How can I change the 941/944 tax liability period to match the pay period?

Not certain what you want to match, you either pay by 15th of every month or within 3 or so business days

Monthly Depositor

Under the monthly deposit schedule, deposit employment taxes on payments made during a month by the 15^th day of the following month. Employers who deposit monthly should only report their deposits quarterly or annually by filing Form 941 or Form 944.

Semi-weekly Depositor

Under the semiweekly deposit schedule, deposit employment taxes for payments made on Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday by the following Wednesday. Deposit taxes for payments made on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and/or Tuesday by the following Friday. Report your deposits quarterly or annually only by filing Form 941 or Form 944.

I have the same issue, it is not the due date of the payroll taxes in question, it is the period dates noted on the Pay Liabilities screen.  The period dates do not match the payroll period dates. 

I have the same issue, it is not the send by date to pay the taxes.  It is the period dates in the Pay Liabilities screen do not match the actual payroll period dates.  How do you change the period in the payroll liabilities?

We can change the date by opening the liability check, TI57.

The period shown on the Pay Liabilities screen is based on the tax payment frequency you've set up. If you set your payroll taxes to be paid each quarter, then the payment displayed there will be based for one quarter and not your actual payroll dates.

To change the date or period, you can double click the liability check and edit the date below the check number. Then, click Save & Close. To change your payment frequency for your tax payments, you can follow these steps:

1. From the Pay Liabilities tab, select Change Payment Method under Other Activities.
2. Go to Schedule payments, and then select the tax liability you want to edit or schedule a payment for.
3. Select Edit.
4. Enter the appropriate information.
5. Select Finish, and then Finish Later.

I'm right here if you need more details. Thanks for dropping by.

I have the same problem, but I'm using QuickBooks Online.  I do not see the Pay Liabilities screen that you are referring to or the "liability check".

We started with QBO on 9/1/19.  Our pay periods run 2 weeks and we are a semi-weekly Federal 941 depositor so our liability periods should coincide with our payroll periods, but they are not showing that way in QBO.  They're showing 2 DAYS instead of 2 WEEKS.

Our Payroll Period = 9/1/19-9/14/19 (Paycheck  Date = 9/20/19)

If I go to QBO:  Taxes - View Tax Payments You Have Made and click on one of the Federal Taxes (941/944) Tax Payments, it shows "Liability Period 9/18/19-9/20/19" for the same payroll period I referred to above.  That is absolutely wrong, but I cannot find a way to change it for past payments made or future payments.  I've looked for it in setup, etc.

Please help ASAP as I need to process payroll this week and do not want another incorrect liability posted.  Thank you.

Hello LRinSTL,

Thank you for dropping by here in the Community about your payroll taxes. Allow me to provide additional clarification about how the period works in QuickBooks.

If you belong to semiweekly depositors, you only pay taxes three banking days after the period ends which you accrued liability. Unlike those who are on monthly that need to pay the entire taxes from the prior month by the 15th of the next month.

IRS divides the week into two periods:

• Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
• Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday

For additional insight into your payroll taxes, such as the period, I'm adding the article I recommend (scroll down to Federal tax deposit schedules):

Payroll 101.

Additionally, I also recommend reaching out to IRS if you need additional information about the deposit schedules for your federal taxes.

Don't hesitate to get back to me for any questions you may have about the payroll taxes. I'll keep an eye out on your response.

Answer doesn't work for me.  Opening the liability payment only lets me change the date of the payment, not the period dates.

Thanks for following up on this thread, kutarheel.

In QBO, you can only change the date of payment for your taxes. The system calculates your liabilities based on the IRS schedule and not by the pay period. This is to avoid throwing off your payroll information.

If your tax payments were paid via E-services, I recommend you get in touch with our QBO Payroll Team. One of our specialists can perform a payroll correction to ensure the periods are correct.

1. Choose the Help menu in the upper right hand to open the Search window.
2. From there, scroll down to click the Contact us link.
3. Type the issue/topic in the field box and then hit the Let’s talk button.
4. Select how you want to reach out to our support team: Start messaging or Get a callback.

I’ve included a link that provides an overview of the deposit schedule and the period the payment is posted: Payroll 101.

If there’s anything else I can help you with about QuickBooks, click the Reply button and post a comment. I’ll be glad to assist further. Have a great day ahead. 

Did you ever receive and answer for this issue?  I have the same problem.  Thanks!

Did you ever receive an answer for this issue?  I have the same problem.

