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Jerrysconstruction
Level 1

Adding allowance account to pay owners

How do I set up allowance payroll item to pay owners through payroll 

Solved
Best answer January 01, 2023

Best Answers
Rainflurry
Level 15

Adding allowance account to pay owners

@Jerrysconstruction 

 

What do you mean by an owner's allowance?  If you mean an owner's/partner's draw (for a sole proprietorship/partnership) or a distribution (for an S-corp), those should not go through payroll since they are considered a reduction of your equity, not an expense.  You would just write a check and assign the appropriate equity account to the check. 

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3 Comments 3
ChristieAnn
QuickBooks Team

Adding allowance account to pay owners

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community again, Jerrysconstruction. I'll be sharing instructions to ensure you can create a payroll item to pay owners through the payroll.

 

To start with, I suggest going to the Payroll Item List section so you can set up a payroll item for allowance to include this on the employee's details. Beforehand, I recommend consulting an accountant for additional assistance to ensure your records are in shipshape. They can offer advice on how to handle the payroll item and the correct expense account to be used.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Lists menu and choose Payroll Item List.
  2. Select the Payroll Item button and click New.
  3. Select Custom Setup and click Next.
  4. Under Payroll Item Type, select Addition and select Next.
  5. Enter a name for the item (for example, owner's Allowance) and select Next.
  6. Change the expense account from Payroll Expenses to something else and click Next.
  7. To select the Tax Tracking Type, use the chart below. If you have any questions, consult an accountant or payroll professional. Select Next.
  8. Taxes default based on the Tax Tracking Type you selected in the previous window. Select Next.
  9. For Calculate Based on Quantity, select Neither and select Next. For Gross vs. Net, select Gross and select Next.
  10. If you want, enter the Default Rate and Limit now. 
  11. Click Finish.

 

Once done, please know that when you pay someone through payroll, you'll have first entered the employee's information into QuickBooks in order to create a paycheck. Thus, I recommend entering the owner's information on the Employee's page and making sure to include the payroll item you've created. You can follow the steps below.

 

  1. Go to the Employees menu and select Employee Center.
  2. Choose New Employee and enter the employee’s info. There are many fields to use and please enter the needed details.
  3. Click OK.

 

You can open this article to see extra details on how to set up employee info in QBDT: Add your new employee to QuickBooks Payroll.

 

After that, you can now start paying your employees including the owner by setting up and assigning pay schedules in QuickBooks. You can open this article to see the steps on how to perform the process: Set up and manage payroll schedules.

 

Lastly, you may refer to this article to see steps on how you can run a specific report that gives you the total payroll wages, taxes, deductions, and contributions: Create a payroll summary report in QuickBooks.

 

If you have any follow-up questions about paying your employees or owner in QBDT, please let me know by adding a comment below. I'm more than happy to help. Have a good one, Jerrysconstruction.

Rainflurry
Level 15

Adding allowance account to pay owners

@Jerrysconstruction 

 

What do you mean by an owner's allowance?  If you mean an owner's/partner's draw (for a sole proprietorship/partnership) or a distribution (for an S-corp), those should not go through payroll since they are considered a reduction of your equity, not an expense.  You would just write a check and assign the appropriate equity account to the check. 

AlcaeusF
Moderator

Adding allowance account to pay owners

Good day, Rainflurry.

 

I have reviewed the solution you’ve shared and it's correct and accurate. Thank you for sharing your inputs to help address the issue.

 

We love to see members supporting one another! Have a great day.

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