payroll records guide...in payroll, you can create pay types for many varieties of employee...

TheFinancialEdge™

Records Guide for Payroll

111915

2015 Blackbaud, Inc. This publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Blackbaud, Inc.

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FE‐RecordsGuideforPayroll‐111915

Contents

DEPARTMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Accessing Department Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Adding Department Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Copying Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Exporting Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

PAY TYPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Accessing Pay Type Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Managing Employee Pay Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

BENEFITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Accessing Benefit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Managing Employee Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

DEDUCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Accessing Deduction Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Managing Employee Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

EMPLOYEES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Accessing Employee Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Adding Employee Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Managing HR Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Managing GL Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Managing Employee Compensation and Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Managing Attendance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Managing Tax Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Managing Tracks and Checklist Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Managing Bank Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Managing ACA Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Adding Flex Plan Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Managing Employee Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Adding Historic Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Managing Time Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Managing Actions, Attributes, Media, and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

FLEX PLAN DISBURSEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Accessing Flex Plan Disbursement Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Managing Employee Flex Plan Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

1chapter

Departments

Accessing Department Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Finding and Opening Department Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Adding Department Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Copying Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Exporting Departments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 CHAPTER

On the Departments page of Records, you can define departments in your organization. When you assign an employee to a department on the employee record, all information for that department, including the supervisor and location, appear automatically on the employee record. Account codes for department distributions are masked so that when you create payroll calculations, the account code assigned to those records combines with the employee’s distribution to track expenses to the employee’s department.

Accessing Department Records

Because records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types on the Records page so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including department records. To access the Departments page, click Records on the navigation bar and click the Departments link. The Departments page appears.

For maximum security, you can hide the Departments page in Records, and require users to access departments from Configuration. Only users with the proper security rights can access Configuration. For more information about Configuration, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

Consider the Departments page the starting point for department records. On this page, you can add new departments, open existing departments, delete unused departments, copy from departments, and export departments.

You access a department record by selecting a record and clicking the Open button. Using Find, you can search departments for field entries meeting criteria you define. The sort feature provides a method for you to arrange records by field in ascending order, so that the records you want to see appear at the top of the page.

Note: By masking account codes, you use asterisks in place of numbers in a segment of an account to designate account code ranges.

DEPARTMENTS 3

Finding and Opening Department Records

You access a department record by selecting a record and clicking the Open button. Using Find, you can search departments for field entries meeting criteria you define. The sort feature provides a method for you to arrange records by field in ascending or descending order, so that the records you want to see appear at the top of the page.

Opening a department record from the Departments page of Records

1. Select a department in the grid to open.

2. Click Open. The department record appears.

3. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close on the toolbar to return to the Departments page.

Adding Department RecordsWhen adding a department record, you enter basic ID and description information on the Department tab. If your organization wants to track payroll expenses by department, you can enter distribution specifics on the GL Distribution tab.

When you add a default GL distribution on a department, the account code segment is always masked. By masking the account code, the program can combine the GL distribution with account codes assigned to your organization’s pay types, benefits, and taxes. When you set up debit accounts for compensation items with an account code and then create payments for employees, the payment postings will distribute expenses for employees by department.

For example, if your organization expenses employee costs by department, you can define a default account distribution on each department record. When a new employee is assigned to a department, the corresponding distribution defaults onto the GL Distribution tab of the employee record. When calculations are created for pay types, benefits, deductions, and taxes, the account code assigned to those records combines with the employee’s distribution and the expenses are tracked back to the employee’s department.

Once a department is created, you can also create a new department quickly by copying from a saved department.

4 CHAPTER

Adding a department record

1. On the Records page, click Departments. The Departments page appears.

2. Click New Department. The New Department screen opens on the Department tab.

3. In the Department ID field, enter a department ID.

4. In the Description field, enter a description for the department.

5. In the Supervisor field, enter a name or click the binoculars to search for an individual. You can change the label for the Supervisor field if your organization uses a different term for this position on the General Business Rules page in Configuration. For more information about Configuration, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

6. In the Location field, select a location for the department. You define Location table entries on the Tables page of Configuration.

Note: In Configuration, you can set a General Business Rule to change the label of the Supervisor field if your organization uses a different name, such as Manager.

DEPARTMENTS 5

7. In the Notes box, add notes or comments about the department.

8. Select the GL Distribution tab. If your organization expenses employee costs to the employee’s department, define a default account distribution for the department. This distribution defaults onto the employee record when the employee is assigned to the department.

9. The Interfund field lists all interfund sets available for use in Payroll. An interfund entry is a balancing entry made to transfer activity between funds and ensure each fund is kept in balance. Interfund entries are used only when you enter a debit account from a fund different from the default credit account. If this occurs, Payroll automatically adds the interfund set created for the debit account you are using. If you have not created an interfund set for this debit account, you cannot save the distribution.

10. In the DR Account Number column, enter the debit account for the distribution. The account code is always masked. When calculations are created for pay types, benefits, deductions, and taxes, the account code assigned to those records combines with the employee’s distribution so that the expenses track to the employee’s department.

