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June 3, 2025
Question

I set up HSA company contributions thru my quickbooks online payroll but when it shows up on the profit and loss report it is shows up as a negative expense?

  • June 3, 2025
  • 1 reply
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This was always very easy on Quickbooks desktop which I used for years, but I cannot get Quickbooks online to correctly show the HSA company contribution that the company made to their HSA account as an expense (which it should be). It keeps showing as a negative expense. I have tried to adjust the mapping as recommended but nothing works. I don't understand why this is so difficult on QB online.

1 reply

June 3, 2025

It appears that you've categorized the Company HSA contribution under Additional Pay Types in your employee's profile, @kb111.

 

Please note that in QuickBooks Online (QBO), Company-paid HSA contributions added under Additional Pay Types are classified under Other Liability and Assets in your payroll settings. As such, they are treated as liabilities, meaning QBO views these as amounts owed, which shows as negative expenses in your Profit and Loss report.

 

I recommend consulting with your accountant to accurately map these contributions.

 

Alternatively, you can set these up as a payroll item in QBO. Once included in your employee's paycheck, they will appear under the Other Pay/Contributions section of pay stubs. Here's how:

 

  1. Navigate to Payroll, then select Employees.
  2. Choose the employee.
  3. Click Edit under Deductions & Contributions.

  4. Click on + Add Deduction/contribution.

  5. Choose the Deduction/contribution type and the specific contribution item Type.
  6. Enter a description for the contribution.
  7. In the Company Contribution section, define how the contribution is calculated by entering the amount or percentage per paycheck.
  8. Specify an annual maximum amount for company contributions in the Annual Max field.
  9. Hit Save.

 

For more information, refer to this article: Set up and manage company contributions.

 

You can also run and memorize reports in QuickBooks to maintain your records.

 

For further assistance with HSA contributions or any QuickBooks-related issues, please respond in this thread.

 

Disclaimer: I have provided additional details to clarify why the Company-paid HSA contribution shows as negative in your P&L report.

kb111Author
June 4, 2025

Is there some way to correct this with a journal entry maybe so my P and L

is accurate?