Let me help you with your payroll concern, Hi its me. 

We can change the expense or liability account associated with a payroll item. The changes of this sort are retroactive and will affect all previous transactions. If you do not want this, we can create new payroll items to replace the old ones. This way, we can link to the correct expense or liability accounts from now onward. Be sure to switch out the payroll items in employee profiles. 

To change the payroll item to an expense account, follow the steps below:

1. From the QuickBooks menu at the top, click Lists.
2. Choose Payroll Item List.
3. At the lower left of the Payroll Item List, click Payroll Item and choose Customize Columns.
4. From the Available Columns list, select Expense Account, and then click Add.
5. Tap OK.
6. Double-click the payroll item you want to change.
7. In the Edit payroll item window, click Next until you reach the Expense Account or Liability Account drop-down list.
8. Select the new expense account, and click Next until you can press Finish.

We can only have one expense or liability account associated with a specific item. If you need to move expenses or liabilities from one account to another, create a journal entry debiting and crediting the appropriate accounts.

Feel free to browse this link here if you need help with other tasks in QuickBooks Payroll. It'll route you to our general payroll topics with articles.

I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you, please let me know how it goes or if you have any other issues or concerns. Just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you. Take care always. 

What version is required for this?

I do not see Payroll Item in the List column....

Hi there, @DPlaire. 

Thanks for taking the time to follow along with the thread and sharing your concerns. 

Since you're not seeing the payroll item list from the list menu, let's try getting to the payroll items list another way. 

Here's how:

1. Go to the Employees List. 
2. From the dropdown menu, choose Manage Payroll Items. 
3. From there, you can add, edit or view all your payroll items. 

Please let me know if you're still having issues reviewing your payroll item list. I'm always around to lend a hand. Take care! 

Okay I am having issues understanding here. 

I am trying to figure out our payroll liabilities account and our health insurance expense account. 

The only two people who get their insurance paid for in full are the owners. (there are only 3 of us and i'm PT) so there are no deductions from their paychecks. The bill comes in we pay it and it goes into the Health Expense. but now there is this huge liability account from 2021. ( how do i fix this?) We are an S corp. as well not sure if that has a different way of handling that as well. Also is there a way to make whatever the fix is automatic?

Welcome to the Community, @A1Marine. Let me share some insights to help you understand where the difference begins.

To know which quarter the discrepancy is from, access the Payroll Summary and Payroll Liability Balances reports in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Before we do anything, let's make sure the tax table is updated. It is to ensure that your federal and state tax calculations are correct.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Employees menu.
2. Select Get Payroll Updates.
3. Click the Download entire payroll update radio button.
4. Select Update, and then click OK.

Open the Payroll Summary Report and specify a quarter date range to acquire the correct wages, taxes, payroll additions, and deductions. I'll show you how to do it:

1. Go to the Reports menu.
2. Hover over Employees & Payroll, and then select Payroll Summary.
3. From the Dates drop-down arrow, choose the specific quarter.
4. Click the Refresh button to view the changes.
5. Select the amount of your payroll taxes to view the complete details.
6. From the Transactions by Payroll item, go to the Wage Base column.
7. Take note of the total amount, and then multiply the Wages Base amount to the tax rate.

Note the amount after detecting the mismatch and make a liability adjustment to fix it.

I've also included a link to an article to correct typical payroll problems in QuickBooks: How to fix common payroll errors.

Let me know how things go on your end. I want to ensure this gets resolved for you.

Good Morning, 

Is it me or does it seem to me like there was never an actual resolution to this initial inquiry? I specifically use QB Online so perhaps if there was, it may have been exclusive to Desktop?

Quite similar to my contemporaries here, the main issue here is that our P&L and Balance Sheets will reflect inaccurate balances at the end of the year as we categorize all of our insurance premium payments as an expense (rightfully so in the case of us paying in advance then deducting from our employees). However, the company does not cover the full premium payment, therefore the amount deducted from the employee paycheck is paid by them, not us. As such, this amount would be deducted from the "Balance" of the Expense account so the full balance of that Expense on the aforementioned reports would be accurate.

