Before the upload, QuickBooks Workforce will ask a handful of setup questions about whether employees were paid this year, when the first payday will be, and where the business is based. It takes about two minutes, and the answers tell the system how to frame the migration so nothing gets set up out of context.
Upload your reports
Next, select your client's current third-party payroll provider from the list of supported systems. QuickBooks Workforce tells you exactly which reports to export and in what format, with step-by-step export instructions linked directly in the interface. From there, drag and drop the required files into the system, and that’s the only data entry you need to do.
Once uploaded, QuickBooks Workforce processes both files. The system reads through the reports, identifies employees, maps pay data, and calculates totals. Estimated processing time is approximately one business day.
Behind the scenes, a QuickBooks specialist reviews the output before it reaches you, so when you open the review screen, the data has already cleared a quality check.
Verify payroll items
QuickBooks Workforce notifies you when the migration is ready for review. The first screen gives you a quick summary of active and inactive employee counts, work locations, pay schedules, and anything flagged for your attention.
The system also tells you the right order to work through everything. You’ll categorize payroll items first because those mappings flow through every employee profile and paycheck. Payroll item mapping means matching each pay type and deduction from your current provider to its QuickBooks Workforce category.
You’re only selecting from a validated list, so checking four items takes around two minutes. Plus, when you get the mapping correct now, it will be correct everywhere else.
Check employee profiles
After categorizing payroll items, you’ll move on to employee profiles. QuickBooks Workforce displays every imported record in a table view, including:
- Name
- Payroll-ready status
- Masked SSN
- Pay schedule
- Home address
- Date of birth
QuickBooks Workforce flags any incomplete items that need your attention. You can even filter them by status or missing field, so you don’t have to scroll through 14 records to find the one that needs your attention.
Inline editing and employee self-service
You can edit any field directly in the table without opening individual profiles. You also don’t need to manually add information, either. You can add missing data using the “Invite to Workforce” button, which sends employees a link to complete their own information.
Review payroll history
The final review step is checking payroll history. QuickBooks Workforce imports year-to-date totals from payroll history reports and displays them by employee. You’ll see the following, all broken down by Year to Date and Totals as of last quarter.
- Gross pay
- Deductions
- Contributions
- Tax lines
Because the platform handles most of the work, your role in this step is verification. If you see totals that look off, you can edit them inline. There’s no need to manually enter every paycheck from every period, which makes migrating to QuickBooks Workforce much simpler.
Complete tax setup
After marking payroll history as complete, you’ll complete the tax setup, which includes providing your client’s EIN, deposit frequency, and SUI or SUTA rate, plus other state-specific rates as needed. Finally, you’ll add their bank account connection.
When all tasks are green, your client is ready to run payroll in QuickBooks Workforce.
Learn how to set up a third-party migration:
