Everything you need to know to get started using QuickBooks Payroll

Prepare Your Payroll Tax Forms Lesson #4: Streamling Tax Forms Payroll Tax Forms Available in QuickBooks Payroll QuickBooks Payroll includes the following payroll tax forms: Form 940: An annual tax form on which you report your federal unemployment (FUTA) tax liability. Form 940-EZ (QuickBooks 2006 and 2005 only): The shortened version of Form 940, available to employers who meet certain criteria. Form 941: A tax form on which you report employee wages and withholding, and deposits of federal income tax, Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. You file these returns quarterly, on a calendar-year basis, even if your fiscal year is different from the calendar year. These tax returns are due the last day of the month following the end of the quarter. For example, Form 941 for the first quarter ending March 31 is due April 30. Schedule B (Form 941): You are required to file a Schedule B with your Form 941 if you are a semiweekly schedule depositor or a monthly schedule depositor who exceeds a $100,000 tax liability on any given day in the quarter. Schedule B reports the employer's daily tax liability (income tax withheld, plus both employee and employer Social Security and Medicare taxes, minus any advance earned income credit payments). Form 943, Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees (QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll subscribers using QuickBooks 2006 and 2005 only): An annual tax form on which you report federal income tax withheld, and employer and employee Social Security and Medicare taxes on wages paid to farm workers. Form 943-A, Agricultural Employer's Record of Federal Tax Liability: Companies with larger federal tax obligations use Form 943-A to report their tax liability on a daily basis if required. You are required to file a Form 943-A with your Form 943 if you are a semiweekly schedule depositor or a monthly schedule depositor whose tax liability during any month is $100,000 or more on any given day in the calendar year. Form 943-A reports the employer's tax liability (income tax withheld, plus both employee and employer Social Security and Medicare taxes, minus any advance earned income credit payments). Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement: The end-of-year form you send to each employee and submit to federal, state, and local tax agencies. The form shows the employee's wages and taxes withheld for the year. Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements: An end-of-year form that summarizes all the W-2 forms you are submitting to the federal government. State Payroll Tax Forms (QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll in QuickBooks 2006 and 2005 only): QuickBooks includes more than 160 payroll tax forms in more than 48 states. See www.quickbooks.com/taxforms for a list of all supported state forms. The following forms are technically not payroll tax forms. Employers often think of them as such because the forms are used to report payments to independent contractors, who some employers think of as employees. For tax purposes, however, these people are treated as vendors. QuickBooks supports both these forms and locates them under the Vendors menu. See the tip Prepare and Print Forms for Independent Contractors (Forms 1099-MISC and 1096). Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income: An annual tax form used to report non-employee wages. You are required to send to your independent contractors a Form 1099-MISC to report all payments for services. Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns: An annual summary tax form. When your trade or business issues a 1099-MISC or any 1098, 1099, 5498, or W2-G to anyone, you have to send the IRS the Form 1096 summary.

Prepare Payroll Tax Forms

QuickBooks Payroll expedites the process of preparing your payroll tax forms by prepopulating most—if not all—the information you need to complete your form, using your company and payroll information in QuickBooks.

To prepare a payroll tax form:

• In QuickBooks 2006: Start on the Payroll Center. Click the Process Payroll Forms button.
• In QuickBooks 2005 and 2004: From the Employees menu, select Process Payroll Forms.

Select the payroll form you need to prepare.

Tips for Preparing Payroll Tax Forms

• Form 941: If you have questions about how QuickBooks calculates the amounts in your Form 941, check this article in the QuickBooks Knowledge Base:
  www.quickbooks.com/support/faqs/qb2005/201440.html. If you have QuickBooks 2006 or QuickBooks 2005, you can also click the Details about this form link on the Payroll Tax Form window.
• Form 940: Make sure you have paid all your state unemployment taxes for the calendar year before preparing your Form 940. If you don't, QuickBooks might not calculate your state tax credit correctly and might think you owe more federal unemployment tax than you really do.
• Why state forms often look different in QuickBooks: The layout of your state form in QuickBooks has been designed to make it easier for you to complete the form. Your printout, however, has been approved by the state agency for filing. In a few cases, a "Do Not File" watermark might appear on forms that the state agency has not yet approved for filing.

