How do I make custom payroll liability payments in QBO?

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It's nice to see you in the Community today, 12-parsecs.

Timely payment of your non-tax liabilities is crucial to maintaining accurate financial records. I'm here to offer support and address your concern about making custom liability payments for Simple IRA contributions. 

The payroll system does not support creating checks for non-tax liabilities, such as health insurance premiums, 401(k) contributions, and child support. That's why, you're unable to create custom liability payments. 

You'll have to manually create them from the Check screen to process these payments. I would be glad to guide you through the details of tracking the entry.

Here's how:

1. In your company, click the New menu and then select Check.
2. Choose the account used for liability payments under the Bank Account drop-down menu.
3. Click the Choose a payee drop-down menu and select the vendor.
4. In the Account details section, choose the category you use for tracking your liability payments and enter the amount. If unsure, follow these steps to check your liability preferences:
1. Head to the Payroll menu on the left panel and go to the Employees tab to select Payroll Setup.
2. In the center column, select Accounting.
3. Under the Tax Liability Accounts, you'll see your current liability preferences.
5. In the Description field, add which one is for employee or employee.
6. If you have sub-accounts for each agency, add the specific accounts and enter the appropriate amount for the agency.
7. Fill in the rest of the transaction and tap the Save and close button.

This reference provides a thorough explanation of the process, including step-by-step instructions on setting up recurring transactions and printing the entry: Create a payroll liability check.

To gear up for the approaching year-end filings, you can make use of these resources as a handy reference on how to pay and file your federal and local taxes:

• Set up QuickBooks Online Payroll to pay and file your payroll taxes and forms
• Pay and file payroll taxes and forms in Online Payroll
• Year-end checklist for QuickBooks Online Payroll

Keep me posted if you have additional questions on how to manage your Simple IRA contributions and update your payroll liabilities schedule. I'll be more than happy to lend a helping hand, @12-parsecs, and @Datoch00. Enjoy your weekend. 

Trying to do this in QBO premium plus and it doesn't appear to work the same way.  Should I simply do a journal entry rather than a check?  Please advise.

Writing a check for the SIMPLE liabilities creates a negative balance on the balance sheet

Creating a journal entry could complicate the process or disrupt the balance of your debits and credits, @dso0216. Ensure your check uses the correct amount to avoid having a negative balance on your Balance Sheet.

By recording it through a check, the payment will reduce the liability on your balance sheet associated with the Simple IRA contributions. It’s important that this matches up with your payroll records to keep your books accurate and up-to-date.

A payment made towards a liability on the balance sheet shows up as a negative figure because it reduces the total amount of liabilities. Liabilities reflect what a business owes.

When you make a payment, you are decreasing the amount you owe, which is reflected as a negative amount in the accounting records to indicate a reduction in the total liabilities. This adjustment ensures that the balance sheet accurately shows the current financial obligations of the business.

Also, you can view this article for more detailed information about creating a liability check in QuickBooks Online: Pay your non-tax liabilities in QuickBooks.

On top of that, if you want to personalize your reports in QuickBooks Online and save the same settings for future use, visit these materials:

• Customize reports
• Create, access, and modify memorized reports

To help us better assist you, please share more details about your concerns in the comments below. We're here to help and look forward to your response. Have a great day. 

I understand debits and credits.  A liability has been paid for which there was no liability balance in the G/L.  So it sounds like I need to set-up the SIMPLE payments as an other tax liability in order for the amount per the paycheck to show up on the pay liabilities screen.  Of course this will be a manual payment and should not be automated as the SIMPLE plan is set-up outside of QBO.