QuickBooks Online Payroll Subscription Setup for Core, Premium, and Elite

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In an article two weeks ago we told you that there were three new QuickBooks Online Payroll Subscriptions which are launching to everyone on November 1, 2020. This article is one in a series intended to guide you through choosing, setting-up, and using these payroll subscriptions, and to provide you with an educational resource which you can use for working with your clients.

If you or your client are still on the prior QuickBooks Online subscription Self-Service or Full-Service, then be prepared for the conversion to take place to one of the new subscriptions on November 1st. Based on the information available to Insightful Accountant, we believe that the vast majority of prior payroll subscriptions will be converted to Core Payroll. In cases where payroll subscribers already had TSheets time tracking they may have been converted to either Premium or will be converted to Elite. 

If you don't remember, and you are not already on one of the new payroll subscriptions, the subscription levels are Core, Premium, and Elite (as shown below with current pricing as of the time this article was published1). You can review the differences in the three subscriptions by looking back at our first article in this series.

If you are setting up a new payroll subscription, you or your client needs to work through the new payroll subscription setup. Most clients will need either Core or Premium payroll.  If your client wants to use TSheets combined with QuickBooks, they will need to choose either Premium or Elite payroll.

The Payroll Overview tab displays the Payroll Wizard to help you set up payroll.

Step-by-Step:

  1. From the Home Screen, click on the Payroll center in the left navigation bar
  2. From the Payroll Overview Dashboard, select the Get started button - Here, you get to choose your payroll option: Core, Premium, or Elite.  Once you have chosen the subscription option, the next step will be to add the business details (as shown above). 
  3. Select Get started to begin the setup process - QuickBooks Online Payroll must know if an employee has been paid in the current year for W-2 purposes and wage limits. - If employees have been paid, details of previous paychecks and tax payments will need to be added. 
  4. If this isn't relevant for your client, select the No button, then Next
  5. Identify the Next Payday
  6. Select Done - enter any missing company details - These details are essential for calculating tax, so you'll need to fill in all relevant fields.
  7. Enter the Business location and select Next
  8. Add the Primary Payroll Contact details
  9. Select Done - Start step 3 to make sure QuickBooks Online Payroll has the essential employee details it needs.

By the way, the Elite Subscription level provides users with 'White Glove Service' to not only help your 'set-up' but also convert to QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Adding Employees 

Now that the basic payroll info is added, you are ready to proceed with adding employees. Use the setup wizard to complete the employee setup details. For each each employee the following information will be needed:

  • W-4 information
  • How often you pay the employee
  • Pay rate or salary

There is a Self-on-boarding option for employees. Click the box under the employee name to email the employee directly from the employee setup window. This sends an email invite to the employee via Workforce, where they can then add their key details and view their payroll information.

Once all employee information is added, you can choose how you want to pay your employees.

Paying employees

There are several payment options for QuickBooks Online Payroll. You can pay by check, direct deposit, and Intuit's Turbo℠ Pay Prepaid Visa® Card. You can even split payment methods. For example, you can add two direct deposit bank accounts for each paycheck.

Automated Taxes and Forms Options  

The New QuickBooks Online Payroll subscriptions Core, Premium, and Elite all come with full-service features, which means QuickBooks Payroll will e-pay and e-file your taxes for you or your client. 

There is a new feature for these subscription levels that allows the to full-service e-pay and e-filing feature to be turned-on or turned-off. To turn-on or turn-off automated taxes, use the Gear Icon to choose Payroll Settings (as shown below). From here determine which option is best for you and/or your client. Some clients need Automated taxes and forms turned-off to have control over when e-payments are made for payroll taxes. If you choose to turn-off automated taxes and forms, you are responsible for e-paying and e-filing taxes of all taxes.

The last two steps to finish during setup are adding a bank account and signing the authorization forms so QuickBooks can pay and file taxes.

Within the next article in this series, we will cover setting-up and using TSheets with QuickBooks Online Premium and Elite Payroll.

1 - pricing shown in the associated graphic was as listed at the time of publication of this article, Insightful Accountant is not responsible for any price changes or modifications subsequent to the actual publication date of this feature.