QuickBooks New Hire Report for North Dakota: What Gets Filed and Why

QuickBooks Desktop includes a built-in New Hire Report designed to help North Dakota employers meet their state filing obligations. The report pulls employee and employer details directly from company file records, but several fields require review before submission — and at least one mandatory data point can default incorrectly if the employee setup is incomplete.

The Filing Requirement

North Dakota requires employers to submit a new hire report to the Department of Human Services within 20 days of hiring or rehiring an employee. For larger employers — those with more than 24 employees at any time — electronic filing through the state’s online portal is mandatory. Smaller employers have additional submission options, but the data requirements remain the same regardless of how the report is transmitted.

What the State Requires

North Dakota mandates the following employer details on every new hire report: the company name, address, phone number, Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), and a designated contact person. On the employee side, the state requires the worker’s full name, address, Social Security number, and first day of work.

The state also encourages — but does not require — two additional data points: the employee’s date of birth and the official date of hire.

How QuickBooks Populates the Report

The New Hire Report in QuickBooks draws from the information already entered in each employee’s profile. When the report is generated, the software attempts to auto-fill the optional and mandatory fields based on existing records.

The employee date of birth imports automatically if it was entered during employee setup. Because the state considers this optional, employers can delete it from the report if they prefer not to share it.

The employee date of hire also imports from the setup record. If the imported date is inaccurate, it can be corrected directly on the form before filing.

The First Day of Work Field

This is where employers most commonly encounter confusion. The “First Day of Work” field is mandatory, and the state defines it specifically as the date the employee first performs paid work — not necessarily the date on the employment agreement or offer letter.

Because most employers treat the hire date and the first day of work as the same, QuickBooks automatically copies the value from the “Date of Hire” field into the “First Day of Work” field. However, this default may not be accurate in every situation. If an employee’s first actual day of paid work differs from their official hire date — for example, a hire date that falls on a weekend or before orientation — the employer must manually correct the field before submitting the report.

Medical Benefits Reporting

North Dakota also requires all employers to indicate whether they offer health insurance to the new hire. The report includes a field for medical benefits availability, where employers enter “Yes” if coverage is available or “No” if it is not. This is a required disclosure, not an optional one, and it applies to every new hire regardless of enrollment status.

Where to Find Help Within QuickBooks

For general guidance on navigating the form window or troubleshooting a specific issue with the report itself, the form includes a Help button that opens relevant instructions. QuickBooks also provides additional background on the New Hire Reporting Form through an in-product link labeled “More about the New Hire Report.”

Employers who need to verify the state’s electronic filing requirements or locate the online submission portal can search for “new hire reporting” on the official North Dakota state website.