Hi there, wilno1019.
Thank you for visiting the QuickBooks Community. I'll be sharing steps to ensure you can record a check that has already been paid in QuickBooks Online.
Since you've mentioned that the check has already been paid, it seems the paycheck was made outside. With this, I suggest creating a journal entry to record the check. Please know that manually entering payroll paychecks into QBO tracks your payment totals. However, it doesn't create the data you'll need for your employee's W-2s. You'll need to work directly with your payroll service to get your year-end forms.
To start with, you have to create accounts in your Chart of Accounts to track your payroll liabilities and expenses. Then, use the details below.
For expenses, choose Expense as the account type and these detail types:
- Payroll Expenses: Wages
- Payroll Expenses: Taxes
For liability accounts, select Liabilities as the account type. Then, choose the detail type below:
- Payroll Liabilities: Federal Taxes (941/944)
- Payroll Liabilities: Federal Unemployment (940)
- Payroll Liabilities: [State] SUI/ETT
- Payroll Liabilities: [State] PIT/SDI
Once done, here's how to create a journal entry:
- Get your employees' payroll pay stubs or a payroll report from your payroll service.
- Click the + New button.
- Select Journal Entry.
- Under the Journal date, enter the paycheck date.
- If you want to track the paycheck number, enter it in the Journal no. field.
For additional details, you can open this article: Manually enter payroll paychecks in QuickBooks Online.
Lastly, you may refer to this article to see several payroll reports you can use to view helpful info about your business and employees: Run payroll reports.
Don't hesitate to comment below if you have other concerns related to your payroll. I'm always around to help, wilno1019. Have a great day!
