Payroll for paid-on-call ambulance service with additional earnings per call

I understand that you require assistance in setting up additional earnings that need to be tracked similarly to hourly wages. I'm here to provide you with the necessary details and steps on how to make it happen, CragMonkey.

For now, adding a payroll item that will be paid by quantity is currently unavailable in QuickBooks Online Payroll. However, you can set up multiple hourly items and use them to pay the additional earnings as a workaround. Then, type in the number of hours as a way of letting the system know how many calls they've responded to in a particular period. 

Allow me to walk you through the steps on how to add it to your employee's profile. Here's how: 

1. Go to the Payroll menu, then select Employees.
2. Click the name of the employee that's eligible for this addition.
3. Scroll-down to the Pay types section and click Edit.
4. Select Add pay type or + Another hourly rate.
5. Check the box before it and change or type in the name of this additional item. Then enter the Rate per hour.
6. Click Save.

Once added, type in the quantity under the Additional earnings column. Then, QuickBooks will automatically calculate the amount based on the rate that you assigned to it. 

This will also be reflected in the employee's paystub showing its own rate and number of hours that represents the quantity. 

Additional details about these steps are also discussed here: Pay an Employee Different Hourly Rates.

I would also like to add this article here in case you need more guidance when using the payroll feature in QBO: Payroll Top 10 Tips and Tricks.

Don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions while setting up the additional earnings for the EMS personnel and using QuickBooks in general, CragMonkey. We want to ensure that all your payroll inquiries are resolved. Just say the word and we'd be glad to offer our help again.

Adding the hourly rates are easy, that's not the problem. We need to be able to add additional earnings based on a specified number of occurrences, NOT hours. 

If we load them as hourly rates and simply pay 1 "hour" at the per-call rate for each call the wages work our correctly but artificially inflates the data for number hours they worked, which can lead to confusion during certain audits.

For lack of a better term, we refer to them internally as stipends (whether that's technically an accurate descriptor or not). 

For example, suppose someone who is on call for two 24-hour shifts earns 3 "stipends" during one 24-hour shift (because they went on 3 calls) and zero "stipends" for the other shift (no calls that day), and then was on vacation for the rest of the pay period. Their paycheck would show they were paid for a total of 48 hours, and earned 3 "stipends". If we tell QBO to treat the stipend as an hourly rate, and thus pay 48 hours at the on-call rate and 3 "hours" at the "stipend" rate, then their payment amount would be correct but the reports would incorrectly show that they were paid for working 51 hours. Over the course of a busy year, this approach would really throw the numbers off.

If we could simply change the unit of measure away from "hours" for certain pay types that would be awesome.

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

We recognize how relevant it is to have the option to change the unit measure of hours to specific pay types inside QuickBooks Online Payroll (QBO Payroll). As of now, the feature you're trying to access is unavailable. However, we can help you send a suggestion to our Product Development Team so they can check your recommendation and evaluate them so they can add it for future program updates:

1. Access your QuickBooks Online company.
2. On the top right-corner, click the Gear icon.
3. Select Feedback and then enter your comments or product suggestions.
4. Once ready, click Next to submit feedback.

In addition, we're providing these articles to help you manage employee's information, ensure your data stays accurate, and prepare to wrap up this year's payroll in QBO:

• Edit or change employee info in payroll.
• Run reports in QuickBooks Online.
• Year-end checklist for QuickBooks Online Payroll.

@CragMonkey, we're only a click away if you need further assistance with this or have other tasks you'd like to complete inside the program. You can visit the Community space anytime or comment below. We'll be here, ready to help you. Take care, and have a good one!