P&L Reports show payroll expenses and salaries

Hello there, jrbarnes.

I can help provide clarifications about the data shown in your Profit and Loss Report.

The information that will show on your payroll expenses are the gross pay and cost of all related payroll taxes (company paid). If the amount doesn’t show correctly, review the posting account used for the payroll items. This will affect how the data is shown on the financial report.

Let’s run the Payroll Item Listing statement to check the account associated with each pay type. I’m here to make sure the process is a breeze for you.

Here’s how:

1. In your company file, tap the Reports menu to select Employees & Payroll and Payroll Item Listing.
2. If you wish to add more details to the statement, click the Customize Report button.
3. Press the Refresh button to reflect the changes.

If the payroll item is linked to the wrong category, I suggest changing it to the correct one. You may want to check your accountant first for further assistance. They can provide detailed information for the specific account to use. 

Check this article for additional reference: Customize payroll and employee reports. It outlines the complete steps on how to build the report via payroll item, rate, total paid, and the sum of all expenses by employee broken down by month.

Also, this link contains resources that will guide you on how to open financial statements in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT): Self-help articles. Includes videos for visual reference.

Feel free to reach us again if you need help with running financial reports or other QuickBooks concerns.  I’m always ready to assist further. Have a great rest of your day.

@jrbarnes 

From your description, it's not clear what's wrong.

Your payroll expenses are the sum of salaries paid plus company paid taxes, plus any other benefits the company pays for.

You should be able to confirm this by double-clicking the number on the P&L and seeing what's behind it. The resulting detail report should show line items for the things mentioned above.