A reader writes in to ask, "What if one or more of my scheduled payroll liabilities show as overdue, or appear with a red warning flag, in the QuickBooks Payroll Center even though I already paid them?"
There are at least six (6) potential causes resulting in your QuickBooks scheduled payroll liabilities showing as overdue, or appearing with a red warning ‘past due’ flag (or in red in older versions of QuickBooks). While this article makes the assumption that you have already paid your liabilities we will still discuss the various potential causes (including non-payment) and the troubleshooting steps for each potential cause.
Potential Cause # 1 – Your payroll liabilities actually have not been paid. Troubleshooting:
- Create a Payroll Liability Balance Report to view any unpaid liabilities.
- If you have unpaid liabilities, create a liability payment in QuickBooks.
Potential Cause # 2 – Your payroll liabilities were paid but never entered into QuickBooks. Troubleshooting:
- Enter the payment you made in Pay Scheduled Liabilities OR
- Enter the payment using the Enter Prior Payments option in the YTD Adjustment window:
- Click the Help menu.
- Select About QuickBooks.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + Y.
- Select the date range.
- Click Next until you see the Create Payments button.
- Click the dropdown arrow for Item Name.
- Select the Item for which you need to create the prior payment.
- Verify the dates and update as necessary.
- Click Next Payment to enter another prior payment.
- Click Done.
Potential Cause # 3 – Your payroll liabilities were paid, but you used either the Write Checks or Bill Payment feature, not the Pay Payroll Liabilities feature.
(Despite the warning message, sometimes users still pay payroll liabilities using the wrong payment method.)
Troubleshooting:
- Determine whether a liability was paid with Write Checks:
- Choose Vendors > Vendor Center.
- Click the vendor's name.
- In the Type column, ensure all are listed as Liability Check.
- If there is a Check, double-click to view the transaction.
- Verify that this transaction was created to pay payroll liabilities.
- If your payroll liability was paid using either the Write Checks or Bill Payments feature:
- Back up your QuickBooks Company file.
- Go to Write Checks or Bill Payment and use the Previous and Next keys to locate the payment. Make a notation of the amount paid and the expense account used.
- In the Payroll Center, go to the Pay Liabilities tab and
- Select the overdue liability (liabilities) that got paid via the wrong method.
- Click the View/Pay button, QuickBooks will display a payroll liability check.
- Click the Expense tab.
- In the Account column, click the drop-down arrow and select the account(s) that were used on the erroneously issued check(s).
- In the Amount field, enter a negative amount equal to the amount of the erroneously issued check(s). This amount should also equal the amount of the Payroll liability check created in step 5 above.
- Click the Recalculate button to zero the check amount.
- Select Print Later at the top, next to Print icon.
- Remove any check number that may prepopulate.
- Date the transaction to be the same date as the payment that was already entered.
- Click Save
- Click Close.
Potential Cause # 4 - The liabilities were overpaid in one period and underpaid in a previous period. Troubleshooting:
- Choose Employees on the top menu bar.
- Select the Payroll Center.
- Click the Transactions tab.
- Click Liability Checks in the left pane.
- Double-click on the liability check that was underpaid to compensate for the overpayment in the prior period.
- Edit the date range of the Liability Period on the check to cover both payroll reporting periods (the period that the item was overpaid and the period it was underpaid).
- Click Save & Close.
- Double-click on the liability check that had the overpayment.
- Edit the date range of the Liability Period on the check to cover both payroll reporting periods (the period that the item was overpaid and the period it was underpaid).
- Click Save & Close.
Potential Cause # 5 - The paid through date on the liability check is after the check date. Troubleshooting:
- Choose Employees on the top menu bar.
- Select the Payroll Center.
- Click the Transactions tab.
- Click Liability Checks in the left pane.
- Double-click on the liability check for the period that is appearing in the Scheduled Liabilities window.
- Edit the check date so it is on or after the paid through date
Potential Cause # 6 - The liability being paid has a paid through date that crosses from one year to the next. Troubleshooting:
More than likely if the Period dates cross from one year to the next, you will most likely need to edit the paid through dates to be within the year the paychecks are dated.
- If there are paychecks dated in only the previous year, change the paid through date to reflect the previous year.
- If there are paychecks dated in the next year, change the paid through date to reflect the next year.
- If there are paychecks dated in each year, change the paid through date to reflect the next year