"Either the Payroll Liabilities account, or its parent account, is an inappropriate account type. Please check the account types in your company's Chart of Accounts."

Hi @erin.miller,

I suggest you check the liability accounts you assigned on your Accounting Preferences page.

To check, follow the steps below:

1. Go to the Gear icon. 
2. Select Payroll settings. 
3. Click the Preferences link on top.
4. Tap the Accounting Preferences link. 
5. Scroll down to the Tax Liability Accounts section.
6. Ensure that the accounts in this section have the correct account type. 

To know the specific account types for the liability accounts you assigned, you can search for them in your Chart of Accounts. 

Here's how:

1. Click the Accounting tab.
2. Use the search box to look for the account in question. 

You can also check out this article if you're still new with QuickBooks Online Payroll: Get started with Payroll. It has links on how you can create paychecks, as well as pay and file federal and state taxes. 

Feel free to tag me in a comment below if you have other questions about accounts assigned in your payroll service. 

Sadly no, all of our settings were correct. They had not been changed in years. After nearly 2 hours on the phone with the Help line, they acknowledged that the problem was on their end. The time and costs incurred having to scramble to get everyone their paychecks was immense and unacceptable - they know they have had this issue for nearly a month. 

Hey there, @erin.miller. 

Thanks for reaching back out to the Community. I appreciate the extra information that you were able to give us. 

I hate to hear that this problem wasn't resolved by changing a simple setting. However, I'm glad that you contacted our Customer Support Team, and they were able to acknowledge the problem. The Community and I are always here to have your back. 

If there's anything else you need help with, don't hesitate to ask. I'm only a comment away if you need me. Wishing you the best going forward! 

I am having problems with this issue and am unable to process payroll, do you have a solution yet?

Hello, Ralph Carney. 

Thank you for bringing this concern into the Community.  I've conduct research and verify with the engineering team, we haven't received any similar issues reported in QuickBooks Online. 

Let's figure out if this is a browser issue. We can try logging in using an incognito window. This way, we'll know if it's your regular browser, which causes this unexpected behavior. 

Follow the shortcut keys, depending on what browser you're using.

• Google Chrome: Ctrl + Shift + N
• Mozilla Firefox: Ctrl + Shift + P
• Safari: Command + Shift + N
• Microsoft Edge: Ctrl + Shift + P

If it works fine, go back to your main browser and clear the cache. It helps to troubleshoot and increases the performance of your browser. Also, they can use other supported browsers to better isolate the possibility of a browser-related issue.    

In case you're still getting a similar result, I'd recommend reaching out to our Customer Support Team. This way, they can check your account and trace where might this issue is coming from. 

In case you'll need further assistance, don't hesitate to get back to this thread. We're always here to help you. Stay safe!

I did all of the suggestions I have read here. And spent over 4 hours on the phone with payroll help. We went through all of the accounts and everything was set up right. Nothing had changed since my last payroll run 2 weeks ago. What we finally did that worked was:

Went to Settings, Payroll Settings, Accounting, Company Contribution Expenses (401K accounts) had to be changed to Expense accounts, not liability accounts or other current liabilites. Then scroll down to the very bottom under "Other Liabilities and Assets" and change the 401K account to the expense account, not liability account. At that point I was able to log out, back in and run payroll. But then they had me go back to that "Other Liabilities and Assets account and change it BACK to a the liability account that it was previously set at. I will be curious to see if this happens the next time I run payroll since I've changed the account back. But at least I know now what to change to get payroll to run. Anyone else hate quickbooks online as much as me????? It is seriously THE. MOST. RIDICULOUS. PROGRAM. EVER!

And now its been another month and the problem still exists! Why can't they figure out what is causing this problem and fix it! I've had to deal with this the last 2 payroll runs! And the biggest problem is no one knows how to fix it! 

We want this fixed as much as you do, Annetteprose17.

You can perform the steps provided by my colleagues to help you resolve your concern.

If it didn't make any difference, I suggest reaching out to our customer care support so an agent can take a better look at it. You can check the article provided by AileneA on how you can get in touch with us. 

Once it's fixed, you can create and submit paychecks without any issues.

You can always visit the Community if you have other payroll concerns. We'll be right here to help you. Take care!