I'm glad to have you here in the Community, movu.
Let's get your QuickBooks Desktop Payroll activated.
When you renew QuickBooks Payroll, you are assigned a 16-digit service key that is specific to your EIN and payroll service. You'll have to enter this service key into QuickBooks to activate the payroll service in your QuickBooks file.
Let me show you how:
- Choose Employees at the top menu bar.
- Under My Payroll Service, select Manage Payroll Service.
- Select Add, if no payroll service is listed.
- Click Edit, if a payroll service is listed.
- Enter your service key in the Service Key field (see screenshot below).
- Select Next and then Finish.
- When the Payroll Update message appears, select OK.
- Verify the Service Status shows ACTIVE and then select OK.
- Restart QuickBooks Desktop. Now you are ready to start running payroll.
![](https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T7AN7J5RP-FEZPYRCRL/image.png)
To create a paycheck, follow the steps below:
- Click Employees at the top, then choose Pay Employees.
- Select Scheduled or Unscheduled Payroll.
- Choose an employee and enter the needed details.
- Click Open Paycheck Detail to see the taxes (see screenshot below).
- Click Save and close, then follow the on-screen prompt.
![](https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T7AN7J5RP-FEYJ3MS77/image.png)
For the detailed steps, check out this article:
The steps above should help you activate your payroll. Let me know if you have other questions about QuickBooks Desktop Payroll, and I'll be happy to clear them up for you. Have great week.