QuickBooks New Hire Report for Alaska: Required Fields and Common Pitfalls

QuickBooks payroll includes a built-in New Hire Reporting form designed to help employers comply with state and federal filing requirements. For Alaska-based employers, the form pulls employee data directly from the records set up in the company file — but several fields require manual attention, and missing information is the most common reason the report comes back incomplete or gets rejected.

Alaska’s Filing Requirements

Both Alaska and federal law require employers to report new hires to the Alaska New Hire Reporting Section within 20 days of the date of hire. The report must include the employee’s name, address, Social Security number, date of birth, and first day of work, along with an indication of whether the employee was rehired or recalled. The employer’s name, address, and Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) are also required.

The State of Alaska additionally encourages — though does not strictly require — employers to include the employee’s hire date, whether medical benefits are available, and whether the employee is a rehire.

Where QuickBooks Fills In Automatically

QuickBooks attempts to streamline the form by importing certain data points from the existing employee setup. Specifically, the software pulls the employee’s date of birth and date of hire into the corresponding fields on the New Hire Reporting form. For most employers, the date of hire also serves as the first day of work, so QuickBooks automatically transfers that date into the “First Day of Work” field as well.

This automation works smoothly when employee records are complete. The problems arise when a field was never populated during initial setup — or when the imported date does not match what Alaska considers correct.

Fields That Commonly Need Manual Entry

Several fields on the Alaska New Hire Report either require manual input or may need correction after QuickBooks imports the data:

Employee Date of Birth

This is a mandatory field under Alaska’s requirements. QuickBooks will import it automatically, but only if the date of birth was entered when the employee profile was created. If that field was left blank during setup, the New Hire Report will be missing a required data point, and the employer will need to enter it manually on the form.

Employee Date of Hire or Rehire

QuickBooks imports the date of hire from the employee record. However, Alaska defines “date of hire” specifically as the first day services are performed for wages — not necessarily the date the employee signed paperwork or was offered the job. If the imported date does not reflect the actual first day of paid work, it should be corrected directly on the form before filing.

First Day of Work

Federal law made this a mandatory field effective January 1, 2012. The first day of work is defined as the date an employee first performs work for which they are paid. Because most employers treat the hire date and the first day of work as the same, QuickBooks automatically copies the date of hire into this field. Employers should verify that the date is accurate, particularly in situations where an employee was hired on one date but did not begin working until a later date.

Medical Benefits Availability

This is an optional field, though Alaska encourages employers to include it. Enter “Yes” if health insurance benefits are available to the employee and “No” if they are not. QuickBooks does not populate this field automatically, so it requires manual entry for employers who choose to report it.

Rehired or Recalled

This is a required field. Enter “Yes” if the employee was rehired or recalled to work, and “No” if this is a new hire with no prior employment history at the company. QuickBooks does not determine this automatically — the employer must make the designation on the form.

How to Access the Form

To generate the New Hire Report in QuickBooks Desktop, navigate to the Employees menu, select Payroll Forms, and locate the New Hire Reporting form from the list of available state forms. The form window includes a Help button for general guidance on using the form interface and for troubleshooting specific issues that arise during completion.

The Most Common Breakdown

The recurring issue users run into is not a software malfunction — it is incomplete employee setup. When date of birth or date of hire fields are left blank in the employee profile, QuickBooks has nothing to import, and the New Hire Report generates with gaps in mandatory fields. Employers who discover missing data on the report should go back to the employee record, populate the missing fields, and then regenerate the form. Alternatively, the fields can be entered directly on the form itself before printing or submitting.

For employers managing onboarding across multiple states or dealing with more complex payroll setup issues, keeping employee records complete from the start is the simplest way to ensure the New Hire Report compiles correctly the first time.