Access the Payroll Setup interview
Overview
This article explains how to access the Payroll Setup interview, which guides you in setting up your payroll.
Assumptions
You have an active Intuit payroll subscription
Expected Outcome
You will access the Payroll Setup interview and complete the set up process.
Details
To access the Payroll Setup interview:
QuickBooks Pro/Premier
- Choose Employees > Payroll Setup.
- In the Payroll Setup window, select Company Setup to begin the set up process.
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
Simple Start
- Click Payroll to go to the Payroll Center.
- At the top of the screen, click Setup and Maintain > Payroll Setup
- Follow the onscreen instructions.
Steps in the Payroll Setup Interview
These descriptions of the 6 steps in the Payroll Setup Interview explain what each step involves and what information you need to have available.
Introduction
Company Setup
Here's what information you need to have on hand:
- Compensation information (hourly, salary, tips, bonuses)
- Employee benefit information (health insurance, retirement, paid time off)
- Other payroll deductions and additions (wage garnishments, mileage)
Employee Setup
- A W4 for each employee.
- Compensation information (hourly rate, yearly salary, commission)
- Direct deposit information for each employee (if applicable).
- Benefits information (401K, wage garnishment, paid time off)
Taxes
Here's what information you need to have on hand:
- State Withholding and Unemployment Tax identification/account numbers. (Some states use 1 number for both state withholding and unemployment taxes others have different account numbers for each type of tax).
- State Unemployment Tax rate information
Year-to-date payrolls
Here's what information you need to have on hand:
- Year-to-date payroll information (for closed quarters, you need a quarterly report that shows each employee's quarterly earnings; for an open quarter, you need the payroll information for each payroll run for each employee)
- Prior tax and liabilities payments information
Data review
- Review your payroll data.
This sub-step walks you through your wage and tax data review. It compares your year-to-date entries to your payroll items and tax items. If you have errors it generates a report for you, so you can correct your year-to-date entries. - Reconcile your payroll tax forms to your payroll data.
This sub-step walks you through entering your 941 form and state agency filed forms, then it helps you reconcile the data. If you have errors, you'll need to correct your entries.
- The Federal 941 form for each quarter you have filed for the year
- The State agency quarterly forms filed for each quarter you have filed for the year