You can use the small binoculars to search for an account segment or use the large binoculars to search for an account number. You can click Load Distribution to use default account distributions. To use an account distribution defined in Configuration, select From Table. To use the default accounts defined for other departments, select From Department.

11. In the Percent column, enter the percentage of the distribution. Manually enter percents for each account or click Distribute Evenly to distribute percents equally among the selected accounts.

12. If you have the optional module Projects and Grants, enter a project ID number in the Project ID column, or use the binoculars to search for a project ID. When you enter a valid project ID, the description appears automatically in the Project Description column.

13. In the Class column, select a class for the distribution.

14. If you have the optional module Projects and Grants and have defined transaction codes, additional columns appear based on the number of transaction codes you have defined. In the grid, select a value for each transaction code. You can also select the account row and click Distribution to load a default transaction distribution.

15. To save the department and return to the Departments page, click Save and Close.

Tip: You can click the Load Distribution button if you have a previously defined distribution that you want to apply to your new distribution.

6 CHAPTER

Copying DepartmentsFrom the Departments page, you can quickly create a new department based on an existing one. Copy from creates a new department based on the department you select with all values and settings the same. Only the Department ID is left blank on the newly created department.

Copying a department

1. On the Departments page, click Copy from. The New Department screen appears. The Department ID field remains blank so that you can enter a new ID specifically for the new department.

2. Select the GL Distribution tab to enter new values for this department or use the values from the copied department.

3. To save the department and return to the Departments page, click Save and Close.

Exporting DepartmentsYou can use Export on the Departments page to send a file containing department information to another program, such as Microsoft Excel. Exporting departments is useful if you need to send departmental data to another program for comparison or further analysis.

Exporting a department

1. On the Departments page, click Export. The Export screen appears.

2. Select a file type in the Export file type field and enter a name for the export in the Export file name field.

3. Mark Include header to include a header field for the export.

DEPARTMENTS 7

4. Click Export Now. The file is sent to the specified folder and you return to the Departments page.

8 CHAPTER

2chapter

Pay Types

Accessing Pay Type Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Finding and Opening Pay Type Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Managing Employee Pay Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12GL Distributions and Pay Type Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Using Pay Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Assigning Pay Types and Pay Schedules to an Employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Adding Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Adding Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

10 CHAPTER

In Payroll, you can create pay types for many varieties of employee compensation, including salary, hourly, overtime, and bonus pay. Pay type records define the pay rate or amount for regular, overtime, special, and other pay types. An employee’s pay can be a salary or fixed amount, or based on an hourly rate, piece rate, or percentage of gross pay amounts. You assign new pay type records to specific employees on the Pay Types page in Records.

You create pay type records in Configuration. There, you can define account distribution information and specify tax settings for pay types that determine whether taxes are withheld. You can set restrictions that determine which employees receive the pay type and assign a schedule to determine when the pay type is calculated. You can edit a pay type in Configuration, but you cannot edit the employee pay type after calculations are created.

Once you create new pay types in Configuration, you can use the Pay Types page in Records to quickly and easily assign new pay types to specific employees. The Pay Types page in Records lets you search for a specific employee and assign a pay category and pay type to that employee. Once you select a pay type for the employee, default settings you established in Configuration will appear on this pay type record.

Accessing Pay Type RecordsBecause records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types in one area so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including pay type records. Click Records on the navigation bar and then click the Pay Types link. The Pay Types page appears.

Consider the Pay Types page the starting point for pay type records. From this page, you can add a new pay type record or open existing pay type records.

You can edit pay type record options by clicking the Edit options for Pay Types link. This link opens the Options screen for records.

To save time when searching for a specific pay type record, you can use the Search for a Pay Type by Employee pay type ID field. The Pay Types page also lists recently accessed pay type records.

Note: You create pay types in Configuration

PAY TYPES 11

Finding and Opening Pay Type Records

To find and open a pay type record, you must be familiar with the Open screen. The Open screen has a number of filters you can use to narrow your search and quickly locate the pay type you want to open. The search process is not case‐sensitive, so you can enter Smith, smith, or SMITH and get the same results. You can also use wildcard characters if you are not sure how a word is spelled — use a question mark to replace a single character and an asterisk to replace a series of characters.

You access the Open screen by selecting File, Open, Pay Type, or by clicking Open a Pay Type from the Pay Types page.

Opening a pay type record from the Pay Types page of Records

1. On the Pay Types page of Records, click Open a Pay Type. The Open screen for Pay Types appears.

2. In the Find Employee Pay Types that meet these criteria frame, enter the criteria you are using to search for the pay type.

3. After you enter your search criteria, click Find Now. The program searches the database and displays all pay types meeting your criteria.

4. In the grid, select the pay type to open.

Note: For more information about using filters on the Open screen to search for records, see the Program Basics Guide.

Tip: For a quick search, use the Search for a pay Type by Employee pay type ID field on the Pay Types page.