YA   I tried that twice yesterday after waiting for almost 2 hours for a call back....then when I did get a call back each time, no one was there.....disappointing because my payment is due monday and I need help now

Hi lisabnice,

I understand the importance of having an accurate report period for your 941 tax liability. 

Our Payroll Support Team is not available on weekends. I would suggest contacting them on Monday from 6 AM to 6 PM PT. That way, they can take a closer look at your pay period dates. They can use a screen-sharing tool for this. You can follow Rasalila's steps to reach them.

If you have other questions in mind, feel free to go back to his thread.

Did you ever get an answer for this?  I have the same problem and after 4 hours of doing a chat with QB they say I did my payroll wrong!!

I process p/r on Wednesday for hours worked the previous week.  941 tax is then due the following Wednesday as we are set up to pay once a week.  I processed p/r 7/14 for days worked 7/5-7/10.  P/r liability period should be 7/14-7/16.  In pay tax & other liability it says the 941 p/r liab is for period 6/30-6/30/21 (s/b 7/14-7/16) and is now past due.  When I click on the amount due (this $ amt has been verified and is correct) it is showing me a check date of 6/30 (I entered 7/14) and the check numbers are from 3 previous pay periods.  Seems like when I process p/r the only problem is the 941 and it reverts to the liability period of 6/30-6/30/21.  The state withholding is all correct.

I don't know if this is happening because the end of the second quarter or what?  This happened on my 7/7 check run and my 7/14 check run.

I would think that if I did my p/r wrong the state withholding would also be wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

I am using QB desktop pro plus 2021

The answer I got was that the liability period can't be changed, but that the liability period they show is correct.  From what I understood, the liability period Quickbooks shows is really just when the paychecks should be generated, not the true liability period (or payroll period) that I would expect to see.  I've learned to just ignore the dates they show and haven't had a problem with our payrolls or tax payments.  Sorry there's not a better answer.

Thanks for providing us in-depth details of your payroll concern, DP6, and LRinSTL. 

We can change the date or period by double-clicking the liability check and edit the date below the check number. Then, click Save & Close. To change your payment frequency for your tax payments, just follow these steps:

1. From the Pay Liabilities tab, select Change Payment Method under Other Activities.
2. Go to Schedule payments, and then select the tax liability you want to edit or schedule a payment for.
3. Select Edit.
4. Enter the appropriate information.
5. Select Finish, and then Finish Later.

To set up payroll liabilities, set reminders, and pay scheduled or custom unscheduled liabilities, see the Set up and pay scheduled or custom (unscheduled) liabilities article for more details. If you need other helpful articles in the future, you can always visit our site: Help articles for QuickBooks Desktop.

If the same thing happens, please call our Payroll Support Team to help you with this one. I know you already contacted us, however, this is the best thing we can do to investigate what's causing this issue. They can use a screen share to help walk you through some more steps to help resolve this problem. Here's how:

1. Open QuickBooks.
2. Go to Help, then select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Select Contact Us.
4. Give a brief description of your issue, then select Let's talk, and then choose a way to connect. Phone support may be limited due to volume.

 To ensure we address your concern, our representatives are available from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on weekdays and 6:00 AM - 3:00 PM on Saturdays, PST. See our support hours and types for more details about this one. Feel free to visit our Payroll page for more insights about managing your payroll in QuickBooks. 

I'm just a post away if you have any other concerns while working with payroll tax forms or any QuickBooks related. I'll be here to ensure your success. Take care always. 

I've been using QB Desktop for nearly 4 years now and I never had this issue before. 

I selected the August Federal Tax Liability to process it via E-Payment.  However, once it processes, it now shows September as the Pay Period.  It should be August.

It's possible that all taxes for August has already been paid, Nutch1.

This can be the reason why it's giving you liabilities for the month of September. You can run a Payroll Liability Liability Balances report to verify if you still have an amount for August.

Here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu and look for Employees & Payroll.
2. Select Payroll Liability Balances.
3. Change the date to August and or select Month in the drop-dop down list for Show Columns.
4. Review the report and check if there's a balance for the month of August.
5. If you can see that the amount is zero, double-click on it to check if there's a payment that's been recorded.

Here's an article about running this report for more details: Run Payroll Liability Balances Report.

Just in case there's an amount in the report, I'd suggest reaching out to our Payroll Support Team. They can take a closer at your tax liabilities and help you further with this. Here's an article on how to reach out to them: Contact Payroll Support.

