The Intuit Community Blog

Clickable resources to help you through your 2008 payroll forms

Just the task of getting your 940, 941, 1099s and W-2s processed can be daunting. Nothing is worse than starting that process, only to realize that at sometime during the year something went wrong. Knowing where to turn for help can be the biggest challenge. Did you know that every payroll form you need to process has a clickable version at our support site? You can click on any section where you see a discrepancy and find reports to help get to the bottom of the issue.

Box 3 of the 941

For example, if you are looking at box 3 of your 941 and the number doesn't match up the way you expected, just click on that box in the clickable form. Here is the report they suggest you create to find a discrepancy there:

Run a Payroll Summary for the quarter the 941 is reporting. To see just the totals for all employees, change the columns from Employee to Total Only. However, you will need to switch back to Employee if you need to look at a specific employee. The total of the Federal Withholding will be box 3.

If an employee's federal withholding is incorrect, a liability adjustment for that employee will need to be entered. The amount of the adjustment may then need to be collected from or refunded to the employee.

To prevent this from occurring in the future:

1. Go to the Employee Center and click the Employees Tab
2. Double click on the employee's name.
3. Pull the drop down arrow next to Change Tabs to switch from Personal Info to Payroll and Compensation Info.
4. Click the Taxes button.
5. Check to make sure you have the correct filing status and all of the allowances requested.

Find additional reports

Every payroll report has a clickable form. To find other reports, click on Payroll reports.

Welcome new moderators!

I’d like to officially announce and welcome, two new moderators to the QuickBooks Community! Iram (who has been helping us out in our Spanish forum) and Amy (not me, another Amy!) will be joining us to help make the site a better and safer place for everyone. Both Iram and Amy have the passion it takes to moderate, and it shows when talking with them.

Congratulations to both of you and Welcome to the Community!

We are back -- more to come!

Now your small business has grown...what to do about payroll?

One of the biggest decisions you'll have to make as your small business grows is 'What to do about payroll?'  In today's marketplace, there are choices galore ranging from pencil and paper to a fully outsourced solution where the only thing you have to supply are the hours the employees have worked. 

Regardless of whether you choose to purchase a payroll subscription or make your own manual calculations, the most important part of payroll is setup.  Mistakes made when setting up payroll can come back to haunt you and there can be serious legal and financial implications.

In order to assist new payroll customers (as well as the veterans), we have recently launched a Payroll Resource Center in the QuickBooks Community.  There is a section of the page focused on new users and setting up payroll.  There are also links to government sites, tutorials, FAQ's, payroll alerts, and much more.  And, there's more on the way!

Please stop by and have a look around.  If you know of something that you think should be included, feel free to post your comment here.