Can I enter a bonus check into payroll when check already received by employee. Will need to bank into Gross for W2 purposes?

We've come to help, @Saga. Yes. We can enter a bonus check in QuickBooks Online (QBO) Payroll if it doesn't go along with the employee's regular pay, and I'm here to walk you through it.

Since your employees have received their checks already, we can enter a separate bonus check. If we do that:

• We can apply the federal supplemental tax rate of 22% or 37% for bonuses of $1,000,000 or more.
• We can either pay them as gross compensation or net pay. If you want your employee to receive $1000 as part of their net salary, the payroll product will gross this up, and you will pay the employee's share of taxes.
• QuickBooks Workforce won't send an email to your employees informing them of their bonuses.
• We can only send them into one direct deposit account per employee.

Then, let's pay out the bonus separately. Please note that if we enter the bonus amount "As net pay", we're unable to deduct retirement, HSA, or garnishments.

Please see the steps below:

1. Go to Payroll and select Employees.
2. In the Run payroll dropdown, select Bonus only.
3. Choose how you'd like to enter the bonus (As a net or As a gross).
4. Click the employee's name and enter the amount of the bonus.
5. Select Edit next to Payroll options.
6. Choose the payroll options you want and select Apply.
7. Click Preview and submit payroll.
8. If you've chosen As net pay, the pay stub includes Employee Taxes Paid by Employer in the pay section.

Moreover, sending your W-2 forms on time to the appropriate agencies is an important payroll task at the end of the year. In QBO, we may do this for you depending on your payroll product, or you may file electronically.

Please don't hesitate to drop by the Community if you have additional concerns about paying employee bonuses. We're here with you anytime to answer your questions. Have a great day!