QuickBooks North Dakota New Hire Report: What Employers Need to Submit
QuickBooks generates the North Dakota New Hire Report with employer and employee data, but several fields require review before electronic submission to the state.
QuickBooks includes a built-in New Hire Report for North Dakota that pulls employee and employer data into a formatted state filing, but users who are unfamiliar with the form’s fields — and the state’s electronic filing threshold — often run into questions about what is required, what is optional, and what QuickBooks fills in automatically.
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. Since January 1, 2012, state law mandates that employers with more than 24 employees at any time file electronically through the internet-based method provided by Child Support Enforcement. Employers at or below that threshold have more flexibility in how they submit, but the data requirements remain the same.
The mandatory fields cover two categories. On the employer side, the state needs the company name, address, phone number, Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN), and a contact person. On the employee side, the report requires the worker’s name, address, Social Security number, and first day of work.
What QuickBooks Imports Automatically
The report relies on data already entered in employee setup, which means accuracy in the employee record directly affects the output. QuickBooks transfers several fields without manual entry, and understanding those defaults helps avoid incorrect filings.
Date of Birth
North Dakota encourages — but does not require — the employee’s date of birth. QuickBooks imports it from the employee record if it has been entered. Because the field is optional at the state level, employers can delete the imported value on the form if they prefer not to share it.
Date of Hire
QuickBooks imports the date of hire from the employee setup. If the imported date does not match the actual hire date, it can be corrected directly on the form before submission.
First Day of Work
Federal law made this a mandatory field as of January 1, 2012. The state defines it as the first date the employee performs paid work. Because most employers treat the hire date and the first day of work as the same thing, QuickBooks automatically copies the date from the Date of Hire field into the First Day of Work field. Employers can override this if the two dates genuinely differ — for example, if an employee was hired on paper weeks before actually starting work.
Medical Benefits Availability
A separate state-law requirement that took effect January 1, 2012 obligates all North Dakota employers to indicate whether they offer health insurance to the new hire. The form accepts a simple yes or no answer. Employers offering coverage enter “Yes”; those who do not enter “No.” This field is distinct from the employee data imports and must be completed on the form itself.
Common Sticking Points
Most of the confusion users report centers on three areas. First, the automatic transfer of the hire date into the first-day-of-work field catches employers off guard when those dates differ — the default is a convenience, not a lock, and the field is editable. Second, the date-of-birth field appears pre-populated even though the state only encourages its inclusion, leading some employers to believe it is mandatory. It can be removed. Third, the health insurance availability question is easy to overlook because it sits outside the imported employee data block.
Employers who have trouble navigating the form window itself can use the Help button within that window for guidance on the interface and on troubleshooting specific issues. For broader payroll and reporting questions, our QuickBooks Online help desk covers common filing and compliance tasks.
A Note on Data Accuracy
Because the report draws from employee records, the simplest way to prevent filing errors is to verify that each new hire’s setup screen is complete and current before generating the report. Missing addresses, blank Social Security numbers, or incorrect hire dates will carry through to the form. Reviewing the employee record first — rather than correcting fields one at a time on the report — is the faster path to a clean submission.