QuickBooks Desktop is a desktop accounting software for businesses who need industry-specific features and reporting. QuickBooks Desktop features include inventory tracking and job costing with the beauty of online collaboration and the speed of running QuickBooks Desktop on your local machine.
With our QuickBooks Desktop integration, you can export an Intuit Interchange Format (IIF) file containing your payroll information and upload it into QuickBooks Desktop software. This is compatible with all versions of QuickBooks Desktop that support IIF imports, including Mac, Pro, Premier, and Enterprise versions. You can upload your chart of accounts directly from QuickBooks Desktop and use your customized accounts to create a journal entry. There are also options for additional levels of granularity within the entry based on earnings types and Gusto departments.
Follow these steps to connect to QuickBooks Desktop from Gusto:
The option to export a Gusto IIF file for your QuickBooks Desktop account will be available the next time you run payroll.
Total wages, taxes, benefit deductions/contributions, reimbursements and contractor payments will now be available to export to your QuickBooks Desktop account each time you run payroll.
If you have an accounting integration, you can customize the date associated with Gusto’s entry to better fit your bookkeeping needs.
The date of an entry dictates what period the expense information will fall in. For example, an entry dated September 30 would fall into Quarter 3 financials, while an entry dated October 1 would fall into Quarter 4 financials. When a pay period has a payday (or check date) that falls in a different month or quarter, this can create problems when you go to balance your books.
Entry date options
Our accounting integrations give you the ultimate flexibility for reporting, allowing you to choose from three entry date options.
Note: If you elect to have the end of the pay period as your entry date, Gusto will default to the check date for any payroll with no pay period, such as an off-cycle payroll or a contractor payment.
Change your entry date options
You can change your entry date selection anytime in Gusto.
Your payrolls will now export with Entry Dates based on your selection. If you need to go back and retroactively sync any payrolls with these new settings, you can do so.
In your Gusto settings, you have the option to consolidate employer taxes on your journal entry, or break each employer tax out. Follow these steps to view or change your consolidation setting.
Unlike online accounting integrations (QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, and Xero), QuickBooks Desktop doesn't receive data through an automatic sync because it's an offline product. Data is instead exported to an Intuit Interchange Format (IIF) file, which you will download from Gusto and upload to your QuickBooks Desktop account.
To export your payroll to QuickBooks Desktop, you'll need to first set up QuickBooks Desktop in Gusto—learn how in the Connect to QuickBooks Desktop from Gusto dropdown above.
When setting up the QuickBooks Desktop integration with Gusto, you'll be prompted to map the following Gusto payroll items:
The more accounts you choose when setting up the accounting integration, the more detail there will be in the payroll entry sent to the accounting software. More detail in the entry results in more detailed reports in your accounting software (profit and loss report, expense reports, outstanding liability reports, etc.).
If you'd like to break out different types of earnings into different expense accounts you can make different account selections for each earnings type. For example, you could have one expense account for vacation pay and a different expense account for overtime.
To add new accounts, you should create those accounts in QuickBooks Desktop and re-upload your QuickBooks Desktop chart of accounts. All the options in Gusto are generated based on what's in that file. Once you have mapped your chart of accounts, data can be exported to an Intuit Interchange Format (IIF) file, which you will then download and upload to your QuickBooks Desktop account.
Unlike online accounting integrations (QuickBooks Online, FreshBooks, and Xero), QuickBooks Desktop does not receive data through an automatic sync since it's an offline product. Data is instead exported to an Intuit Interchange Format (IIF) file, which you will then download and upload it to your QuickBooks Desktop account.
Upload your chart of accounts
Mapping your chart of accounts correctly will allow Gusto to export an IIF file that matches the accounts in your QuickBooks Desktop setup. You can upload your account names from QuickBooks Desktop by following the instructions below.
Note: Refer to Intuit's help articles for more information on IIF files.
This means you can have the earnings of one job go to one account and the earnings of a second job go to a different account. This will expand the entry we send over into the accounting software.
If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your job codes to Classes in step 9 below. The same expense account can be used for each team and have an assigned QuickBooks Class—this keeps the reports in QuickBooks much cleaner and easier to understand.
Assign employees to jobs
Before you map your chart of accounts by jobs, make sure each employee is assigned to at least one job. Here's how:
Salaried employees: edit their job title.
Hourly employees:
Hourly employees can have as many pay rates or jobs as you'd like. If an employee has multiple jobs, their paystub lists each job and its associated earnings.
The steps below apply mappings for all employees who have been assigned a job title in Gusto.
For contractors and employees who have not been assigned a job title, their expenses are mapped based on the settings you choose under “Default Company Mappings.” There are two main categories associated with contractor payments: Bank Account and Contractor Payment (under the “Wages and Salaries” section).
