How to set up the Colorado Public Health Emergency paid leave

Hey there, @Blue-River. 

It's great to see you back in the Community. Allow me to give you some information about setting up paid leave in your QuickBooks Desktop account. 

I'd be more than happy to guide you through the process of adding paid time off. Here's how: 

1. In the top menu bar, go to Employees, then Employee Center.
2. Double-click an employee's name to edit their information.
3. Access your Payroll Info tab and hit Sick/Vacation.
4. Input the number of hours that are currently available for them in your Hours available as of mm/dd/yyyy area.
5. Use the Accrual period ▼ drop-down, then choose an applicable option.
6. Enter an appropriate amount in your Hours Accrued field. This is based on the details you entered in step 4.
7. If you don't allow hours to roll over into the next year, turn on Reset hours each new year?.
8. Specify a start date for the accrual year and which date sick time will begin accruing.
9. Fill out any other necessary info, then select OK to save your changes.

If you have any trouble along the way, I suggest contacting our Customer Support Team for further assistance. 

Feel free to come back if you need any more help. We're always here to have your back. Take care!

Thanks.  It's not really the same thing though.  As of 1/1/22, Colorado insists that all employers, regardless of the number of employees, grant paid sick leave and we're doing that (HFW).  That sick leave accrues per hour to a set maximum of hours.  What I'm working on now is an 80 hour paid leave mandate (PHE leave).  The employee doesn't accrue it; it's just there.  No more than 80 hours and no new hours after it's used.

I'd like to know if it's better to use the Federal program first or the state first? It looks like the Feds reimburse the employer and there are certain exemptions from some payroll taxes. The Fed program will show on the quarterly 941 return and the W2, I assume.  Should the Colorado paid leave also show on the 941 and W2?

Thanks for the quick response, @Blue-River.

Let me provide you with the information you need about Colorado paid leave in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

For your first question, it depends on the filing instructions from Federal or state taxes where do you need to submit first. If you're unsure about it, I highly recommend consulting your tax advisor or accountant so we can ensure you have accurate information with filing your payroll forms.

For your other query, taxes from states such as Colorado will typically appear on state tax forms but not on federal tax forms. You'll want to check out these articles for more information about this:

• File your W-2 forms
• File your state W-2s with Quickbooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced
• How QuickBooks populates Form 941

I've also added this article to learn more details about the Colorado State payroll regulations: Colorado Payroll Tax Compliance.

Please let me know if you need clarification about this, or if there's anything else I can do for you. I'll be standing by for your response. Have a great day.