Need 401k contribution removed from bonus check

Hi there, @Kfronsee,

Joining the thread to share some more information about processing a bonus check without 401K deduction. 

If you want to remove the 401K amount on the paycheck, there are a few ways to do it. First, you can edit the amount directly on the paycheck or toggle the employee's profile and update its rate.

Option 1: On the paycheck.

1. On the Run Payroll page, click the pencil icon below Total Pay.
   
2. Go to the Employee deductions section.
3. Change the amount for 401K to zero.
   

Option 2: On the Employees profile.

1. Go to the Workers menu, then select Employees.
2. Pick the employee's name.
3. Click the pencil icon in the Pay section. Scroll down on the deductions section (section 5).
4. Look for the 401K deduction and click the pencil icon beside it.
5. Change the amount under Employee deduction to 0.
   
6. Once done press OK.
7. Lastly hit Done.

Let me know if you have any more questions about this. I'll be right here to guide you with your payroll processing. Have a nice day!

Sorry, to clarify, when I said I wanted the 401k contribution removed, I want the 401k amount to be deducted from the bonus check, as our plan requires 401k contributions made for all employee payments including bonues.  When creating a bonus check, there is no option to change the zero contribution amount to include the require amount.

I totally understand what you are asking and have run into the same issue many times.

Retirement plans usually require the deduction and matching from all wages including bonuses. I don't understand why this is not included on the bonus only calculations at least as an option. If anyone finds the settings to make this change please reply!
The only work-around that I have found is to create another regular paycheck and do a lot of manipulating to remove the deductions and accruals that shouldn't come out of a bonus check. Keep in mind that also sends a workforce notification to the employee of another pay stub which is not great for a surprise bonus.

So if I'm understanding this correctly. After we run say a $1,000 bonus for our employees, next pay period I will need to go in and manually add the 3% company match for each employee to the current company match for that week. AND also calculate and add the 3% to 6% employee deferrals to the then current deferrals for each employee and try real hard not to mess it up? 

Where can we submit feedback and product suggestions? Why can't we have the option to add in the matching retirement amounts? 

I tried to run an 'extra' payroll like I used to on desktop but since we have Quickbooks Time tied in, it was telling me if I don't pay them the hours for the week it will be 'out of sync' (Quickbooks Online and Quickbooks Time) If I select next week then I have to approve the hours etc. And of course I was hoping this will be easy and I'm trying to get this done as employees are leaving for the long weekend! 

Thank you for joining this thread, idezotl.

 Accurate payroll data is crucial for the smooth operation of any business. It plays a vital role in ensuring that taxes and forms are processed seamlessly.

To ensure I can provide the best resolution, I'd appreciate it if you could provide me with additional details about the issue. Could you please specify which payroll item you are looking to add to the 3% company match? Also, when you mention employee deferrals, are you referring to the bonus or the 401(k)?

Regarding your question on where to submit feedback and product suggestions, you can do this directly from your QuickBooks Online (QBO) account. Simply click on the Gear icon in the upper right-hand corner and select Feedback. This will take you to a page where you can suggest new features or provide feedback on existing ones. 

I'll keep an eye out for your response and look forward to working with you again, idezotl. Thank you in advance. Have a great rest of the day. 

Greetings! 

As a small business we do a SIMPLE IRA which the employees participate in. 

I need to make sure the bonus gets the proper contributions toward the IRA as the bonus is considered compensation. 

I should of been able to do this from the edit paycheck menu for each bonus check and just made sure it calculated at the 3% company match and the 3%,4%,5%,6% etc employee deferral right there. But that all was 'locked.' 

Therefore my conclusion is to manually calculate it on the next paycheck. (Running an extra payroll wasn't an option as quickbooks time got confused since today is also payday) Take their gross pay next week, add the bonus and then multiply by the percentage, editing the field to this new number. Which should allow the percentages to reconcile with total compensation when compared to W-2's for 2023 tax season. 

To make things worse, we normally do direct deposit but the bonuses were to be a paper check. It's been quite the chore today as all this is new for the first time as we converted over to QBO this year. 

Thanks for any clarification you can provide. 

Thanks for getting back here in the thread, @idezotl.

Before anything else, we appreciate you providing us with a detailed response regarding your current situation. Reading through your post, you'll want to ensure you've entered an amount in the Bonus field when running Bonus only on the Employee page. After that, you can enter an amount in the Bonus and Simple IRA section. We'll write down the steps below to get you going:

1. Access your QuickBooks Online company.
2. On the left navigational bar, go to the Payroll tab.
3. Click the dropdown arrow beside the Run payroll button. Select Bonus only.
4. Tick the Radio button beside As gross pay and tick the boxes beside Include retirement deductions + contributions if applicable and Add pay period.
5. Once done, click the Continue button.
6. Locate the employee, and then click the Three Dot icon. Select Edit paycheck.
7. In the Pay section, enter an amount in the Bonus field. After entering an amount, it'll also allow you to add an amount in the Simple IRA field that you have in under Employee deductions and in Company-paid contribution section.
8. Once everything is set, click the Save button.
9. When you're ready, click the Preview payroll button. You can also review the details by clicking the Preview payroll details.
10. If everything checks out, you can click the Submit payroll button.

It should help you get through this obstacle and continue running payroll with bonuses inside the system. Also, we appreciate you coming up with the idea of manual calculations.

