Getting the Most from QuickBooks Payroll 2008

Using the Pay Employees Workflow

We recently redesigned the Pay Employees workflow to make it easier and more efficient for QuickBooks Payroll users to process payroll. This change has simplified payroll processing for our payroll customers who own and manage small businesses, while offering the flexibility to support the payroll needs of more complex businesses—including accountants—and those businesses that have varied payroll requirements.

QuickBooks Payroll 2008 includes:

• A guided, three-step process that streamlines paying employees:
  • Step 1: Enter payroll data on a single data entry screen (no more drilling down into each individual paycheck stack if not needed), or drill down into a paycheck if required.
  • Step 2: Review a summary of payroll transactions (or drill down into individual paychecks to adjust/preview) and create paychecks.
  • Step 3: Print and distribute paychecks and/or pay stubs to employees.
• Optional payroll schedules that allow you to organize your employees into groups for easy batch payroll processing. This means:
  • You do not need to keep track of who to pay and when to pay them. The Payroll Center will notify you when to process payroll for each group of employees.
  • The Pay Employees workflow will automatically display only those employees in the group, eliminating the need for you to manually select the employees you wish to pay.
  • If you use Direct Deposit or Assisted Payroll, the Payroll Center will keep track of when to send your payroll to Intuit for processing and will notify you of the 48-hour processing time. Additionally, the dates will be adjusted for bank holidays, making it even easier for you to stay on top of this important payroll task.

Remember, you can:

• Pay employees using the payroll schedules, pay your employees without establishing schedules, or process your regular payroll using scheduled payroll and create paychecks off-cycle as needed.
• Enter data directly into the paycheck as you have with QuickBooks Payroll versions before QuickBooks Payroll 2007. The newer workflow, however, makes it easier to quickly enter data on a single screen without going through every paycheck.

Read on for more details!

FAQs: Paying Employees

To help you understand how to use the Pay Employees features, we've answered the top questions that customers have about these payroll tasks.

NOTE: Make sure you have the latest updates for your QuickBooks software. Click here to learn more and to get the latest software updates.

Q1: Do I have to set up payroll schedules to begin using QuickBooks Payroll 2008?

A: No. Payroll schedules are optional. You can choose to preview the list of all your employees, select the ones you wish to pay, and then create their paychecks.

Use this step-by-step process for running payroll without creating payroll schedules:

1. From the Employees menu or Payroll Center, click Pay Employees (Figure 1).

   
   Figure 1: Pay Employees without Creating Schedules

2. Clicking Pay Employees will open up the Enter Payroll Information screen, which displays all of your employees and enables you to enter payroll data per employee on this screen (Figure 2). Alternatively, you can enter data directly into the paycheck detail screen as you did with versions of QuickBooks Payroll before 2007.

   The Enter Payroll Information screen is primarily used to view the list of employees you're paying, select the employees to pay from that list (if you're not using payroll schedules), quickly review their hours worked, and make changes in the screen itself, if necessary, without opening individual paychecks. You can also group your list of employees by selecting different sort criteria.

   
   Figure 2: Enter Payroll Information Screen

3. Set the Pay Period End date and the Check Date to the correct dates—they will default to today's date.
4. Select the employees you wish to pay by putting a check mark next to their name(s)./li>
5. If your company uses timesheets, the timesheet data that you previously entered will be displayed in the relevant columns on this screen.

6. To enter payroll data directly on the Enter Payroll Information screen, tab into the active cell(s) next to the employee's name and enter the data associated with that payroll item. Remember, the name of the payroll item in the column is the same name that your business used to set up the payroll item. For example, if you have labeled an hourly payroll item "hourly wage1," this item will be displayed on the Enter Payroll Information screen as "hourly wage1." To enter time data for your employees who use this payroll item, tab into the active cell under this column heading and input the hours worked.

   If you need to enter other payroll compensation information, such as bonus amounts or tips, and these payroll items are displayed in the columns, enter the compensation amount directly into the cells. If these columns are not displayed, it means that the payroll items are not saved in the employee record. You can still enter payroll information for these items by clicking on the employee's name to open the Review and Change Paycheck screen.