Feel free to check out these articles for additional and future guidance when dealing with your e-payments:

• Troubleshoot Efile or Epay Rejection Issues
• Dates Affecting E-payment Submission and Processing

Please don't hesitate to reach out to us again if you have other questions. I'd be glad to jump right back to help you again.

I have same issue period only showing 2 days did someone help you change this and how if they did

I have the same issue only showing 2 days in my period on liability check.. someone show you how to fix? 

Thanks for visiting our QuickBooks support page and joining this discussion, Jennifer.

I can share some insights about this payroll liability concern.

When paying liabilities, the period on the liability check isn't the payroll pay period. Instead, it is the payment period based on your payment schedule/frequency.

The payment frequency is the schedule that is set up to pay for a certain tax liability. You can review your tax settings and see which frequency (After Each Payroll, Monthly, Quarterlly or Annually) did you use for that tax item. 

For more information, about tax liabilities in QuickBooks, I recommend the following article: Set up and pay scheduled or custom (unscheduled) liabilities.

Post here again if there's anything else you need help with. I'll be more than happy to share some insights with you about payroll and tax processing in the program.

I am new to QBO as of 1/1/22.  I also had the same issue, but what I found interesting is that I have one tax tax liability period that is correct and three that are not. 

We have employees in 3 states (CA, AZ and ID).  The CA, AZ and Federal forms all show a liability time frame of 1/12/22-1/14/22, however the ID liability time frame shows 1/1/22-1/15/22 which is the correct time frame. 

I found that the set up is where this inconsistency seems to be coming from.  If I click on the taxes/payroll taxes from the left menu then scroll down and choose tax setup from the hyperlink it takes me to the Payroll Settings pop up.  All of my incorrect time frames have a deposit schedule of "Semi-weekly" and ID is set up as "Semi-monthly". 

I clicked on change or add new schedule and semi-monthly is not an option for the Fed, CA or AZ choices.  I'm guessing this is a system populated list based on the jurisdiction?  All of my employees are set to bi-monthly payroll.

Hi there, @Shelby W. 

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

In QuickBooks Online, when you update the schedule, the system will automatically revert the deposit schedule back to the higher frequency if your liability is high enough. That said, I recommend contacting our Payroll Support Team. This way, one of our payroll agents can review your account in a secure environment and can check on our back end to update the payment schedule for you if available.

For additional information about changing your schedule, check out Change your deposit and filing schedule.

You can use the link I've included below to connect with an agent. 

• QuickBooks Online Payroll Support

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I'll be here every step of the way. Take care! 

Ok so I am having a similar issue but to escalate it - I already E-Paid with the incorrect dates for next year.  So I am wondering if I somehow can send via E-Payment a negative payment for the wrong date (next year) and then submit again positive payment for this year (correct dates) or if that is even possible or how can I change the submitted and accepted payments for the wrong dates to both Federal #941 Submission as well as the State of Colorado Withholdings DR1094. 

Is there some kind of form to adjust E-Payment Dates or would I have to fill out a 941-X and I don't even think there is an adjustment form for the DR1094's and then at the end of next year I won't balance again because these tail end of 2022 will rear its head back up after fixing 2022, I will have to remember this issue for all of 2023 and remember in January of 2024 to adjust 2023 due to a 2022 last paycheck of the year thing?!?!?! 

Thanks for getting involved with this thread, HydroProErin2.

If you have automatic tax payments and form filings turned off, you can cancel a payment in the following situations:
 

• If it was manually recorded (non-electronic payments).
• If it hasn't been processed electronically.
• The date of your federal payment is at least two banking days prior to the payment date, before 5 PM PST.
• The date of your state payment is before the lead time (state lead times vary).

You won't be able to delete a payment if:
 

• It was rejected due to insufficient funds (NSF).
• It's in process or has already processed electronically.
• The form along with your payment was sent or accepted by the agency.
• In the event you meet the requirements to cancel e-payments, you'll be able to delete them.

Here's how:
 

1. In your left navigation bar, go to Taxes, then Payroll tax.
2. Click Payment history.
3. Choose a payment you want to cancel.
4. Use the Edit ▼ drop-down and hit Delete. If you don't see a Delete option, you can't cancel your payment.
5. Select Yes.

I've also included a detailed resources about canceling tax payments and filings which may come in handy moving forward: Cancel payroll tax payments & forms
 

Please feel welcome to send a reply if there's any questions. Have a lovely day!