How do I set the pay period to be for the entire month of April, and then divided into two paychecks the following month on the 15th and 30th?

When managing payroll in QuickBooks, a monthly pay period should only have a single paycheck, @rbbusiness. Let me provide more details on this.

Please note that if you want to set the pay period to cover the entire month, you cannot split the paychecks into two separate dates, such as the 15th and 30th. If the pay period covers all of April, the paycheck should be issued once for the month.

With this, I recommend setting up the pay schedule for the entire month of April for each of your employees as twice a month. This way, they will receive two equal paychecks for the following month. Here's how:

1. Go to Payroll, select Employees, and choose the employee you want to update.
2. Click Edit in the Employment details section.
3. Choose Add pay schedule from the Pay schedule dropdown.
4. Set the Pay frequency to Twice a month.
5. For Days, select 15th for the first pay period of the month and 30th for the second pay period.
6. Name your pay schedule, check the box for Use this pay schedule for employees added after this one, and click Save.
7. Select the newly created pay schedule from the pay schedule dropdown for other employees.

Scan this article for more guidance on setting up pay schedules in QBO: Set up and manage payroll schedules.

Additionally, you can keep a record of payroll history. It will assist in verifying employee payments and monitoring your company's salary expenditures.

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions or need additional assistance as you navigate the further process for each of your employees, @rbbusiness. I'm here to help ensure everything runs smoothly for you and your business.

@rbbusiness 

RE: How do I set the pay period to be for the entire month of April, and then divided into two paychecks the following month on the 15th and 30th? 

I've never heard of anything like this before. How is handing your employees two checks better than just one?

I don't think there's a way to do it properly, because if your pay period is monthly and you split the wages between two checks, both federal and most state's withholding taxes will under-calculate - because they are based on tiered tables that annualize wages based on the pay period

Also, note that monthly payroll is only allowed in about 20 states, and then often conditionally and only for specific types of employees, like high wage earners or salaried employees.

See this page for details:

https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/pay-frequency-requirements-state-federal/

@rbbusiness 

The May 30th paycheck will include wages from mid to late April?  Your employees will wait almost 6 weeks to get paid?  Many states don't allow you to wait that long to pay your employees.  In my state, employees must be paid within 12 days of the end of a pay period.  It's as low as 8 days in some states I believe.