I gave an employee a bonus check directly and not through payroll. Any ideas on how to capture that in QB payroll since it is taxable income to the employee?

We can create an Unscheduled check, nelmsjared-gmail.

Just a heads up, this only applies for the current pay period all the way back to pay periods dating 6 months ago. Let me guide you how:

1. From the Payroll tab, select  Employees.
2. Select Run payroll.
3. Locate the employee you want to pay, and then click Create another check.
4. Enter the paycheck details.
5. Confirm the pay period and check date.
6. Select Preview Payroll, and then select Submit payroll.
7. Click Finish payroll.

Also,  when you're ready to pay and file taxes, you can check these guides: 

• Pay payroll taxes electronically or manually
• Prepare for payroll tax setup

Get in touch with me if ever my assistance is in need when preparing the taxes. Keep safe!

Thanks for the details.  Just to confirm this will not actually pay them right?  Since they were already payed...it will just capture properly the bonus so taxes, etc...for future W2 it will be included.

I appreciate your time getting back in here, @nelmsjared-gmail. Let me chime in and clarify things for you. 

Your employee won't be paid if a regular paycheck was created. If it is a direct deposit, make sure to switch to a regular check for one time so that it will not be processed. 

For more insights, I'm adding this link for your reference: Create Unscheduled Payroll Check.

After creating a paycheck, you can print them or pay your payroll taxes.

Keep me posted if you need more help managing your employees in QuickBooks Online. I'll be around to help you further. Have a great day.

Following this original thread, we are closing the books and I replaced the accounting person that was here before. Our CPA is telling me that one of our employees who took a loan and later the company decided instead of a bonus for the employee, that his loan would be considered paid by bonus. Now we should have ran it through payroll in 2021, since it was forgiven in 2020. I must capture it this year as taxes to be paid. Is this possible? And how would I go about this?

 Greetings, @mtamez915siteworks.

Thanks for joining in on this thread. It's great to see a new face here in the Community. 

The best route would be to consult with your accountant on this to be sure how to enter the information. They'll be able to give you some advice for your business. 

After working with your accountant some more, then you can come back here so we can help you further. We're always here to have your back. Have a great day! 

I tried to do this but get an error message that there will be taxes overdue so it won’t let me create the check. I want to make a check dated 12/31/22. 

Hi there, Lynnmc.

Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll share an update on how creating a paycheck works in QuickBooks Online. Then, I'll ensure you'll be pointed to the right support team to assist you further in making a paycheck with an unexpected error message.

When attempting to create a back-dated paycheck, you will usually receive a message indicating that there will be taxes overdue once the system detects that it is already in the process of filing taxes. That's the reason you're unable to create the check in the program.

I suggest contacting our QuickBooks Online Support Team. They have the tools to pull up your account in a secure environment and they'll be able to help you create a paycheck dated 12/31/22 smoothly.

Here's how to contact them:

1. Sign in to your QuickBooks Online company.
2. Go to Help (?). Then, if you want to contact support directly, type ‘Chat’ in the ‘Type Something’ field and use Enter. 
3. Select Ask me a question, Ask the QuickBooks Community or Contact a human.

You can also select Contact Us in the Search tab. Then, enter your question and select Continue so you can choose how you want to contact them. Then, fill in the information.

Lastly, you may refer to this article to view various payroll reports that you can use to see useful information about your business and employees: Run payroll reports in QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Let me know in the comment section if you have other questions about creating a paycheck in QBO. I’ll get back to answer them for you, Lynnmc. Have a good one.