Form 941reporting different total wages

Hello, Jane. 

I'll gladly lend a hand and ensure the amounts on your 941 form are correct. 

There is likely a payroll item that's causing the 941 amounts to show a different total. An item may have been set up incorrectly. 

The first thing we'll want to do is to check the Payroll Summary report for the deduction or addition payroll items. Here's how to run it: 

1. Go to the Reports menu. 
2. Hover on Employees & Payroll.
3. Select Payroll Summary. 
4. For the Dates, set it to the third quarter to see the affected amounts. 

Review the payroll items. If you need to see a breakdown of the related paychecks, double-click on the total amounts to see them. 

If there are any payroll items that were calculating the amounts incorrect, then we'll want to review and change the settings.

Simply go to the Lists menu, then select Payroll Item List. Open the item that's causing the issue, and review and change how it is taxed. 

Another way to review and correct the 941 form is to run the Payroll Checkup tool. A detailed guide can be found here: Run payroll checkup.  

More details and solutions about fixing the 941 form can be found here: Troubleshoot Form 941 in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

After fixing the issue, do you need help efiling the 941 form in the future? I'll share this article to guide you with the steps: E-file and e-pay state forms and taxes in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced. 

If you have any other concerns about the 941 form or any other tax forms, let me know and I'll help you out again. Need help on your entries like sales, paychecks, expenses and other things? Lay down the details below and I'll assist you. 

Hello James,

Thanks very much for your quick response.  I now recall having to edit some pretax payroll items that were initially setup incorrectly at the beginning of 3rd quarter (or the end of 2nd quarter in June).  In the Tax Tracking field, it was initially set up as "none".  A few weeks later I learned that I should have selected "Cafe 125" for tax tracking.  So I edited these payroll items in 3rd quarter.  But I don't know why I still got the discrepancy between line 2 and 5 on 3rd quarter form 941.

We recognize the effort you put in to resolve the discrepancy in total wages on Form 941, @Jane111. I'd like to add a few more insights for you to have this done in no time.

Line 2 of Form 941 will only display wages subject to federal withholding tax, while line 5a will only display wages subject to FICA Social Security tax. If there is a pay or deduction item that is set up as taxable by one of these taxes but not the other, there can be a discrepancy in these amounts.
 

Make sure to map each line correctly to avoid discrepancies. See this guide to know more about how QuickBooks populates Form 941.

You may also find this additional link helpful: File a corrected Federal Form 941 and 940 in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll. This includes the steps on how you can amend previously filed forms 941 and/or 940.

It's our pleasure to be of help anytime. Please keep us updated so we can respond as soon as possible. We'd love to answer more queries regarding, payroll, taxes, or QuickBooks specifically. Stay safe and don't overwork yourself.

Hello Mich,

The pretax payroll items being discussed are dental, visioon, and accidental insurance.  They're deducted from participating employees' paychecks and not subject to FICA taxes (both employees & employers portions).  They're also not subject to the State's payroll taxes.  In my case, line 2 shows the correct total wages.  But lines 5a/5c show a different total taxable wages (about $412 higher) instead of the same as that on line 2.  All payroll items are now set up correctly.  I'm still scratching my head trying to find out where the $412 differential came from and what adjustments I need to make in order to have Quickbooks populates the correct figures on form 941.  

I appreciate your quick response, Jane111.

I see that you've tried a few things to get a correct amount in the form 941 reporting.

We'd like to review and double check the set up. With that, I recommend contacting our Payroll Support Team to identify what causing this having different total wages. We have dedicated Support Team who can check using their available tools. They can walk you through how you can set it up successfully. Go to the Help menu and select QuickBooks Desktop Help F1.

Once we determine the reason of the discrepancy, we can make a liability adjustment. Our Support Team might also share other ways to handle this. We can follow these steps.
 

1. Go to the Employees, select Payroll Taxes & Liabilities, then select Adjust Payroll Liabilities.
2. In the Date and Effective Date fields, select the last paycheck date of the affected month or quarter.
3. In the Adjustment is for, select:
   • Employee Adjustment if the item you’re adjusting is a company-paid item. This will update the YTD info reported in both federal and state forms. Then choose the employee's name.
   • Company Adjustment to correct the balance from Payroll Center and Payroll Liability balances report.
4. Under the Item Name column, select the payroll item you want to adjust.
5. Next, enter the Amount of the adjustment.

For more details, we can visit this article: Adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll. 

Here are some articles that guide you with the Form filling of 941:
 

• How QuickBooks Populates the 941.
• Tax deadlines and important quarterly and year-end dates.

Stay in touch if you need more help and have questions about payroll forms and taxes. We're all right here to help in any way that we can.

Hello Sarahann,

Thanks for your response.  I found what made up the discrepancy between lines 2 and 5 on form 941.  I tried to follow the instructions on Adjust Payroll Liabilities, but it doesn't seem to be the solutions.  Can someone in the Payroll Support Team call me so we can go over everything?  It will be much easier.  I'm trying to beat the filing deadline of 10/31.  I'd be appreciative if I can connect with the Support Team asap.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for getting back, @Jane111.

I'm glad to know the steps provided by my colleague above enable you to locate the transactions that caused the discrepancies when filing your form 941 in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) Payroll.

With regards to connecting to our support, I recommend you perform a request for a call back in your company file. This way, one of our phone representatives will initiate a call to you and ensure that your concerns will get attended to in no time. Since the Community is a public forum, it would be best to do this within your company file to avoid exposing your personal information.

Here's how:

1. Open your QuickBooks Desktop and go to the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help/Contact Us. Add a brief description of your concerns and select Continue.
3. Sign in to your Intuit account. Then, click Continue and Continue with my account.
4. We will send a code to your associated email. Afterwards, proceed by entering this and press Continue.
5. Choose a way to connect: chat with us or Have us call you.

You can also refer to this article for their support hours to ensure you contact them at the time of your convenience. Select your appropriate product and get the support details: Contact Payroll Support.

Additionally, here's an article you can refer to if you opt for e-filing your form 941 in the future.

Let me know if you have more concerns about payroll taxes. I'll get back as soon as I can. Have a good one!

Hello Rose,

I followed the instructions from my Quickbooks desktop/Help menu, but I couldn't click on the 'Phone' option, which is greyed out.  I guess I would have to wait until the normal business hours to put in another request for a call back. 

Thank you for response.