Housing & Employee Benefits. How to enter and track.

You are fine like this: "into payroll as an ADDITION for the total weekly amount and then using MISC to remove the costs"

Or as a Company Contribution item, which is the combination of the Gross addition and the Net Deduction in one step.

The point is: The Addition value is Taxed, as Taxable Fringe, but not adding to the takehome, and Tax Tracking is a regular taxable compensation or as fringe benefit, depending on what you need for W2 reporting as code whatever in box whatever. Then, you also need to Never create a liability for this; where the Company Contribution Item or the Deduction (misc) item want a Liability account link, you link that to the same Expense account as the Expense side, typically. Example:

You paid rent as Rent Expense. Now you need to Add the value to paycheck and tax it, then deduct that same amount. Link both account links for the payroll activity to the same Expense account for a Wash.

Thanks for joining this thread, @jcupps71.

The steps shared by the colleague above is for 

QuickBooks Desktop since your using QuickBooks Online the steps provided don't work for you.

To enter company paid benefits in QBO, you'll

need to enable the fringe benefit inside the employee profile. Let me show you how:

1. From the Workers menu, click the employee's name.
2. Once the profile opens, go to Step 2 or the How much do you pay (employee name) section.
3. Under Step 3, How much do you pay this employee, select + Add additional pay types (like overtime, sick, and vacation pay).
4. Choose Even more ways to pay this employee.
5. Select all relevant fringe benefits.
6. Hit Done.

Once done, enter a value of a fringe benefit on a paycheck. Here's how:

1. From the left menu, select Workers.
2. Select Run Payroll.
3. Enter the employee's regular pay and the amount of the fringe benefit in the fringe benefit field you previously added.
4. Preview and Submit the payroll.

For additional information, please visit this article: Add fringe benefits to paychecks.

You can also read these article for additional reference about handling payroll and employee's record in QuickBooks Online:

• Change or delete a payroll deduction item
• Adjust employee exemption taxes

Also, to help you with your task in QuickBooks, just go to this link: QuickBooks Basics. Then, click + More Topics to view related articles about managing your sales, expenses, process payroll, taxes, and running reports.

If you meant something else or you have any other questions, please let me know. I want to make sure you're taken care of. Have a good one!

You've come to the right place for assistance, BigAlnMF. I'm here to ensure you can enter and pay non-tax liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT).

Since QuickBooks tracks payroll liabilities, such as the tax amounts withheld through the payroll you've already run, we can set up scheduled payments and create checks to pay benefits and other deductions to your plan administrators.

If you've already created paychecks, you'll need to go to the Payroll Center and pay them from the available filing options depending on your current subscription. Please refer to the article provided below for more details on how to file your tax payments and forms.

First, you'll want to set up a payment schedule to help you keep track of when these will be due. Here's how:

1. Go to the Employees menu and select Payroll Center.
2. Click on the Pay Liabilities tab.
3. Under Other Activities, select Change or Manage Payment Methods.
4. Select Benefit & Other Payments, and click Schedule Payments.
5. Under the Benefits and Other payments column, select the benefit or liability you want to set up a schedule for. Then select Edit.
6.  Select the Payee.  
7. Enter the Account Number. Then select the Payment Frequency.
8. Select Finish to close the window.

Once done, you can add your scheduled payments to your calendar. To do that:

1. Go to the Payroll Center, and select Pay Liabilities.
2. Place a checkmark next to the liability payment(s) for which a calendar reminder is needed.
3. Select the Set payment reminder dropdown menu.
4. Select either Add Reminder to Calendar or Export Reminder in Calendar File.

Then, you can now pay your scheduled liabilities. Here's how:

1. Go to Employees, select Payroll Taxes & Liabilities, then select Pay Scheduled Liability.
2. In the Pay Taxes & Other Liabilities window, select the tax or other liability you want to pay from the list. Then select View/Pay.
3. Review the dates and the amounts due. 
4. Select Check/E-pay to proceed in paying your taxes.

You can check out this article for more detailed information: Pay your non-tax liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

Moreover, I'm adding these references to guide you in adjusting payroll liabilities and learning more about payroll calculations in your desktop account:

• Adjust payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.
• Understand how your payroll taxes are calculated.

You're always welcome to reply in the comments below if you require additional assistance managing employee benefits. We're looking forward to helping you again. Have a good one!