How do I set up and enter prevailing wage payroll; not just the certified reporting?

Let's first make sure that you've successfully setup your payroll, felicia_SSI.

Proper set up of your payroll is important to make sure that the calculation is correct. This is also to avoid any error or any payroll correction.

Please get ready with your business and employee details so we can add it into your company file. This includes your tax information, employee benefits, compensation, and deductions. To start with:

1. Go to the Employees menu.
2. Click Payroll Setup.
3. Follow the Payroll Setup Wizard.

You can refer to this guide for more details: Get started with Payroll. Then, follow the steps from the QuickBooks Desktop hyperlinks.

Once done, these are the steps in creating paycheck:

1. From the Employees menu, select Pay Employees.
2. Select Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
3. Verify the Pay Period Ends date, Check Date, and Bank Account the money is drawn from.
4. Click Save & Next, then select Continue.
5. Check if all details are correct, and and select Create Paychecks.

You can also invite your employees to enter their information themselves. Here's an article as your guide: Use employee self-setup for QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Comment below if you need further assistance. I'll be here!

We have already set up payroll and processed all of January payrolls in QuickBooks Enterprise. But next week I’m going to need to pay on a prevailing wage job. I need to know what things I need to set up so that it calculates correctly on the paycheck. All the information I keep finding online is regarding the certified reports, but I need to know how to do the payroll before I can do the reports.  The employees working on that job also work on other jobs that are not prevailing wage, so they will be making two different wages in one pay period (their regular wage and the prevailing wage).  Also, if there’s overtime, it’s figured on the base salary and not the fringes that are added in. So how do I set that up?

Thank you,

Felicia

Hello felicia_SSI,

Prevailing wage is defined as hourly wage. This depends on you whether you tag it as a Regular or Overtime Pay. I'd recommend reaching out your accountant to know the best way to set it up. Afterwards, you can create the item manually:

1. Click Lists at the top menu and select Payroll Item List.
2. In the Payroll Item List page, click the Payroll Item button and select New.
3. Select Custom Setup and click Next.
4. Select Wage and click Next.
5. Select Hourly Wages and click Next.
6. Select Regular Pay or Overtime Pay.
7. Enter the additional details and click Next.
8. Once you're done with the setup, you can click Finish.

You can also learn more about prevailing wage in this article: Certified Payroll.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Thank you I will try it out tomorrow.

I need to do the same.  How did this work out for you?  

Were you able to get this to work? I will be attempting to set it up as well this weekend, when everyone is out of the system so single user mode won't interfere with the rest of the company.

Don't you have to create payroll items separating the base payroll from the fringes? As well as separate Labor, carpentry, cement....etc

Hello there, Cher810. I appreciate you for joining here.

You can create payroll items separating the base payroll from the fringes in QuickBooks Desktop. However, creating a separate one may not apply to every situation.

To learn more about the fringe benefits, you can check these articles:

• Create taxable fringe benefits payroll items. This includes steps on how you can set up a taxable fringe benefit payroll item.
• Fringe benefits and tax forms. From this article, you'll know how the taxable fringe benefits affect the employee tax forms.

I'd like to provide you more information. If you have other concerns or have follow-up questions with this, please comment below. You can share the exact scenario. Take care and stay safe always.

I would like to know what was the resolution to anyone in this conversation on setting up and tracking prevailing wages? 

I would also!

Thanks for checking in with us, kramage9416.

In QuickBooks Desktop, the prevailing wage is defined as an hourly wage and this depends on whether you tag it as Regular or Overtime Pay. I'd recommend reaching out to your accountant to know the best way to set it up and track the prevailing wage. Once done, we can create the item manually. Here's how: 

1. Click Lists at the top menu.
2. Choose Payroll Item List.
3. On the Payroll Item List page, click the Payroll Item button and select New.
4. Select Custom Setup and click Next.
5. Tap Wage and click Next.
6. Select Hourly Wages, then Next.
7. Hit Regular Pay or Overtime Pay.
8. Enter the additional details and click Next.
9. Once you're done with the setup, you can press Finish.

Once done, we can run a Certified Payroll report showing prevailing wages (Davis-Bacon wages). Projects publicly funded typically require the contractor to pay a prevailing wage (Davis-Bacon wage) rate for workers on the job. For each payroll period, the contractor must create a certified payroll report showing the wages paid to each worker. We need to meet the following criteria to create a Certified Payroll report: 

• Must have a full version of Microsoft Excel. If you are using a trial version, make sure that the trial period has not expired yet.
• Run QuickBooks as the Administrator.
• Log in as the QuickBooks Admin and in Single-User Mode.
• Use the QuickBooks Desktop time tracking feature.

Here's an article you can refer to for more details about Certified Payroll. Feel free to browse this link here if you need help with other tasks in QuickBooks Payroll. It'll route you to our general payroll topics with articles.

The Community always has your back, and I'm just a post away if you need a hand with processing your taxes and payroll forms. Just leave a comment below and I'll get back to you. You have a good one. 

I'd like to know if anyone ever figured this out please.  The admin comments are only surface level for this issue.  Thanks

Hi nthornell,

      I end up just lumping prevailing wage and fringe together as one rate.  Each employee on that job

had different rates.  Once you dump the information in excel you can make it the way you want to see it.

      Hope this help!  I attached how I did one week. Hope you can see it and understand what I did.

This if my first time entering a prevailing wage payroll and I'm hoping to get some clarification on the fringe wage. My payroll item is set up for my prevailing wage, but I'm confused by the 'Fringe Benefits Health & Welfare'.   Do I set this up as an hourly rate as well?  If so, can it be combined with the prevailing wage or must it be separated? 

Glad to see you here with us, dlacey4321. Let me share information and help you set up your fringe benefits.

In QuickBooks Desktop, several preset fringe benefits are supported by this program, and that includes the following:

• S-corp medical
• Group Term Life Insurance (GTLI)
• Clergy housing
• Personal Use of Company Car (PUCC)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Allowance

Additionally, as QuickBooks will auto-calculate these wages, QuickBooks will calculate this item based on the quantity, hours, or percent of Net/Gross. If you have any other fringe benefits, you can refer to the steps below: 

1. From Lists, select Payroll Item List.
2. Select Payroll Item and select New.
3. Select Custom Setup.
4. Select either Company Contribution or Addition and click Next.
5. Enter a name for this item and click Next.
6. Select an Expense account and a Liability account from the drop-down lists. Then, click Next.
7. From the Tax Tracking Type drop-down list, click Fringe Benefits. Then, click Next.
8. Select Next three times.
9. Once done, select Finish.

For further steps and detailed information, you can visit this article: Add fringe benefits to paychecks.

Moreover, you'll want to check out this reference to guide you on how to create and process your payroll: Create and run your payroll.

Please don't hesitate to reply in the comments below if you have additional questions or other QuickBooks concerns. Keep safe and have a good one!

By setting up the base payroll and fringe separately you will be actually doubling the work hours, as you will have to enter the hours worked under each payroll item. This will affect the deductions for state disability insurance and can affect the state unemployment as well.