Where do I enter one time deduction from a payroll check in QBO?

I'd be glad to walk you through where you can enter one-time deductions from payroll checks, Joanng.

With QuickBooks Online (QBO), you can set up pre-tax or after-tax deduction items. To guide you with the steps, here's where you can enter them:

1. In your QBO account, click on Payroll from the left menu bar and select Employees.
2. Select the specific employee.
3. From the Deductions & contributions, select Start or Edit.
4. Then, click + Add deduction/contribution from the Deduction/contribution dropdown.
5. From the Deduction/contribution type, click Other Deduction.
6. From Type, select Other after tax deductions.
7. Add a Description and click how your deduction is calculated. Then, enter the amount.
8. Once done, click Save, then Done.

For more detailed information, refer to this article: Set up, change, or delete employee-paid payroll deductions.

Moreover, if you wish to set up specific deductions for your employees, you can set up garnishments, retirement plans, and insurance benefit plans to ensure they are properly tracked.

Let us know in the comments below if you require additional assistance setting up deductions in QBO. We'll always be here, willing to help. Keep safe!

I don't understand this process.   Deduction is a one time on one paycheck.  Are you saying you have to set it up on the individual employee and then delete it after you have taken that deduction ONE TIME?

Hello there, @Maria2513. 

Thanks for joining this thread. I'm here to clarify on how one-time deduction work in QuickBooks Online.

Yes, that's right. We need to set up the deduction on the individual employee's profile. As advised, we can create a deduction item under a specific employee. Still, you can follow the steps shared by my colleague. 

And if you no longer using this deduction, we'll have to delete it. Here's how:

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select your employee.
3. From Deductions & contributions, select Start or Edit.
4. Select the trash bin icon next to the deduction you want to remove.
5. Select Delete, then Done.

We can visit this article to see several payroll reports we can generate according to your needs. It helps us view information about business, employees, and payroll taxes: Run payroll reports in QuickBooks Online Payroll.  

Let me know if you have more questions about payroll and other details in QuickBooks. I'm here to provide additional help. Take care always. 

This process should be much simpler.... we quite often have small one off deductions for our employees, as well.

Our employees will purchase tools etc on our accounts, and ask for it to be taken off on payroll.

It should be  simple deduction -  you should be able to enter a negative amount under a reimbursement field, or something

Exactly!  Other payroll software allows one time deductions to be keyed in during payroll input.  Very simple process.

I agree.  This is one thing that is really frustrating with QBO but I'm forced to switch to online and hate that you are so limited with so many things.  You would think they would have some of this stuff worked out so it's more friendly before making everyone switch

I, too, am frustrated by the clumsiness of this process, which ought to be easy. Another issue with this is that there appears to be no way to properly assign the account to which the deducted money flows. I have a situation where an employee was reimbursed months ago for an expense that he paid from his own funds. That expense was refunded to him and so he needs to reimburse our organization. I'd like to do that with a one-time payroll deduction but can find no way to assign the returned funds to the correct expense account.

I understand the importance of ensuring the deducted funds are assigned to the correct expense account, donallen. I'm here to share insights about this.

We can create an expense transaction to help track the returned funds and associate them with the correct expense account.

Here's how:

1.  Go to +New and select Expense under Vendor.
2. Enter the employee's name in the Payee field.
3. Select the appropriate expense account. 
4. Enter the amount being reimbursed.

Additionally, you can run payroll reports in QBO to easily track your business finances, employee details, and payroll data. 

This should lead you the way to utilize your expense categories accordingly. Feel free to leave a comment below if there's anything else you need help with. Have a great day. 

This is just another example of QBO not having any understanding of what their customers need and what it's like to run a real business.

I am also having the same issue.  I have 80-100 employees every other week and they have different equipment deductions that are one time only.  I spend more time putting them in and deleting them than I do the actual payroll.  Can this solved?  Can there be a drop down of the list of deductions during the payroll entry and then just enter them there?

We value your time and effort. I see that the process of setting up one-time deductions for individual employees is challenging, mflanagan.

Currently, a direct way to input and delete one-time deductions in QuickBooks Online (QBO) is unavailable.

Your idea about having an option for the list of deductions from the drop-down menu during payroll entry would be great. Let's send feedback directly to our product engineers. They will evaluate your idea. Here's how:

1. Go to the Gear icon in the upper-right corner.
2. Choose Feedback from the Profile column.
3. Share your comments and click Next.
   

Feel free to visit and read this article for tips about handling payroll reports in QBO: Run, print, and customize payroll reports.

Make sure to add another post below if you have follow-up payroll concerns. I'm here to back you up.

I'm not sure why QB is requesting input from the community on this issue when it's clear what the complaint is... 

So to make it clear QB - we want a simple process for one time expense deductions from a payroll run with a fillable field for a unique amount/description per employee. 

It should be as simple as the process for creating a Sales Item without a fixed price or description that can then be completed in the actual invoicing process. 

This doesn't seem like rocket-science here.

December 2024 and still QB is collecting our high monthly fees without making investments in software to do this very simple update.

If these discussions are mediated by QBO team, why do we also need to submit feedback?

Are the issues discussed in the QBO community not raised to developers?