Process, review and EFILE Record of Employment (ROE) forms in QuickBooks Desktop

A Record of Employment (ROE) needs to be issued when an employee quits, is laid off or terminated, or has not had work or insurable earnings from you for seven consecutive days (full time employees) or 30 days (part time employees), unless the employee is paid mainly by commission.

Service Canada also requires you to issue ROE forms in some special situations, such as if the employee's earnings fall below 60% of his or her usual salary due to illness, injury, quarantine, or pregnancy. For more information, download Service Canada's guide How to Complete the Record of Employment Form.

The Record of Employment (ROE) form in QuickBooks Desktop looks the same as the ROE form issued by Service Canada. However, because each ROE form must have a unique serial number, you cannot submit a printed form directly from QuickBooks Desktop or download blank ROE forms from the Service Canada website.

There are two options for completing an ROE:

1. Use the EFILE function in QuickBooks Desktop to create a file that can be uploaded to Service Canada's ROE website. In this case, you are not required to provide a copy to the employee unless they request it.
2. Copy the information from QuickBooks Desktop to an official, blank ROE form and give one copy to the employee when he or she leaves and send one copy to Service Canada. To order ROE forms, contact your nearest Service Canada office, or go to the Service Canada website.

• Review the Payroll Item Listing report before processing an ROE
• Process an ROE
• Review an ROE
• EFILE an ROE

Review the Payroll Item Listing report before processing an ROE

QuickBooks Desktop uses payroll items to generate ROE forms. That means your payroll items must be set up and used properly before the report will provide the information you need.

1. From the Reports menu, select Employees & Payroll, then select Payroll Item Listing Report. 
2. ​Review the name and type of each of your payroll items.
3. Review whether you have set up the payroll item to affect only insurable earnings (payments the employee received from you) or insurable hours (time the employee actually works).
4. Review whether you have assigned the payroll items to the pay period in which the employee did the work (For which pd) or the pay period in which you issued the paycheque (In which pd).
5. If you need to make changes to a payroll item, from the Employees menu, select Payroll Setup, then select Add or Edit Payroll Items.

Note: Some payroll items can be mapped as In which pd. This option means you are assigning the employee’s earnings to the day you issued the paycheque, regardless of when the employee did the work. For example, if you give an employee a bonus, Service Canada believes that you are not rewarding any specific hour or day of work — just his or her performance in general. Therefore, the employee is considered to have earned the bonus on the day you issue the cheque for it.

Most payroll items should be mapped as For which pd. This option means you are assigning the employee’s earnings to the pay period during which the employee actually did the work, even if you are paying for that work later. For example, an employee earns his or her salary or hourly wages when he or she does the work for you, not when you issue his or her paycheque two weeks later.

Process an ROE

To generate the ROE, you must have entered a Hired and a Released date in the employee record. If you haven't done so, complete the following steps:

1. From the Employees menu, select Employee Centre.
2. Double-click the employee you want to enter a Hired and a Released date for.
3. Make the required changes on the Employment info tab, and select OK.
4. From the Employees menu, select Payroll Forms, then select Process Record of Employment.
5. Check the employee for whom you wish to create a ROE, then select OK.

Review an ROE

1. From the Process ROEs screen, check the employee you wish to review the ROE for, then click OK.
2. If you receive the message Missing or invalid information. You will need to correct before you can EFILE, enter the required information in all fields highlighted in red.
3. If your ROE looks wrong or is blank, double-check that you have completed the ROE tracking for each payroll items you have. Otherwise, information from your payroll items may not appear properly on employee ROE forms. Take special note of these payroll items:
   • Wage: Hourly, Salary, Commission, and Bonus
   • Additions
   • Company Contributions
   • Vacation (Hourly and Salary), Vacation Pay Paid Out, and Vacation Pay Accrual Paid Out payroll items

If an employee has been re-hired, but information from the previous ROE displays with the current information, the hired date was not changed when the employee was re-hired. To correct this:

1. From the Employees menu, select Employee Centre.
2. From the Employees tab, double-click the name of the employee for whom the ROE is being created.
3. Select the Employment Info tab.
4. In the Hire Date field, enter the date that the employee was re-hired, then select OK.

EFILE an ROE

You can electronically file your ROE forms on the Service Canada website.

Have questions about the EFILE process? Visit the CRA for more information and support options.

1. From the Process ROEs screen, select EFILE.
2. Make a note of the file path for the ROE.BLK file provided in the ROE Electronic Filing message. You will need that path information when later prompted to navigate to that file.
3. Select OK.
4. The Service Canada website opens. Follow the instructions on the website to access your ROE Web account and electronically file your ROE forms.
5. Per section 8.1.4 on the CRA's ROE user requirements website, the XML file layout for electronic ROE submissions requires a .blk file extension. You can find your .blk file for electronic submission by going to c:\users\username\Documents\_ROE.BLK