Manage your payroll items in QuickBooks Online Payroll

Learn how to use the payroll item management tool to view, edit, or remove pay items from employees.

The payroll item management tool lets you manage your pay types, deductions, and contributions in one place. You can create, assign, view, edit, inactivate or activate, or remove payroll items instead of editing each employee’s profile.

Select what you’d like to do:

• View your payroll items
• Create a new payroll item and assign it to your employees
• Assign existing payroll items to your employees
• Edit your payroll item details
• Remove a payroll item from your employees
• Make a payroll inactive or active

Learn how to manage payroll items in QuickBooks Online with this short video.

View your payroll items

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items.
3. Select Pay types or Deductions & contributions to see your list of items and employees assigned to those items. 

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Create a new payroll item and assign it to your employees

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items.
3. From the New payroll item dropdown ▼, select the payroll item you want to set up.
   • Pay types:
     1. Choose the pay item type, then you may be asked to enter a name for the item.
     2. Select Create.
   • Deductions or contributions:
     1. Choose the deduction or contribution type.
     2. Choose the subtype.
     3. Enter a name or description for the item.
     4. Depending on the item, you may need to select how it's taxed.
     5. Select Create.
4. Select Assign employee(s).
5. Select the employees you want to assign the new item to.
6. Select Next.
7. Enter the amount or percentage per paycheck if needed.
8. Select Save.

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Assign existing payroll items to your employees

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items.
3. Select Pay types or Deductions & contributions to see your list of payroll items.
4. Select the payroll item you want to assign.
5. Select Assign employee(s).
6. Select the employees you want to assign the new item to.
7. Select Next.
8. Enter the amount or percentage per paycheck if needed.
9. Select Save.

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Edit your payroll item details

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items.
3. Select Pay types or Deductions & contributions to see your list of payroll items.
4. Select the payroll item you want to change. You’ll see your list of employees assigned to the item. 

Edit the payroll item for one employee:

1. From the employee you want to change, select Edit. 
2. You can edit the name of the payroll item (except some pay types), amount, or limit. 
3. Select Save. 

Edit the payroll item for multiple employees:

1. Select the employees you’d like to edit.
2. Select Edit, then choose the attribute you’d like to change.
3. Update the fields, then select Next.
4. Review your changes for each employee.
5. Select Save.

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Remove a payroll item from your employees

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items. 
3. Select Pay types or Deductions & contributions to see your list of payroll items.
4. Select the payroll item. 
5. From the employee you want to remove, select Edit ▼. Then select Unassign employee. 

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Make a payroll item inactive or active

You can't make regular pay types like salary, hourly, or commission or system-generated pay items inactive. But, you can make any other hourly or commission pay type or deductions & contributions inactive as long as no employees are assigned to it.

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
2. Select Edit payroll items. 
3. Select Pay types or Deductions & contributions to see your list of payroll items.
4. Select the payroll item you want to make active or inactive. 
5. Select Make inactive or Make active.