Job Costing with Outsource Payroll

Hi Tl76!

Welcome, and thank you for getting help with entering your payroll data.

I'm happy to share an article with detailed steps on how you can reflect your data in QuickBooks. Please check this out: Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online.

Please don't hesitate to go back to this thread if you need more assistance with your transactions. Take care always!

So i read this article today called 'Payroll Service Buying Guide for 2017' that talked about services a payroll company should offer and how it helps a small business. I have just 4 employees and process everything manually but it's a difficult experience for me. Does anyone know if its worth outsourcing your payroll for such a small number of employees? I was looking into iBusinessSolutions or Paychex. Anyone have experience with these companies?

skylightpaycard

I appreciate you for joining the thread, Lovrence.

I'm here to share with you some information about QuickBooks Payroll subscriptions.

To ease the process of tracking your employees' transactions, you may use our QuickBooks Payroll service while working with QuickBooks. Payroll prices depend on the plan you need. It has a fixed price and an additional fee per employee per month. Meaning, the fewer employees you have, the lesser charges you get.

To learn more about the different plans and pricing for both QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) and QuickBooks Online (QBO) Payroll, you can check out these links:

• Choose a QuickBooks Payroll plan with the right benefits for your team
• Payroll and Enterprise options for QuickBooks Desktop

On the other hand, you may reach out to the iBusinessSolutions or Paychex developer to learn more about these apps. They are the ones who can provide you with the details on how the applications work for you and your business.

Please let me know how else I can help you with QuickBooks or payroll. I'm more than happy to provide additional assistance. Keep safe!

Good morning - The article does not answer the question regarding job costing using an outside payroll service.  It only gives the general expense and liability categories...   Is there a way to job cost (for a construction company) in quickbooks pro using an outside vendor.   I track the employee hours and would like to attribute the related costs to the appropriate jobs.  

Thank you.  

Thanks for joining this thread, JoAnnARS.

You can start tracking job costs by setting up a Customer:Job for each of your jobs, assigning expenses, entering estimates, and creating the appropriate invoices. Afterwards, you'll be able to run Job Costing reports to see how your business is doing on a job-by-job basis.

Here's how:

1. Create a Customer:Job for each of your jobs, even if there's only one job for a particular customer. This allows you to keep track of the income and expenses for each job and can simplify your bookkeeping if you add another job for that customer.
2. Assign all expenses to jobs to get a complete job cost picture.
   • For Billable Time - Record the hours spent on a job using either a weekly timesheet or a single activity entry and assign your hours to the customer or job. Each entry is automatically checked in your Billable column. It's important to keep in mind that timesheets are a non-posting entry and must be imported to a bill or invoice to include it in the Job Profitability or Company Financial reports.
   • For Job-related Purchases - Use a bill, check, or credit card charge to record your purchases. On the Items tab, enter each service or item you purchased. Be sure to assign each service/item to the customer/job in the Customer:Job column.
   • For Overhead Expenses - If you choose to allocate overhead expenses to specific jobs, I'd recommend reviewing our How to calculate and track overhead costs article. Intuit also recommends working with an accounting professional before making any changes relating to overhead expenses. If you're in need of one, there's an awesome tool on our website called Find a ProAdvisor. Each ProAdvisor listed there is QuickBooks-certified and able to provide helpful insights for driving your business's success.
   • For Mileage - Enter mileage in the Enter Vehicle Mileage window. If the amount for your expense needs to change, it can be updated on its invoice.
   • For Other Expenses - Use a bill, check, or credit card charge to enter these types of expenses. In the Customer:Job column, be sure to assign each expense to the appropriate customer or job.
3. Enter your estimates.
   • You can create estimates in or outside of QuickBooks. If you'd prefer to create estimates with a spreadsheet or by other means, you can record summary estimates into your books.
   • If you create estimates outside of QuickBooks, but you create invoices in the program, you can enter your invoice details in the Create estimates window to turn your estimates into invoices.
   • You can use some job costing reports without entering estimates; however, recording estimates in your books allows you to use the full range of Job Cost reports to confirm your project budget is on track. You can evaluate the accuracy of your estimates and adjust them appropriately for future projects if necessary.
4. Create the appropriate invoices.
   • Confirm the correct Customer:Job is selected when creating invoices.
   • If you prefer to create invoices outside of QuickBooks, make sure to enter at least a summary for each of them into your books so it includes the revenue in your Job Profitability reports.

Once all of the data's entered, you can run your Job Costing reports and review their information:

1. In the top menu bar, go to Reports.
2. Select Jobs, Time, & Mileage.

I've also included a detailed resource about tracking job costs which may come in handy moving forward: Track job costs

Please feel welcome to send a reply if there's any additional questions. Have a wonderful day!

Actually, if your are outsourcing your payroll, the timesheets are non posting, but since you do not pull into payroll to pay, they do not post to the profitability report.  We use ADP and I have to manually enter thru journal entries the labor to post to the P&L report.  I pulled the Job Profitability Reports to check what was mentioned in the response above, and it does not post, unless you enter it.   Please, is I am missing a step or other information, I would be glad to here it..  

