Advice needed: QBO Advanced and QuickBooks Payroll…how to integrate time/expense tracking  Databases and Software quickbooks

Thank you for the details, slbradio.

I'm here to assist you in understanding how to incorporate expenses and timesheets into a project so you can run a report with all the projects used.

With QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced, we have the option to add existing timesheets and expenses to a project. I'll guide you through the steps.

Here's how to add expenses to a project:

1. From the Transactions tab, select Bank transactions.
2. Find and select the transaction you want to add to your project.
3. In the Customer drop-down, select the designated project.
4. Click Add.

Then, to add existing timesheets to a project, you can follow the steps below.

If you have the Time menu:

1. Go to Get paid & pay, select Time (Take me there), then select Time entries.
2. Select the employee that has timesheets you want to add to the project.
3. Find the timesheet you want to add, then select Edit.
4. On the Customer/Project drop-down, select the project.
5. Click Save.

If the Time tab isn't available on your end, you can follow these steps instead:

1. From the + New tab, select Weekly Timesheet.
2. Select the employee whose timesheets you want to add to the project.
3. Select the date range and choose the correct week for the timesheets you want to add to the project.
4. Locate the timesheets.
5. Select the Customer or Project, and select the project.
6. Click Save.

Once done, you can run the Project Profitability Summary report to show the profit of each project. Here's how:

1. From the Reports tab, select Report.
2. Enter and select Project Profitability Summary.
3. Click the Customize button to personalize the report.

Moreover, I've added this article as your guide in personalizing the said report: Customize reports in QuickBooks Online.

Keep me posted whenever you have concerns about overseeing your employee's time and project.

Thanks for your reply. We do have  QuickBooks Advanced and it's built in QuickBooks Time feature. A few questions:

1. Am I correct in assuming that I can allow employees to enter time directly through this system while not giving them access to other parts of QuickBooks?

2. If they begin to enter their time this way, I'd like this time to be able to inform their paychecks. As noted in my post these paychecks are created using a standalone version of QuickBooks Online Payroll. (The two products are not integrated because our payroll previously was Intuit Online Payroll and I was told full integration was not possible). Do I have to export the timesheet hours into QuickBooks Online Payroll or would this be a manual transfer for these paychecks? I'd like to consolidate this data as simply as possible and, well it seems it must be possible, it's unclear how to do so.

Thx 

I'm here to clear out some of your confusion, slbradio.

For your first question, yes. You can invite your employees to allow them to track their working hours in QuickBooks Time without giving them access to the other part of the program. 

Here's how to invite them:

1. Go to Payroll, then Employees.
   • For a new employee, select Add an employee.
   • For an existing employee, select your employee.
2. From Personal Info, select Edit. Add your employee’s email address, then select the Invite this employee to track and record their hours with QuickBooks Time by QuickBooks checkbox.
3. Select Done to email the invite.

After that, I've listed the things that your employees need to do to track their time: 

• Be on the lookout for a text message with the invite.
• Accept the invite.
• Create a user ID and password (if they haven’t already).
• Download QuickBooks Workforce (formerly QuickBooks Time mobile app).

Once done, they can start tracking and submitting their time entries for themselves.

Meanwhile, to ensure that your QuickBooks Time data can be automatically synced to your payroll account, I suggest reaching out to our Payroll Support Team. They will be able to assist you in determining if this feature is available for your specific payroll subscription.

In addition, I've added an article that'll help you to get started, customize your settings, and onboard your team: Set up and Customize QuickBooks Time.

Please keep us posted if you have additional questions about managing your employees and your payroll data. We're always here to help you out.

Unfortunately this still is not working the way it should be. I had another idea today I wanted to share with you to see if it may be causing the problem.

The goal is this: Once I have Projects set up in QBO and employees enter their time in QBO, I want QBO to calculate job costs. However, QBO itself does not even recognize my employees by name (let alone hourly rate) even though they are being paid through QuickBooks Online Payroll with data exported. 

Idea: I looked at my payroll export settings and chart of accounts and noticed that, although our account numbers are consistent and accurate for all components of burdened labor expenses, we have used an "expense type" of other "other expenses" rather than "payroll expenses" when setting up these accounts. If we were to change these types to "payroll expenses" , would we find that the information would export more comprehensively from QuickBooks Online Payroll, i.e. would we see names and individual burdened rates?

I also wonder if this problem would go away if I were able to migrate our standalone QuickBooks Online payroll account into QuickBooks Online. Because of the length of time we've been with QuickBooks, or accounting software and payroll software are still treated as if they are separate services. Several support staff have told me it is impossible to do this migration which is disappointing. 

This 

I appreciate you for sharing ideas and always giving us detailed statements, @slbradio.

In order for QuickBooks Online (QBO) to recognize your employees’ names and rates, make sure QuickBooks Online Payroll (QBOP) data types, especially accounts, are matched and aligned when mapping. This will allow you to generate precise and comprehensive data. Please know that the system's functionality is based solely on your configuration.

Moreover, there are modes that the program offers to track job costs accurately and effectively.

• First Mode: When QuickBooks Payroll is enabled, both wages and employer taxes will be allocated to the projects that were used in the timesheets.
• Second Mode: If QuickBooks Payroll isn't enabled, QuickBooks can estimate labor costs based on the time entered on the timesheets multiplied by a manually calculated burdened rate. In the Projects tab, you will see a new button that says “Hourly Cost Rate.”

You can read these guides to learn more about them, how the burdened rate is calculated after entering the gross wages and additional items, and get insights into your project performance:

• Create and handle projects 
• Costing for Projects

You can cancel your QBOP and avail of a new one within your QBO account to track project costs and profits in one place. Then, you can enter the prior payroll to get everything intact.

Keep us posted if you have other concerns or questions about managing your account and files. I want to ensure all are covered.

"In order for QuickBooks Online (QBO) to recognize your employees’ names and rates, make sure all accounts match with your QuickBooks Online Payroll (QBOP). This way, you can generate comprehensive data. Please know that the system only depends on your setup."

I have checked this carefully and QBO does not recognize employees or costs despite the day coming over properly when exported :(.

"You can cancel your QBOP and avail of a new one within your QBO account to track project costs and profits in one place. Then, you can enter the prior payroll to get everything intact."

If I do this what happens to my years and years of data with the "cancelled" servucd? 

Ty. 

Let me clear things up about how QuickBooks handles your data, @slbradio.

Since we don’t have control of the data such as tracking time against grants or the timesheet system from your other application, you may need to consult your provider on how they work with QuickBooks or how they send their data to the application.

Concerning the payroll data you have for years, my colleague, MadelynC is correct about about exporting the data you have from your previous subscription and entering them into the new one. To start, make sure to have the data on hand and begin setting it up by following the steps below:

1. Log in to QuickBooks Online as the primary admin. 
2. Go to Payroll, and then select Overview.
3. If you haven’t already, add all of your employees paid this year in the Tell us about your team task. 
4. Please, include all employees that no longer work for you. Then, ensure to set up each pay item, deduction, contribution, and tax showing on their pay stubs or reports.
5. Next, to Add your payroll history, select Start.

Continue the process by referring to Step 3: Enter how much you paid your employees this year to Step 4: Enter your company totals for each payday in this article: Add pay history to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Moreover, learn the feature that allows employers to pay their employees with direct deposit. This option paves the way for paying them into their checking, savings, or money market accounts. Here’s an article for your guidelines: Set up direct deposit for employees.

Keep me posted if you have more concerns about managing QuickBooks data. I’m always here to help.