How to Record Bonus Payments to Employees in Quickbooks
It’s not uncommon for business owners to pay their employees “bonuses” in addition to their regular paycheck. Maybe the employee went above and beyond the call of duty, or perhaps the business owner wants to share the company’s success with his or her workforce. Regardless, there are times when business owners will make bonus payments to their employees. And like any financial transaction, such payments should be recorded for bookkeeping purposes. Thankfully, Intuit’s Quickbooks makes the process a breeze. To learn more about bonus payments and how to record them in Quickbooks, keep reading.
Basically, recording a bonus payment in Quickbooks requires creating a bonus check. Keep in mind that bonus checks don’t have to be associated with payrolls. On the contrary, the entire purpose of a bonus check is to be a “bonus” or additional payment. So, to make bonus check in Quickbooks, log in to your account and select Employees > Run payroll > Bonus only. From here, choose either “As net pay” or “As gross pay,” depending on your preferred method of payment. When you are finished, click Continue.
You will not be prompted to enter a pay date for the bonus payment. This is the date on which the payment will be officially recorded, so make sure it’s correct. Next, click the checkbox next to the employee’s name to whom the payment is being made. If you are making a bonus payment to two or more employees, select all of their names. If you’re only making it to a single employee, choose his or her name. When you are finished, enter the dollar amount for the bonus payment.
While optional, you may want to include a memo with your bonus payment. This is done by entering your desired message into the “Memo” box, which will be displayed on the check or pay stub.
Next, click the “Preview payroll” button to see how the bonus payment looks. Assuming it’s correct, click “Submit payroll.” You can then click “Print checks” or “Print pay stubs” to print the bonus payment. And when you are finished, click “Finish payroll” to save your changes. Congratulations, you’ve just created and record a bonus paying in Quickbooks!
Follow these steps should allow you to create and record bonus payments using the Quickbooks accounting software.
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