12 CHAPTER

5. Click Open. The pay type record appears.

6. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close on the toolbar to return to the Pay Types page.

Managing Employee Pay TypesTo use pay type records effectively, you should first create pay types in Configuration. Pay type records you create in Configuration hold default information you use repeatedly when assigning pay types to employees in Records.

For example, using the Pay Types link in Configuration, you can create an overtime pay type record, for which you define restrictions, schedules, and distributions. GL Distributions and Restrictions are visible only in Configuration. When you assign a pay type record to an employee from the Records page, you simply select the pre‐defined pay type from a field and all of the information for that pay type, such as employee restrictions, schedules, and GL distributions, defaults onto the employee record. Although default information is used, restrictions and GL distributions do not appear on the pay type record assigned to an employee. You can access the Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs and make changes only in Configuration. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

GL Distributions and Pay Type Restrictions

When you create pay type records in Configuration, you define distributions for payments and set restrictions to determine which employees receive certain payments. You use the GL Distribution tab and the Restrictions tab in Configuration to establish these settings. These distributions and restrictions will then default onto the pay types you create and assign to employees from the Records page.

Note: The Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs appear only on pay type records in Configuration.

PAY TYPES 13

Pay type distributions contain account distribution information such as debit and credit accounts, amounts to distribute, and whether to classify distributions using projects, classes, or transaction codes. Restrictions you set in Configuration give you the ability to determine a time period for payments and also enable you to limit which employees receive pay types. You can also include selected pays and benefits in the percentage of gross pay. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Using Pay Schedules

When you assign a Pay Type to an employee, you also determine a pay schedule which Payroll uses to calculate the pay type. You can set up pre‐defined pay schedules in Configuration or enter a unique pay schedule on the Schedule tab of the Pay Type record. Schedules created in Configuration can be loaded on the Pay Type record and changed as needed. Once you enter a schedule, you can mark an option that determines when this employee’s pay is included in calculations. You can create or not create calculations based on an actual date of a hire event. The scheduled date on a hire event has no bearing on the system calculation for an employee. For more information about pay schedules, see “Assigning Pay Types and Pay Schedules to an Employee.”

Assigning Pay Types and Pay Schedules to an Employee

When assigning a pay type record to an employee, you can enter information on the Pay Type tab, Schedule tab, and the Attributes/Notes tab. On the Pay Type tab of a pay type record, you can enter basic information about the pay type, such as pay category, effective dates, and pay rate. Many fields on the Pay Type tab are optional, so you can create a broad category for each pay type and then add the specific details to individual employee records. For example, you can create a pay type for “Van Driver” and then add a different pay rate on each driver’s employee record to compensate for experience, seniority, or additional duties. The Schedule tab gives you the ability to select a desired payment schedule for the pay type. On the Attributes/Notes tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability.

If you enter common values repeatedly for multiple pay types, you can create a default set with these values to save time during data entry. The values are defaults only and you can still change any field on a record. From the menu bar of the record, select Pay Type, Load Defaults from to select an existing default set or create a new default set for the record type. To manage default sets for all record types in the program, select Tools, Organize/Create Defaults. For more information about default sets, see the Program Basics chapter in the Program Basics Guide.

You can add pay types from the Pay Types page of Records, the Open screen for pay types, or by selecting File, New from a pay type record.

14 CHAPTER

Adding a pay type and pay schedule to an employee

1. On the Records page, click Pay Types. The Pay Types screen appears.

2. Click Add a New Pay Type. The New Pay Type screen appears.

Tip: You can use default sets to define common information for records. For a new record, you can select Pay Type, Load Defaults from to select a default set of information to copy into the record. For more information about using default sets, see the Program Basics Guide.

Note: Whether you enter the name or ID depends on the General Options setting defined on the Records tab of the Options screen.

PAY TYPES 15

3. In the Pay type for grid, in the Name or ID field, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee.

4. In the Pay category field, select a pay category. Pay categories are defined on the Tables page in Configuration.

5. In the Pay type ID/Description field, enter the pay type number or use the binoculars to locate a pay type. When you enter an ID number, the description appears automatically.

6. In the Effective dates field, select the dates for the pay type to be used. The effective dates, in conjunction with the schedule, determine when the pay type will be calculated. The effective dates should be used to keep a history of pay assigned to the employee over time. When new pay types are assigned, old ones should be “expired” by setting the effective until date. This way a history of employee pays is maintained.

7. In the Rate field, select the method of calculating the amount paid for the benefit.

• Salary ‐ If you select “Salary”, in the Annual salary field, enter the salary amount.

• Fixed amount ‐ If you select “Fixed amount”, in the fields below, select “Total amount” or “Amount per period” and enter the amount. Use “Total amount” for specified amounts paid over a number of periods, such as a short‐term, temporary assignment. Use “Amount per period” for specified amounts paid each period for which no specific total is defined. For example, an employee receives $1,000 a month.

