The Intuit Payroll team recently issued a few critical notices to subscribers that are worth mentioning.  One discusses fees for Assisted Payroll Subscribers, and the other is a reminder for all Intuit Payroll users.

Assisted Payroll Users: Fee Update

Effective August 8, 2011, the fee per employee per paycheck will increase to $2.  The monthly subscription fee remains unchanged.  Even considering this increase, the Intuit Assisted Payroll service remains competitively priced versus other payroll providers offering similar services.  However, if the change affects your business adversely and you would like to discuss the issue with an Intuit representative, the number to call is 888-712-9702.

Payroll Critical Notices: Heed Them

All Intuit Payroll subscribers should ensure that the complete contents of Payroll Update 21113 has been received into the company QuickBooks file.  Installation of this critical update ensures compliance with current legislation affecting payroll tax calculations.  Note to Balance Books customers: we handle all payroll updates for our payroll clients, so you do not need to manually update your software.

To ensure that your QuickBooks file contains the most recent tax tables, go to the Employees > Get Payroll Updates.  If your software is up-to-date, you will see a message that says, "You are using tax table version 21113."

If you need to install this update manually, click here for instructions: http://payroll.intuit.com/support/kb/1001166.html

Balance Books highly recommends turning on Automatic Updates to ensure you receive all payroll updates automatically when they are released (assuming the computer hosting your QuickBooks file is connected to the internet).  

To turn on Automatic Updates:

1. Choose Help > Update QuickBooks
2. On the Options tab, select "Yes" to enable Automatic Updates.

Failure to ensure that the available updates are received into the QuickBooks file can lead to inaccurate payroll filings, and that may result in costly amendments to your payroll tax returns.  When it comes to payroll issues, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure, so take the time today to make sure you're set up to receive Automatic Updates.