linking payroll to budget

I'm here to help you link your payroll to your budget, Pam Austin.

To start, you'll need your imported payroll transactions to show up in the Chart of Accounts so that they'll be included in your budget. To do so, let's export an updated file of your payroll data. This way, we can use different accounts for each employee.

To ensure there are no duplicates, we can delete the payroll checks in the register. Please secure a back up of your file before deleting the entries.

Once done, I recommend editing your export preferences. Here's how:

1. Sign in to your Intuit Online Payroll account. 
2. Select the Setup tab.
3. Under Export, click the Preferences link.
4. In the Wage Expense Accounts field, select the I use different accounts for different groups of employees radio button. 
5. In the Tax Expense Accounts field, select I use different accounts for different groups of employees.
6. Enter the account and make sure to use the same name and number you created in QuickBooks Desktop.
7. Click OK. 

Additionally, I've added an article that'll help you learn how to use your data to create budgets and forecasts. This helps you review the details after saving it: Use your Data to Create Budgets and Forecasts.

We're always here to share our ideas with you if you have other questions or concerns. I encourage clicking the Reply button to share the details.

I do not use Intuit online payroll.  I do my payroll with the payroll function within Quickbooks desktop.  Sorry for the misunderstanding.  I need to find out how to link the two within Quickbooks since both are done in Quickbooks.

Welcome to the Community, @Pam Austin.

 I'm here to share some information with you on how does the budget feature works.

Income and expense accounts are the only accounts available when creating a Budget. Liability accounts are not included and for payroll, only Gross Wages and Employer tax expenses, which offset the liability, are included in the budgeting feature.

To know more about creating budgets in QBDT, you can check this article: Create a budget or forecast in QuickBooks Desktop.

Keep me posted if you have any other questions about budgets, I'll be right here to help you. Have a good one!

So how do I get my payroll liabilities to link with my budget expenses?  I need to be able to show salaries paid within my budget.  I do my payroll within quickbooks and my budget is in quickbooks.  Is there any solution or will i have to start using intuit payroll online?

Hello, Pam Austin.

There's no need to use the Intuit Payroll Online platform. I'll clarify the details about the budget feature and ensure you're able to create a sheet for your payroll liabilities.

You'll want to select the Balance Sheet option instead of the Profit and Loss report when creating a budget. Basically, this will show the assets, liabilities and equity accounts. The sheet options are always separate, so we're unable to link or combine them directly in QuickBooks. Though, you might be able to consolidate the expenses by running a separate sheet (which I'll explain below). 

To create a budget for your payroll liabilities: 

1. Click the Company menu, then hover on Planning & Budgeting.
2. Choose Set Up Budgets.
3. On the Create New Budget screen, set a year then choose Balance Sheet (reflects ending balance). If it directs you to an existing budget sheet, click the Create New Budget button instead.
4. Fill up the budget data. 
5. Once done, click OK. 

Note: Payroll items that are linked to expense accounts will show up in the Profit and Loss option. You'll want to create a separate budget if you want to include them. 

You can run the Budget Vs Actuals report to show a comparison between your actual data and the budgeted amounts. Here's how:

1. Go to the Reports menu, then hover on Budgets & Forecasts.
2. Choose Budget vs Actual.
3. Select the budget you've created, then Next.
4. Click Finish on the confirmation window.

To export the report to Excel, click the Excel button then select Create New Worksheet. Set the radio button to Create new worksheet, then hit Export. Do this again with the separate Profit and Loss budget sheet. 

After exporting, manually consolidate the expense data with the liabilities in Excel. 

You can read this article again in case you need help creating a budget in the Desktop platform: Create a budget or forecast in QuickBooks Desktop.

Ready to process payroll for your employees? This article can guide you through the steps (expand the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll section): How do I create a paycheck for an employee?.

I'm down to answer any other questions you might have for QuickBooks Desktop. Provide the details on your reply and I'll swing into action. 

I am going to work on this tomorrow.  Will let you know if I have any problems!  Thanks!

Ok, I set this up, but this part is where I am stuck, you put this in:

Note: Payroll items that are linked to expense accounts will show up in the Profit and Loss option. You'll want to create a separate budget if you want to include them.

This has been my question all along, how do I link them?  I am confused.  I have the liability budget, but how how I get it to talk to my expense budget?  Or did I miss something in the directions?

Not sure if this is pertinent, but this is a church and we have a pretty simple budget, we do not account for assets and liabilities in our budget.

Hello @Pam Austin

The solution that @jamespaul gave will be the best option for what you are looking for.

You can run the Budget vs Actuals report to show the comparison between your actual data and the budgeted amounts. Here is how:

• Go to the Reports menu, then hover on the Budgets & Forecasts
• Choose Budget vs Actual
• Select the budget you've created, then Next
• Click Finish

To export the report to Excel, click the Excel button then select Create New Worksheet.

Set the radio button to Create New Worksheet, then hit Export.

Do this again with the separate Profit and Loss budget sheet.

After exporting, manually consolidate the expense data with the liabilities in Excel.

Can the core payroll in QB online be used with a budget?  If so how do you link the budget items to the payroll?

I have some information to point out about budgeting, Garner.

You'll have to use QuickBooks Online (QBO) subscription so you can use the budget feature for your business which includes creating profit and loss or balance sheet budgets that you need for your company and use the feature for your business.

For now, the ability to link budget items to payroll is unavailable. To create a new budget in QBO, you’ll need to sign in as an admin or as a user with the correct permission to access budgets. 

1. Go to Settings ⚙ and select Account and settings.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. In the Accounting section, review the First month of the fiscal year field. If it's incorrect, select Edit ✎.
4. Select the required month from the dropdown and select Save.

To give more information about how budgeting works in QuickBooks, consider reading this article for reference: Create Budget In QuickBooks Online.

In the meantime, learn some of the financial reports that are available for your QBO subscription. I've got this article for more details: Reports Included In Your QuickBooks Online Subscription.

Post your comment if there's anything else that you'd like us to assist with your budget. As always, we're here to make sure everything is taken care of. Have a nice day!