• Hourly ‐ If you select “Hourly”, in the fields below, select “Amount per hour” or “Percent of hourly gross” and enter the amount or percentage. This option calculates the pay amount based on a percentage of all pays and benefits the employee receives per hour. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters. On the Restrictions tab, you can select which benefits and other pays are included in the gross amount. This tab is only available in Pay Type records in Configuration.

If you select “Credit attendance code”, select an attendance code in the field to the right and enter a rate in the For every hour worked credit [] hours of attendance field. For example, you can select the Compensation Time attendance code and when you run calculations, compensation time is credited to the employee for those hours worked.

• Piece rate ‐ If you select “Piece rate”, select a piece rate unit in the Unit field. For example, piece rate units are defined on the Tables page in Configuration. In the Amount per unit field, enter the amount to pay for each unit. In the Default units per period field, enter the number of units to use per period.

• Percentage of gross ‐ If you select “Percentage of gross”, enter a percentage in the Percent field. This option calculates the pay amount based on a percentage of all pays and cash benefits the employee receives. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters. On the Restrictions tab, you can select which benefits and other pays are included in the gross amount. This tab is only available on Pay Type records in Configuration.

Note: You can link pay types to attendance codes. The hours defined indicate how many hours of attendance are credited for each hour worked. You can use this option to credit attendance for creating compensation time recorded for overtime.

Note: Tax settings you define on the pay type in Configuration cannot be changed on the pay type record in Records.

16 CHAPTER

8. Select the Schedule tab.

9. If a default schedule is not automatically loaded, you can click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly between each date. A default schedule can be edited as needed.

10. Select when to pay the pay type:

• Pay on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule ‐ Mark this option to pay the pay type according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Pay on all dates”, “Do not pay between [] and []”, or “Only pay between [] and []” and enter a date range.

• Pay only in periods with specific dates ‐ Mark this option to pay the pay type according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly between each date. You can edit the schedule in the grid.

• Do not pay in periods with specific dates ‐ Mark this option to pay the pay type in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly between each date. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid paying the pay type three times in one month.

11. Select the Attributes/Notes tab. On this tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability. For more information about attributes and Notes, see “Managing Attributes and Notes”.

12. To save the pay type and return to the Pay Types page, click Save and Close.

Note: An employee’s pay schedule is calculated using the date entered in the Actual Date field on the employee’s New Hire event. The Scheduled Date field on the New Hire event is not used when calculating employee pay and is simply used to note a scheduled start date, which can differ from an employee’s actual start date.

PAY TYPES 17

Managing Attributes and NotesYou can further define a pay type record on the Attributes/Notes tab. Here, you can add default attributes to the pay type for an additional level of detail and reporting capability and add notes specific to the pay type record.

Adding Attributes

Use the Attributes/Notes tab to record additional information about a pay type. You can report on pay types with specific attributes. You can also use pay type attributes as filters in other areas of Payroll, such as Query and Reports.

Adding an attribute to a pay type record

1. From an open pay type record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.

2. In the Attribute type field, you can filter the attribute types appearing in the grid.

3. In the Attribute Type column, select an attribute. Attribute types are established in Configuration.

4. In the Description column, enter or select a value for the attribute. Whether you enter text, numbers, dates, or currency, select Yes or No, or select a table entry depends on how the attribute type is defined.

5. In the Date column, enter the date you add the attribute.

The Required column is for informational purpose only. You can make an attribute required in Configuration when defining attribute types. If required, the attribute automatically appears on the pay type.

Note: Attribute types are defined in Configuration. For more information about defining attribute types, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Tip: For faster data entry when entering dates, press F3 for today’s date or F7 for a calendar.

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6. Enter any additional comments or more detailed information in the Comments column. You can enter free‐form text in this column.

7. To return to the Pay Types page, click Save and Close.

Adding Notes

In Payroll, the Attributes/Notes tab makes it easy to maintain helpful information about a pay type. For example, you can create notes to record specific pay type‐related information such as a note regarding the employee’s salary.

Adding a note to a pay type record

1. From an open pay type record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.

2. In the Notes field, enter a description for the note and enter any necessary information such as date and author of the note.

3. Click Save and Close.

Note: As an alternative to notes, you can annotate a record by selecting Edit, Annotate from the menu bar. To set the annotation to pop up automatically when you open the pay type, mark Display annotation automatically.

3chapter

Benefits

Accessing Benefit Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Finding and Opening Benefit Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Managing Employee Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22GL Distributions and Benefit Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Using Benefit Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Assigning Benefits and Benefit Schedules to an Employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Adding Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Adding Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

20 CHAPTER

In Payroll, you can define employee benefits for your organization. Benefits are the employer expense for fringe benefits or advantages such as health care coverage and 401(k) plans. Benefits are the sole responsibility of the employer. On the Benefits page in Records, you can assign new benefit records to specific employees.

You create benefit records in Configuration. There, you can specify tax settings for benefits that determine whether taxes are withheld from employee pay for the employer expenses, and you can define the GL distribution for benefit payments. You can set restrictions that determine which employees receive the benefit and assign a schedule to determine when the benefit is calculated. If you link a benefit to a deduction, the benefit follows the deduction’s schedule.

Once you create new benefits in Configuration, you can then use the Benefits page in Records to quickly and easily assign new benefits to specific employees. From the Benefits page you can search for a specific employee and assign a Benefit category and Benefit ID/Description to that employee. Once you select a Benefit ID/Description for the employee, default settings you established in Configuration will appear on the benefit record.

Accessing Benefit RecordsBecause records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types on the Records page so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including benefit records. To access the Benefits page, click Records on the navigation bar and click the Benefits link. The Benefits page appears.

Consider the Benefits page the starting point for benefit records. From this page, you can add a new benefit record or open existing benefit records.

You can edit benefit record options by clicking the Edit options for Benefits link. This link opens the Options screen for records.

To save time when searching for a specific benefit record, you can use the Search for a Benefit by benefit number field. The Benefits page also lists recently accessed benefit records.

Note: You create benefit types in Configuration.

BENEF ITS 21

Finding and Opening Benefit Records

To find and open a benefit record, you must be familiar with the Open screen. The Open screen has a number of filters you can use to narrow your search and quickly locate the benefit you want to open. The search process is not case‐sensitive, so you can enter Smith, smith, or SMITH and get the same results. You can also use wildcard characters if you are not sure how a word is spelled — use a question mark to replace a single character and an asterisk to replace a series of characters.

You access the Open screen by selecting File, Open, Benefit, or by clicking Open a Benefit from the Benefits page.

Opening a benefit record

1. On the Benefits page of Records, click Open a Benefit. The Open screen for Benefits appears.

2. In the Find Employee Benefits that meet these criteria frame, enter the criteria you are using to search for the benefit.

3. After you enter your search criteria, click Find Now. The program searches the database and displays all benefits meeting your criteria.

4. In the grid, select the benefit to open.


Tip: For a quick search, use the Search for a Benefit by Employee benefit ID field on the Benefits page.

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5. Click Open. The benefit record appears.

6. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close to save the record and return to the Benefits page.

Managing Employee BenefitsTo use benefit records effectively, you should first create benefits in Configuration. Benefit records you create in Configuration hold default information you use repeatedly when assigning benefits to employees in Records.

For example, using the Benefits link in Configuration, you can create a group term life insurance benefit record, for which you define restrictions, schedules, and distributions. Then, when you assign a benefit record to an employee from the Records page, you simply select a pre‐defined benefit ID and all of the information for that benefit ID, such as employee restrictions, schedules, and GL distributions, defaults on the employee record. Although default information is used, restrictions and GL distributions do not appear on the benefit record assigned to an employee. You can access the Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs and make changes only in Configuration. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

GL Distributions and Benefit Restrictions

When you create benefit records in Configuration, you define distributions for benefit payments and set restrictions to determine which employees receive certain benefits. You use the GL Distribution tab and the Restrictions tab in Configuration to establish these settings. These distributions and restrictions will then default onto the benefits you create and assign to employees from the Records page.

Benefit distributions contain account distribution information such as debit and credit accounts, amounts to distribute, and whether to classify distributions using projects, classes, or transaction codes. Restrictions you set in Configuration give you the ability to determine a time period for granting benefits and also enable you to assign benefits to employees with specific characteristics. You can include selected pays and benefits in the percentage of gross pay.

For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Note: The Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs appear only on benefit records in Configuration.

BENEF ITS 23

Using Benefit Schedules

When you assign a Benefit to an employee, you also determine a benefit schedule which Payroll uses to calculate the benefit. You can set up pre‐defined benefit schedules in Configuration or enter a unique benefit schedule on the Schedule tab of the Benefit record. Schedules created in Configuration can be loaded on the Benefit record and changed as needed. Once you enter a schedule, you can mark an option that determines when this employee’s benefit is included in calculations. For more information about Benefit Schedules, see “Assigning Benefits and Benefit Schedules to an Employee.”

Assigning Benefits and Benefit Schedules to an Employee

When assigning a benefit record to an employee, you can enter information on the Benefit tab, Schedule tab, and the Attributes/Notes tab. On the Benefit tab of a benefit record, you enter basic information about the benefit, such as employee name, type of benefit, effective date, and the benefit amount or percentage. The Schedule tab gives you the ability to select a desired payment schedule for the benefit. On the Attributes/Notes tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability.

If you enter common values repeatedly for multiple benefits, you can create a default set with these values to save time during data entry. The values are defaults only and you can still change any field on a record. From the menu bar of the record, select Benefit, Load Default to select an existing default set or create a new default set for the record type. To manage default sets for all record types in the program, select Tools, Organize/Create Defaults. For more information about default sets, see the Program Basics chapter in the Program Basics Guide.

