter cache traffic. You can may use these keyboard shortcuts to open one:

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

If it works, you can go back to a regular browser and clear its cache. Once a cache is piled up, it can cause some unexpected happenings on the opened pages like QuickBooks.

You can also switch to a different supported browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge.

Then, you can try updating their accounts again. Just a heads up, ensure to select the I use different accounts for different groups of employees button when doing so.

Also, when you're ready to pay and file taxes, you can check this guide: How to pay or file state and federal payroll taxes online.

Don't hesitate to leave a Reply as to how these steps work on your end. I'm just around to help you out!

Just to clarify a bit more. In order to use the button different accounts for different groups, I would have to put people in groups like hourly vs salaried, correct? 

If that is the case, then I will not have the results I am looking for.

I have a Dr who is salaried and then there are hourly employees that we want to be cost of labor. And the admin staff who are hourly should be an expense. Is there another way to group people besides hourly and salaried?

Thanks for coming back, pjtas.

In QuickBooks Online (QBO), another way to group people besides hourly and salaried is to assign a single class to all your employees or assign different classes to different employees. If this is what your business needs, we'll need to set up classes to track payroll and turn on class tracking for your payroll transactions. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Gear icon on the top menu. 
2. Select Payroll Settings.
3. In the Accounting section, tap Edit.
4. In the Class Tracking section, tick Edit to turn it on. Then choose how you want to track classes.
5. Press Continue, then Done.
6. If the Class Tracking section isn't showing in the Accounting Preferences, ensure that the class tracking is turned on. If classes are off, turn them on and repeat the steps above. If the classes are on, turn it off, sign out, then sign back in, and turn the classes back on.
7. Add a class for each employee, or assign one for all of them.
8. To save your preferences, press Continue, then Done.

To learn more about this one, see the Turn on class tracking in QuickBooks Online article. To run reports by class in QBO Plus and Advanced, just follow the steps and details in the Run reports by class article. I've got articles here for more insight about class tracking:

• Get started with class tracking in QuickBooks Online
• Track your transactions by class

Feel free to visit our Payroll page for more insights about managing your payroll in QuickBooks. 

You can always update us on the result after performing the steps as I'd like to ensure this is resolved for you. You can also go back to this thread if you have any other QuickBooks-related concerns.