Handling More Than Twelve Payroll Liability Payments in QuickBooks Setup

When setting up payroll liabilities in QuickBooks Desktop, the Payroll Setup interview includes space for exactly twelve payments. Users who have more than twelve liability payments to record — whether already paid or still to be processed — need a separate workflow to avoid losing data or leaving entries incomplete. The community’s accepted workaround is straightforward and preserves all information entered so far.

The Twelve-Payment Limit

The Payroll Setup interview is designed to collect the first batch of liability payments. Once you have entered twelve, the interview will still allow you to proceed, but you cannot enter additional payments through the same interface. Attempting to force more entries can lead to confusion or missed liabilities. The fix is to use two separate routes depending on whether the payments have already been made or are still outstanding.

Entering Extra Payments Already Made

For liability payments you have already issued (for example, previous tax deposits or garnishments), follow these steps:

1. Enter the first twelve payments normally using the Payroll Setup interview.
2. When you reach the “Review your payments…” window, click Finish Later to exit the interview. All data entered is saved and can be resumed later.
3. Open the Payroll Transaction Detail report:

• In Pro, Premier, or Enterprise editions: Go to Reports > Employees & Payroll > Payroll Transaction Detail.
• In Simple Start: Open the Payroll Center from the Home page, then navigate to Reports > Payroll Transaction Detail.

4. Find the last liability payment you entered in the interview and double-click it.
5. In the Prior Payments window that appears, you will see the twelve payments already recorded. Add the remaining payments one by one.
6. Click Done when finished, then refresh the report to confirm the new entries.

After this manual addition, you can return to the Payroll Setup interview to continue any other setup tasks. In Pro, Premier, or Enterprise, go to Employees > Payroll Setup. In Simple Start, go to Setup and Maintain within the Payroll Center and choose Payroll Setup.

Entering Payments Still to Be Made

If you have liability checks that still need to be written (for example, future tax payments), the setup interview is not the place to create them. Instead:

1. Exit the interview by clicking Finish and then Finish Later. Your existing data is retained.
2. Use the standard liability payment process:

• In Pro, Premier, or Enterprise: Go to Employees > Process Payroll Liabilities > Pay Payroll Liabilities.
• In Simple Start: Go to the Payroll Center, click Related Payment Activities, then Create Custom Liability Payments.

3. Specify a date range that covers the paychecks you have already created in QuickBooks. Click OK.
4. On the Pay by Check tab, choose whether to print checks or write them by hand.

• Select To be printed if you print live checks or use Direct Deposit (to print advices).
• Clear To be printed if you write checks by hand (then enter the first check number) or use Direct Deposit but only want paystubs (leave the check number field empty or enter a memo).

5. Select the bank account from the drop-down, and enter the Check Date.
6. If expected liabilities do not appear, double-check the date range and that the underlying paychecks exist in the system. Select the appropriate liabilities and complete the payment.

Final Notes

The key is never to force more than twelve payments into the setup interview alone. By splitting the workflow — using the interview for the first twelve and the Payroll Transaction Detail report or the Pay Payroll Liabilities feature for the rest — you keep all entries accurate and avoid gaps in your payroll records. For more general QuickBooks payroll guidance, the community has compiled step-by-step resources at QuickBooks Users and QuickBooks Ninja.