Vacation Accrual Maximums

Hi there, strdwmn.

In QuickBooks Online Payroll, the maximum hours allowed is the total hours that the employee can get.

An employee's vacation time balance will automatically carry over into a new calendar year. For example, an employee received 80 vacation hours per year, with a maximum of 320 hours. The employee's vacation balance will continue to accrue until 320 available hours are reached, even if the period extends over several years. That said, I'd suggest making sure that you enter the hours per year and the maximum allowed hours under the Accrual section.

Here's how:

1. Click the Payroll menu at the left panel.
2. Choose Employees section.
3. Select the employee's name. Then, click the pencil icon beside Pay.
4. Go to the How much do you pay the employee section. Then, click the Add additional pay types (like overtime, sick, and vacation pay) link.
5. Select the Vacation Pay box. Enter the hours per year and the maximum allowed hours. 
6. Hit OK and Done.

For additional information on how to add your salaried employee’s sick pay or vacation pay hours using QuickBooks Online Payroll, you can click this article: Enter sick pay or vacation pay hours for salaried employees.

For additional assistance with setting up vacation accrual maximum, I'd suggest contacting our QuickBooks Payroll Team since you're using the Core payroll. They have the tools to pull your account to help you in setting up your employee's information. 

Please refer to this article to see different information about salaried employees and how you can determine the hourly rate for salaried employees: Common questions about payroll and salaried employees.

Please let me know if you have more payroll questions,strdwmn. I'd be glad to help. Take care!

Thank you ChristieAnn, I understand how the accrual maximum is working as you explained, but your response does not address the issue of current year maximum accruals.  Let me explain further:

• Vacation hours accrue at a rate of .02 hours for every hour worked, up to a maximum of 40 hours per year. The accrual rate is equivalent to 40 hours/year for a full-time 40-hour/week employee.  
• Employee hours vary from week-to-week based on customer demand; some employees work more than 40 hours/week, while others work less, but all employees accrue at the same rate per hour
• If an employee works on average more than 40 hours/week over the course of a year, the accrual will need to stop when they reach the maximum 40 hours of accrued vacation time
• If an employee works less than a 40 hour/week average, they will accrue less than 40 hours
• Carryover of unused vacation time is limited to 40 hours
• Each year, every employee's total maximum accrual (current year + carryover) is different based on amount allowed to carry over and years of service (the accrual rate changes based on years of service)

The problem is:

1. How to stop accrual each year when the annual maximum accrual has been reached, AND

2. Reflect total accrual (current year + carryover) on paychecks and in reports

I hope that clarifies my problem.

Thank you!

Let's check on this, strdwmn.

We can set a Maximum allowed hours for the Time off Policy through the Payroll Settings.

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner and select Payroll Settings.
2. Select the Time off Policies hyperlink under the Payroll section.
3. Click Edit on the time off policy and the Maximum available 60 hours.
4. Click OK.

After that, we can manually enter the employee's current time off hours available.

1. Select Payroll on the left menu and go to the Employees tab.
2. Select the affected employee profile and click the Pay (pencil icon).
3. Go to the How much do you pay (employee)? section and click the pencil icon.
4. Look for the affected time off and adjust the hours manually.
5. Click Done.

The necessary articles related to time off policies were already provided on the earlier responses.

If you have the same issue, you can contact our Payroll Support Team. They can review your account and will provide you additional assistance in setting your employee time off hours. You can reach them through this link: Contact QuickBooks products and services Support.

We'll be right here if you need anything else.

I am trying to update my time off policies in core but I do not get the "Time Off" option under payroll settings. Is there a reason why?

It's my priority for you to set up your time off policy in QuickBooks Online (QBO), klortega.

We can go to the Pay Policies section to update your employee's time off. Let me show you how:

1. Click the Gear icon in the upper-right corner.
2. Select Payroll Settings.
3. Tick the Pay Policies tab.
4. Go to the Time off Policies section.
5. Tap Edit on the time off policy and update it. 
6. Press OK.

For more details about this one, see Set up and track time off in payroll article. If the same thing happens, try opening your QBO account using a private or incognito window. This mode doesn't use the existing cache data and helps us confirm browser-related issues. Here's how:

• For Google Chrome browser: Ctrl + Shift + N
• For Mozilla Firefox browser: Ctrl + Shift + P
• For Safari browser: Command + Option + P

If it works, we'll have to go back to your regular browser and clear the cache to delete those temporarily stored files and browsing history. The overtime collection of data can create corruption, however, removing this should fix the issue. You can also use other supported, up-to-date browsers to roll out the possibility of a browser-related issue.

Feel free to visit our Payroll page for more insights about managing your payroll on your business. 

I'd like to know how you get on after trying the steps, as I want to ensure this is resolved for you. Please reply to this post and I'll get back to you. You have a good one.