I just started with QB online with the Essentials program. I was not told that i would be charged for payroll. i can do payroll manually. how do i do this in essential?

Hey Cwbr,

Thank you for choosing Quickbooks Online to help manage your business. Depending on the payroll service you have (i.e. Quickbooks Online Payroll, Intuit Online Payroll), there are numerous ways to create paychecks. I recommended this article to assist you in creating those checks. I'm always available here to further assist you.

Thank you for your response but that did not help.  I am using QuickBooks Online.  I do not want to use payroll services as I only pay two employees and can easily make the calculations for the taxes myself instead of paying over $40/month to use QuickBooks payroll services (we do not use direct deposit services).  In QuickBooks Desktop I was able to create my own payroll checks.  I want to do this in QuickBooks Online. 

Can this be done? 

Hi @cwbr,

Thank you for your prompt reply, as well as sharing additional details on your current situation. QuickBooks Online (QBO) is a different app compared to QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT). Some features that are available in one, isn't available on the other. 

In this case, it's the option to manually track your payroll. In QBO, you have the option to enter journal entries so you can manually enter payroll paychecks without a payroll subscription. We'll be dealing with account creation in your Chart of Accounts. With that said, I'll be providing samples below although I suggest you consult your accountant what works best for your company. 

To create an account to track wages:

1. Highlight the Accounting tab.
2. Click Chart of Accounts.
3. Tap the New button.
4. Choose Expenses as the Account Type.
5. Choose Payroll Expenses as the Detail Type.
6. Enter a name for this account.
7. Include a description if you'd like.

To create an account to track taxes, you simply need to follow the same steps above. Ensure you name it properly so you can easily identify it later on. 

Further details on this process can be found in this article: Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online. Start from the section where it states you need to create liabilities accounts and proceed from there. It even has an example of how you can enter a journal entry to record your payroll. 

Be advised, there isn't an option to create and print a paycheck via this method. You'll have to subscribe to a payroll service to do so. 

Do you need further assistance? Leave a comment below, I'll be around to help.