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websoftpr
Level 3

Single entry payroll expense

Hello, I need to recognize the payroll expense as a single entry, lets say $500 weekly (we don't use QB payroll). The tax deductions are entered as a total expense as taxes, not in a particular employee. So I enter the employee name as a "vendor" and categorized as Payroll Expense Account. Not sure why, maybe it's due to rules, some transactions are being entered as deposit and other as expense, so the result is a wrong P&L.

 

How should I enter these?, see print screen for better understanding.

 

Thanks,

Solved
Best answer May 05, 2021

Best Answers
MaryLandT
Moderator

Single entry payroll expense

I can guide you through how to record those payroll expenses in QuickBooks Online (QBO), websoftpr.

 

You need to create a journal entry when entering payroll expenses you've processed outside of QBO. You'll want to start over by deleting those deposits and expenses.

 

To ensure that those transactions are categorized correctly, you need to create these accounts on your Chart of Accounts:

 

Expense accounts:

  • Payroll Expenses: Wages
  • Payroll Expenses: Taxes

Liability accounts:

 

  • Payroll Liabilities: Federal Taxes (941/944)
  • Payroll Liabilities: Federal Unemployment (940)
  • Payroll Liabilities: [State] SUI/ETT
  • Payroll Liabilities: [State] PIT/SDI
     

Please check out this article to learn what accounts to debit and credit: Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online. It provides instructions and detailed steps.

 

Once all transactions are recorded in QuickBooks, you can start reconciling your bank accounts.

 

Let me know if there are other things you need with recording payroll expenses. I'm always right here to guide you through the process.

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8 Comments 8
MaryLandT
Moderator

Single entry payroll expense

I can guide you through how to record those payroll expenses in QuickBooks Online (QBO), websoftpr.

 

You need to create a journal entry when entering payroll expenses you've processed outside of QBO. You'll want to start over by deleting those deposits and expenses.

 

To ensure that those transactions are categorized correctly, you need to create these accounts on your Chart of Accounts:

 

Expense accounts:

  • Payroll Expenses: Wages
  • Payroll Expenses: Taxes

Liability accounts:

 

  • Payroll Liabilities: Federal Taxes (941/944)
  • Payroll Liabilities: Federal Unemployment (940)
  • Payroll Liabilities: [State] SUI/ETT
  • Payroll Liabilities: [State] PIT/SDI
     

Please check out this article to learn what accounts to debit and credit: Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online. It provides instructions and detailed steps.

 

Once all transactions are recorded in QuickBooks, you can start reconciling your bank accounts.

 

Let me know if there are other things you need with recording payroll expenses. I'm always right here to guide you through the process.

websoftpr
Level 3

Single entry payroll expense

Thanks Mary!

AALORL
Level 1

Single entry payroll expense

If we use Quickbooks to process all the payroll and taxes, we do not need to do these things, correct? As in, no need to enter a paycheck under "Expenses" if QB did all the work- its done by QB and all we have to do is run the payroll. Former in house bookkeeper was entering paychecks and the taxes paid as expenses and I cannot figure out why

JenoP
Moderator

Single entry payroll expense

Let me help with your questions about payroll, AALORL.

 

You're correct. You don't need to follow the steps in the first response if you're running payroll inside QuickBooks. The system will automatically post the transactions in the payroll expense and liability accounts in your Payroll Account preferences. 

 

Let me share these articles for more details and reference:

 

 

Feel free to visit us anytime you have questions or other concerns. I'll be around to assist you again. Keep safe and healthy always.

AALORL
Level 1

Single entry payroll expense

Thank you. So.  How would I go about undoing this? It’s skewed the accounting for last year already. Now can I fix it this year? 

ReymondO
QuickBooks Team

Single entry payroll expense

Hi there, @AALORL.

 

Thanks for bringing this up in the QuickBooks Community. 

 

If you haven't created any paychecks yet, you can set up a prior payroll to record your employee's past pay information. This is to ensure the year-to-date (YTD) totals are accurate on your employees’ pay stubs. 

 

First, gather employee W-4s, pay stubs, or other payroll reports to help you enter employee's details and what each employee has been paid so far this year. You can check the list of payroll reports you can use to enter prior payroll here: Prior Reports For QuickBooks Online (QBO) Payroll.


Once done, follow these steps to get started:

 

  1. Select Payroll then Overview.
  2. You will see tasks you need to complete on your TO DO. When you're done adding your business info, it's time to tell us about your team. Select Let's go to start adding your employees.
  3. Enter your employees' info. After you complete the questions, select Done. Select Add an employee to add the rest of your employees.
  4. Complete the onscreen steps. If your employee doesn't have any wages to enter this year, select Done and add additional employees as needed.

 

Then, complete the rest of the steps by following this article: Set up a prior payroll for QBO

 

If you already created paychecks, you can enter them as a regular payroll. Just use your payroll expense data as your basis and reach out to your accountant for further guidance. 

 

After recording or entering your payroll data, delete your old payroll expenses to correct your records. 

 

Additionally, you can run some payroll reports in QuickBooks. This way, you can get a closer look at your business's finances and view useful information about your business and employees.

 

You're more than welcome to visit this thread again if you have other questions. Just add the details of your concern here and I'll help you out.

Goodjam99
Level 1

Single entry payroll expense

Hello,

Our system seems to be creating payroll entries and an expense entry & we cant figure out why -

03/24/2023Expense  $3,374.3305/12/2023, 03:17 PM
03/24/2023Payroll CheckDD $3,374.3303/23/2023, 03:29 PM

 

I'm thinking that the expense entry should be deleted because its doubling the company expense number. I have an entry in the wage expense & the professional service account. 

Angelyn_T
QuickBooks Team

Single entry payroll expense

Thank you for joining the thread today, Goodjam99. Allow me to assist you in taking the appropriate steps to correct the payroll and expense entries posted to your bank account.

 

Yes. You can delete the expense entry to avoid duplicate calculations. 

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Open the transaction.
  2. Click More, then Delete.
  3. Hit Yes to confirm the action.

 

If one of these entries appears on the Banking page, you may match them instead

 

  1. Click on Banking, then go to the Banking page.
  2. Look for your account.
  3. Tap on For review.
  4. Select the transaction, then Find match.
  5. Follow the onscreen pop-ups to proceed.

 

Either of the options stated above will resolve the issue.

 

On the other hand, you can always visit your Audit Log report to spot unnecessary transactions that were recorded in your file to avoid incorrect calculations and duplicate records. From there, you can also examine the transactions added by each user and the ones that were removed or altered. You can check out this article as your guide: Use the audit log in QuickBooks Online.

 

If you have further concerns about payroll or other transactions, please leave them in the comment section below. I'm more than happy to help. Have a great weekend!

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