If i run payroll for Feb 16-29 on 3/1, all the reports and payroll taxes etc show that this is for March period. How can I run intuit payroll on accrual basis?

Good evening, @Tdejene.

I'd like to guide you on the process of checking how your Payroll accounts are mapped in your QuickBooks Online account. Before following what I'm suggesting, I recommend reaching out to your accountant for advice. 

In just a few steps, you'll be able to see how your Payroll is setup:

1. Go to the Gear icon, then Payroll Settings.
2. Navigate to the Preferences tab.
3. Click on Accounting Preferences.
4. You now can see the list of accounts for your Payroll. 

Intuit Payroll is Cash Basis, but your Liability accounts are set to Accrual Basis. You can run reports in QuickBooks Online and change the accounting preference at the top of the report. No worries, I've provided the steps below on how to achieve this:

1. Go to Reports on the left-hand menu.
2. Open any report you desire.
3. At the top menu of the report, you can mark either Accrual or Cash.

For more information about customizing reports, click here.

Let me know if this helps you out! I'm just a hop, skip, and a jump away if you need me. 

Thank you Ashley!  So if i want to see my payroll wages and expenses on a Profit and Loss Month by Month report, How will I be able to accurately see that the Payroll run on March 1st for  for Feb 16-29 period to reflect on the February P&L report?

Thanks

Teferi

Ashely,

In addition, on the link you sent me on how to change Payroll Account Preference changes by changing Payroll Expenses or Payroll Liabilities will reflect on your Profit & Loss or Balance Sheet reports...  It says the change of settings affect future transactions. However, you have an option to apply these changes to your past transactions too.   HOW DO YOU APPLY THE CHANGES TO PAST TRANSACTIONS ?   I did not see the option for that.

Thank You

Teferi

I can sort things out with you, Tdejene.  

We base the payroll reporting on the day our employees are paid and not on the period in which the work was performed. That's why when we ran payroll with a check dated 03/01, it reflected for the month of March. 

In addition, the payroll accounting preferences is for tracking the payroll items we used in the paycheck. These accounts are automatically created by QuickBooks as default accounts where we record payroll liabilities and expenses. The option to apply it to existing transaction will show after we change the account and then click OK. 

The message will say Want to update existing transactions, too? which we can set a starting date when it'll affect. Just click Update and then OK. I have a screenshot as a reference. 

For your Profit and Loss report, we can drill-down to it by double-clicking on the amount and a transaction report will open including the paycheck reported for March 1. 

If you need anything else, please let me know. Have a great day!

Hi Ashley, 

I am able to change the payroll settings retroactively so thank you so much for that!

In regards to  payroll reporting being on the day our employees are paid and not on the period in which the work was performed, what do you suggest is best way or is there a way to show in the reports that payroll reflects for the period in which the work is performed?   Do I have to use journal entry  to make it work?  I just want to get opinion as it will throw off our P&L reports as majority of our expenses will be eventually payroll related.

Thank You

Teferi

Ashley,

I forgot to add, attached you will see the Pay Schedule setup for our payroll.  ours is originally setup to have the first pay of the month to be 5th which covers pay period (16th - end of month) of previous period.   And I was wondering when it asks for the "first pay day of each month" I am assuming it is referring to the date the payment goes out and not the First pay period of the month.   Am I correct?   I am wondering if adjusting the pay schedules will help in being able have payroll reflect the date work is performed in stead of actual pay date.

Thanks Again

Teferi

Here is the Pay schedule attachment.

Hello there, @Tdejene.

At this time, there's no option to reflects the payroll to your report in QuickBooks.

In the meantime, you can export Profit and Loss and Customer Details report to excel and compare from there.

Here's how:

1. Go to Report.
2. ​​​​​​Type Profit and Loss in the search bar.
3. Click the Custom Reports section.
4. Look for the transaction that you want to export.
5. Under the ACTION column, click the drop-down.
6. Select Export as Excel.

Once done, you can repeat the steps to Export Customer Details.

This is a link that can tell you more about customizing a report.

I'm only a post away if you need me. Have a great day!