Time Tracking and Job Cost Report

Hi there Jessica.

I appreciate you for reaching out to us here on the Community page. I can share with you some insights about tracking employees' hours in QuickBooks Desktop.

If you only need to create a timesheet, yes, you can enter hours without a payroll subscription. However, it will not mark as cost into the business since timesheet is a non-posting transaction. If you want the activities or hours be transferred into paychecks, you need to have an active payroll service.

For the payroll options for QuickBooks Desktop, I recommend checking out these links:

• QBDT Payroll Plan and Pricing
• Payroll solutions for your small business

If you don't want to purchase a payroll plan, you can record a check or a journal entry for any costs that relate to payroll.

On the other hand, you can open these articles for more tips about the time tracking feature in QuickBooks Desktop:

• Set up time tracking
• Create and print timesheets

If you have any other questions about entering employees' hours, let me know by adding a comment below. I'm always here to help. Have a good one!

Ok, I am new to all of this with Quickbooks so please bear with me.... When I record our ADP transactions into the check register I enter them in a bulk fashion. 

Union Dues and Wages  - $$$$

Officer Wages - $$$$

Office Wages - $$$$

Programers - $$$$$

Payroll Expenses - $$$$

Some of our union guys will work multiple service jobs in a day, some 2 or 3 different jobs in a week. Would I have to record each employee check from ADP separately? If so, how would I record these checks without payrolls subscription correctly to get the time to relate back to the jobs? 

Good morning, @Jessica L. 

Thanks for reaching back out to the Community and adding some clarification about your question. It's my priority that you're able to set this information up in your QuickBooks Desktop account. 

You can do your payroll manually in your account to help with this issue. Don't worry. It only takes a few easy steps. Here' how: 

Note: Ensure that your computer is offline or not connected to the internet. 

1. Go to the Edit menu. 
2. Hit the Preferences option. 
3. Choose the Payroll & Employees tab and then click Company Preferences tab. 
4. Press the Full Payroll and Manual Payroll in the  "QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Features" section. 
5. Tap OK. 

Once you're done, now it's time to create the manual payroll. 

1. Go to the Help menu. 
2. Click QuickBooks Desktop Help. 
3. In the search bar, type Manual payroll and press enter on your keyboard. 
4. Select the topic Calculate payroll manually (without a subscription to QuickBooks payroll). 
5. Tap the manual payroll calculations link under the "Set you company file to use the manual payroll calculations" setting. 
6. Choose the Set my company file to use manual calculations link. 
7. Close and reopen QuickBooks Desktop. 

From here, you can create a payroll item and associate it with the check. 

These steps should do the trick. If you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me. I'm only a comment away if you need me. Have a great day! 

Thank you so much! I have one last question, normally if my computer is not connected to the internet I can not access my QuickBooks desktop. How do I access my company if I am offline or not on the internet?

Hello again, @Jessica L. 

You can access QuickBooks Desktop offline at any time from the computer it is installed on regardless of your internet connection. The exceptions to this will be:

• Download of software if not on disk.
• Activation and registration of your product and license.
• Download of release updates.
• Other than that feel free to go off the grid as long as you have electricity for your computer.

Beyond these, you're free to use QuickBooks Desktop, off the grid! 

Please let me know what other questions you may have on this, or anything else. I'm only a post away. Have a great day. 

Unfortunately, when I try to do this it does not pull up our company file, only the backups that I have saved in a different file location. I am not sure if this is due to it being hosted on our server or not.  

You're right on that, @Jessica L.

Once you're file is hosted on a server, you'll need to have an internet connection to access it. It's a good idea that you back up your file in another location. That way, you can open your file when your offline.

Check out these articles for details:

• Back up your QuickBooks Desktop company file.

• Open a company file located on a remote computer.

• Move your company files to another computer.

I've also added our help link if you need it with other QBDT tasks. Just browse for specific topics and look for responses that fit your concern.

Don't hesitate to let me know if you still have questions or concerns with your company file. I'm here to assist you every step of the way. Stay safe and have a wonderful day ahead.

Your response for using manual payroll in QuickBooks desktop is correct. Do you know if this work around for not using QuickBooks payroll is available in Project Costing in QuickBooks Online?

Hey RB CO,

Thank you for chiming in on the thread! To clarify are you wanting to run/calculate payroll manually without using one of our payroll services for QuickBooks Online? If that is the case, I have an excellent guide that shows you how to go about this step by step. 

• Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online.

Please let me know if you need clarification. I will be here to assist further! Take care for now.

 Having the same issue as OP - running QB Desktop Pro 2019, using ADP for payroll, and want labor costs to show in job P&L reports.  Tried using the suggested manual payroll steps, but when I pull up the help screen, searching  Manual payroll does not pull up the topic Calculate payroll manually (without a subscription to QuickBooks payroll).  Is there another way to get to that option and complete the process of setting the company file to use manual payroll calcs?

Prior to using T-sheets we were entering checks and using 'service' items for each worker.  Hoping to get the checks to self-populate when importing Time.  

Thanks for joining the Community, Liz DD.

You can track payroll in your books, however you'll want to be aware that all calculations and entries for payroll taxes must be done manually. Additionally, you'll have to file all tax forms yourself.

Before you can run payroll, you'll need to enable the appropriate settings.

Here's how to set up manual payroll:

1. Be sure to update your version of QuickBooks so you have our latest fixes and improvements.
2. In the top menu bar, go to Edit, then Preferences.
3. Access Payroll & Employees.
4. Open your Company Preferences tab.
5. Find the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Features section and tick your Full Payroll and Manual Payroll checkboxes.
6. In the Get payday peace of mind window, click Next, then Activate.
7. Select OK to apply your changes.
8. Select OK to exit the Preferences screen.

You're now set up to run your payroll manually.
 

I've also included a detailed resource about working with manual payroll which may come in handy moving forward: Set up manual payroll without a subscription
 

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have an awesome day!