This article addresses how to update your Texas Workforce Commission State Unemployment Tax Rate for your business payroll purposes, within your QuickBooks Desktop payroll software (this article is not addressing making updates to your QuickBooks Online payroll software).

It is recommended that you, as the small business owner, verify this payroll tax rate at least twice per year: around July 1^st and January 1^st of each year.

So, to actually verify your TX SUI tax rate (for your business), you will need to login to your Unemployment Tax Services business account online. Once you are logged in, then proceed to your “Account Info” tab at the top. Once you are within this tab, then click on “Tax Rate Summary” on the left side, then review your latest effective date information. The “Effective Tax Rate” is going to be your TX SUI rate.

Once you have this rate, now it is time to login to your QuickBooks Desktop payroll software to ensure the TX SUI tax rate in your payroll module matches the latest effective tax rate that you see in your Unemployment Tax Services account online.

So, to do this within your QuickBooks Desktop software:

1. Go to the Lists drop-down menu and choose “Payroll Item List”.
2. Now find your TX-Unemployment Company payroll tax item and open this up.
3. From within the new “Edit payroll item” window, click on Next.
4. Click on “Next” again within the Agency for company-paid liability screen.
5. Now, from within the company tax rates for your current year screen, update each quarter’s tax rate. Remember the tax rate is in percentage values, so be sure to type in the percentage symbol just to be sure you are updating exactly as per your stated tax rate online.
6. Once completed, then just click “Next” through the remaining wizard until Finished.
7. Verify the updated TX SUI tax rate from within your payroll items list. You may have to customize your columns here to be able to view this.

Note: AccuraBooks is a bookkeeping firm only, so please consult with your C.P.A. for verification and clarification about the contents of this article.