You can add benefits from the Benefits page of Records, the Open screen for benefits, or by selecting File, New from a benefit record.

Adding a benefit and benefit schedule to an employee

1. On the Records page, click Benefits. The Benefits page appears.

Note: If you link a benefit with a deduction, the Schedule tab will not appear. In this case, the schedule is determined on the deduction record.

Tip: You can use default sets to define common information for records. For a new record, you can select Item, Load Defaults from to select a default set of information to copy into the record. For more information about using default sets, see the Program Basics Guide.

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2. Click Add a New Benefit. The New Benefit screen appears.

3. In the Benefit for grid, in the Name or ID field, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee.

4. In the Benefit category field, select a category for this benefit. The available fields and options change based on your selection.

• Employer Contribution ‐ Select “Employer Contribution” for benefits for which your organization pays part of the expense and the rest is paid by the employee. For example, the employer’s expense for 401(k) plans or medical insurance.

• Cash ‐ Select “Cash” for financial assistance benefits you pay to employees such as dependent care or adoption expenses assistance.

• Non‐Cash Compensation ‐ Select “Non‐Cash Compensation” for non‐cash benefits your organization provides such as the value of an employee’s company car.

In the Link to these deductions field, if you linked a Benefit category in Configuration to a deduction, that deduction appears in this field. If the benefit is linked to a deduction in Configuration, the deduction must be assigned to the employee before the benefit may be assigned. For more information about linking a benefit to a deduction, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

5. In the Benefit ID/Description field, select the benefit ID or use the binoculars to locate a benefit. When you enter an ID number, the description appears automatically.

6. In the Effective dates field, select a date range for this benefit. The effective dates, in conjunction with the schedule determine when the benefits will be calculated. The effective dates should be used to keep a history of benefits assigned to the employee over time. When new benefits are assigned, old ones should be “expired” by setting the effective until date.


• Amount ‐ If you select “Amount”, in the fields below, select “Total amount” or “Amount per period” and enter the amount. If the Configuration setting is Variable Amount, the amount should calculate on the employee benefit automatically according to the employee’s gross pay.

• Percentage of gross ‐ If you select “Percentage of gross”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage. If you select “Percentage”, enter a percentage. If the Configuration setting is Variable Amount, the amount should calculate on the employee benefit automatically according to the employee’s gross pay.

Note: Whether you enter the name or ID depends on your selection for General Options on the Records tab of the Options screen.

BENEF ITS 25

• Percentage of deduction ‐ If you select “Percentage of deduction”, enter a percentage in the Percentage field.

8. In the rate type field, select Percentage or Amount as the rate type. In the numeric rate type field, enter the numeric percentage or amount of the benefit.

9. To add a start restriction to the benefit, mark Start granting benefit when [] and select “Hours‐worked increments reached”, “Hours worked per period reaches”, or “Total hours worked reach” and enter the number of hours required.

10. To stop granting the benefit when the payment reaches a certain level, mark Stop granting benefit when YTD benefit exceeds [] and select “Amount”, “Percentage off projected annual gross”, or “Percent of pay per period” and enter the maximum amount or percentage or gross pay allowed.

11. If you selected to use a percentage of gross pay rate, you can select the pays and benefit types to include in the Include these pays and benefits in percentage of gross pay grid.

12. Select the Schedule tab. This tab does not appear if you linked the benefit with a deduction.


14. Select when to grant the benefit:

• Grant in any calculation for the employee ‐ Mark this option to grant the benefit any time a calculation is run for the employee. For example, if an employee has a pay type that follows a different schedule than the employee’s default schedule, the benefit is granted for both schedules.

• Grant on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule ‐ Mark this option to grant the benefit according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Grant on all dates”, “Do not grant between [] and []”, or “Only grant between [] and []” and enter a date range.

Note: The Schedule tab does not appear if you linked the benefit with a deduction.

Note: The Status bar displays the periods paid and the amount paid to date.


26 CHAPTER

• Grant only in periods with specific end dates ‐ Mark this option to grant the benefit according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month.

• Do not grant in periods with specific end dates ‐ Mark this option to grant the benefit in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month.

15. Select the Attributes/Notes tab. On this tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability. For more information about Attributes and Notes, see “Managing Attributes and Notes”.

16. To save the benefit and return to the Benefits page, click Save and Close.

Managing Attributes and NotesYou can further define a benefit record on the Attributes/Notes tab. Here, you can add default attributes to the generated benefits for an additional level of detail and reporting capability and add notes specific to that benefit record.

Adding Attributes

Use the Attributes/Notes tab on the benefit record to establish default attributes to include on generated benefits. You can report on benefits with specific attributes. You can also use benefit attributes as filters in other areas of Payroll, such as Query and Reports.

Adding an attribute to a benefit record

1. From a benefit record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.




BENEF ITS 27





7. To close the benefit record and return to the Benefits page, click Save and Close.

Adding Notes

In Payroll, the Attributes/Notes tab makes it easy to maintain helpful pieces of information about a benefit. For example, you can create notes to record special information about the benefit.