Follow these steps to map your chart of accounts by employee job codes:
Note: If multiple job codes share tracking categories, there will not be separate line items when synced to QuickBooks Desktop. Instead, the job code wages will be lumped together.
These transactions will be exported by job code to your accounting software account. If any jobs are left unmapped, they will sync based on the original chart of accounts mappings.
When setting up your mappings, you can associate specific project work to specific Classes. Mapping by projects (as opposed to job codes or departments) is good for businesses with multiple people in the same role and when some employees work hours in one role and other hours in another role.
If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your projects to Classes in step 9 below. The same expense account can be used for each team and have an assigned QuickBooks Class—this keeps the reports in QuickBooks much cleaner and easier to understand.
Note: If multiple projects share tracking categories, there will not be separate line items when synced to QuickBooks Desktop. Instead, the project wages will be lumped together.
These transactions will be exported by project to your accounting software account. If any projects are left unmapped, they will sync based on the original chart of accounts mappings.
Department mappings are another way to add additional granularity. With department mappings you can use different accounts for the different payroll items within a department. This means you can have the earnings of one department go to one account and the earnings of a second department go to a different account. This will expand the entry we send over into the accounting software.
As an example, I have two departments: Design and Marketing. Before I enabled department mappings, all regular wages earned went to one "salaries and wages" expense account. After enabling department mappings, I can use two expense accounts: a "Sales Wages" expense account and a "Marketing Wages" expense account. When running reports in my accounting software I will have this additional breakdown.
If you use QuickBooks Classes, you can also map your departments to Classes in step 9 below. The same expense account can be used for each team and have an assigned QuickBooks Class—this keeps the reports in QuickBooks much cleaner and easier to understand.
Note: If multiple departments share tracking categories, there will not be separate line items when synced to QuickBooks Desktop. Instead, the department wages will be lumped together
These transactions will be exported by department to your accounting software account. If any departments are left unmapped, they will sync based on the original chart of accounts mappings.
Since Gusto does not take any money for benefits or deductions, we include a mapping for benefit/deduction liabilities. This will create line items within the journal entry and accrue an amount owed for the benefit/deduction. When the benefit/deduction is then paid to the correct party, in QuickBooks Desktop you can offset your liability and zero out the amount owed.
Q: Do you book the wage expense as gross wages or net wages?
A: Gross wages, meaning the wage expense will include employee pay, employee taxes, and employee deductions. Employer taxes and employer contributions will have their own expense line item.
Q: Do you break out individual taxes?
A: We do not break out individual taxes. By transitioning to a third party payroll provider you will no longer have tax payments coming over to your balance sheet as a liability.
Q: How do I handle checks?
A: We recommend printing checks from your Gusto account or handwriting them. You can then reconcile the journal entry from Gusto when the checks are cashed by your employees. We do incorporate the amount of each check in our Journal entry.
Q: What if I want to break out each employees' payroll information?
A: You will want to create a department for each employee and use separate accounts to break out their specific payroll items.
Q: What if I won't be using one of the payroll items listed?
A: The item will still need to be mapped to an account. If the payroll item isn't applicable, nothing will come over related to the account that is selected within your entry. Only payroll items that apply to a processed payroll will populate within the synced entry.
Because Gusto does not take any money for benefits or deductions, we include a mapping for a benefit or deduction expense and a benefit or deduction liability. This will create accounts within your accounting software that accrue an amount owed for the benefit or deduction over time.
When the benefit or deduction is then paid to the requesting party, you can offset your liability account and zero out the accrued amount owed.
Important: When money is pulled for an FSA or commuter benefit, before it is deducted through payroll make sure you don't create an expense but rather establish a receivable. It will be expensed in payroll when the amount is deducted. At that point with the deduction, then reduce the receivable.
Option 1: Create an entry from the bank debit (created by paying the benefit or deduction) and assign that entry to the liability account to offset.
Option 2: Create a check and associate that check with the liability account to offset.
If you pay employees by check, we recommend you print the checks from Gusto.
If you prefer to print checks from within QuickBooks Desktop, you can do this by editing the Journal Entry in QuickBooks Desktop—this prevents double reporting.
For any checks that will be printed from QuickBooks Desktop, we recommend updating the bank account line item on the Journal to a liability account or clearing account. When you create the check in QuickBooks Desktop, you should code the line item to the same liability or clearing account, which will offset the account balance.
Click here for steps to find and edit Journal Entries in QuickBooks Desktop.
In order to properly track the amount of the credit and apply the credit to the federal tax owed, Gusto will pass the amount of the eligible credit through to your Xero and Quickbooks integrations.
Important: This will require the set up of new mappings to accounts in your accounting software. We strongly encourage consulting your accountant in the mapping of these accounts.
Your payroll entries will include two new components: