Introduction

As stated in Chapter 2 – Accountant Tools, QuickBooks Accountant is a Cloud-based application that allows accounting firms to access, store, manage, and process their payroll, payroll, accounting, business analysis, and tax preparation at any time and from anywhere with an Internet connected device. The features of QuickBooks Accountant also allow accounting firms to access, store, manage, and process their clients’ payroll, payroll, accounting, business analysis, and tax preparation.

Accounting Analytics uses QuickBooks Accountant to:

1. Perform our bookkeeping, payroll, accounting, business analysis, and tax preparation
2. Manage, support, and supervise our team (professional staff of bookkeepers, payroll personnel, accountants, business analysts, and tax preparers)
3. Manage, support, and supervise our clients’ bookkeepers
4. Perform our clients’ accounting, business analysis, and tax preparation

This chapter is for accountants who use QuickBooks Accountant to manage, support, and supervise their clients’ bookkeepers who perform payroll.

The chapter coincides with our Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide. The Guide is for our clients’ bookkeepers who perform payroll and establish our Accounting System’s Payroll Process. Accountants who manage, support, and supervise their clients’ bookkeepers who perform payroll should be well acquainted with the Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide.

Our payroll services enable accountants to help their clients:

1. Efficiently, accurately, and productively perform payroll
2. Provide timely, relevant, and reliable payroll information
3. Increase their financial position, profit, and cash flow

Payroll

Payroll and employee benefits are your clients’ highest business expense and should receive constant attention.

Effective cash flow management requires payroll, payroll taxes, and employee benefits be paid as late as possible, but on time to avoid penalties and interest. Payroll and employee benefit expenses should be reviewed and negotiated at least annually.

Our Payroll Process ensures your clients’ payroll, payroll taxes, and employee benefits are paid as late as possible, but on time.

Who Should Perform the Payroll?

As stated in Chapter 1 – Introduction: Accounting System, there are three people who can perform the payroll for a business:

1. Owner
2. Employee
3. Independent contractor bookkeeper

A business owner shouldn’t perform their own payroll. They make better use of their time working on their business and not working in their business. The owner should delegate their payroll to a trained, certified, and experienced employee or independent contractor bookkeeper.

To determine whether to delegate their payroll to an employee or bookkeeper, a business owner should perform a cost-benefit analysis. A cost-benefit analysis is a process a business owner uses to analyze decisions. The owner sums up the benefits of a situation or action and then subtracts the costs associated with taking that action.

If the business owner chooses to have an employee perform their payroll, the owner should ensure the employee is properly trained, certified, experienced, supported, and supervised.

Intuit has a reputation for developing DIY (Do-it-yourself) applications such as Mint for personal budgeting, QuickBooks for payroll, QuickBooks Payroll for payroll, and TurboTax for tax preparation. Therefore, many small business owners believe Intuit developed QuickBooks to replace their accountants. Thus, many QuickBooks users don’t have payroll or payroll training, certification, experience, support, and supervision. In addition, many QuickBooks users don’t set up their QuickBooks company files correctly to provide business owners with the timely, relevant, and reliable information they need to make good decisions.

Intuit developed QuickBooks Payroll to enable businesses to perform their payroll with assistance from their accountants. That’s the relationship business owners and accountants should develop.

The person responsible for completing the payroll responsibilities should be an employee or independent contractor bookkeeper.

Accounting Analytics Payroll Process was developed based on this model.

Our payroll services include the following:

• Tools
• Setup
• Training
• Certification
• Support
• Supervision

Tools

The following tools are generally needed to set up a payroll client on QuickBooks Payroll:

• QuickBooks (required for payroll and payroll seamless integration)
• QuickBooks Payroll (can be a standalone service)
• Company online bank payroll account(s) compatible with QuickBooks
• Company one sheet, two-part voucher QuickBooks compatible checks, if your client issues payroll checks. However, we suggest you advise your client to use direct deposit

We communicate these tools to the prospective client in the Client Agreement after receiving and reviewing their Contact Information Form information.

The QuickBooks Payroll subscription (Core, Premium or Elite) is included with our payroll services.

Setup

Bookkeeper Task

The client’s bookkeeper setup task is to complete the Payroll Information Form.

Accountant Tasks

The accountant’s setup tasks include:

1. Email New Client Payroll Welcome (onboarding) email to client
2. Request client to complete the Payroll Information Form
3. Complete the QuickBooks Payroll Setup Checklist
4. Complete Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Checklist

Training

The bookkeeper completes the Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll course by the Cutoff Date.

The course is included with our payroll services.

Highly recommended, but optional training courses include:

• Payroll Fundamentals
• QuickBooks Online Fundamentals

The recommended courses are available to the bookkeeper at a client discounted rate.

Certification

The bookkeeper obtains Accounting Analytics Payroll Certification.

The certification is included with our payroll services.

Highly recommended, but optional bookkeeper certifications include:

• NACPB Payroll Certification
• NACPB QuickBooks Online Certification

The NACPB certifications are available to the bookkeeper at a client discounted rate.

Support

The bookkeeper has the following support resources:  

• Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide
• Bookkeeper Dictionary
• Support Video Knowledge Base
• Services Team Member

The bookkeeper accesses the Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide, Bookkeeper Dictionary, and Support Video Knowledge Base in the Accounting Analytics’ website Clients Only portal.

The bookkeeper emails the Services Team Member using the email address provided by the Services Team Member in the New Client Payroll Welcome Email.

Supervision

The Services Team Member supervises the bookkeeper by completing the Monthly Payroll Review Checklist and Payroll Review Points Form.

Payroll Services Workflow

Note: The new client can be a new bookkeeping and payroll client or a standalone payroll client.

The payroll services workflow is as follows:

1. Services Team Leader Creates a New Payroll Project
2. Services Team Member Sends New Client Payroll Welcome Email

Note: This step is only for new standalone payroll clients. The bookkeeping New Client Welcome Email includes all services including payroll.

3. Services Team Member Sends Payroll Information Email
4. Bookkeeper Completes and Submits Payroll Information Form
5. Services Team Member Reviews Payroll Information Form
6. Services Team Member Completes QuickBooks Online Payroll Setup Checklist
7. Services Team Member Completes Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Checklist
8. Bookkeeper Begins Payroll Processing
9. Services Team Member Provides Payroll Support
10. Services Team Member Completes Monthly Payroll Review Checklist
11. Services Team Member Completes and Emails Bookkeeping Review Points Form
12. Bookkeeper “Clears” Each Payroll Review Point
13. Services Team Member Verifies Payroll Review Points are Cleared

Note: Steps 1 – 13 apply to new payroll clients. Steps 9 – 13 apply to ongoing payroll clients.

Step 1 – Services Team Leader Creates a New Payroll Project

Services Team Leader creates a new payroll project including:

1. Project name
2. Client
3. Due date
4. Assign Services Team Member

Add New Project

To create a new project and assign a team member:

1. Select Work from the left menu, then select Manage templates
2. On the Templates page, identify the template you need in the Custom templates or QuickStart templates list and select Create project from the Action column

This will open the Create project panel.

3. Enter a Project name
4. Select the client from the drop-down menu and enter the Due date
5. Select a team member from the Assigned to drop-down list
6. Verify any information or notes for your team in the Details field
7. Verify tasks and make changes, if necessary
8. Select Save

Step 2 – Services Team Member Sends New Client Payroll Welcome Email

Services Team Member sends New Client Payroll Welcome Email to client.

The New Client Payroll Welcome Email:

1. Introduces the Services Team Member
2. Summarizes the onboarding steps the client can expect
3. Provides the Services Team Member email contact information
4. The Services Team Member thanks the client for the opportunity to serve them

To access the New Client Payroll Welcome Email, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 3 – Services Team Member Sends Payroll Information Email

Services Team Member sends Payroll Information Email requesting client to access, complete and submit the Payroll Information Form.

To access the Payroll Information Email, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 4 – Bookkeeper Completes and Submits Payroll Information Form

Bookkeeper accesses, completes, and submits Payroll Information Form.

To access the Payroll Information Form, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 5 – Services Team Member Reviews Payroll Information Form

Services Team Member reviews Payroll Information Form for completeness.

If not complete, Services Team Member emails client for missing information.

To access the Missing Client Payroll Information Email, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 6 – Services Team Member Completes QuickBooks Payroll Setup Checklist

Services Team Member completes QuickBooks Payroll Setup Checklist using Payroll Information Form.

