Payroll Checkup report is incorrect

Thanks for the detailed information you've provided on this post, @Rfields.

To verify the discrepancies between the taxes and actual QuickBooks amounts, we can check the previous paychecks that created. This way will know if it's caused by the auto adjustment in QuickBooks.

Also, you can review the employee setup using the Employee Withholding report. This way, you can correct the wage and tax amounts for them. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Reports menu at the top.
2. Select Employees and Payroll.
3. Choose Employee Withholding.
4. Review the report for any setup error.
5. Correct employee setup.
6. Run a payroll checkup.
7. Click Step 6 for Data Review.
8. In the Review your payroll data window, click OK. 

If there are still wage or tax discrepancies after performing the steps above, you'll need to do a manual liability adjustment. For instructions, you can check out this article: Entering Wage Base and Tax Adjustment to Correct Employee's Quarter (QTD) or Year To Date (YTD) Tota.... 

In case you need to correct your employee's paycheck, you can refer to this article: Adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop. Once done, run the Payroll Summary report again to check if everything looks right.

Also, I recommend reaching out to your accountant in doing this process to avoid messing up your books.

Should you need anything else, please let me know. I'm here to help you out. Have a good day.

Thank you but I found the problem.  I had originally set up the  Employee paid health premiums as a Section 125 plan payment which makes it a PreTax deduction.  Somehow it recently got changed to an expense that became a Post Tax deduction.  So when the payroll checkup program ran, it calculated Social Security and Medicare on those employee paid premiums that were originally not taxed.  It didn't show those new "wages" in the wage base on the report even though it used them in the calculations.  When I changed the Payroll Item (Heath Insurance-Employee share) BACK to a section 125 pre tax item,  QB recognized this and adjusted future payroll checks to reflec the proper cumulative amount of Social Security and Medicare.  So I'm good there.  However, the payroll checkup program did not accept that change.  It still calls that payroll item a "post tax" payroll item.  So, I can now never run Payroll Checkup again. 

Let's perform some troubleshooting steps to get payroll checkup working, Rfields.

I appreciate you for changing the Payroll Item (Heath Insurance-Employee share) back to 125 pre-tax items. To better isolate this issue, let's try running the Payroll Summary report to check if the changes reflected in the report.

Here's how:

1. Go to Reports on the top menu.
2. Choose Employees and Payroll.
3. Click Payroll Summary.
4. Adjust the date range appropriately.
5. Review the Payroll Item (Heath Insurance-Employee share) for 125 pre-tax items.

If it is correct, it's possible the payroll item list is damaged preventing you from posting the pre-tax item in the payroll checkup. We can repair it by following the detailed steps in this article: Re-sort lists. Then, go to the Re-sort payroll item list section.

If the same thing happens, it's possible there's a damaged data in QuickBooks. You can check out this article to troubleshoot the issue: Fix data damage on your QuickBooks Desktop company file. You can also repair QuickBooks Desktop to fix any damaged components in the software.

I have a link here that provides you with articles about managing your payroll: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/payroll-and-workers/07?product=QuickBooks%20Deskto....

Keep me posted if you need a hand with payroll adjustments or any QuickBooks related. I'm always here to ensure your success. Take care always. 

Question:

Ever since I added Section 125 when I run my quarterly reports it leaves the Social Security amount "blank" and I have to add it in (I just copy what medicare amount is on the form).  It just dawned on me that it may be doing that due to the new Section 125 which is supposed to be pre federal tax and pre ss tax.  Can this be fixed?

I am wondering now if we are getting the benefit of the Section 125 correctly in our QB reports.

Thanks,

Hi there, @PAMB.

I can share with you some insights about how QuickBooks works with the Section 125 Health Insurance payroll item.

Taxes or Social Security amount is showing as blank when there are overpayments made on your previous paychecks. To isolate this further, I recommend checking the amounts on your old paychecks.

Moreover, please ensure that the payroll item is associated with the correct account and was set up correctly to post the amount accordingly. For your reference, I recommend checking out these articles:

• Set up a Section 125 Health Insurance (Cafeteria Plan)
• Set up a payroll item for Flexible Spending Account

If you need to update the item, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to the Lists menu.
2. Click on Payroll Item List.
3. Locate the item, then make the necessary changes from there.

For additional resources, while working with QuickBooks or payroll in the future, you can open the topics from our help articles.

If you have any other questions about Section 125, please let me know by adding a comment below. I'm always here to help. Have a good one!