Greetings, @adivabookkeeper. 

Thanks for chiming in on this thread. 

The best route, since you're using an outsource payroll, is to enter the details manually. 

This will ensure that the information is listed in the reports you'd like to use and review. 

I hope this helps answer your question. Feel free to reach back out with any other concerns you have. Take care! 

Hi, I am still looking to job cost with an outsourced payroll. We use ADP Payroll, and I download the ADP journal entries into QB Desktop after each payroll run. However, since I don't pay people in QB, their time doesn't get billed to our jobs. I reached out to QB, and they told me I would have to pay for their payroll service for them to help me.....even if I don't use their payroll. I feel that is terrible customer service. Why would I pay for a payroll service I wouldn't need? ....It would be rewarding them for not accommodating their customers. Any help someone could offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

Hi there, Anne.

Let me help you in handling your job costing concern in QuickBooks Desktop while using an external payroll service. 

Our support requires you to have a QuickBooks Payroll service to record your accounting workflow in your QuickBooks Desktop. This way, they can assist you with the best way to handle your job costing concern. But no worries, I'm here to share a workaround that fits your needs.

Instead of downloading journal entries into QuickBooks Desktop, I recommend creating checks to debit your expenses and credit your assets. You'll need to enter your details manually into QuickBooks Desktop to ensure accurate data. By creating checks, you can enable the Billable feature to the transactions to their specific accounts.

To avoid confusion, I recommend consulting a certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor or your accountant. They can provide tailored advice and help set up a more streamlined system for handling your specific needs.

You'll also need to enable manual payroll in QuickBooks Desktop.

You can also consider checking out this article about tracking jobs in QuickBooks: Track job costs in QuickBooks Desktop.

Let me know if you need additional assistance in handling your payroll in QuickBooks Desktop. I'm always here to assist you.

Hi,

I do need help setting this up. This is not something I can do on my own. Who do I reach out to helo me?

Thanks,

Anne 

Hi,  I still need help with this. Setting his work around up is not something I am comfortable doing on my own. 

Handling transactions effectively within QuickBooks Desktop, including those originating from outside sources, is essential for maintaining accurate records, Anne. I'm here to help you manage these ADP Payroll entries in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Since you've downloaded ADP journal entries into QuickBooks Desktop after each payroll run, you can use the Billable checkbox within the program. This process might be time-consuming, as it will require you to review each entry manually.

Moreover, please back up your company file for safekeeping. It's essential to store a copy of your data before proceeding.

When you're ready, follow these steps for easy navigation:

1. Open your QBDT company file.
2. Locate each journal entry you've downloaded from ADP.
3. In the upper right corner of each entry, tick the Billable checkbox.
4. Once done, click Save & Close.

Repeat this procedure until all entries have been updated.

Furthermore, when dealing with journal entries in QBDT, it is best to consult your account to ensure accurate records. If you don't have an accountant, please know that you can browse this website to look for one: Find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.

In addition, you can check these materials which entail adjusting payroll liabilities and then creating a payroll report to review its accuracy:

• Adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll
• Create a payroll summary report in QuickBooks

Don't hesitate to return here in the Community if you have additional questions about payroll entries or any QBDT-related inquiry. We'll be here to help you as soon as we get your reply. Keep safe!

Hi,

I can not make the journal entries billable. I go to Company - Make General Journal Entries, and then I find the payroll download of journal entries. Its shows the billable box, but does not allow me to check it to make it billable.

Thanks for your help,

Anne

I'm here to ensure that you can mark those journal entries as billable in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT), Anne.

In QBDT, the billable option in journal entries are grayed out when the feature is turned off from your company preferences. Hence, you need to enable it first. Here's how:

1. Navigate to the Edit menu, then select Preferences.
2. Select Time & Expenses and click the Company Preferences tab.
3. From the Time Tracking, tick the Mark all time entries as billable box.

On the other hand, if it's already enabled, you can use the Verify and Rebuild Data tool to address any issues. The Verify tool is designed to identify the most common problems in your company file, while the Rebuild tool is used to repair these issues.

You can always revisit this page if you have follow-up questions about journal entries in QBDT. We're always here willing to assist.

Hi,

I am here to tell you that it does not work. I have contacted QB on several different instances about this issue, and every time I get a different answer. 

Anne

Thanks for sharing your concern with the Community, @Anne93. 

Since the issue persists, I suggest reaching out to our customer support team. They have the necessary tools to thoroughly investigate the issue. You can reach us through the phone number provided at the bottom of this page: Contact QuickBooks Desktop support. You can contact us from Mondays to Fridays, 6 AM to 6 PM PT (for Pro, Premier, and Plus). For QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise you can contact us any time and any day.  

In addition, you can also visit this link to help you summarize your payroll report: Create a payroll summary report in QuickBooks.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any additional questions about handling your transaction QuickBooks.