Before setting up payroll, it’s a good idea to double-check your source documents and familiarize yourself with how QuickBooks Online (QBO) calculates payroll, books25. That way, you won’t have to rely just on the Quarterly Payroll Summary report. Basically, QBO looks at the total liability for all your employees together, based on the individual paychecks you’ve already entered. I’ll explain more below.
When you’re setting up payroll in QBO, the Tax Details section asks you to enter your payroll history, things like wages, taxes, and payments you made before starting with QBO Payroll this year.
If you’re seeing a mismatch error, it usually means the total taxes you’re entering (even if you’re pulling them straight from a payroll summary) don’t line up with the Year-to-Date (YTD) wages and taxes QuickBooks calculates from the individual paychecks you entered.
Here’s how to find the right numbers and fix the mismatch:
Check Your Source Documents
- Employee Pay Stubs or YTD Reports: The best information is the YTD totals for each employee from your old payroll system, as of the last paycheck in each prior quarter.
- Quarterly Tax Returns: Use the amounts you reported and paid on your Federal Form 941 and any state or local tax forms (like SUI).
How QBO Calculates Taxes
- When entering tax amounts for prior quarters, QBO expects the amounts you have paid to the tax agencies, not just what was withheld or accrued.
- Sometimes payroll reports show tax amounts "accrued" (owed) during the quarter, but QBO requires the amounts actually remitted.
- If you paid taxes late, the amounts might be spread across multiple payments, not just for the quarter dates.
If you’ve checked everything and QBO still won’t accept your numbers, your best option is to reach out to our Live Support Team for further assistance. They can access your setup and make a “liability adjustment” to fix the mismatch so you can finish setting everything up. When you call, please have your previous quarterly tax forms (such as Form 941) ready.
If you have any other questions about QBO Payroll, just reply here. We’ll get back to you ASAP.
