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Invite your employees to QuickBooks Workforce to see pay stubs and W-2s if you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll

SOLVED•by QuickBooks•4682•Updated December 01, 2022

Learn how you can invite your employees through QuickBooks Desktop Payroll to see and print their own pay stubs and W-2s online.

QuickBooks Workforce is a great way for your employees to have access to their pay stubs and W-2s any time they need.  Each time you run payroll, they’ll get an email letting them know their pay stubs are available to view and print.  They can also view and print their own W-2s at tax time. 

Use QuickBooks Online Payroll?  See Invite your employees to QuickBooks Workforce to see pay stubs, W-2s, and more if you use QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Step 1: Turn on QuickBooks Workforce and invite your employees

Invite your existing employees

First you'll need to add your employees' email addresses to their profiles. Then you'll set up the invites.

  1. Sign into QuickBooks Desktop as the QuickBooks Administrator.
  2. Select Employees, then Employee Center.
  3. Double-click your first employee you want to invite.
  4. From the Address and Contact tab, add their email address. Select Ok.
  5. Repeat steps 3-4 for all employees you want to invite.
  6. Select Employees, then Manage Payroll Cloud Services. If you don’t see Manage Payroll Cloud Services, update QuickBooks. 
  7. From QuickBooks Workforce, turn the status On. Then select Invite Employees. 
  8. Sign in with your Intuit Account. This should be the person who owns the QuickBooks Payroll license. 
  9. Select the employees to add to Workforce, then add their email addresses.
  10. Select Send Invite. Once sent, you should see Invited in the Status column.

Invite your new employee

  1. Select Employees, then Employee Center. 
  2. Select Add New and add your new employee. Make sure to add their email address in the Address and Contact tab.
  3. Select Employees, then Manage Payroll Cloud Services.
  4. From QuickBooks Workforce, select Invite Employees. 
  5. Sign in with your Intuit Account. This should be the person who owns the QuickBooks Payroll license. 
  6. Select the employees to add to Workforce, then add their email addresses.
  7. Select Send Invite. Once sent, you should see Invited in the Status column.

Step 2: Upload paychecks and W-2s

You’ll need to upload paychecks after each payroll so your employees can access them in QuickBooks Workforce. In January, you’ll also need to upload your W-2s.

  1. After running payroll, select Send to Intuit on the Confirmation and Next Steps screen.
  2. On the Send/Receive Data window, select Send. When prompted, enter your payroll service PIN.

Tip: If you forget to select Send to Intuit after creating paychecks, you can go to Employees, then select Send Payroll Data.

Paychecks from January 2021 to current are automatically uploaded as you run your regular payroll.

You'll need to manually upload paychecks prior to January 2021. To prevent errors, upload your previous paychecks after you've run any current payroll.

  1. Select File, then Print Forms, and then select Print Pay stubs.
  2. In the Select Pay Stubs window, change the date range in the Checks Dated fields to include pay stubs that you'd like to send to QuickBooks Workforce.
    Note: We recommend selecting only current calendar year paychecks and uploading in batches of 100-200 paychecks at a time to prevent errors.
  3. Click Send Online.
  4. From the Send/Receive Data window, select Send All and enter your payroll PIN.

Note: Your employees will only see their W-2s from the current tax filing season.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic and Enhanced

When submitting your W-2s in January, check the box Provide employees with secure online access to their W-2s forms on Intuit’s free QuickBooks Workforce site and in Intuit TurboTax.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Assisted

Your W-2s are automatically available in QuickBooks Workforce for your employees after January 15.

What happens next

Your employee will receive an email with a link to set up and use QuickBooks Workforce to add their personal info (if you selected this option) and view their pay stubs and W-2s.

Once an employee accepts the invitation in the email, they’ll be able to create their own Intuit account. This allows them to manage their own user ID, personal settings, and security info.

Check out this video to see QuickBooks Workforce. Note: the section for employees to add their personal, tax, and bank info is only available through QuickBooks Online Payroll.

To watch more how-to videos, visit our video section.

Resend an invitation

There may be several reasons you need to resend your employee’s invitation to QuickBooks Workforce.

  • Your employee didn’t receive the original invite
  • Your employee’s email address is wrong
  • Your employee has a new email address

Resend or cancel an invitation

  1. Select Employees, then Payroll Setup. 
  2. From the Employee list, under Action, select the drop down, and choose the option to resend or cancel. 
  3. When finished, close the setup window.

Turn off QuickBooks Workforce

  1. Select Employees, then Manage Payroll Cloud Services.
  2. Under QuickBooks Workforce, turn OFF Workforce.

Get answers to common questions

If your employee can’t find their invite, try these options:

  1. Check their spam or junk folder.
  2. Make sure their email address is correct.
  3. Try resending the invitation again.

No. Your employees will lose access immediately.

No. Your employees will lose access immediately. You'll need to invite your employees from your new payroll service.

You will need to invite your employees from your new payroll service.

W-2s aren't immediately available on January 1.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Basic, Standard, or Enhanced, you need to upload the W-2s at the time you submit them by checking the box Provide employees with secure online access to their W-2 forms on Intuit’s free QuickBooks Workforce site and in Intuit TurboTax.

If you use QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Assisted, the W-2s are typically available after January 15.

Get help with Workforce

Have more questions? Chat with us so we can help. We're available Monday through Friday from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM PST.

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