Payroll Support

Social Security and Medicare amounts calculate incorrectly

Article ID: 1000020

Problem

Social Security and Medicare may show zero ($0) amounts on the paycheck and negative amounts in the Preview Paycheck window before any earnings items are added. The incorrect calculations can be caused by a liability adjustment entered manually (on previous checks or year-to-date adjustments), or created by a payroll checkup.

Assumptions

You have the latest QuickBooks version and tax tables updates.

Expected Outcome

You will understand the orgins of the amounts of Social Security and Medicare on paychecks.

Details

QuickBooks auto-corrects the amount of the difference on succeeding payrolls (whether it was caused by withholding too much or too little). It may take several payrolls to auto-correct the amount if the difference is rather large.

To know when and how the errors were made, follow this procedure.

Create a Payroll Detail Review report.

  • QuickBooks Pro and Premier: Select the Reports menu > Employees & Payroll > Payroll Detail Review.
  • QuickBooks Simple Start: In the Payroll Center, click the Reports menu > Payroll Detail Review.

Scroll to locate the individual tax.

Review the amounts listed in Wage Base, Payroll Tax Rate, Amount, Calculated Amount and Amount Difference to determine the discrepency.

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