How to Get Start with QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced?

Published by admin on Last Updated On :Aug 17, 2023

Want to know how to simplify your business finances and employee payroll in QuickBooks? Then, you’re not alone. For this, setting up QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced helps you complete payroll and accounting needs. This blog will provide you with the steps to set up and use this powerful tool easily.

Whether you’re a beginner business owner or a seasoned accountant, this blog will provide clear, concise instructions to make your payroll management tasks easy. 

Benefits of QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced

The QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced has many benefits that help you pay easily. These are: 

• Automatically calculates earnings, payroll taxes, and deductions, reducing human error and saving time.
• Prepares and e-files federal and state tax forms, significantly easing tax filing.
• Offers direct deposit functionality, simplifying the paycheck process and making payments quicker and more convenient for employees.
• Employees can access their pay stubs and year-end tax forms online, decreasing administrative tasks.
• Seamless integration with QuickBooks makes it easy to sync your payroll data with your accounting system.
• Generates detailed payroll reports, providing valuable insights for better decision-making.
• Supports multiple pay rates and schedules, accommodating varied payroll structures within your business.
• Calculates worker’s compensation based on actual payroll data, avoiding estimates and helping businesses manage their costs more effectively.

After knowing about the benefits, let’s move on to set it up.

Setup QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced

Ensure your team receives their earnings promptly, correctly, and in sync with the payment schedule using QuickBooks Desktop Enhanced Payroll. To get the payrolling, a few preliminary steps need to be accomplished. Following are: 

Step 1: Activate Your QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced Subscription

Once you buy the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced annual subscription, you must proceed to activate it for utilization. The steps for the activation vary, by how you purchased it, Online, via Phone, or at a retail store. Now, follow the given steps.

When Purchase Online or by Phone

When you purchase the QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced online or by phone, then you will get a 16-digit service key on your registered email. You have to enter this key in QuickBooks to utilize the payroll features. 

Somehow, if you didn’t receive your service key, then check your email junk or spam folders. You can also utilize the Automated Service Key Retrieval Tool. Pursue Intuit Account login.

Enter Your Service Key:

1. First, Open your QuickBooks Desktop Company File.
2. Then, choose Employees >> Payroll.
3. Now, choose the Enter Payroll Service Key option (or the Manage Payroll Service Key option if you opt for a different payroll subscription).
4. After that, choose Add option (or Edit, if you see a payroll service already listed, then you have to Remove Payroll Service Key in the QuickBooks Desktop before heading to the next step).
5. Enter your Service Key.
6. Afterward, choose Next and then Finish.
7. When the Payroll Update message appears, you have to click on OK.
8. Finally, confirm your payroll service status is Active, then click OK. 

Activating a Retail Store Purchased Subscription

1. Open the QuickBooks Desktop company file.
2. Go to Employees, choose Payroll, then select Install Payroll from Box.
3. Input the details on the Payroll License and Product Information page. Your license number can be found on the vibrant sticker in the box’s folder. The product number is present in the instructions in the folder. You will receive a 16-digit service key to enter during the fifth step.
4. Click on Continue.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to finish your payroll activation, including keying in your service key.

Step 2: Complete Payroll-Related Tasks

You need to add your employees and set up your state and federal payroll taxes in QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced. Include any taxes and paychecks you have already paid this year.

It takes time to enter the payroll data into QuickBooks. Instead, you will get a design with the payroll improved configuration that enables you to update the information as you see fit and then save it. Let’s include the following details:

Add Employees

The employees add in QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced at this point. Additionally, you can use the free QuickBooks Workspace product to invite your employees and request that they enter their information independently. You must provide the following details for each employee:

• Hire Date
• Birth Date
• Pay Date
• Completed Form W-4.
• Any Paychecks deductions.
• Bank account for direct deposit (if applicable)
• Sick, Balance, Vacation, and PTO accrual rates (if applicable)

Set up company (Deductions, PTO, Pay Items)

You must select from a pre-set list of insurance benefits, pay items, retirement deductions, or configure customer items when using QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced next step. Add them if you paid for their sick days or vacation time and provided the workers.

Use the Assign to Employees option to quickly apply the time off and payroll items to a number of employees after setting them up.

Setup Taxes

Your state and federal payroll tax information must enter here. You can also choose to pay your taxes electronically or online. You will also need the following:

Enter Pay History

You must include both the employee paychecks and any tax payments you made if you paid your employees during the current tax year. At the end of the year, the W-2s for the employees include this information. You do not need to complete this step if you have not yet paid your staff for the current year. Now, you’ll need the following.

• Payroll and pay stub reports for this year were issued to every employee.
• Tax liability records or tax payment receipts.