For more information about payroll tax forms, look in QuickBooks Help. Click the Help or Help Index tab and type payroll tax form.

For more information about a specific state payroll tax form, click the Details about this form link on the Payroll Tax Form window.

Print Payroll Tax Forms

Payroll tax forms in QuickBooks are ready to file as soon as you print them out. A few forms will print with a "Do Not File" watermark on them. These forms are not yet approved by the issuing government agency. When these forms have been approved, QuickBooks will release an updated form without the watermark. You may not file these watermarked forms with the agency, but you may transcribe the information to an approved form.

To print your payroll tax forms:

• In QuickBooks 2006 and 2005: From the Payroll Tax Form window, click Print forms.
• In QuickBooks 2004: At the end of the tax form interview, QuickBooks will invite you to print your form.

Important: If your tax form printout has the wrong year on it, you probably don't have the latest payroll update. Go back and get the latest payroll update and start again. If you have the latest payroll update and the form still has last year's date on it, QuickBooks Payroll might not have released the most recent payroll tax form yet. QuickBooks Payroll tries to have all annual payroll tax forms (most of which are due at the end of January) updated by the end of December. To see whether the updated version of your form has been released yet, check Payroll News.

Tips for Printing Forms 941, 943, 943-A, 940, and 940-EZ

• Blank paper: Always print these forms on blank paper. Do not use the preprinted forms you receive from the government. The IRS will accept the QuickBooks printouts, as long as you print the form in black ink on white or cream-colored paper, size 8x11 or 8.5x11 inches, of at least 18 lb. weight.
• Form only: In QuickBooks 2006 and 2005, you can choose whether to print just the form or the form and the filing instructions. In QuickBooks 2004, the filing instructions are printed automatically when you print the form.

Tips for Printing Forms W-2 and W-3

• Select copies: In QuickBooks 2006 and 2005, you can choose to print only select copies of an employee's Form W-2. QuickBooks 2004 requires you to print an employee's complete Form W-2 set.
• Blank paper or preprinted forms: You can print your Forms W-2 and W-3 on either blank paper or on preprinted forms.
  • Blank paper: If you print your W-2 forms on blank paper, the government requires that the paper be perforated so that the different copies can be easily separated. QuickBooks, as well as other vendors, can provide you with these forms. Specifically designed for QuickBooks customers who are current QuickBooks Payroll subscribers, the Intuit W-2 Blank Perforated Paper Kit includes envelopes and is available for purchase online at www.intuitmarket.com.
  • Preprinted forms: If you print your W-2s and W-3 on preprinted forms, make sure to align your printer and forms so that the information prints out in the correct location.
    

    Follow these instructions:

    QuickBooks 2006
    Click Printer Setup in the Print W-2 and W-3 forms window.

    QuickBooks 2005 and 2004

    1. From the File menu, select Printer Setup.
    2. In the Printer Setup window, select the form in the Form Name drop-down list, and click Align.
    3. Click Print Sample.
    4. Check the alignment on your sample, and, if necessary, adjust the alignment by entering the appropriate adjustments in the Vertical and Horizontal fields.

    QuickBooks, as well as other vendors, can provide you with preprinted W-2 forms. The Intuit Marketplace offers the W-2 Tax Forms Kit for purchase online at www.intuitmarket.com. Specifically designed for QuickBooks customers who are current QuickBooks Payroll subscribers, these kits make completion of the forms easier, because the data in your QuickBooks software prints directly onto the correct sections of each form.

Tips for Printing State Payroll Tax Forms

• Why QuickBooks printouts of state forms often look different from the versions you get from the government: Many of the forms QuickBooks prints will look different from the versions the state publishes. However, most state agencies have approved the forms in QuickBooks, and you can file them with your state. If your state form prints with a "Do Not File" watermark, it has not yet been approved. You can transcribe the information from these forms onto the preprinted forms your state supplies you.
• Why some state forms print only data and not the complete form: Some state payroll tax forms, including forms for Oregon and Texas, look like they are printing without any formatting, boxes, or instructions (just dollar amounts). The state agencies have asked QuickBooks Payroll to print the forms in this manner. You can print them onto the preprinted forms you receive from the state. Or you can print them on blank paper and file them as is.

