Entering Year-to-Date Payroll Amounts

If you started using QuickBooks as of a date after the start of the calendar year, you need to enter year-to-date payroll amounts to ensure that your payroll records are complete. No matter what date you set as your start date, your payroll records must include all transactions for the entire calendar year.

If you aren't using one of the QuickBooks payroll services, you can enter your year-to-date information in the form of a journal entry. If you use a QuickBooks payroll service, you will be prompted to enter year-to-date information during the payroll setup.

For each employee, be prepared to enter the following information relating to wages paid since the beginning of the year until the time at which you begin entering actual paychecks in QuickBooks:

• Total wages paid, including salaries, hourly wages, overtime payments, bonuses, and any other earnings from employment.

• All federal taxes paid or withheld, including federal income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare.

• All state and local taxes paid or withheld, including state income tax, local income tax, and any other state and local taxes incumbent upon the employee.

• All other deductions withheld from employees and also those paid for by the employer, including such benefits as health insurance, retirement contributions, and any other benefit payments.

In addition to payments made to employees and deductions and payments made on behalf of employees, you will be prompted to enter payroll tax payments and benefit plan payments that have been paid by the company to date.