KnowledgeBase

How Do I Update My Payroll Software?

Chief Mechanic · August 24, 2010 ·

To update your QuickBooks payroll software, visit the Get Payroll Updates menu selection on the Employees menu.

We recommend downloading the entire update, so be sure to select the radio button Download entire payroll update.

Click the Update button. QuickBooks will begin the update process and will show a series of Payroll Update windows similar to the one below during the update process:

When the updating process is complete, you should see a Payroll Update window confirming the updates were installed. Click Ok to see information about the update installed.

When you’ve finished reviewing the changes included with the Payroll Update, click the X in the upper right corner to close the Payroll Update News window and return to normal work.

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Does Intuit Offer Support For IIF Files?

Chief Mechanic · August 23, 2010 ·

Unfortunately, no. Intuit’s policy is stated in this Intuit knowledgebase article.

Intuit Interchange Files are delimited text files that can be used to import and export data when working with a QuickBooks company file (.qbw).

While the ability to use IIF files is still included in QuickBooks, most newer programs have adopted techniques that make use of the Intuit Software Development Kit (SDK). That has caused the use of IIF files to decline over time, something that Intuit has encouraged by its policy of non-support.

The file structure of an IIF can be complex. Intuit has some online resources to help users create or edit an IIF file, including sample IIF files and IIF import tools.

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What Are the Capabilities of IIF Files?

Chief Mechanic · August 23, 2010 ·

Intuit Interchange Format (IIF) files are delimited text files used for import and export operations with Intuit data files, such as a QuickBooks company file (.qbw).

In QuickBooks, IIF files have some important limitations, which are discussed in this Intuit knowledgebase article. These files:

can’t be used to import linked transactions, such as a link between a customer invoice and a customer payment paying for that invoice
can only be used in single-user mode and logged in as the Admin user
can’t be used to import or export payroll data
can’t be used to export transactions

Because of these limitations and the fact that Intuit doesn’t support their use, IIF files are increasingly becoming obsolete.

(+1 rating, 1 votes)

Can I Import Data to QuickBooks From Microsoft Excel?

Chief Mechanic · August 23, 2010 ·

Yes, subject to certain limitations.

You can only import list data into 1 of 4 lists:

Customers
Vendors
Items
Accounts

You can import either in Microsoft’s supported workbook format (.xls or .xlsx, depending on your version of Excel) or CSV format.

Intuit offers a free Import Excel and CSV Toolkit, which includes a PDF manual, CSV and .XLS example import files, and a reference guide explaining field names. It’s a compressed executable file, which extracts those files when run. Additional information is available in this Intuit knowledgebase article.

You can use another import file type, Intuit Interchange Format (IIF), to import unlinked transactions. See our article on the capabilities of IIF files for more information.

(+3 rating, 3 votes)

Why Does Pay Scheduled Liabilities Show No Liabilities When Liabilities Do Exist?

Chief Mechanic · August 23, 2010 ·

We’ve seen cases where payroll liabilities are missing from the Pay Scheduled Liabilities block on the Payroll tab of Employee Center but the company has actual payroll tax liabilities. The screenshot below shows where all payroll tax liabilities should appear, but sometimes liabilities are missing.

QuickBooks Premier 2009 Employee Center Pay Scheduled Liabilities

Typically, payroll tax liabilities can be confirmed by the Payroll Liability Balances report (on the Reports->Employees & Payroll menu selection) or by an examination of general ledger account balances. The Payroll Liability Balances report can be configured to report totals by quarter, which matches the reporting format for the Pay Scheduled Liabilities information.

According to Intuit, this situation is caused by:

another Liability Check exists that covers the amount of the missing liability
the liability isn’t being recorded in an account whose type is Other Current Liability
the liability account is marked inactive
the starting or ending Period dates on the Liability Check used to pay a payroll tax liability are wrong
no payment schedule has been set up for the payroll tax liability
the company file was upgraded from a prior version of QuickBooks to a newer one

Intuit describes a series of troubleshooting techniques in this knowledge base article. However, in our experience, these steps work to resolve some, but not all, situations where payroll tax liabilities are missing from the Pay Scheduled Liabilities block.

We recommend regularly reviewing the Payroll Liability Balances report as well as the general ledger accounts accumulating payroll tax liabilities to be sure all liabilities are currently recognized and paid.

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Accounting

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Intuit