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felicia_SSI
February 9, 2020
Question

How do I set up and enter prevailing wage payroll; not just the certified reporting?

  • February 9, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 0 views

I work for a contractor in California and we have a prevailing wage job. We’ve only been using QuickBooks Enterprise for a month and I don’t know how to set up and pay the employees working on that job. I need to know the specific steps. Can anyone help with the specific steps please?

 

Felicia

3 replies

AlexV
AlexV
February 9, 2020

Let's first make sure that you've successfully setup your payroll, felicia_SSI.

 

Proper set up of your payroll is important to make sure that the calculation is correct. This is also to avoid any error or any payroll correction.

 

Please get ready with your business and employee details so we can add it into your company file. This includes your tax information, employee benefits, compensation, and deductions. To start with:

  1. Go to the Employees menu.
  2. Click Payroll Setup.
  3. Follow the Payroll Setup Wizard.

You can refer to this guide for more details: Get started with Payroll. Then, follow the steps from the QuickBooks Desktop hyperlinks.

 

Once done, these are the steps in creating paycheck:

  1. From the Employees menu, select Pay Employees.
  2. Select Scheduled Payroll or Unscheduled Payroll.
  3. Verify the Pay Period Ends date, Check Date, and Bank Account the money is drawn from.
  4. Click Save & Next, then select Continue.
  5. Check if all details are correct, and and select Create Paychecks.

You can also invite your employees to enter their information themselves. Here's an article as your guide: Use employee self-setup for QuickBooks Desktop Payroll.

 

Comment below if you need further assistance. I'll be here!

F
felicia_SSIAuthor
February 10, 2020

We have already set up payroll and processed all of January payrolls in QuickBooks Enterprise. But next week I’m going to need to pay on a prevailing wage job. I need to know what things I need to set up so that it calculates correctly on the paycheck. All the information I keep finding online is regarding the certified reports, but I need to know how to do the payroll before I can do the reports.  The employees working on that job also work on other jobs that are not prevailing wage, so they will be making two different wages in one pay period (their regular wage and the prevailing wage).  Also, if there’s overtime, it’s figured on the base salary and not the fringes that are added in. So how do I set that up?

Thank you,

 

Felicia

J
JamesDuanT
February 10, 2020

Hello felicia_SSI,

 

Prevailing wage is defined as hourly wage. This depends on you whether you tag it as a Regular or Overtime Pay. I'd recommend reaching out your accountant to know the best way to set it up. Afterwards, you can create the item manually:

  1. Click Lists at the top menu and select Payroll Item List.
  2. In the Payroll Item List page, click the Payroll Item button and select New.
  3. Select Custom Setup and click Next.
  4. Select Wage and click Next.
  5. Select Hourly Wages and click Next.
  6. Select Regular Pay or Overtime Pay.
  7. Enter the additional details and click Next.
  8. Once you're done with the setup, you can click Finish.

You can also learn more about prevailing wage in this article: Certified Payroll.

 

Let me know if you need anything else.

N
nthornell
February 8, 2022

I'd like to know if anyone ever figured this out please.  The admin comments are only surface level for this issue.  Thanks

K
kramage9416
March 24, 2022

Hi nthornell,

 

      I end up just lumping prevailing wage and fringe together as one rate.  Each employee on that job

had different rates.  Once you dump the information in excel you can make it the way you want to see it.

 

      Hope this help!  I attached how I did one week. Hope you can see it and understand what I did.

D
dlacey4321
May 17, 2023

This if my first time entering a prevailing wage payroll and I'm hoping to get some clarification on the fringe wage. My payroll item is set up for my prevailing wage, but I'm confused by the 'Fringe Benefits Health & Welfare'.   Do I set this up as an hourly rate as well?  If so, can it be combined with the prevailing wage or must it be separated? 

F
FateCandylaneT
May 17, 2023

Glad to see you here with us, dlacey4321. Let me share information and help you set up your fringe benefits.

 

In QuickBooks Desktop, several preset fringe benefits are supported by this program, and that includes the following:

 

 

Additionally, as QuickBooks will auto-calculate these wages, QuickBooks will calculate this item based on the quantity, hours, or percent of Net/Gross. If you have any other fringe benefits, you can refer to the steps below: 

 

  1. From Lists, select Payroll Item List.
  2. Select Payroll Item and select New.
  3. Select Custom Setup.
  4. Select either Company Contribution or Addition and click Next.
  5. Enter a name for this item and click Next.
  6. Select an Expense account and a Liability account from the drop-down lists. Then, click Next.
  7. From the Tax Tracking Type drop-down list, click Fringe Benefits. Then, click Next.
  8. Select Next three times.
  9. Once done, select Finish.

 

 

For further steps and detailed information, you can visit this article: Add fringe benefits to paychecks.

 

Moreover, you'll want to check out this reference to guide you on how to create and process your payroll: Create and run your payroll.

 

Please don't hesitate to reply in the comments below if you have additional questions or other QuickBooks concerns. Keep safe and have a good one!

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