Drake Accounting®: How do I enter payroll deductions?
All deductions must first be entered for the employer and then assigned to the employee (as necessary). A deduction cannot be deleted from the employer’s list if it is setup for one or more employees or has been applied on a paycheck for any employee. Unlimited deductions can be set up for the employer.
Watch the Deductions and Benefits video for a demonstration.
Employer Set Up:
Unlimited deductions can be set up for the employer.
- Select Benefits & Deductions from the Employees menu. Choose the Deductions tab on the left.
- Select the New
button at the top left of the window. The top entry fields are activated.
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- Click Save after entering each deduction.
- Select Reset to reset the benefit back to the original amounts if you have made changes to the screen and want to revert back to the original figures.
- Select Save And Apply All to update the deduction globally for all the employees.
- Click Exit once you are finished with setting up employee benefits.
Employee Set Up:
- Go to Employees > Employee Setup.
- Select the employee to whom the deduction(s) will be assigned, then select the Deductions tab.

- Select the deduction (on the left) and select the right arrow
icon to assign to this employee.
- The deduction displays under the Employee Deduction Name.
- Edit Amount, Priority, and Ceiling if necessary.
- Priority sets the order in which the deductions will be subtracted from gross pay, and may be used in a short week when gross pay will not cover all the deductions.
- Once you add all the desired deductions, select Save.
To delete a deduction from the employee's list, select the deduction and select the left arrow
icon to put it back in the left column. Select Save when finished.
At the bottom right, there are checkboxes for Amount and Ceiling. If checked, and you press F3, the deduction amount and/or ceiling will be updated to the default for that deduction under Employees > Deductions & Benefits > Deductions tab.
Editing Deductions:
To edit a deduction that has already been setup:
- Go to Employees > Deductions & Benefits.
- Select the Deductions tab followed by the appropriate deduction.
- Make necessary changes.
- It is possible to edit multiple deductions before saving.
- Select Save to return to the Client Selector.
Note: The changes are not automatically applied to employees.
To update the deduction assigned to the employee(s):
- Go to Employees > Employee Setup.
- Select the employee that is to be updated.
- Select the Deductions tab followed by the appropriate deduction.
- With the deduction selected, you can:
- Press F3 to update to default amounts that were set.
- Manually enter the new amount for the employee.
- Click Save to return to the employee list.
- Return to Step 1 if additional employees require updates.
Note: Changes made under Deductions & Benefits and/or Employee Setup will not affect existing payroll.