Note and accumulate any questions, comments, or documentation requests regarding the client’s QuickBooks Payroll setup until the setup is complete. Send one Setup Questions and Comments Email with questions, comments, and document and edit the client’s payroll settings.

To access the QuickBooks Payroll Setup Checklist and Payroll Setup Questions and Comments Email, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 7 – Services Team Member Completes Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Checklist

Services Team Member completes Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Checklist for historical payroll transactions between the Start Date and the last day of the previous month (Cutoff Date).

The Start Date is the starting point for payroll records in QuickBooks Payroll. The Start Date is the last day of the previous tax year (generally December 31) or the first day a new company began payroll this year.

The Cutoff Date is the ending point for the Services Team Member to create and record payroll records in QuickBooks Payroll. The bookkeeper will start creating and recording payroll records beginning the next day. The payroll transactions recorded by the Services Team Member serve three purposes:

1. The Services Team Member has a working knowledge of the client’s payroll transactions and is in a better position to support the bookkeeper
2. The payroll records set an example for the bookkeeper to follow
3. The bookkeeper begins with timely, relevant, and reliable payroll information

Note and accumulate any questions, comments, or document requests regarding the client’s historical payroll transactions setup by month. Send one Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Information Email with questions, comments, or document request for each month.  

To access the Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Checklist and Historical Payroll Transactions Setup Information Email, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 8 – Bookkeeper Begins Payroll

The client’s bookkeeper begins payroll procedures presented in the Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide the day after the Cutoff Date.

1. Bookkeeper should have completed Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll training
2. Bookkeeper refers to Payroll with QuickBooks Online Payroll Guide‍
3. Bookkeeper refers to Bookkeeper Dictionary
4. Bookkeeper refers to Bookkeeper Support Video Knowledge Base

Step 9 – Services Team Member Provides Payroll Support

Services Team Member provides payroll support.

Bookkeeper emails Services Team Member for support after referring to 8. b. – d.

If support could have been answered in 8. b. – d., Services Team Member replies with the reference from 8. b. – d. Services Team Member trains bookkeeper to first rely on the support resources before emailing Services Team Member.

Step 10 – Services Team Member Completes Monthly Payroll Review Checklist

Services Team Member completes the Monthly Payroll Review Checklist. The monthly payroll review identifies payroll errors and omissions incurred during the month.

The monthly payroll review serves three purposes:  

1. Assures the client’s payroll information is timely, relevant, and reliable
2. Enables the Services Team Member to complete the Payroll Review Points Form
3. Enables the Services Team Member to perform the monthly accounting

To access the Monthly Payroll Review Checklist, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 11 – Services Team Member Completes and Emails Payroll Review Points Form

Services Team Member completes the Payroll Review Points Form based on the Monthly Payroll Review and emails to the bookkeeper. Payroll review points communicate payroll errors and omissions identified during the Monthly Payroll Review.

Payroll review points serve two purposes:  

1. Assures the client’s payroll information is timely, relevant, and reliable
2. Trains the bookkeeper

Payroll review points generally include:  

1. Instructive payroll comments
2. Payroll clarification questions
3. Payroll errors and omissions
4. Instructions to correct the errors and omissions

Note: Some accountants correct the bookkeeper’s errors and omissions, such as reclassifications. In their minds it’s more efficient to fix the bookkeeper’s errors and omissions rather than take the time to communicate the errors and omissions to the bookkeeper. However, if the bookkeeper isn’t informed of the errors and omissions, they’ll keep making them and the accountant has to keep correcting them.

"If you give a person a fish, they’ll live for a day. If you teach a person how to fish, they’ll live for a lifetime."

To access the Payroll Review Points Form, log in to Accounting Analytics Clients Only portal at accountinganalytics.com.

Step 12 – Bookkeeper “Clears” Each Payroll Review Point

Bookkeeper opens the Payroll Review Points Form and “clears” each review point by reading the comments, answering the questions, and correcting the errors and omissions. Bookkeeper emails the Services Team Member and informs them they have cleared the review points.

Step 13 – Services Team Member Verifies Payroll Review Points are Cleared

Services Team Member reviews and verifies the payroll review points are cleared.