7. To view or make changes directly to the employee's paycheck, click the employee's name, or you can click the Open Paycheck Detail button. The first selected employee's paycheck appears when you click the button.

   1. Click the Save & Previous and Save & Next buttons to go through the paycheck stack.
   2. When you are finished with the last paycheck, click OK.
   3. You will come back to the Enter Payroll Information screen, and any time data you entered at the paycheck level will be updated on this screen.

8. Click Continue. This will open the Review and Create Paychecks screen (Figure 3). You will see a summary of the gross to net for each employee, as well as totals for the entire payroll run.

   A key benefit is that the paychecks have not yet been posted to your general ledger. You can make any adjustments or changes by going back to the Enter Payroll Information screen or by drilling down into the paycheck stack to view the details. Once you are satisfied, click Create Paychecks.

   
   Figure 3: Review and Create Paychecks Screen

9. The confirmation screen will appear (Figure 4). This screen shows information about the number of paychecks you have created and how many were direct deposit checks. The screen will also allow you to print paychecks and pay stubs.

   
   Figure 4: Confirmation and Next Steps Screen

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Q2: Why aren't all of my payroll items displayed in the columns on the Enter Payroll Information screen?

A: The columns that appear on the Enter Payroll Information screen represent the payroll items that appear on employees' paychecks or in their employee records. Because of space limitations, only 12 columns (not including the, Employee, and Total Hours columns) are displayed the first time you open the Enter Payroll Information screen, so if the number of payroll items exceeds 12, you won't see all the items the first time you open this screen.

If you have already created the payroll item and it doesn't appear in the Enter Payroll Information screen because the number of payroll items exceeds the number of columns that display, you can choose to show the column that you want to see by using the Show/Hide Columns button.

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Q3: Why can't I add or change information in a gray cell?

A: Gray cells in the Enter Payroll Information screen mean that you can't edit them. You cannot directly type information in these cells.

Gray cells appear because not all payroll items apply to each employee. The payroll item might not exist for one employee, but the column appears because it is used in another employee's paycheck. If a column is for a payroll item that applies to one employee but not another, the cell is gray for the employee that doesn't have that payroll item in his or her employee record.

Gray cells that have a blue number represent a sum total of the same payroll item, used multiple times at different rates (for example, you might pay the same employee an hourly rate of $10 for one job and an hourly rate of $25 for another job). To change the blue number in a gray cell, make changes in the Preview Paycheck screen by either clicking the employee's name and opening that employee's paycheck or clicking the Open Paycheck Detail button and then navigating through the stack of paychecks of the employees selected for this payroll run by clicking Save & Next.

NOTE: The Total Hours column cannot be updated manually from the Enter Payroll Information screen. The column updates automatically when the hours worked are changed on this screen or directly on the paycheck.

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Q4: Can I choose what columns appear in the Enter Payroll Information screen?

A: Yes, you can choose to show or hide the payroll items that are displayed in the columns on the Enter Payroll Information screen. To do so, select Show/Hide Columns (Figure 5). The available columns will appear, and you can add or remove columns as necessary (Figure 6).

Figures 5 and 6: Show/Hide Columns Screen

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Q5: I would like to sort my employee list in the Enter Payroll Information screen. Can I do this?

A: Yes. The sorting feature provides a way for you to view the list of your employees in the Enter Payroll Information screen according to your chosen criteria. The default view shows the employee list in alphabetical order by employee name (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Employee List in the Enter Payroll Information Screen

To sort the list of employees, click the Sort By drop-down arrow and choose how you want to sort the list. You can sort by the following criteria:

• Employee name (default)
• Class
• Employee number
• Last check date
• Last pay period end date
• Pay frequency

When you choose a criteria, it becomes a column on the grid. For example, if you selected to sort your employees by class, a new column with the employee classes will appear on the screen (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Sort the Employee List by Class

Each time you select a new field to sort by, that column will appear on the Enter Payroll Information screen.

