How Long Does an Intuit Direct Deposit Take?

QuickBooks Intuit promises a same-day deposit. But is this true? How long does an Intuit direct deposit take to reach your employees? 

How long does an Intuit direct deposit take? Generally, Intuit direct deposits take one to two business days. However, in some cases they may be processed immediately.

Intuit Direct Deposits

But Intuit said “same day,” right? The truth is that Intuit does its best to get your employees’ paychecks into their bank accounts. Sometimes, it will be impossible to match Intuit’s deadline with the bank’s time limit. 

Here is a table containing the deposit times of several banks in the US: 

As you can see, many major banks use EST. Therein lies Intuit’s possible error: time zones. Most banks use EST, and the difference between EST and PST is huge. 

Pacific Standard Time is UTC/GMT-8, but that is not the time zone most of the US uses. There are 4 different time zones in the continental US (Hawaii and Alaska have their own time zones). The other three all skew earlier than PST. 

Eastern Standard Time, the time zone we are most worried about, is UTC/GMT-5. That means there is a three-hour difference between Intuit’s deadline and the deadlines of many banks in the United States. 

To people in different parts of the US, Intuit’s deposit deadline is…

• 7 a.m. if you’re on the West Coast—e.g., Los Angeles, California (PST).  
• 8 a.m. in Denver, Colorado (MT). 
• 9 a.m. if you’re in Chicago, Illinois (CST), 
• 10 a.m. if you’re in Boston, Massachusetts  (EST). 

Intuit uses 7 a.m. PST as its deadline. To people in Boston, that’s 10 a.m.—well past the cutoff of 6:30 a.m. EST from Chase and the more generous 8 a.m. EST from PNC. Intuit would have to stop time to guarantee same-day direct deposit across the US. 

Intuit also cannot stop the banks’ general rules about not doing business on weekends and holidays. Your Intuit direct deposit may be late due to bad timing. Many workers get paid on Friday; Intuit or not, they may not get to spend their paychecks until Monday! 

Is Intuit Faster or Not? 

If you’re familiar with direct deposits through other forms of HR software, you might notice that Intuit doesn’t really deliver direct deposits faster. 2–3 business days is average. So what makes Intuit “faster?”

Unlike many other HR software, Intuit gives you a deadline. That helps, albeit not in the way that Intuit says it does. It creates a psychological reason for you to get your payroll entered early. 

So, the short answer is that Intuit can’t be faster unless it can get around time zones. It does, however, provide more assistance—especially if you use more expensive features like QuickBooks Assisted Payroll. 

What is QuickBooks Assisted Payroll, and How Is It Different? 

The basic QuickBooks package is QuickBooks Desktop. QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll and QuickBooks Assisted Payroll are both premium versions of QuickBooks Desktop. 

QuickBooks Desktop adds another psychological impetus for fast direct deposit: rather than promising same-day service, it encourages employers to get their paychecks deposited 2 business days ahead of time. QuickBooks Enhanced Payroll says that only direct deposits have this restriction and the software does not have late fees, while QuickBooks Assisted Payroll covers more kinds of paychecks but will charge you late fees if you miss the deadline. 

Step back and do a little bit of math. In most cases, direct deposits will hit someone’s bank account within 2–3 business days. If you submit your paychecks to QuickBooks on Wednesday to get your employees their paychecks by Friday, they will probably get their paychecks by Friday. 

In other words, by using QuickBooks, you make that guarantee happen. The software just helps. 

What If Something Goes Wrong? 

If something went wrong with Intuit/QuickBooks and you don’t know what, their official website has a generous support page here. They cover all of Intuit’s other products, so if you have questions about TurboTax, this is probably the same page! 

Conclusion

Intuit’s promise of same-day direct deposit is something of a head game. It cannot guarantee same-day direct deposits, but it does guarantee direct deposits within 2 business days. If your paycheck usually comes on Friday, and your employer delivers your direct deposit at 7 a.m. PST, the money may still not be in your account until Monday! 

The reason for this is that Intuit uses PST for its deadline. This time difference means that the 7 a.m. PST deadline is 10 a.m. in cities like Boston and New York. For banks that have a deposit deadline, this is usually far beyond it. 

Intuit’s secret is its deadline. The deadline in QuickBooks makes HR staff set up their direct deposits two days early. Most of the time, yes, that will mean that their deposit hits their bank account on the same day. 

Intuit is not magic; it cannot control the banks. But it does help HR staff get their employees’ direct deposit paychecks out on time. And, sometimes, that little reminder is all the departments need. 

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)