Importing Employee Time in QuickBooks Desktop

Importing Employee Time in QuickBooks Desktop

Employee time can be imported into QuickBooks Desktop using an IIF file.

Prerequisites	Importing into QBD
Enabling the Export	Best Practices
Configuring Export Settings	Troubleshooting & FAQ
Setting up QuickBooks Payroll Items
Exporting the IIF File

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are required to import employee time into QuickBooks Desktop:

• Janitorial Manager's Location name must match the Customer/Company name in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Employee names in Janitorial Manager must match the names in QuickBooks Desktop.
• Payroll items must exist in QuickBooks Desktop.
• If using QuickBooks Desktop 2019 or earlier, you must be able to switch to QBD's Single-user mode before importing the IIF file.

Failure to meet these requirements may cause failed or partially failed imports in QBD.

Enabling the Export

1. On the web portal, go to Gear icon > Manage Account.
2. Select the Settings tab.
3. In the Payroll System dropdown, choose QuickBooks Desktop. The page will save automatically.

Configuring Export Settings

The QBD export settings require a one-time setup. Any saved information will be applied to future payroll cycles unless manually changed.

1. Go to Gear icon > Payroll > Manage Payroll.
2. Select the QuickBooks Export button for a payroll cycle.
3. Add the following settings to the corresponding fields:
   • Version - 8
   • Release - 0
   • Imported Before - N
   • From Timer - Y
   • Company Create Time - 1208544781
   • Product - QuickBooks Pro for Windows
   • Version - Version 6.0D
   • Release - Release R4P
   • IIF Version - 1
   • Date - 4/18/2008
   • Time - 1208545205
   • Account - N
   • Account Splittime - 0
4. Select Save.

Setting up QuickBooks Payroll Items

In QuickBooks Desktop, payroll items manage employee compensation, including payroll, service, overtime, and travel time. The export defaults to items added at the employee level, then location, and finally company level if no items are defined.

As an example, if a Payroll item is added at the employee level, the export will always use that item for the employee even if it's defined at the location or company level.

Payroll items only need to be set at the company level if they should apply to all employees.

Setting up Company-Level Payroll Items

1. Go to Gear icon > Payroll > Manage Payroll.
2. Select the QuickBooks Export button for a payroll cycle.
3. Add values for the Service, Payroll, Overtime, and Travel Time items.
4. Select Update Items to confirm changes.

Setting up Location-Level Payroll Items

1. Go to Customers > Manage Locations.
2. Select the Edit Pencil in the Actions column for a location.
3. In the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Item section, add the Service, Payroll, Overtime, and Travel Time items.
4. Save the page to confirm changes.

Setting up Employee-Level Payroll Items

1. Go to Employees > Manage Employees.
2. Select the Edit Pencil in the Actions column for an employee.
3. In the QuickBooks Desktop Payroll Item section, add the Service, Payroll, Overtime, and Travel Time items.
4. Save the page to confirm changes.

Exporting the IIF File

A payroll cycle must be processed before it can be exported.  Click here to learn how to create and process payroll cycles in Janitorial Manager.

1. Go to Gear icon > Payroll > Manage Payroll.
2. Select the QuickBooks Export button for a processed payroll cycle.
3. Select Export to download the IIF file.
   • Before export, select Edit on a time punch to change the payroll items for a specific line item if needed.

Importing into QBD

Please refer to Intuit's documentation on importing IIF files into QuickBooks Desktop.  Instructions vary slightly between Windows and Mac versions.

Best Practices

• Verify that your employee and location names match between systems before importing your first payroll cycle.  Double-check for any leading or trailing spaces.
  • Importing time for names not in QuickBooks Desktop creates a new employee entry. For example, 'John Doe' in JM but 'Jonathan Doe' in QBD will result in a new entry. This process is controlled by QBD and cannot be disabled by JM.
• Close your payroll cycle in JM after paychecks have been created in QuickBooks Desktop.  This prevents time from being modified in JM (while the cycle is closed).
• Import your time into QBD before your payroll cycle is due.  This provides time to correct/update any time entries if needed.

FAQ & Troubleshooting

Question: Which payroll items should I use?

Answer: The payroll items in your QuickBooks account are unique to your company. Our team generally cannot provide guidance on which payroll items should be used.

Question: I realized I still had pending punches after importing my time into QBD.  What should I do?

Answer: The best practice for this depends on how many time punches need to be added or updated in QBD.  If there are only a few, those time punches can be added manually to QBD. If the majority of the time punches need to be updated, we suggest deleting the imported times, correcting times in JM, regenerating the IIF file, and then re-importing.

Question: My import failed in QuickBooks Desktop, what do I do?

Answer: QBD will generate a new IIF file that includes error codes for failed line items. Review the file and correct any errors, or download the error file and send it to our support team for further assistance.

To download the file:

1. After attempting the import in QBD, select Review Now.
2. Open and save the file.
   • Do not edit the file contents or type if you intend to send it to our support team.

Common errors:

Error	Description	Solution
11304	'MiddleName' exceeds the maximum length of 5 characters.	When the IIF file is imported, QBD automatically divides names by space. This setting cannot be controlled by JM and is unrelated to how we generate the import file. For example, this name in JM... ... would appear as below in QuickBooks Desktop. QBD's Middle Name field has a 5-character limit, any values above this result in the 11304 error. Hyphenating the names in JM and QBD. Ex. Julia Elena-Ramos Initialing the middle name in JM and QBD. Ex. Julia E. Ramos Editing an employee's legal name in QuickBooks may affect how it appears on paychecks and tax reports. Consider how this would impact your QBD account before making any changes.
15179	Invalid Employee Name	Confirm that the Janitorial Manager employee name exists in QuickBooks Desktop. This often pairs with error 11304.
15182	The specified Item is not present in QuickBooks or is not a Service Type Item.	Confirm that the payroll item added to JM matches the exact term in QuickBooks Desktop.

For more information, or to send in a request to the Janitorial Manager support department, use the red 'Help' button in the bottom right corner of any Help Desk article.