QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll is our payroll service of choice at Info Plus Accounting. Because we ‘eat our own (QuickBooks) dogfood,’ we know the quality of this product. And we nearly always recommend Assisted Payroll to our clients.
Why do we typically recommend this product to our clients? Here are my top seven reasons:
1. “Quick paychecks, easy taxes, and no extra paperwork.” [1]
Life and business don’t always run according to plan. Yes, we can plan to have payroll ready to transmit on Monday or Tuesday. But what if someone is sick? Or another ‘surprise’ pops up?
I love the convenience of being able to transmit payroll as late as 5:00 PM Pacific time one (banking) day before payday.
(And, even if we submit payroll information earlier, QuickBooks doesn’t debit our selected payroll account until our chosen payday.)
2. We save time and aggravation because we don’t need to:
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- Print and sign paychecks. (None of us has time to do this, right?)
- Hand out (or mail) paychecks. (Or have time to do this!)
- Lose valuable employee time while our people go to the bank to cash their checks. (Not an issue with direct deposit…)
- Deal with employees or spouses ‘hanging out’ waiting for paychecks on payday. (This hasn’t ever happened to us – but my clients have mentioned that it USED to happen to them.)
- Reprint current or prior paystubs. Employees get access to online paystubs to see their detailed information as soon as we transmit their payroll information to QuickBooks. (This means they don’t have to wait until the last minute to know exactly what amount will show up in their bank account on payday.)
- See employees physically or mentally ‘check out’ for the rest of the day after they receive their paper checks on payday. (For some folks, receiving their ‘end-of-the-pay-period’ paper check can mean the ‘end-of-their-work-week’ as well. Not fun to observe!)
- Be in the office on payday. (Yes, I’ve been at a conference or on vacation on payday… We just schedule payrolls ahead of time. So convenient!)
3. Timesheets auto-converted to payroll in QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll
We automatically convert our employees’ Timesheets into payroll. This means that after reviewing our internal Timesheets to ensure they are correct, we simply…
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- Click the “Pay Employees’ button,
- Review and approve the dollar results,
- Confirm that QuickBooks auto-posted the employee paychecks directly into our checking account on the correct date, and
- Transmit our paychecks to QuickBooks for final processing.
4. See job costing without extra journal entries or spreadsheet work
We also enter Jobs and Service Items (Cost Codes) into Timesheets. By selecting the correct (related) background payroll options, QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll automatically assigns gross payroll costs, company payroll taxes, employee additions or deductions, company-paid benefits, and labor burden costs to Jobs and Service Items (Cost Codes).
All of these ‘background’ job cost postings are automated and fully integrated into our (and our clients’) job cost reports. (This means the labor costs displayed in our job cost reports are accurate as of payday.)
And, no one needs to perform time-consuming journal entries or create labor-intensive, after-the-fact spreadsheets to show labor costs in those critical management reports!
5. With QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll, we avoid the risks of payroll tax penalties
It can be difficult and time-consuming to stay current on payroll tax regulations and changes.
Without QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll, it’s easy to miss a tax deadline or make an error in reporting. In that case, we (or you) could encounter substantial fines. In addition to the late-payment fine and interest, we (or you) would likely also face time-consuming and frustrating IRS communications, the potential for recurring audits, and costly cleanup fees! (NOTE: Without a protective payroll service – such as Desktop Assisted Payroll – one in three businesses will incur a penalty each year.)
But, with QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll, we (and you) get to eliminate worry about missing due dates for Federal and State tax reporting and payments. Here’s a quote from Intuit about the QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll guarantee:
“Guaranteed on-time and accurate” tax penalty guarantee:
Intuit assumes responsibility for federal and state payroll filings and payments directly from your account(s) based on the data you supply. As long as the information you provide us is correct and on time, and you have sufficient funds in your account, we’ll file your tax forms and payments accurately and on time, or we’ll pay the resulting payroll tax penalties.
6. Stay current, confident, and secure with payroll tax payments
Using Assisted Payroll removes the dangerous temptation to defer paying payroll taxes until some future date. That’s because our payroll tax liabilities get paid each payday. As a result, I never feel the burden of an unpaid payroll tax looming in the future.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many instances where – when funds run short – business owners feel they can “borrow from Uncle Sam and Aunt State” by not paying those taxes on time. That’s a slippery slope – and one that’s extremely difficult and expensive to extricate yourself from. QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll can remove that icy and hazardous terrain before the ‘lure of the bogus loan’ gets you in trouble!
And then, sadly, there are the circumstances where an internal employee (or poorly-funded payroll service) indicates that the employment taxes have been paid. But the company owner later discovers that the funds taken from their bank account have ‘gone elsewhere.’
Tragically, the employer is ALWAYS (still) responsible for paying those payroll taxes. Imagine finding out that you thought your payroll taxes were paid, but in fact, you still owe tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in payroll taxes.
(Because I’ve used QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll for years, that’s never happened to us, but I know it occurs far too often to unsuspecting businesses. It’s a terrible thing to hear about!)
7. Support and startup assistance
QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll provides Premium 24/7 Support. (We appreciate this feature when we need it.)
People who contact us to obtain Assisted Payroll also benefit from QuickBooks U.S.-based setup assistance (currently available M-F, 9 AM to 9 PM Eastern or 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific time).
What about you?
To explore or experience the Assisted Payroll benefits we use within our business – and regularly recommend to those who get in touch with us – please contact us for further insights and a no-obligation estimate (734-544-7650, 9-5 Eastern, M-F)
[1] QuickBooks Desktop Assisted Payroll is not available in Indiana or Wyoming
[2] Additional fees apply for 1099 contractors
And if you loved this blog, be sure to read this one.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ From the Intuit FindAProAdvisor website:
“Diane was fantastic to work with. They have [been] extremely helpful as we transitioned into Quickbooks. I can not recommend them enough.”