Latest patch not allowing two employee files for one employee

Hi @Lesli A. I understand why you want to enter the same SSN for two employees' profiles.

The latest update allows you to stay compliant with your state. While it isn't advisable to use a workaround, especially when creating two employee profiles in the system and slightly changing their name, this can cause several issues with your tax forms.

For this reason, we recommend running a separate paycheck for each state or work location for a particular employee. You'll have to edit your employee's payroll state tax info before creating another paycheck, ensuring the system tracks state taxes correctly and get accurate W-2 form details.

For example, after submitting payroll for Missouri, you'll have to edit the worked and withholding state taxes to Kansas in the employee's Payroll Info. Doing this, you'll no longer have to create two employee profiles with the same SSN.

Let me show you how:

1. Select Employees and then go to the Employee Center.
2. From the Employees tab, double-click the worker's name.
3. Go to the Payroll Info section.
4. Select the Taxes button and go to the State tab.
5. Change State Worked and State Subject to Withholding section to KS.
6. (Optional) Edit Federal and Other tabs information.
7. Hit OK and then click OK.

This way, you can run another scheduled or unscheduled payroll for that particular employee's worked state. Then you'll want to review the paycheck details while running payroll by clicking Open Paycheck Details before you submit it from the Review and Create Paychecks window.

In addition, I'm sharing these articles for more insights into taxes and forms that we handle, editing employee details, and running payroll reports:

• Understand the taxes and forms that QuickBooks payroll submits for you.
• Set up employees and payroll taxes in a new state.
• Run payroll reports.

I'm still all ears if you need further assistance with handling employee information and running worker's payroll who works with different states. Just place your reply below, and I'll come around to help. Thanks, Lesli!

By starting this seven months into the year, I will end up having three W2's at the end of the year, two with each state and the third with both states on one...  Is the issue that both states want to actually see what the other state earnings are?  I upload a file to Missouri for W2 info and I have to manually enter W2 info to KS, and I'm not 100% sure KS has a second state location on their upload fields. Will find out in January when I do them.

Next question is, since you can no longer use both employee files, you can only use one timesheet, as you can only have one timesheet per employee, per week.  This will pull ALL time into one paycheck. So the question then is, do I then have to delete the KS work off the MO check and then do the opposite when creating the second paycheck?  I have never tried deleting or adding time directly on the paycheck, so I'm trying to clarify before I have to do this at end of week...  Like I said, I can modify the SSN on the KS paycheck and it won't matter until time to do W2's. At which time, I'd have to change it back to the correct # before I do them.  My whole issue is that it's not just a matter of changing the state worked and the state wages, the W4 for each state is different and they have extra withholding on KS, one guy has 9 allowances on MO and none on KS (he's a farmer and doesn't pay much tax), and another guy has 5 kids and because of the new W4, it doesn't withhold until you've reached the threshhold, so we have to kind of finagle numbers around in order to get something withheld and they don't owe money at the end of the year. Changing the state also requires me to change the allowances and extra withholding, and doing it back and forrth each time. It would be so much easier if they would all just do single and 0 but I can't just do what I want, have to follow their W4...  I guess I can create a Note that tells me what the W4 info is so I don't have to pull their form every week or write it down on paper before I change it??

Edit:  I noted in one of the articles you linked to, that Desktop Assisted Payroll, that you file forms with the states?  Is this something new?  You've never filed W2's with either MO or KS, I've always had to create a file to upload to MO and KS I have to manually enter into their website.

I agree - timing of such a major change with no notice to users is very irresponsible

I just wanted to post an update, since this is the first payroll I was trying to do with having two states on one employee.  I found that not only would I have to change the state worked and the state withholding to the other state and change all the allowances and extra withholding, but when I do the check I had to make sure I changed the class to Kansas and check the box to Do Not Accrue sick/vac or it would double it up, and also had to wipe out all Other Payroll Items or their medical deductions would double up. Then, when I was done, I would have to go back into this employee file and change all the State withholding info BACK TO THE ORIGINAL...   This is asinine and I could see mistakes being made and was going to create tons of extra work changing things back and forth....  It was not just as simple as changing the employee back and forth between Missouri and Kansas.  I am paying for Assisted Payroll and MOST OF THE WORK should be being done for me, NOT just the tax tables, but this was going to create SO much extra work...

SOOOO I tried something and it worked. I opened up the secondary (Kansas) employee file, clicked the box on the lower left that says Employee Is Inactive, then I changed all the fake social security numbers back to the real number, then when I clicked SAVE, it now is back to giving me the warning that I already have an employee with this number, am I sure I want to save and I click YES and it saves. Then I went to the top of the Employees list, click on the drop down box and clicked All Employees, found the employee I just inactivated, clicked on the X to the left of their name and it reactivated it. 

As I said, this only becomes an issue when you need to change an employee's rate of pay or their medical deductions, address or phone number, new W4 info, or anything else they need changed...  I checked with Missouri and they said there is NO STATE COMPLIANCE that requires both Kansas and Missouri to be listed on one W2, because when you create a State CSV W2 file to upload, it asks you at the time WHICH STATE you want to do!!!  You CAN ONLY CHOOSE ONE STATE!!!  And Kansas Doesn't allow uploading files, so I have to just choose Missouri...  Someone at QB didn't think this thru before they made this change...  As I said, I've used Quickbooks since 1996 and THEY are the ones who told me I had to create two separate employee files, one for each state, and I've done it this way for 27 years!!!

So basically, in a nutshell, if you need to make a change to one employee file, just inactivate the other one, make the change, then go to the other one, make the change, then reactivate them both...

Thank you for posting this update!  It will allow us and other users to work with this very irresponsible and flawed update by Quickbooks until we can get a new software