Why does one of my employees always have a * in front of his name in the check register?

Thanks for reaching out to us, @Roland12.

Let's check your employee's profile if there's a special character in the name section. Let me guide you how. 

1. Go to Payroll.
2. Select Employees.
3. Tick the employee's name, then tap Edit employee.
4. Check the First name and Last name fields. If found, just delete the * sign. Make sure to remove extra spaces in the field.
5. Click Done.

With the above steps, you're able to remove the sign and won't be visible in your register. See this article for more information about the steps: Add a new employee to your payroll.

I'm also adding this link here in case you need help with other banking-related tasks or payroll:

• Find help with bank feeds and reconciling accounts.

• View all help for QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Keep me posted if you still have questions or concerns with your register or employee. Take care and have a wonderful day ahead.

Thanks, but no, there are no special characters in the employee's name fields. The bank register is the only place I've seen it.

Let's make sure you'll distinguish what asterisk (*) means in the check register, Roland12.

Generally, an asterisk (*) may have several meanings. This may mean unfinished reconciliation or uncleared transactions. You'll want to reach out to our support team so they can double-check where the symbol is located. They also have the tools to pull up your account in a secure environment. Here's how to reach them.

1. Click the (?) Help icon and enter Talk to a human (then type it again when prompted).
2. When asked by the bot, enter your concern.
3. Select I still need a human, then proceed with Contact us or Get help from a human.
4. Choose either Chat or Callback.

Furthermore, QuickBooks downloads transactions automatically once you connect your bank and credit card account.  Match them with transactions you've already entered. I've added this article for your guide: Categorize And Match Online Bank Transactions In QuickBooks Online.

Keep in touch if you have any concerns with the transactions in the check register. I'll be here to help.

OK, thank you!

OK, I talked to a rep and she was not able to determine why, in this employee's paychecks in the checking account register, a * always appears in front of his name. If I go back far enough in the register to see employees who are no longer being paid, they too have the asterisk, so it appears that this is supposed to indicate that the employee is no longer on payroll. Strange that it appears with an employee who is currently on payroll. Doesn't seem to hurt anything; just an odd anomaly.

Thank you.

We have the same issue. Summer interns we mark as "not on payroll" but when they return we make them active and they still have a asterisk by their name. Any solution found yet?

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@survey-1 wrote:

We have the same issue. Summer interns we mark as "not on payroll" but when they return we make them active and they still have a asterisk by their name. Any solution found yet?

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None that I know of. The employee in question is no longer on payroll, but when I do payroll next week I will have to reactivate another inactive employee – one who has shown an asterisk in the past – so I will see what happens.

I’m here to help you resolve this, @survey-1.

When an employee is inactive, they will have a star, an asterisk, or a special character added to their name.

Since the employee is active, cached data might be the reason behind this. Please know that once the browser's cached files have issues, QuickBooks functionalities may get affected. You can perform some troubleshooting steps to fix this.

First, open your QuickBooks Online account in a private or incognito window for testing. You can use these shortcuts keys below for quick navigation:

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Safari 11 or newer: ⌘ + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P

Once logged in, check the employee’s name. If no asterisk shows up, get back to your main browser and clear its cache. Doing this helps the program to run better. You can also use other supported browsers as an alternative.

I’ve attached this reference to learn more about managing employees records: Manage workers and employees. It has everything you need to help make sure all information is accurate for payroll.

If you have any other questions or concerns besides the asterisk on the employee's name, don’t hesitate to add a message. I’ll be here. Always take care!

When I opened quickbooks online in a private window the star still showed on the employee name.  This would be his first paycheck after being inactive.  What is my next step?

Thanks

Thanks for joining this thread, juliannbergs-yah.

I want to make sure you're able to run payroll for your employee in QuickBooks Online.

Since the troubleshooting steps mentioned above didn't do the trick I recommend reaching out to a member of the QuickBooks Online Payroll Support Team. An agent will be able to take a more in depth look, using specialized tools like the ability to share your screen, to determine what's causing the issue. They'll also be able to get the problem escalated if need be. 

Here's how to get in touch with the team:

1. Click the Help (?) button.
2. Select either tab to get started:
  - Assistant: Get quick, personalized answers. Select a suggested option, or type a question or topic you need help with. If you decide you need further help, you can still Talk to a human.
  - Search: Search the QuickBooks Online knowledge base directly, or select Contact Us and choose a way to connect with us:
    a. Start a chat with a support expert.
    b. Get a callback from the next available expert.
 

The following article provides these steps if you ever need them again in the future: QuickBooks Online Support

Please don't hesitate to reach back out if you have any other questions. I'll be here to lend a hand.

We are having this exact same issue too for an employee who previously was inactive but has recently come back to work. As they are no longer inactive it would seem that this * should no longer show in front of their name for any reports generated by QBO. I'm not seeing any resolution to this from the other posts in this thread and the suggestions listed have not worked in our situation either. Has anyone found a solution for this or have another idea of how to get rid of this weird anomaly?? Please help us!

I recognize the importance of removing your employee's asterisk in QuickBooks Online, @dsimanton. Let me route you to the best person who can help you fix this one.

Since you experienced the asterisk beside your employee name, I recommend contacting our customer support team. They have the resources to access your account securely and determine why your employee has an asterisk on their name.

Here's how you can reach them:

1. Select the Help icon and click the Search tab.
2. Select Contact Us.
3. Provide a brief description of the issue, then Continue.
4. Choose between Chat with us and Have us call you.

Moreover, I'll be sharing the following articles to help personalize report layouts, apply filters, and save customized report settings for quick access in the future:

• Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.
• Memorize reports in QuickBooks Online.

The Community Team is always ready to respond and assist if you have further questions about your reports in QBO or any other questions related to the program. We encourage you to utilize the comment section below for any queries. Keep safe.