How to refund withheld garnished wages to employee

Allow me to help and share some information regarding refunding an employee's wage garnishment in QuickBooks Online, CarlaF.

QuickBooks Online doesn't allow you to enter a negative amount for a deduction pay type. This is the reason why you're getting the "Looks like some of your pay items are incorrect. Please fix the highlighted areas before you continue." error.

To refund your employee, you can write a check and choose the garnishment liability account where the money is sitting. Here's how to create a check:

1. Click + New in the left panel and select Check.
2. Choose the Payee (Employee) from the drop-down ▼.
3. From the Bank account drop-down ▼, select the account the check withdraws money from.
4. Complete the check fields you need.
   
5. Select the Print check option if you want to open the check queue to print now. Or select the Print later checkbox if you want to print the check later.
6. Select Save and close to close the check window. Or Save and new if you need to create another check. Note: If you choose a save option, this adds the check to your bank register, but only sends it to the print queue if you select Print later.

To help you manage your payroll preferences and other payroll accounts, check out the following articles: This will provide you steps on how to change your posting accounts for payroll transactions as well as a sample breakdown of a paycheck.

• Set up Payroll account preferences
• Payroll tips for small business owners

Please let me know in the comment section if you have any other issues or payroll concerns. I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you. Have an amazing weekend!

Hi, CarlaF.

Hope you're doing great. I wanted to see how everything is going about refunding employee's wage garnishment. Was it resolved? Do you need any additional help or clarification? If you do, just let me know. I'd be happy to help you at anytime.

Looking forward to your reply. Have a pleasant day ahead!

Thank you for responding Rose. I was able to write a check and reduce the garnishment liability account so that it shows accurately on the balance sheet.

However, my concern is that on his paychecks going forward, he will see the original amount of garnished wages in the YTD totals section. That YTD amount was not reduced when I wrote the check to refund the garnished wages. Is there a way to fix that?

Thanks for your help :)

I RECEIVED BACK A CHECK FOR AN GARNISHMENT FOR A EMPLOYEE. THE COURT STOPPED THE GARISHMENT.  SO I WENT IN AND PUT A PLUS ON HIS GARISHMENT WITH THE AMOUNT THE COURT SENT BACK WITH THE ORGINAL CHECK.  SO THE EMPLOYEE HAS HIS MONEY BACK.  WHAT DO I DO WITH THE ORGINAL CHECK RETURNED.  IS THERE AN ENTRY I NEED TO DO?

THANK YOU,

L. CAMPBELL

Hey, @lcampbell1. 

Thanks for chiming in on this thread about a check for a garnishment for an employee. Let me point you in the right direction to get this taken care of. 

Since you're needing assistance with the entry, I suggest consulting with your accountant about it to be sure. They'll be able to give you the best advice for your business. 

Keep me updated on what you and your accountant decide to do. I'll be waiting for your response! 

I can't write a check as it says in the previous comments. I have desktop version. any help would help 

Hi there, @selina84.

I want to ensure you can write a check in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

To make sure we're on the same page, I'd like to verify the challenges that you encounter when writing a check. Did you received any error messages? Any additional information will get us closer to the resolution. 

We're looking forward to hearing from you. Have a great day!

No error message was prompted just when writing the check and trying to reduce the amount in the liability account of wage garnishments but it won't let me make the check in the name of the employee only to the agency assigned to that liability. just don't know how to do it. If you have any insight on how to do it I will greatly appreciate it 

I can see you're trying to write a check to decrease the liability, @selina84. I want to provide some tips about the process.

When you're creating a check in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), you won't be able to choose the employee. This limitation exists because only the vendor associated with the assigned tax will be displayed in the drop-down menu.

Nevertheless, we can make a check outside of the payroll. It doesn't affect your liability, but we can do a prior payment to reduce it if needed.  I'll guide you on how to do it.

To create a check:

1. Go to the Banking menu.
2. Click Write Checks.
   
3. Choose your employee from the PAY TO THE ORDER OF drop-down arrow.
4. Select the Account from the drop-down arrow.
5. Enter the amount and other information needed.
6. Hit Save & Close.
   

To enter historical payments:

1. Go to the Help menu and click About QuickBooks.
   
2. Press Ctrl + Alt + Y or Ctrl + Shift + Y to open the Setup YTD Amounts window.
   
3. Click Next until you reach the Enter prior payments section.
4. From the Enter Prior Payments window, select Create Payment to enter all prior payroll tax and non-tax payroll liability payments you have made during the current or previous years.
5. Enter the Payment Date and For Period Ending date accordingly.
6. In the Taxes and Liabilities field, select the payroll tax item you've already paid and want to record in QuickBooks Desktop. And enter the amount. You can add a memo to remind you what the payment is for.
7. Select the Accounts Affected... button. You can choose the Affect liability accounts but not the bank account so that prior payments won't appear in the bank register.
8. Tick Next Payment. Select Done to save and Finish to close the window.
   

To learn more about this process, read this article: Enter historical payments in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Also, this guide can give you more tips on resolving overdue or red scheduled liabilities: Fix overdue or red scheduled liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Please comment below if you have any other questions about managing your payroll liabilities. I'll return here as soon as possible to help you again.