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QuickBooks Payroll: What You Need to Know

There are many aspects that many business owners are reluctant to change and Payroll is one of them. Payroll is worth evaluating occasionally and there’s no perfect time of the year to do it than now. If you’re considering making the necessary changes and updates, then you should be up and running with your new Payroll system as soon as you can.

The version of your QuickBooks is going to determine what options you should go for within the Intuit line. You should know that there are QuickBooks Payroll products that are only compatible with the PC desktop version of QuickBooks only and those that you can do online, which you can utilize in the online or desktop version of QuickBooks.

Before you can decide, you should know if you want to create the paychecks yourself or report only hours. The following are some of the important factors to consider:

  • How much time will it require?
  • What’s the complexity of your Payroll, for example, wage garnishments, benefits
  • Your level of comfort with Payroll
  • Staff turnover frequency
  • If you choose to create the paychecks, are you planning to deal with tax payments and filings?
  • If you’re considering outsourcing, how convenient will it be to integrate your Payroll data with your QuickBooks, and at what cost?
  • And if you choose to outsource the tax filings, will you outsource to a bookkeeper or accountant or Intuit
  • Your budget is also a factor to consider. However, you must keep in mind that when doing Payroll in-house, you’re paying as well. Additionally, Payroll can be a time-consuming task, particularly if you utilize timesheets and do job costing. You might discover that it’s more cost-effective to outsource at least part of your Payroll.
  • If you require doing job costing, then the Desktop version of QuickBooks Payroll is the most suitable for this. And if you outsource, then you’ll need a work-round for favorable cost numbers.

Getting Started with QuickBooks Payroll

You can run a fairly large business of 20 to 25 employees with ease using the QuickBooks Accounting Pro/Premier versions. Since Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is an integrated modular tool, you can easily create estimates and custom invoices to send to your customers. Additionally, you can conveniently track your payables to get a better understanding of your cash flow. Intuit Payroll has a powerful reporting functionality that is pretty customizable in affordable and popular accounting software. The following are some ideas to help you in getting started:

Enjoy Automated Features 

Perhaps, you spend a lot of hours performing mundane responsibilities like reconciling bank accounts and even still unsure if it’s correct. Fortunately, through the QuickBooks Payroll, you’ll enjoy automated features that will enable even the largest bank accounts to be reconciled within an hour. Moreover, you can reconcile your business credit cards in the same manner. That results in capturing all the results.

Memorized Transaction

You or your staff likely waste a lot of hours performing repetitive tasks. However, you can automate all of these transactions in QB Payroll by installing memorized transactions periodically. For instance, office rent, subscriptions, auto loans, etc. That way, you won’t forget anymore. You can get the software alert many days in advance or automatically create the transaction.

Hidden Calculator 

When you require adding up a list of numbers, QuickBooks Payroll has a hidden calculator. So, click inside any numeric cell like on your check register and add just as you would any other list of numbers.

Running Intuit QuickBooks Payroll can ease this functionality in your company. After the installation of liability payments and employees, what you’ll require doing each pay period is simply entering hours. Also, you can install user accounts for your staff to enter their own time in a timesheet. Alternatively, you can conveniently enter the data yourself. You can assign staff time to customers so that they allocate the labor expense to a specific customer.

Standard Reports by Category

Are you trying to find a loan or want to sell your company? Do you need a loss or profit statement? Well, with some simple clicks of a button, the history of your business is at your fingertips. QB accounting payroll offers a powerful offering of standard reports by category and is all customizable.

Some of these categories include Customers and Receivables, Company and Financial, Sales, Payable and Vendors, Employees and so much more. What’s more, you can run reports by year, quarter, month, and compare them to the previous year. That way, you’ll get invaluable information regarding your business.   

Outsourcing Accounting Services to Professionals

As we know it by now, Intuit’s QuickBooks offers small to medium-sized business owners the capacity to manage important accounting functions. With QuickBooks software, business owners can monitor their business’s financial health. Some of the package options or Payroll services as explained below let customers process payroll and credit card payments.

A lot of QuickBooks users don’t have a formal accounting background. That means that it isn’t unusual for a business to have one or more of these common mistakes impacting the bottom line. The following information will help you to diagnose if your business or company requires addressing these fundamental errors:

Simply your Chart of Accounts

Try to keep your Chart of Accounts as simple as possible – Is your Chart of Accounts lengthy? Well, take a closer look at it. Find out if you have created entries in your QB Payroll and if there’s a chance that you have installed the same account more than one time. Print out a Chart of Account and ensure it’s a clear list of what you do to generate revenue and what you spend money on.

Pay your bills correctly

Check you’re A/P Aging Summary Statement. The report shows you an easy point-in-time snapshot of bills that you need to pay at a particular time. If you see bills that are very old or that that you’re certain you’ve paid, it’s probably time to review your Accounts Payable process. When you pay bills, don’t enter them in the QuickBooks Payroll system and then proceed to the Write Checks function. By so doing, your bills will open in QuickBooks. Instead, utilize the Pay Bills window and type in the right checking or credit card information from there.

