hi all,

forgive me if this question has been asked before a million times.

i've started to use Quickbooks recently, and have become fairly
proficient. my employer now wants to do payroll in-house, rather than
outsourcing it. we only have about 5 employees. i'm brand new to
payroll concepts, but i imagine it's not rocket science. i've found a
site that does the calculations for you:

http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpayc...ycalculator.asp

i'd imagine that there must some Excel templates out there as well.

i noticed that Intuit offers some kind payroll service where you are
allowed 13 downloads of something for $199/year. what exactly is
downloaded, and why would someone need 13 downloads? what would be the
benefit of this service, as opposed to calculating it using the
aforementioned website?


thanks in advance.

>


This can get confusing, but I'll try my best...
These go from cheapest to most expensive, and generally most
time-consuming to least time-consuming.

1. The cheapest way to do payroll in QB is to enter payroll as
standard checks (Not paychecks. You can use paychecks but
be prepared for lots of annoyments.). You have to calculate and
enter the tax amounts yourself. You can use memorized
transactions to speed data entry. You also need to produce
your own federal and state tax reports (941, W2, etc.). You will not
be subject to payroll sunsetting (3 years) and will not need to
upgrade QB for as long as you want.

2. Next up the ladder is to use the one-time payroll update that
comes with QB that currently lasts through the first quarter
of the year following the QB version. QB will calculate your
payroll and produce federal tax forms. If tax rates or forms change
during the year, your taxes may be incorrect. Sometimes this
can be ignored, other times you will have to make edits. State
taxes can be reported using one of the 3rd party reporting tools
like:
www.dgrsoftware.com
www.qtools.com
www.granitesoftware.com
You will probably want to upgrade QB every year with this option.

3. The basic payroll, which you mention is currently $199/yr, is
the same as directly above, except you get to keep your tax
rates and federal tax forms current. You can get away with upgrading
QB once every 3 years with this option.

4. Enhanced payroll, which starts at $299/yr, gets you built-in
state reporting. You won't need the 3rd party tools -- at least for
your state reports -- but it will generally cost quite a bit more.

5. There are more payroll service type options that I won't get
into here.

Others -- feel free to correct any mistakes...

klunk wrote:

thank you for the reply.

under this scenario, the "one-time payroll update" would cost us how
much?

>> 2. Next up the ladder is to use the one-time payroll update that


The one-time payroll update is free, though it is confusing
(probably by design) to get. You have to go through the
process to buy the basic payroll option, but you just omit
your payment (credit card) info and you will receive a single
update. You also want to get the update AFTER Intuit has
released the first payroll update for the tax year. For example,
if one was to buy QB 2007 this month, you could currently
only get a 2006 tax table. You have to wait until about the
middle of December, when the 2007 tax table (and forms)
becomes available.

Before doing this, you will want to turn-on shared downloads
in the Options of the "Update QuickBooks" dialog. This will
save your updates so you can back up the shared download
folder. This will allow you to re-apply the one-time update if
necessary in the future (new computer, etc.).

Although it is slightly more expensive, I think upgrading QB
once every 3 years, but buying the basic payroll subscription
is less hassle. You can try getting through the first year on
the one-time update to save a couple hundred bucks.

klunk wrote:

great info - thanks again.

GoBruins wrote:

It *IS* (or can be) rocket surgery. Consider union fees, state and local
income taxes, withholding for charitable contributions, medical care,
garnishments, and dozens of other things. Now layer on top overtime,
vacation pay, sick leave, holidays, shift differentials, yak-yak-yak.

As to why someone might need 13 downloads a year, consider why tax attorneys
are called "loose-leaf lawyers." Their law books are three-ring binders
because tax laws change (somewhere) EVERY DAY.

If you handle your payroll manually - and I'm not saying you can't - and
screw up someone's paycheck, you may die. Unless you can point to some
authority on which you relied (say, Intuit), you may very well be liable for
all manner of sanctions.

HeyBub wrote:

wow - the above scenario is daunting. i don't necessarily mind paying
the top tier premium ($299 or whatever it may be) to Intuit *if* it
will handle all of the above with a minimun of hassle. will it?