Review and Approve

If you input pay history in this phase of QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced, you will also need to enter the state and federal tax filing information for the closed quarters. The details of the payment history will be reviewed for mistakes by QuickBooks. Additionally, this will guarantee that the W-2s sent to your employees at the end of the year are valid. You will require the following information:

• For the close quarters, Quarterly State and Federal payroll tax form documents (941, State Unemployment Insurance, etc.)

If you don’t want to add the employees, you can send them an invite to self-add them to the QuickBooks enhanced payroll. 

Read about :-QuickBooks Payroll Issues

Invite Employee for Self-Setup of QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced

Bringing a new team member on board often requires an array of documentation for payroll setup. However, you can streamline this process by allowing employees to input their personal data online. You simply need to enter the employee’s basic details, and they’ll receive an invitation via email to fill in the remaining information.

Note: This feature is exclusively available with QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Enhanced.

The process unfolds in two phases: you initiate an invitation for your employees to complete a self-setup, and then you can review their information. If necessary, you can also send reminders or finalize the setup. This process effectively saves time and ensures accuracy in data collection. Go with the following steps: 

Step 1: Inviting Your Employee

1. Sign in as the Primary Admin into your QuickBooks Desktop file.
2. Go to Employees, then select Payroll Setup.
3. Click on Employees.
4. Choose Invite employee to self-setup. If the option is grayed out, exit Payroll Setup.
5. Navigate to Company, then My Company.
6. Click on Sign in and use your Intuit Account details.
7. Complete all the necessary fields in the Employee details window.
8. Click Next.
9. Input your employee’s pay details, and add any time off, benefits, or deductions if applicable.
10. Review all the data for accuracy and click Done twice.
11. Repeat these steps for each employee you want to invite.

The employees will receive an email invitation to fill in their personal information, including

• Birthdate
•  Home Address
• Phone Number
• Social Security Number
• Tax Withholding Info (W-4)
• Bank Account Info for Direct Deposit

Step 2: Checking Your Employee’s Self-Setup Status

Within the QuickBooks payroll enhanced setup wizard, you can monitor the setup status of your team members. You can easily identify who has completed the process and who might need a gentle reminder and decide on the necessary actions for each individual. Now, follow the given steps: 

1. Sign in as the Primary Admin into your QuickBooks Desktop file.
2. Go to Employees, then select Payroll Setup.
3. Click on Employees.
4. Review the Setup Status column for each employee’s status.

By following these steps, you can examine the ‘Setup Status’ column to understand each employee’s progress. This will provide insights into their individual setup completion.

If you don’t have any QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced and still want to use it, then the next section is for you.

How to Use QuickBooks Payroll Without a Subscription?

If the Intuit QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced subscription doesn’t align with your financial plans, QuickBooks provides an alternative to manual payroll. Before jumping in, there are some necessary setup steps to prepare your company file. Here’s the streamlined process:

1. Begin by selecting Edit at the top of your QuickBooks, and then proceed to Preferences.
2. Next, in the left panel, navigate to Payroll & Employees and then move to the Company Preferences tab.
3. Within the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Features section, you must choose the ‘Full Payroll’ option.
4. Click OK to finalize this part of the setup.

Now that your system is ready, creating your manual payroll is time. Here are the steps to follow:

1. At the top of your QuickBooks, click Help and then proceed to QuickBooks Help (Alternatively, you can press F1 on your keyboard).
2. In the Search field, input ‘manual payroll‘ and hit Enter.
3. Among the search results, find and select Calculate payroll manually (without a subscription to QuickBooks Payroll).
4. Under the section titled Set your company file to use the manual payroll calculations setting, follow the manual payroll calculations link.
5. Click on the Set my company file to use the manual calculations link. This will ensure each payroll item related to tax displays a zero amount.
6. Lastly, close and reopen QuickBooks Desktop to activate these changes.

How do QuickBooks Basic Payroll and Enhanced Payroll Differs?

QuickBooks Basic Payroll and QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced are two different payroll services offered by Intuit, each tailored to different business needs. Basic Payroll automates payroll calculations and supports unlimited employees, offering functionalities like paycheck calculations and direct deposit or printing checks from QuickBooks. However, it requires users to handle tax forms manually. 

On the other hand, QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced includes all Basic features and further automates the payroll process. It automatically fills in federal and state tax forms, supports e-filing and direct tax payments from QuickBooks, and sends reminders when tax payments are due.

Therefore, Basic Payroll is suitable for businesses comfortable with manual tax management, while Enhanced Payroll is ideal for those seeking more automation and convenience in managing payroll taxes.

Summing Up

Now, you got everything covered for setting up the QuickBooks Payroll Enhanced. With this blog, you get the steps from activating the subscription to using it. We also provide you with the usage of employee self-setup and how you can use the enhanced payroll QuickBooks without any subscription. However, if any query arises in your mind, then you can contact our ProAdvisors to get the solution. Thank You!