QBO - setting up an employee with both 401k election contributions and separate company 401k profit-sharing contribution

Welcome to the Community, @fmode. I appreciate you taking the time to explain that here. 

Yes, that is correct. You can set up a 401k contribution first, then add another for the company plan, which is 25% of pay. You may follow the steps below as your guide.

1. Go to the Payroll menu, then select Employees.
2. Select the employee.
3. From the Deductions & Contributions, select Start or Edit. 
4. Click +Add deduction/contribution. 
5. From the Deduction/contribution dropdown, choose Retirement Plans.
6. For Type, select 401k or the applicable plan. Fill out the necessary fields.

Once done, you can now add the second deduction. For more information about the process, check out this article: Set up a retirement plan.

You may want to visit this article to learn more about payroll schedules in QuickBooks Online: Set up and manage payroll schedules.

Should you need further assistance in setting up contributions, don't hesitate to reply below. I'd be glad to help. Have a nice day!

Thank you for the quick reply. One follow-on question - since the company plan profit-sharing 401k contribution is not a W-2 event, why does it get entered as a separate deduction? It's actually a company expense, non-taxable to the employee, and not tied to employee compensation and elections thereof. Thank you!

@Nicole_N I replied with a quick question, above, but I'm not sure you saw it. I'll await a response. Thanks!

Welcome back to the Community, fmode.
 

To properly identify why a 401k contribution is entered as a separate deduction, I'd recommend working with an accounting professional. If you're in need of one, there's an awesome tool on our website called Find a ProAdvisor. All ProAdvisors listed there are QuickBooks-certified and able to provide helpful insights for driving your business's success.
 

Here's how it works:
 

1. Go to our Find a ProAdvisor page.
2. Use the City or ZIP search field to specify a location.
3. Select Find a ProAdvisor.
4. Browse through your results and find one that works best for the business. You can click on each ProAdvisor's profile to learn more information about them.
   
   

Once you've found an accountant, they can be contacted through their Send a message form:
 

1. Use the available text box to introduce yourself. Be sure to include details about which services you're looking for.
   
   
    
2. Enter your appropriate info in the Your name, Your email, and Your phone number (optional) fields.
   
   
    
3. Hit Send message.
   
   

You'll also be able to find many detailed resources about using QuickBooks in our help article archives.
 

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have a wonderful day!