I'm wondering therefore if a Journal Entry to essentially make those "payments" towards the Expense account from the Liability account would be at the very least, a work around for this until Intuit potentially makes a change to this. 

I welcome any thoughts or comments on this. 

Thank you,

I. Gonzalez

I am a QBDesktop Assisted Payroll user/employer.  We have 1 employee and myself on a health insurance and have always paid the entire premium.  Now we have a new employee who will pay 30% of the premium (pre-tax).  I have paid my health insurance invoice as an expense from my operating account.  Now it appears it is going to be a payroll liability since it needs to be recorded in the employee payroll as a pre-tax deduction.  I have read and made two payroll items in my payroll item list: Company Contribution Health Ins. and Health Ins. Deduction.  Leaving no amounts in the deduct as this may not be the same for any other employees.  But I am confused and need help figuring this out -

How do I pay my health insurance bill now?  From my operating account or payroll account? How do I enter my health insurance bill in QBDT?

How do I set up the payroll item now in the employee profile? 

Hello there, @CLaSala. I'm here to help you account for the Health insurance premiums of your employee in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

To pay your insurance bill, you can create a Scheduled Payroll and ensure that this payroll item is included as a deduction on your employee paycheck. Before doing so, create a backup copy of your file first. When ready, refer to these steps: 

1. Go to Employees and select Pay Employees.
2. Then, choose Scheduled Payroll.
3. Pick the appropriate schedule and select Start Scheduled Payroll.
4. Verify the Pay Period Ends date, Check Date, and QuickBooks Bank Account.
5. Next, select the employees you want to pay.
6. You can enter hours using the grid, or if you are using timesheets, you’ll see all their hours for this pay period already entered. To see everyone's paycheck details, select Open Paycheck Detail.
7. Click Save & Next to go to the next employee, or select Save & Close to go back to the Enter Payroll Information window.
8. Then, select Continue.
9. Review the Check/Direct Deposit printing options.
10. Confirm the amounts for each employee are correct and click Create Paychecks.

For reference, check out this article: Create and run your payroll.

I also recommend, reaching out to your accountant to provide additional guidance in recording the payment for the health insurance premiums. They can also advise you on what account you can use. If you're not affiliated with one, you can use our Find an Accountant tool to look for one near you. 

Then, to add the payroll item to your employee profile, please refer to these steps:

1. In your QBDT company, select the Employees menu and click Employee Center.
2. From there, look and double-click the name of the employee.
3. Then, select Payroll Info.
4. In the section for Additions, Deductions, and Company Contributions, add the payroll item you've created.
5. Next, enter the amount per period and the limit.
6. When done, select OK.

When ready to pay your employee, please proceed to Step 3 of this article: Set up and manage payroll items for your insurance benefit plan.

You can run also run a Payroll Summary report to see your total payroll wages, taxes, deductions, and contributions. To get started, check out this link: Create a payroll summary report in QuickBooks.

I'm always here ready to help if you have any other concerns about managing payroll items in QBDT. Have a good one and stay safe. 

I don't know if there has been any update on this issue since this was last commented on. I use QBO now and I think the journal entries are the only option still. Is that correct? I don't see any solution for the on-line version. This seems like something that should be corrected. Obviously many people would appreciate having the expense accounts available to direct the payroll liabilities to without the extra work of journal entries. Me included.

It's what I've been doing just to ensure that the balance sheet reflects accurate figures concerning the premium expenses the company actually spends. 

I was just told by the payroll onboarding support that if enough people complain it will be addressed. I am officially logging a complaint here for anyone that cares. I also complained about the fact that deductions can only be taken per paycheck instead of once a month or etc. The flexibility of the desktop product was appreciated. I do not like being squeezed back into something that makes me work harder/spend more time/ have to give more attention to things that should be automated. - Thanks for listening.