Since our platform has an integration with your payroll provider, we can take a lot of work off your plate regarding the processing of your payroll files through automation.
Quickbooks Online Payroll offers a 360° level of integration.
This guide will help you set up your integration as well as help you understand your specific responsibilities for the proper administration and submission of payroll files.
- Is My Version of Quickbooks Compatible With the Integration?
- How Does My Integration Work?
- Are There Any Reasons Why My Plan Might Not Be Eligible for an Integration?
- What Are My Responsibilities if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
- What Does Vestwell Handle For Me if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
- How Catch-Up Contributions Are Tracked Through the Integration
- How Do I Connect My Integration?
- How Do I Disconnect My Integration?
Is My Version of Quickbooks Compatible With the Integration?
Intuit offers several products that have similar names, but not all are covered by this integration. Below is a list of all common product/version names offered by Intuit and their compatibility with the integration 👇
✅ Supported
- QuickBooks Online Payroll
❌ Not Supported
- QuickBooks Desktop*
- Intuit App Center
- Intuit Online Payroll
- QuickBooks Enterprise
- QuickBooks Payroll
- QuickBooks Paycheck
- QuickBooks Payments
- QuickBooks Time
*clients with QuickBooks Desktop can potentially upgrade to Quickbooks Online Payroll - check out this article from Intuit for more information.
How Does My Integration Work?
Your integration is a 360° automated integration. This is a two-way integration in which Vestwell will automatically receive certain information about your plan and employees from your payroll system, process employee and employer contributions to the plan, and automatically send your employees’ selected deferral elections from their Vestwell portal to your payroll provider.
Please note that the Quickbooks Online integration will only allow employees to elect deferrals in percentages; dollar amount deferrals will not be an option.
Are There Any Reasons Why My Plan Might Not Be Eligible for an Integration?
There are some plan design features that currently prohibit the use of payroll integration, including:
- Plans that have multiple EINs.
- Plans that have multiple logins into their payroll system.
- Plans that do not have an established recurring pay schedule setup in both Vestwell and the payroll system.
- Plans that do not use the same payroll provider for all pay group(s).
- Plans that have limitations preventing each pay group from being integrated.
- Eligibility rules that exclude certain classes of employees, types of compensation, or certain types of hours worked.
- Plans with per pay period non-mandatory employer contributions
- Plans that allow after-tax contributions (only be available if your plan uses a Third Party Administrator). Note: After-tax and Roth contributions are not the same; please see our article "Participant Contribution Types: Differences between Pre-tax, Roth, and After-tax."
What Are My Responsibilities if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
Our ability to successfully process your payroll files and administer your plan depends on you! It is your responsibility to:
Loans
Set up and maintain retirement loans within your payroll system.
Follow the steps below to set up a loan in Quickbooks Online:
- Navigate to the Payroll option from the left-hand menu, then select Employees.
- Select the employee's name to access their profile.
- Scroll to the Deduction & Contributions section, then select Edit.
- On this screen, select Add deductions/contributions.
- Under Deduction/contribution, select Add deduction/contribution.
- Under Deduction/contribution type, select Other deductions.
- Under Type, select LOAN REPAYMENT.
- Under Description, type in exactly: Vestwell Integration - 401k Loan Repayment.
- Under Employee deduction, put in the appropriate amount for the loan repayment.
- Click Save.
Discretionary and/or Profit-Sharing Contributions
- Set up and maintain non-mandatory employer contributions in your payroll system.
- Submit non-mandatory employer contributions through your Vestwell portal using an off-cycle upload. Learn how to submit an off-cycle contribution here.
Mandatory Employer Contributions
- Set up and maintain mandatory employer contributions that are on a frequency other than on a per-pay period basis using an Off-cycle upload. Learn more about off-cycle contributions here.
Pay Groups
- Make sure any pay groups in your payroll system are also set up at Vestwell and vice versa. To edit a pay group name or set up new playgroups, please see How to add or change a pay group in your Vestwell account.
- The number of pay groups or companies in your payroll system may affect your plan’s eligibility to integrate.
Saver Status Changes - Payroll System
- Make updates in your payroll system when savers are hired, terminated, or re-hired. Include a specific date when making these status changes in your payroll system.
Saver Personal Information
- Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date personal information within your payroll system - including date of birth, social security number, and email address.
Pay Frequency/Schedule Changes
- Report any pay frequency or pay schedule changes to your Vestwell representative to ensure there is no delay in processing your payroll files upon making this change in your payroll system.