Furthermore, we recommend visiting these articles to help you ensure your data stays accurate inside the program and help you prepare for this year's payroll year-end:

• Run reports in QuickBooks Online.
• Year-end checklist for QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Please don't hesitate to visit the Community space or comment below if you need further assistance with your payroll concerns. We'll make sure to be around to help you out again. Stay safe.

So I'm working on payroll for this week and quickbooks won't let me change the company contribution to what it needs to be to take into account for last week's bonus check's refusal to contribute to the retirement accounts. 

for instance for employee 'A':

if this week's payroll check is $500

and the year end bonus check was $1000

3% company match on $500 is $15

3% company match owed on bonus check is $30

= $45 needed for year total contributions to = 3%

Quickbooks only allows the $15, when I enter the combine amount of $45 it reverts back to $15. 

I am however able to fix the employee contribution side to the needed $45. 

Please help, I'd like to get this fixed before direct deposit withdraws tomorrow. 

Thanks for getting back on this thread, @idezotl.

Allow me to chime in and share some details about changing the company's contribution to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Beforehand, I'd like to ask for some details to help me get on the same page. Can you share more information on where you enter the $45

combined amount?

The amount shown on the paycheck depends on how you set it up on the employee's profile. Thus, if you enter $15, then it will be the amount that appears. Alternatively, you can create a separate paycheck showing $15 and $30. Otherwise, you can enter the $45 amount directly if you want to combine it.

For more tips about this process, check out this article: Set up and manage company contributions.

I'm also adding this resource that might be useful if you want to run payroll reports in QBO to help you track your business: Run payroll reports in QuickBooks Online Payroll. It also details how to mark a report as a favorite, customize it, and print reports.

Please feel free to get in touch with me here for any additional questions about managing deductions and contributions. The Community always has your back. Have a great day.

Payroll direct deposit for this week is pending already but not final as our payday is Thursday and the deduction happens on Wednesdays.

I go to the employees, click on the employee, go to Paycheck list, click this week's paycheck, click 'make adjustment,' click edit, click edit again.

Now on the edit paycheck page, scroll down to - Employee deductions subheading, add $30 of missing contributions to whatever currently calculated there - [Retirement Contribution Employee, 401k, Simple IRA etc]. (Reminder, $30 is 3% of the $1,000 bonus from last week)

Scroll down further on the edit paycheck page to - Company-paid contributions. add $30 of missing contributions to - [Retirement Contribution Company, 401k, Simple IRA etc].

--this second one will not stay the new amount-- see edit notes below.

Same general principle for all employees, but most have 3% company matching their minimum 3% personal contribution. Some employees put in 7% for instance and everywhere in between. 

How do I get the new 'Company Contribution' amount to stick/save? It reverts back to 3%.

--Edit-- For the first few employees I would change in their - profile then - deductions & contributions to whatever the new needed contribution was for this week as a 'flat rate' for company contribution. Then switching it back after each employee when the check was already edited and saved. This last paycheck edit I was able to do like I describe above, without editing anything under employee profile. So that makes it a couple steps faster but still a lot of work for something that should be able to be done when running a bonus check!

If you have an easier way to do this next time, I'm all ears. Between phones and customers today this has been a challenge to get done and costly since I could be doing other work.

Thanks for your help. 

Hi there, idezotl.

Allow me to join the thread and help you with your payroll concern.

To ensure that the changes you make to the company contributions stick and save, you may need to edit employee contributions/deductions and edit information from there, the same as what you've done to other employee profiles. Since QuickBooks depends on the rate entered on the employee's profile.

To help you finalize your payroll for the year and require guidance on preparing your tax forms, you may find this article helpful: Year-end checklist for QuickBooks Online Payroll.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding payroll, feel free to ask by commenting below. I'm here to assist and will strive to provide you with the information you need. Have a wonderful day!

I am sorry but it is absolutely insane that the only fix for this is to manually have to figure out gross pay so that I can get the correct net pay. You have a net pay option that does not give employers the freedom to be able to choose what needs to come out of ALL checks. This is actually a requirement for 401K and Simple IRA's alike so why is this not standard? Makes no sense. As so many things do not make sense on QBO. WHY do you make such absurd changes to an otherwise great desktop system. Bonuses should have all fields unlocked and give employers the option to remove a contribution if needed, but not to exclude the option altogether. Why would it be included in the gross pay option but not the net pay option? The option to add retirement deductions should be on both options. That is the main issue here. And you all seem oblivious since you just work on the software team and not on the actual user side of things. I am sure you would want your retirement on your bonus so let's think about it logically. 

I’m here to provide clarification about how QuickBooks Online (QBO) handles gross pay and net pay, especially concerning bonuses, Anita.

For bonuses, you can customize what is reflected in the gross pay. You can tick the boxes for the items you want to include, such as taxes and retirement deductions, according to your preferences. However, this doesn't extend to net pay as it currently stands.

Regarding net pay, I understand the importance of having the option to remove retirement plan deductions. I encourage you to share your thoughts on the necessity of this feature with our Product Development team, as customer feedback is crucial for future updates.

To submit a product suggestion, please follow these steps:

1. Select the Gear icon, then choose Feedback.
2. Enter your comments or product suggestions
3. Select Next to submit.

Additionally, you can check out the following resources, which provide more guidance on managing contributions and understanding gross versus net pay.

• Set Up And Manage Company Contributions.
• Understand Gross Pay And Net Pay.

Please don't hesitate to ask any additional questions about the bonus check. Our team is readily available and delighted to help you with anything related to running payroll in QBO.