Setting up SEP for employees that get paid weekly but get a flat SEP contribution monthly

Hey there, @CCDup. 

It's great to see a new face here on this platform. Let's work together and get this handled. 

In this situation, I'd recommend reviewing how it's set up and then changing it based on the pictures and steps my colleague (JaneD) gave. Here's an additional guide that can help you out as well: 

Set up a payroll item for retirement benefits (401(K), Simple IRA, etc.)

If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to reach back out. I'm only a post away if you need me. Have a great day! 

Thank you for your quick response.  I need a little more information about setting up a SEP where the company has a weekly payroll, but we want a flat rate contribution per month.  For example, if the agency that handles the SEP takes out $100.00 for each employee on the 15th of every month, do I have to make 4 entries of $25.00 or can I make one entry of $100.00 on the 15th?  If I have to make multiple entries, than months with 5 weeks will be more than $100.00.

On JaneD’s Example 1 below on step 15, do I choose “Calculate this item based on quantity” and enter manually on the paycheck on the 15th of the month $100.00 or do I select “Neither” which has a flat amount per paycheck of $25.00?  On step 17, do I enter $25.00 or $100.00?

JaneD EXAMPLE 1

END of Example 1

When it comes time on September 15th to enter the automatic withdrawal from the SEP Agency, on Step 6 on Example 2 below, do I put August 1st-31st, October 15-September 15, or do I put September 1-September 30th?  I would like it to be for the previous month.

JaneD EXAMPLE 2

After creating the employee's paycheck, QuickBooks allows you to record a check through the Pay Liabilities window. To do so, you can follow these steps:

1. Go to Employees and choose Payroll Center.
2. Select the Pay Liabilities tab.
3. In the Other Activities section, click on the Create Custom Payments link.
4. Set the date range and click on OK.
5. Mark to select the SEP IRA check and click on the Create button.
6. Then, you can either print the check or click on Save & Close.

For your visual reference, please see attached screenshots.

END of Example 2

Any help would be appreciated.

Just wondering if anyone can help me with my earlier post.  There are only two employees and we make the same amount of money.  Is it okay to just take a flat rate every month or does it need to be tied to each paycheck?  If the SEP agency does an automatic withdrawal of $100.00 per month for each employee, how would that be entered if some months have 4 paychecks and some have 5 paychecks?  If I have to tie it to each paycheck, do I have to send an additional $25.00 per employee to the SEP agency if there are 5 paychecks in that month?  If I can just pay the $100.00 per month, how do I do that in one entry?

Hello there, @CCDup. 

QuickBooks is a diary of your business that keeps track of what’s happening to the transactions. The process to track the contribution in your company file depends on how the payroll service recorded it on their end. 

To ensure the information in the company file is correct, I suggest contacting your payroll processor for further information. Check with them how they account for the contribution, so we can guide you on how to input it in QuickBooks. 

You can bookmark the following article for future reference. It contains resources that will help you efficiently perform any processes in QuickBooks. It includes topics for payroll, banking activities, inventory, customer and supplier transactions, etc: A self-help guide. 

Feel free to visit the Community again if you have additional questions or concerns. I’ll be right here to answer them for you. Wishing your business continued success. 

Thanks for responding.  I am the payroll processor.  I use Enhanced Payroll to do paychecks.  I am trying to set this up in Enhanced Payroll.  We get paid weekly. The bank that handles the SEP takes $100.00 per month per employee out of the business account and put it into the individual SEP accounts.  This is the article I read that my questions are based on:

https://quickbooks.intuit.com/learn-support/en-us/other-questions/how-to-set-up-sep-ira-in-qb-pro-de...

I found out by reading this article, that it seems to be tied to each paycheck.  It goes into Payroll Liabilities and Payroll Expense accounts.  If it is tied to each paycheck then I cannot take a flat $100.00 per month because some months have 4 weeks and some have 5 weeks.  Is there a way to just do a flat amount per month or do I have to send an additional $25.00 to the SEP account for the months that have 5 weeks?

Hello, CCDup.

Thanks for providing additional details to your concerns. 

With this matter, I suggest reaching out to your tax advisor for other ways to record the deduction. They can tell you the best course of action for this concern if you're allowed to create a separate paycheck.

Also, I've added a link for  tips and articles on your future payroll tasks: Employees and payroll taxes.

Feel free to comment below if you have further questions about QuickBooks Payroll. I'm here to help! Have a good one.