Adding a note to a benefit record

1. From an open benefit record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.

2. In the Notes field, enter a description for the note and any necessary information such as date and author for the note.



Note: As an alternative to notes, you can annotate a record by selecting Edit, Annotate from the menu bar. To set the annotation to pop up automatically when you open the benefit, mark Display annotation automatically.

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4chapter

Deductions

Accessing Deduction Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Finding and Opening Deduction Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Managing Employee Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32GL Distributions and Deduction Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Using Deduction Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Assigning Deductions and Deduction Schedules to an Employee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Adding Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Adding Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

30 CHAPTER

In Payroll, you can define employee withholdings for benefit programs such as 401(k) plans, health plans, or employee pay deductions for flex spending plans, garnishments, or charitable contributions. On the Deductions page in Records, you can assign new deduction records to specific employees.

You create deduction records in Configuration. There, you can define the deduction rate or amount, and you specify tax settings that determine whether the deduction is a pre‐ or post‐tax deduction. You can set restrictions that determine which employees qualify for the deduction and assign a schedule to determine when the deduction is calculated. You can also define the account distribution information for deductions.

Once you create new deductions in Configuration, you can then use the Deduction page in Records to quickly and easily assign new deductions to specific employees. The Deduction page in Records lets you search for a specific employee and assign a Deduction ID/Description to that employee. Once you select a Deduction ID/Description for the employee, default settings you established in Configuration will appear on this deduction record.

Accessing Deduction RecordsBecause records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types on the Records page so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including deduction records. To access the Deductions page, click Records on the navigation bar and click the Deductions link. The Deductions page appears.

Consider the Deductions page the starting point for deduction records. From this page, you can add a new deduction record or open existing deduction records.

You can edit deduction record options by clicking the Edit options for Deductions link. This link opens the Options screen for records.

To save time when searching for a specific deduction record, you can use the Search for a Deduction by Employee deduction ID field. The Deductions page also lists recently accessed deduction records.

Note: You create deductions in Configuration

DEDUCT IONS 31

Finding and Opening Deduction Records

To find and open a deduction record, you must be familiar with the Open screen. The Open screen has a number of filters you can use to narrow your search and quickly locate the deduction you want to open. The search process is not case‐sensitive, so you can enter Smith, smith, or SMITH and get the same results. You can also use wildcard characters if you are not sure how a word is spelled — use a question mark to replace a single character and an asterisk to replace a series of characters.

You access the Open screen by selecting File, Open, Deduction, or by clicking Open a Deduction from the Deductions page.

Opening a deduction record

1. On the Deductions page of Records, click Open a Deduction. The Open screen for Deductions appears.

2. In the Find Employee Deductions that meet these criteria frame, enter the criteria you are using to search for the deduction.

3. After you enter your search criteria, click Find Now. The program searches the database and displays all deductions meeting your criteria.

4. In the grid, select the deduction to open.


Tip: For a quick search, use the Search for a Deduction by Employee deduction ID field on the Deductions page.

32 CHAPTER

5. Click Open. The deduction record appears.

6. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close on the toolbar to save the record and return to the Deductions page.

Managing Employee DeductionsTo use deduction records effectively, you should first create deductions in Configuration. Deduction records you create in Configuration hold default information you use repeatedly when assigning deductions to employees in Records.

For example, using the Deductions link in Configuration, you can create a medical insurance deduction record, for which you define restrictions, schedules, and distributions. Then, when you assign a deduction record to an employee from the Records page, you simply select a pre‐defined deduction type and all of the information for that Deduction ID/Description, such as restrictions, schedules, and GL distributions, defaults into the employee record. Although default information is used, restrictions and GL distributions do not appear on the deduction record assigned to an employee. You can access the Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs and make changes only in Configuration. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

GL Distributions and Deduction Restrictions

When you create deduction records in Configuration, you define distributions for deductions and set restrictions to determine which employees receive certain deductions. You use the GL Distribution tab and the Restrictions tab in Configuration to establish these settings. These distributions and restrictions will then default onto the deductions you create and assign to employees from the Records page.

Deduction distributions contain account distribution information such as debit and credit accounts, amounts to distribute, and whether to classify distributions using projects, classes, or transaction codes. By pre‐defining distributions in Configuration, you can quickly and easily assign distributions to deduction records.

Note: The Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs appear only on deduction records in Configuration.

DEDUCT IONS 33

In Configuration, you set restrictions that determine which employees receive the deduction. The Restrictions tab gives you the ability to determine a time period for implementing deductions and also enables you to assign deductions to employees with specific characteristics. You can also include selected pays and benefits in the percentage of gross pay. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Using Deduction Schedules

When you assign a Deduction to an employee, you also determine a deduction schedule which Payroll uses to calculate the deduction. You can set up pre‐defined deduction schedules in Configuration or enter a unique deduction schedule on the Schedule tab of the Deduction record. Schedules created in Configuration can be loaded on the Deduction record and changed as needed. Once you enter a schedule, you can mark an option that determines when this employee’s deduction is included in calculations. For more information about deduction schedules, see “Assigning Deductions and Deduction Schedules to an Employee.”