Review Payroll Data
- We rely on you to provide us with correct, updated, and complete data about your employees regardless of whether we receive that data directly from you or from your payroll provider. Regular audits and spot checks of the data provided to us will help you quickly identify and rectify any discrepancies.
What Does Vestwell Handle For Me if My Plan Has an Active Payroll Integration?
Payroll Codes
- Set up and maintain certain deduction/earnings codes within your payroll system. Because Vestwell manages the codes, do not change this information unless expressly told to do so by your Vestwell Representative.
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Name: Vestwell Integration - Pretax 401k Contributions.
Type: TPPO_CUS_401K -
Name: Vestwell Integration - Pretax 401k Catchup Contributions.
Type: TPPO_CUS_401K_CATCHUP -
Name: Vestwell Integration - Roth 401k Contributions.
Type: TPPO_CUS_ROTH401K
-
Name: Vestwell Integration - Pretax 401k Contributions.
If you have existing Pretax or Roth codes in QuickBooks, they will be deactivated. Any existing IRA codes must be deactivated by you, the employer.
Saver Deferrals - First Payroll
- Four business days prior to your first pay date with Vestwell, we will use the saver deferral rates in the Vestwell portal to set saver elections in your payroll system. To guarantee saver deferral rates have been updated in your payroll system, do not run payroll prior to 4 business days before your scheduled pay date.
Saver Deferral Updates
- Ongoing deferral changes made in the Vestwell portal by eligible savers will be set in your payroll system within two business days.
- We will communicate any deferral update requests to your payroll system. Savers may not see this reflected in their next few paychecks, as it could take time for this update to be reflected.
- If your plan has an auto-enrollment feature, the same guidelines above apply. Read more about auto-enrollment here.
Saver Status Changes - Vestwell Portal
- When you add, rehire, or terminate employees in your payroll system, the changes will be reflected in the Vestwell portal.
Processing Contributions
- Process employee deferrals and employer contributions, which are maintained by the integration shortly after you run payroll in your payroll system.
How Catch-Up Contributions Are Tracked Through the Integration
The IRS limits how much money employees can contribute to their 401(k) plan each year. Typically, contributions made towards the IRS annual limit are referred to as regular contributions. However, individuals who are 50 or older at the end of the calendar year can make additional contributions that are referred to as catch-up contributions.
Quickbooks Online does not have a feature that differentiates contributions as regular or catch-up. Therefore, in order to track the contributions, the Vestwell integration accounts for employees’ ages with different outcomes based on whether contributions are made on a pre-tax or Roth (after-tax) basis:
Employees under the age of 50 are not eligible for catch-up contributions. Therefore, the catch-up contributions deduction type will be set to inactive. All contributions made, both pre-tax and Roth (after-tax), will be categorized as regular.
Employees age 50 and older are eligible for catch-up contributions. For these employees:
- If they deferred on a pre-tax basis: The catch-up contributions deduction type is set to active, while their regular pre-tax contribution deduction type will be set to inactive. All contributions will be categorized as catch-up.
- If they deferred on a Roth basis: Because Quickbooks does not account for Roth catch-up contributions, it will be categorized as regular.
- If they deferred on both a pre-tax and Roth basis: The pretax contributions will be categorized as catch-up, while the Roth contributions will be regular.
How Do I Connect My Integration?
To connect your integration, please follow the below instructions before you process your next payroll:
- Log in to your Vestwell employer portal.
- Navigate to the "Contribution" page.
- Click the gear icon.
- Click the Connect to Quickbooks button.
- Follow the steps to authorize your connection.
We will deactivate your existing 401(k) deduction codes, please do not run payroll until you see "Vestwell Retirement Deduction Codes."
Where to Find Retirement Deduction Codes:
Your Retirement Deduction Codes will appear 4 business days before your first payroll with Vestwell. You can locate the codes in Gusto by following the instructions below:
- Log in to Quickbooks Online.
- Navigate to "Payroll."
- Click Employee.
- Select Deduction & Contribution.
When these steps have been completed you will see the Vestwell deduction codes.
How Do I Disconnect My Integration?
To deactivate your integration:
- Log in to your Vestwell sponsor portal.
- Navigate to your Contributions page.
- Click the Tools icon.
- Click ‘Disconnect’ under the integration status.
- Follow the steps to authorize your connection.
If you change payroll providers, it is your responsibility to inform us so that we can work with you to assess whether integration with a different payroll provider is available. Please reach out to your Vestwell representative, and we will assist you.
If your plan has been amended or if you are considering an amendment to your original plan documents, please inform your Vestwell Representative to understand what actions on your part will be required to submit and process your payroll files correctly.