Tips

Make Sure Your Automatic Updates for Payroll Are Turned On

QuickBooks tax compliance experts continually monitor state and federal tax changes, so you don't have to. Save yourself the hassle of staying on top of all the payroll tax and forms changes and keep the Automatic Updates feature for payroll turned on. Automatic Updates tells QuickBooks to check for new payroll updates automatically. Automatic Updates are turned on by default. If you or someone else turned them off, it's a good idea to turn them back on now.

To turn on Automatic Updates for payroll:

1. In QuickBooks 2006: From the Help menu, select Update QuickBooks.
   In QuickBooks 2005 and 2004: From the File menu, select Update QuickBooks.
2. Click the Options tab.
3. Select Yes to enable the Automatic Update option.
4. In the Updates list, mark the following channels: Service Messages, Payroll, Federal Forms, and Forms Engine. If you subscribe to Enhanced Payroll, also mark State Forms.
   
   Note: We also encourage you to mark the Maintenance Release channel. That will ensure you always have the latest software updates, including any enhancements to the payroll features.
   
   
5. Click Save and then click Close. (In QuickBooks 2004: Click the "X" in the upper right corner.)

Note: You must be connected to the Internet to receive the updates.

If you don't leave Automatic Updates turned on, make sure you check for updates before you prepare your payroll tax forms. Federal and state agencies can change tax rates and tax forms at any time, and QuickBooks provides updates to keep you up-to-date. Checking for updates before you process your payroll forms ensures you have the latest forms you need for your task.

 

Set Up Reminders

If you want extra help remembering your filing deadlines, you can set up reminders in QuickBooks. Follow the steps below to first create To Do Notes, and then set your Reminders preferences to have QuickBooks show you your notes.

First, create a To Do Note:

1. From the Company menu, select To Do List.
2. From the To Do menu button, select New.
3. Enter the text of the note as you want it to appear on the To Do list.
   Tip: If you have many details to put into the note but you want the entry in the To Do list to be short, enter a short title, press Enter, and then enter the rest of the note. Only the title will appear on the To Do list.
4. In the Remind me on field, enter the date you want the note to appear on your Reminders list. For example, if you enter May 15, the note will not appear on the list until May 15. Click OK.

Next, set your Reminders preferences:

In setting your Reminders preferences, you'll do two things: Tell QuickBooks to show you your Reminders list when you open your company file, and tell it to include your To Do Notes in that list.

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences.
2. In the Preferences window, select Reminders from the list on the left.
3. On the My Preferences tab, select the Show Reminders when opening a company file checkbox.
4. Click the Company Preferences tab.
5. For the To Do Notes task, choose Show Summary if you want the Reminders list to display the short title only or Show List if you want the Reminders list to show the note's complete details.
6. Click OK.

Prepare and Print Forms for Independent Contractors (Forms 1099-MISC and 1096)

Because independent contractors are technically vendors, Form 1099 and Form 1096 are not payroll tax forms. Instead, the 1099/1096 feature appears in the Vendors menu.

To prepare 1099-MISC forms for your independent contractors:

From the Vendors menu, select Print 1099s/1096, and follow the instructions on the subsequent screens.

Note: The IRS requires you to print your Forms 1099 and Form 1096 on preprinted forms. QuickBooks, as well as other vendors, can provide these for you. The Intuit Marketplace offers the 1099 Tax Forms Kit for purchase online at www.intuitmarket.com. Specifically designed for QuickBooks customers who subscribe to QuickBooks Payroll, this kit makes completion of the forms easier because the data in your QuickBooks software prints directly onto the correct sections of each form.

The following QuickBooks Knowledge Base articles offer additional information about preparing your Forms 1099 and 1096:

• Form 1099
• Form 1096

For more information, look in QuickBooks Help. Click the Help or Help Index tab and type 1099s or 1096s.

 

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