QuickBooks 2005: The Missing Manual

Chapter 11.  Payroll

If you decide to outsource the headaches of payroll to a payroll service company—as many businesses do—you can skip this chapter. The only thing you have to do in QuickBooks payroll-wise is add a couple of transactions for each payroll, allocating salaries and wages, payroll taxes, and any other payroll expenses to the accounts in your Chart of Accounts.

But if you want to process payroll within QuickBooks, you must first sign up for one of the payroll services that Intuit offers. To keep expenses low, you can choose a bare bones service that provides only updated tax tables. At the other end of the spectrum, you can opt for the full-service payroll that QuickBooks offers. Or you can compromise somewhere in the middle.

After you choose a level of QuickBooks payroll service, your next task is to set up everything QuickBooks needs to calculate payroll amounts. You can walk through each step on your own or use a wizard within the program. Either way, the Payroll Setup wizard keeps track of what you've done and what you still have to do. This chapter takes you through every payroll step, from the initial setup to running a payroll, printing checks, and remitting payroll taxes and reports to the appropriate government agencies.

Note

Payroll regulations are complex and vary depending on the size of your payroll and the states to which you remit payroll taxes. This chapter focuses on how to process payroll in QuickBooks. For more information on your company's payroll requirements, ...