Skip to main content
I
itsGreghere
July 21, 2023
Question

How to match transaction that includes payroll liability + payroll expense

  • July 21, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

I am using QBO + QBO Payroll. We have a 401k retirement plan. During each payroll cycle, the employee's contribution is tracked in a payroll liabilities account ("employee contribution liability"), and the company match is tracked as a payroll expense ("company contribution expense"). The 401k administration debits the full amount of both of those in a single transaction. 

 

When the bank transaction shows up in QBO banking, how do I categorize it?

 

If it were 2 separate transactions, 1 would go into the liabilities account to offset the liability, and the other should match to the existing expense transaction. However, QBO doesn't allow these separately when splitting the transaction.

1 reply

C
ChristineJoieR
July 21, 2023

I'm willing to offer my time to help achieve your goal, @greg11. Let me help you categorize your banking and payroll transactions in QuickBooks Online.

 

I understand you want to split the banking and payroll transaction under the Banking section. In your case, we can match the transaction directly to avoid duplicate transactions since it has existing payroll transactions.

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Go to Banking, select Transactions, then select Bank transactions
  2. Select the tile for the account you want to review.
  3. Go to the Reviewed tab.
  4. Select the Add column.

 

Since QuickBooks automatically suggests expense accounts, we can click the Add option from the right side. Once done, it goes to the Categorise tab and is ready for reconciling process.

 

Nonetheless, did you receive any specific error while splitting the transaction? It w be a great help if you provide us with more details.

 

Furthermore, you can still unmatch the transaction if you discover that categorized to the wrong account. Refer to this page: Unmatch downloaded bank transactions or move them to another account.

 

I'm happy to share more steps with categorizing and reconciling topics in QuickBooks Online. Have a great day ahead. 

I
itsGreghereAuthor
July 25, 2023

@ChristineJoieR Thanks, but that was not a good solution for this issue. I'd suggest deleting it to avoid causing more issues for others that may find this post.

"3. Go to the Reviewed tab." -- There are options for "For Review" and "Categorized", not what you suggest.

"4. Select the Add column." -- This just adds the transaction as "uncategorized" which is the last thing I want.

F
FateCandylaneT
July 25, 2023

We appreciate you getting back in on this thread, itsGreghere. Let's work together and ensure categorizing your banking and payroll transactions will get resolved.

 

As shared by my colleague, matching these entries will help us avoid duplicates in your account. Since there are existing payroll transactions, you may consider finding their match from the banking section and resolving their difference to offset and make the balance of your transaction accurate. Then, you may categorise them by manually choosing the right category if the suggested expense account option isn't associated with the transaction. To do this:

 

  1. Go to Banking from the menu panel, select Transactions, and click Bank Transactions.
  2. Click on the column for the account you want to review.
  3. Select the Find Match radio button. Then, a Match transactions window will open.
  4. Review and select the transaction to match.
  5. Select the Resolve difference icon above the Total amount to open the Add resolving transactions field.
  6. From here, enter the necessary details and select the correct associated account under the Category dropdown. 
  7. Enter the amount to make the transactions balanced.
  8. Review all information and click Save.

 

Also, I'd recommend consulting your accounting professional to guide you further in performing this process and what account would best fit when cateogrising them.

 

Moreover, you can check out this article to guide you in reconciling the accounts: Reconcile an account in QuickBooks Online.

 

We'll gladly back you up and provide further assistance for any additional questions about categorising transactions. Feel free to keep us posted so we can get you covered. Have a good one!

Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement