Hiring Summer Employees? QuickBooks Can Track Their Time
Hiring summer employees and tracking their time in QuickBooks has never been easier! Whether you’re paying employees for their hours worked or billing customers for services, QuickBooks has the tools you need to keep everything organized.
Step-by-Step: Setting Up Time Tracking in QuickBooks
- Enable Time Tracking
- Go to Edit | Preferences.
- Select Time & Expenses.
- Under Company Preferences, set the first day of the workweek and check the box for billable time if you want to flow time directly into invoices.
Figure 1: Before you can start tracking and billing for time, you’ll need to fill out some of the fields in this Company Preferences window.
2. Payroll Setup
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- If you’re using payroll, check the “Use time data to create paychecks” box in the employee records. This lets tracked hours flow into payroll seamlessly.
Figure 2: To facilitate the flow from time to paychecks, be sure to check the box for “Use time data to create paychecks.”
Entering Time in QuickBooks ⏳
- QuickBooks offers two ways to enter time. You can record hours on individual tickets or fill out weekly timesheets. No matter which you choose, the information is always available in the other form. You can switch methods at any time, and your work will be preserved.
Let’s start with the individual time tickets. Open the Employee Center in the toolbar, or click on the Employees menu. Click Enter Time, then Time/Enter Single Activity. The window shown in Figure 3 opens:
Figure 3: It’s easy to record hours on this single-activity ticket by simply filling in the blanks.
QuickBooks pulls in data from other parts of the program, records you’ve already created. First, enter the activity’s date or select it from the calendar. Click the arrow next to Name and choose the appropriate employee from the list.
Second, if the hours are going to be billed to a customer or job, click the next arrow and select the correct one (ignore this if you’re just recording company time, like regular compensation or sick time). Finally, pick the service that the employee performed, if applicable. Be sure to check the Billable box when it’s appropriate.
Tip: You can create a new record on the fly here if, for example, you haven’t set up the service you need to record. Click < Add New > in the drop-down list.
Linking to Payroll
You can also use QuickBooks’s timer if you’re going to bill for a timed activity such as a phone call. And you can add notes that will be saved to the ticket.
QuickBooks provides other ways to describe hours spent so that they’re recorded properly. If you have payroll turned on and have associated a payroll item with the selected service item, the Payroll Item field (which indicates how much the employee should be paid) will automatically be filled in. You can easily change this field if necessary.
If you haven’t created a payroll item, select Add New. A wizard will walk you through the process. This relationship can be a bit confusing so talk to us if you have any questions. When you’re done, click Save & Close or Save & New.
Week at a Time
Weekly timesheets can save you a lot of time. To get there, open the Employee Center in the toolbar, or click on the Employees menu. Click Use Weekly Timesheet. You’ll see a window similar to the one shown in Figure 4:
Figure 4: Rather than entering each activity individually, you can document an entire week at a time using the Weekly Timesheet.
You can speed through weekly timesheets, using the drop-down lists to select the appropriate data and entering the number of hours worked. Click Copy Last Sheet if you want to duplicate the configuration from the last pay period.
QuickBooks Time Tracker offers another way to save time and avoid errors. Employees can send their timesheets from any computer that has an Internet connection. Your staff who handles payroll can then download and incorporate them into the company’s payroll. Prices start at $10/month for one user.
Whether you’re bringing employees in for seasonal help or your regular payroll incorporates time worked as well as items sold, QuickBooks contains the tools you need to both invoice customers accurately and dispatch proper paychecks.
If you need help with this feature, or you have any questions on QuickBooks’s reporting, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Quick Tip: QuickBooks Time Tracker lets employees submit timesheets online, helping you avoid errors and streamline the process.
Whether it’s for seasonal help or regular staff, QuickBooks will ensure accurate invoices and payroll. Need assistance? Reach out, and we’ll help you get set up!