Note that the columns for the sort criteria are gray. That means you cannot add or change the information that appears in these columns.

To remove a sort column from the Enter Payroll Information screen, click the Show/Hide Columns button and select the column(s) you wish to hide from the available list.

NOTE: Removing a sort column using the Show/Hide Columns button simply hides the column in the Enter Payroll Information screen. To display the column again, use the Show/Hide Columns feature to add it back to the display.

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Q6: How can I use both the Sort By and Show/Hide Columns features to customize the Enter Payroll Information screen?

A: Depending upon your preferred method of data entry, you can customize the Enter Payroll Information screen to best suit how you work. If you always need to view or edit the paycheck detail for each payroll run, you might want to customize the Enter Payroll Information screen to be a display screen only and hide the editable columns. Or, you might want to use the Enter Payroll Information screen for your data entry but display certain columns (such as class, last paycheck date, etc.) to help you organize your employees for more efficient payroll processing.

To use the Enter Payroll Information screen as a display screen only, click the Show/Hide Columns button, and then hide the columns you do not want displayed and select the columns you wish to display. Figure 9 illustrates how the Enter Payroll Information screen can be customized to display non-editable columns.

Figure 9: Customizing the Enter Payroll Information Screen

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Q7: Why should I use payroll schedules? I never forget when to pay my employees.

A: Not only do payroll schedules remind you when to pay, but they also enable you to organize your employees who are paid on a common schedule into groups for efficient batch payroll processing. Payroll schedules are beneficial for businesses that pay employees by:

• Class
• Department
• Location
• Hourly vs. salary
• Direct Deposit vs. paper check
• Different schedules, e.g., some weekly, some monthly, etc.
• Other business-specified grouping

For example, if you normally sort your employees by class or location to determine which employees to pay, you might consider grouping your employees by class into their own unique payroll schedule (e.g., Administration Weekly, Hourly Weekly).

Establishing payroll schedules can help you in the following ways:

• Only those employees in the payroll schedule group are presented for payment when you select that group to be paid. No more sorting, checking, and selecting.
• Due dates for payroll processing are displayed in the Payroll Center. This is a key advantage if you use Direct Deposit or QuickBooks Assisted Payroll.

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Q8: What if I have only a few employees and I pay them on the same schedule? Should I use payroll schedules? Isn't this unnecessary?

A: Payroll schedules can help you remember when your payroll is due, but schedules are optional. You can continue to pay your employees without payroll schedules.

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Q9: I have established payroll schedules for my business, but I still need to occasionally create paychecks outside of my scheduled payroll run. How can I do that?

A: You can create "off-cycle" paychecks for your employees for any reason, including bonus checks, termination checks, or advances. When you choose Unscheduled Payroll, your employee list will be displayed, and you simply choose the employee or employees you wish to pay (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Unscheduled Payroll Access Points

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Q10: What if I want to create just one paycheck? Is this easy to do?

A: Yes. You can create one or more paychecks at any time. If you have not set up schedules, select Pay Employees, mark the employee you wish to pay, enter the payroll data, and then review and create.

If you have set up schedules and wish to pay one or more employees outside of your scheduled run, select Unscheduled Payroll, mark the employee you wish to pay, enter the payroll data, and then review and create.

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Q11: Why does a salary column appear on the Enter Payroll Information screen? What data do I enter in this column for my salaried employees?

A: If your local or state jurisdiction requires you to track salary hours for tax reporting purposes, or if your business tracks salaried hours for sick and vacation accrual purposes, you can enter time worked in this column. However, if you do not track time for salaried employees, you can use the Show/Hide feature to prevent this column from displaying.

NOTE: Hours entered in the salary column do not affect the amount of pay. This information is used for tracking and reporting purposes only.

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We'd Like Your Feedback

QuickBooks Payroll 2008 includes a redesigned Pay Employees workflow to make it easier and more efficient for QuickBooks Payroll users to accurately process payroll. We hope you are now more familiar with how to use these features and can take advantage of the benefits.

Did the information in this short lesson help you understand the new workflows? Please let us know.

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