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mlee_jmm
March 28, 2024
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Need help with 2 different employee reimbursement scenarios

  • March 28, 2024
  • 1 reply
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We are a new company and need some guidance on employee paid expense items and how to make sure that they are correctly accounted for.

 

The first scenario:

I have an employee who submitted multiple receipts, for four separate expense categories (i.e. diesel for the work truck, gas for equipment, gas for work van, job materials). 

 

I needed to quickly cut a check to reimburse him, so I created one check for the total of all expenses but listed on there each of the separate expense categories as the "description" on separate line items. However, the "category" for all of the lines was listed as "reimbursement".  

 

How can I now go back and associate each of those expense line items to their appropriate categories?  I need to make sure that the amount we reimbursed him for diesel, properly reflects to that expense account, and so on.  

 

The second scenario:

Employee turned in his months' worth of reimbursable expense receipts (some for gas, some for food, etc.).  We were able to wait until a payroll run to repay him, so the total to be reimbursed for the month was just added as a payroll item and he was repaid that way.

 

I've now scanned in all the receipts associated with that reimbursed amount. 

 

How can I make sure that the individual items, all from different expense categories, that make up the payroll reimbursement we've already issued, are properly accounted for and mapped to their appropriate expense accounts?  Once that's corrected, where would I go to link each of the expense receipts that are associated?  

 

When you want to do a reimbursement payment through payroll, how should you go about doing it so that you can link that reimbursement to multiple expense accounts?

 

Thank you in advance.

Best answer by CharleneMaeF

Hi there, mlee_jmm. Ensuring your employees' reimbursements are correctly accounted for is necessary to keep your payroll data accurate. I'll lay down the steps for the two scenarios you've shared.

 

For the first scenario, we can edit the check you created for the reimbursement and associate each of the expense line items to the appropriate categories. I'll gladly show you how.

 

First, let's create accounts for the different receipts. You can check out this article for the detailed steps: Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

 

After that, re-open the check. Under Category, select the accounts you've added. For visual reference, I've added a screenshot below.

 

For more details about paying your employees for the personal funds they used for business expenses, I suggest browsing this resource: Reimburse an employee in QuickBooks Online.

 

In handling the second scenario, we can change the account mapping of your reimbursements. Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Gear icon, then Payroll settings.

  2. Scroll down and click the pencil icon beside Accounting. 

  3. Choose  Edit ✎ in the Wage expenses section.

  4. In the Where do you track employee wages in your QuickBooks chart of accounts? area, select Each employee's wages are posted to different types of accounts (ex: salary, contractor, and so on).

  5. Scroll down to Where do you track employee reimbursements in your QuickBooks chart of accounts?, then assign the correct accounts for items.

  6. Hit Save, then Done.

 

Once done, we can update your past transactions to ensure the changes take effect:

 

  1. Go to the Gear icon, then Payroll settings.
  2. Scroll down and click the pencil icon beside Accounting. 
  3. Browse to the bottom of the page, then choose Update transactions, click Edit ✎.
  4. Add a Start date and End date. We'll change all accounts except in the Bank Account section.
  5. Hit Save, then Done.

 

Meanwhile, we're unable to link a reimbursement to multiple expense accounts. Instead, I recommend creating one item per reimbursement. Then, perform the steps above to assign accounts.

 

I'd be glad to help you again if you need help with payroll. If you happen to come across any difficulties while paying employees, running reports, or managing other transactions, leave a reply below. My colleagues and I will reply as soon as possible.

1 reply

C
CharleneMaeFAnswer
March 28, 2024

Hi there, mlee_jmm. Ensuring your employees' reimbursements are correctly accounted for is necessary to keep your payroll data accurate. I'll lay down the steps for the two scenarios you've shared.

 

For the first scenario, we can edit the check you created for the reimbursement and associate each of the expense line items to the appropriate categories. I'll gladly show you how.

 

First, let's create accounts for the different receipts. You can check out this article for the detailed steps: Add an account to your chart of accounts in QuickBooks Online.

 

After that, re-open the check. Under Category, select the accounts you've added. For visual reference, I've added a screenshot below.

 

For more details about paying your employees for the personal funds they used for business expenses, I suggest browsing this resource: Reimburse an employee in QuickBooks Online.

 

In handling the second scenario, we can change the account mapping of your reimbursements. Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Gear icon, then Payroll settings.

  2. Scroll down and click the pencil icon beside Accounting. 

  3. Choose  Edit ✎ in the Wage expenses section.

  4. In the Where do you track employee wages in your QuickBooks chart of accounts? area, select Each employee's wages are posted to different types of accounts (ex: salary, contractor, and so on).

  5. Scroll down to Where do you track employee reimbursements in your QuickBooks chart of accounts?, then assign the correct accounts for items.

  6. Hit Save, then Done.

 

Once done, we can update your past transactions to ensure the changes take effect:

 

  1. Go to the Gear icon, then Payroll settings.
  2. Scroll down and click the pencil icon beside Accounting. 
  3. Browse to the bottom of the page, then choose Update transactions, click Edit ✎.
  4. Add a Start date and End date. We'll change all accounts except in the Bank Account section.
  5. Hit Save, then Done.

 

Meanwhile, we're unable to link a reimbursement to multiple expense accounts. Instead, I recommend creating one item per reimbursement. Then, perform the steps above to assign accounts.

 

I'd be glad to help you again if you need help with payroll. If you happen to come across any difficulties while paying employees, running reports, or managing other transactions, leave a reply below. My colleagues and I will reply as soon as possible.

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