Taking over payroll from accountant on March. Now accountant asks us to enter missing payroll info for Jan and Feb.

I'll make sure you're able to add missing payroll info in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) Payroll, @DesktopPayroll2021.

You're able to add paychecks, tax payments, and non-tax payments you already paid in QBDT Payroll. Please make sure to select the appropriate payroll bank accounts affected to keep your data accurate.

You'll first have to open the Payroll Setup Interview. To do this, go to the Employees menu, then select Payroll Setup. Then, add your employee’s prior paycheck info. You can refer to the Payroll Detailed Summary report provided by your accountant for the details. Whenever you're ready, follow these steps:

1. In the QuickBooks Payroll Setup screen, select Payroll History.
2. Select the Yes, have paid employees in [year] radio button, and then select Continue.
3. Select Yes or No on Consolidate paychecks for the previous quarters, then select Continue.
4. Choose the employee you want to enter paycheck details for and then select Edit payroll history.
5. Enter the paycheck amounts as a total for each previous quarter or by paycheck (depending on what you selected in step 3). You’ll need to enter the amounts by paycheck date in the current quarter.
6. Once you’ve added all the paychecks for that employee, select Done.
7. Repeat the above steps for each employee paid in the current year, including those who no longer work for you.

Then, when you’ve paid taxes for your previous payrolls, you’ll need to enter those payments. This info determines how much you still owe and ensures your future tax payments and filings are accurate.

For the step-by-step guide, please refer to this article: Enter historical payroll data in Desktop Payroll.

Also, to further guide you in managing your payroll account and employee transactions in QBDT, I'd recommend checking out this article: Desktop Payroll Help Articles. It includes topics about processing payroll, reports, and taxes, to name a few.

Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have other payroll concerns and questions about managing employee paychecks in QBDT Payroll. I'll gladly help. Take care, and I wish you continued success, @DesktopPayroll2021.

Hi, 

thanks for the information. I tried following the steps, but I only have the option to select 2022.

How can I go back to 2021?

I'll help you figure this out, DesktopPayroll2021.

You'll have to make sure the payroll setup interview is correct. You can refer to this article that has video and detailed steps on setting up prior payroll for employees in QuickBooks Desktop: Add payroll info to QuickBooks Desktop Payroll when you already paid employees this year.

If you still don't have the option back to 2021, you'll have to make sure you have the latest QuickBooks Desktop version installed. Also, ensure to update your payroll tax table to get this fix.

Here's how:

1. From the Employees tab, click on Get Payroll Updates.
2. Select the Download Entire Update checkbox.
3. Select Download Latest Update or Download. An informational window appears when the download is complete.

Please keep me posted on how the steps work. I want to make sure everything is taken care of for you.

Hi, 

thank you for assisting. 

My QuickBooks Desktop is up to date, and the payroll tables are up to date.

I am unable to go back to 2021 using the Payroll Setup linked in your reply links and video. I checked all 3 videos, which where made in 2021, and they are editing 2021 taxes. But there is nothing that can take them back to the previous year.

All the linked resources did not help resolving the problem.

We need to add 500 checks for last year (2021) payroll paid checks into our QuickBooks.

Our accountant uses QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise. Do they have an option to export a payroll/taxes file only for our company? If yes, can this be imported into our QuickBooks Desktop ?

This is currently 2022, and I would like to run the payroll setup interview for 2021. Please, explain at which point (date) QuickBooks Payroll setup won't allow us to edit the previous year? Does this happens on Jan 1st of each new year? 

I appreciate all the efforts you exerted to add your 2021 payroll data to QuickBooks Desktop, @DesktopPayroll2021.

I want to make sure this issue is taken care of, and I'd like to redirect you to our best support group available to get this addressed right away.

Before anything else, please know that entering historical payroll data only applies to all employees you paid in this calendar year. That's why you're unable to go back to your 2021 payroll data.

On the other hand, exporting and importing payroll data in QuickBooks Desktop is currently unavailable.

To get your 2021 payroll data added to QuickBooks Desktop, I recommend contacting our QuickBooks Support Team. They can check on your account and help you enter your 2021 historical payroll data. You can follow the steps below to reach them:

1. Go to the Help icon and select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
2. Click Contact Us.
3. Write your concerns in the description box, then select Continue.
4. Select which one of the support options you'd like to use.

You can also check out this article for another way of reaching out to our support team and its support hours: QuickBooks Desktop Support.

As always, you can visit our QuickBooks Community help website if you need tips and related articles in the future.

Please touch base with me here for all of your QuickBooks needs, I'm always happy to help. Wishing you all the best, @DesktopPayroll2021.

Hi Mark,

if the Payroll history tool doesn't work for 2021, then can checks be entered manually using the Unscheduled Payroll? This is the tool that my previous accountant recommended to use.

Could I have some guidance on how to enter a 2021 payroll check?

For testing (see attached photo), I entered the pay period, and I manually randomly filled out the taxes. As you can see, the Earning Item can only be Bonus or Annual Salary in order to manually enter the check total. Otherwise a Warning popup message appears (see attached photo).

How can I enter an hourly employee check? I have a QuickBooks report with their previous checks and pay stubs. My former accountant told me to manually enter the total check amount, and taxes. Where do I enter the check total amount? In order to enter the check total amount, I need to use 'Enter net/Calculate Gross' checkbox, which requires to use only Bonus or Salary.
Changing the category from Hourly to Bonus or Salary does it cause tax forms miscalculations? 

Otherwise, are there other ways to do it?

Please, could someone help with simple instructions on how to enter a missing 2021 paycheck?

Thank you Rea_M , changing the computer time to 2021 worked.