Leave no money in the Undeposited Funds Account 

Ensure you don’t leave money in the Undeposited Funds Account – This account is where the money is posted after the system credits your Accounts Receivables for a payment. A lot of QuickBooks users don’t understand that the account is a holding area, nearly like a bank bag where funds will sit until one completes a deposit to a particular bank account. So, if you leave money in a bank bag, then it doesn’t deposit to your business account. And if you leave funds in the Undeposited Funds account you won’t be in a position to use QuickBooks in reconciling your bank accounts.

Check Reports

A lot of simple mistakes can be identified by running the basic reports in QuickBooks. That’s particularly useful when you’re a new user. What you need to do is to enter data and then run important reports such as the Chart of Accounts, A/R, and A/P reports, etc. If you find that the numbers don’t look right, you’ll know that something may be wrong and it’s better to get assistance early that allowing the problem to continue.

Update Important Information

Updating key information is particularly helpful when working with the functions of QuickBooks Payroll. State and federal table tables change every year. You shouldn’t try to process taxes using information from the previous year. Your software ought to remind you to download the latest updates. Another way of identifying an issue is if the year at the top of tax forms is wrong. Annual forms ought to reflect the payroll update you have on your system. That means an old form is going to show it’s time to perform an Intuit Payroll update.

Back-Up QuickBooks Data

Unfortunately, QuickBooks may not have an undo feature. The changes you make are permanent. Therefore, before you make a significant change in your accounts or correct a problem, back up your data. That way, any unintended consequences can easily be undone by retrieving the backup. Also, QB Company Files stored on a computer’s hard drive can become damaged due to viruses, hardware issues, etc. Set up a process to back up your data in QuickBooks regularly and keep the back up somewhere safe.  

Speak to an Expert

Intuit QuickBooks Payroll is a robust tool but you can easily make simple errors that have significant consequences on your business’s books. Many companies provide daily bookkeeping services with QuickBooks, Payroll Services, and Payroll support as well as training on any of Intuit’s QB products. For this reason, if you’re having any questions or concerns, speak to a professional who understands both accounting and how to get the most from your QB software. The following is a rundown of Intuit’s QuickBooks Payroll products to choose from.

Intuit Payroll Products

Intuit’s Payroll services are offered in three plans that you can choose from depending on your business needs and budget. These plans include Core, Premium, and Elite. All three come with up to 50% off and 30 days of a free trial.

Core

This is the basic payroll plan within Intuit’s QuickBooks Payroll. However, it has everything you need to pay your team with ease and have your payroll taxes completed for you. You’ll be paying $45 per month for this plan but you can pay $22.5 per month for the first three months thanks to the 50% discount. In addition to the monthly fee, you’ll also pay $4 per employee per month. 

Core Payroll Plan Features

  • Full-service payroll, including automated forms and taxes
  • Auto Payroll
  • 1099 E-File & Pay
  • Health benefits for your employee
  • 401 (k) plans
  • Next-day direct deposit
  • Professional product support

Premium

This Intuit QuickBooks Payroll option is offered for those who are looking for additional features but still on a budget. The payroll plan helps you in managing your team and allows you to enjoy a seamless payday with robust Payroll services and tools.

The plan costs $75 but if you have to get the 50% discount, then you’ll be paying $32.5 per month for the first 3 months. Additionally, you’ll require paying $8 on top of that per employee per month.

Intuit’s Premium Payroll plan is also rich with features and extra ones that aren’t available on the Core plan. These features include the following:

Full-service payroll, including auto forms and taxes

  • Auto Payroll
  • Health benefits for your employees
  • 1099 E-File & Pay
  • 401 9k) plans
  • Same-day direct deposit
  • Professional product support
  • Workers’ comp admin
  • Professional setup review
  • HR support center
  • Time tracking on the go

Elite

With this QuickBooks Payroll option, you will be able to access on-demand professionals to help you to make payday simple and protect your most important interests. The plan costs $125 per month but with the 50% discount for the first 3 months, you’ll be paying $62.50 per month. Also, this plan will need you to $10 per employee per month.

The plan is the best of all three and comes with plenty of features. These features are highlighted below:

QuickBooks Payroll Features

  • Full-service payroll, including automated forms and taxes
  • Health benefits for your employees
  • Auto Payroll
  • 401 (k) plans
  • Professional product deposit
  • 1099 E-File & Pay
  • Workers’ comp admin
  • HR support center
  • Same-day direct deposit
  • White glove customized setup
  • 24/7 professional product support
  • Tax penalty protection
  • Time and project tracking on the go
  • Personal HR advisor

Conclusion

Intuit QuickBooks Payroll offers small business owners lots of conveniences. If you’re considering outsourcing payroll services then do it to Intuit QuickBooks. Hopefully, the article has given you sufficient insight into QuickBooks Payroll. As mentioned, QuickBooks provides robust Payroll support to help you with every problem you may be facing. If you have further questions, please contact the support through the QuickBooks Help Desk.