Assigning Deductions and Deduction Schedules to an Employee

When assigning a deduction record to an employee, you can enter information on the Deduction tab, Schedule tab, and the Attributes/Notes tab. If the deduction is a flex spending plan, the Flex Plan Details tab also appears. On the Deduction tab of a deduction record, you enter basic information about the deduction, such as employee name, type of deduction, effective date, and the deduction amount or percentage. The Schedule tab gives you the ability to select a desired payment schedule for the deduction. On the Attributes/Notes tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability.

If you enter common values repeatedly for multiple deductions, you can create a default set with these values to save time during data entry. The values are defaults only, and you can still change any field on a record. From the menu bar of the record, select Deduction, Load Defaults from to select an existing default set or create a new default set for the record type. To manage default sets for all record types in the program, select Tools, Organize/Create Defaults. For more information about default sets, see the Program Basics chapter in the Program Basics Guide.

You can add deductions from the Deductions page of Records, the Open screen for deductions, or by selecting File, New from a deduction record.

34 CHAPTER

Adding a deduction and deduction schedule to an employee

1. On the Records page, click Deductions. The Deductions page appears.

2. Click Add a New Deduction. The New Employee Deduction screen appears.

3. In the Deduction for grid, in the Name or ID field, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee.

4. In the Deduction ID/Description field, enter the deduction number or use the binoculars to locate a deduction. When you enter an ID number, the description appears automatically.

Tip: You can use default sets to define common information for records. For a new record, you can select Deduction, Load Defaults from to select a default set of information to copy into the record. For more information about using default sets, see the Program Basics Guide.


DEDUCT IONS 35

5. In the Effective dates field, select the dates for the deduction to be used.

6. In the Rate field, select the method of calculating the amount paid for the deduction.

• Amount ‐ If you select “Amount”, in the fields below select “Total amount”,“Amount per period” or “Variable amount” and enter the amount.

• Percentage of gross ‐ If you select “Percentage of gross”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters.

• Percentage of net ‐ If you select “Percentage of net”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters.

• Percentage of disposable income ‐ If you select “Percentage of disposable income”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters.

7. To add a start time restriction to the deduction, mark Deduct and select “Hours‐worked increments reach”, “Hours worked per period reach”, “Total hours worked reach”, or “YTD annual gross reaches”. In the field, enter the number of hours required.

8. To stop the deduction when the amount reaches a certain level, mark Stop deducting when the deduction exceeds [] and select “Amount”, or “Percentage of projected annual gross”. In the field, enter the maximum amount for the deduction or the maximum percentage of gross pay allowed.

9. The Status bar displays the periods withheld and the amount withheld to date.



12. Mark the option determining when to grant the deduction.

• Deduct in any calculation for the employee ‐ Mark this option to deduct any time a calculation is run for the employee. For example, if an employee has a pay type that follows a different schedule than the employee’s default schedule, the deduction is deducted for both schedules. This option is disabled if you selected “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab.

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• Deduct on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule ‐ Mark this option to deduct according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Deduct on all dates”, “Do not deduct between [] and []”, or “Only deduct between [] and []” and enter a date range. If you selected “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab, you cannot enter an amount because it is distributed evenly across periods.

• Deduct only in periods with specific end dates ‐ Mark this option to deduct according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates.

• Do not deduct in periods with specific end dates ‐ Mark this option to deduct in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month. This option is disabled if you select “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab.

13. Select the Flex Plan Details tab. This tab only appears if the deduction is a flex spending plan. All fields, except the Employee eligibility date default from Configuration. You can use these values or enter different dates.

14. In the Employee eligibility date field, enter a date when an employee becomes eligible for a deduction.

15. In the Flex plan start date and end date fields, you can enter the beginning and ending dates for the flex plan.

16. In the Cutoff date field, enter the date when the deduction will no longer be used.

17. In the Changes in Employee Eligibility grid, you can include a reason for any changes and enter the corresponding date.

18. Select the Attributes/Notes tab. On this tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability.

19. To save the deduction and return to the Deductions page, click Save and Close.


DEDUCT IONS 37

Managing Attributes and NotesYou can further define a deduction record on the Attributes/Notes tab. Here, you can add default attributes to deductions for an additional level of detail and reporting capability and add notes specific to that deduction record.

Adding Attributes

Use the Attributes/Notes tab on the deduction record to establish default attributes to include on generated deductions. You can report on deductions with specific attributes. You can also use deduction attributes as filters in other areas of Payroll, such as Query and Reports.

Adding an attribute to a deduction record

1. From a deduction record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.







7. To close the deduction record and return to the Deductions page, click Save and Close.



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Adding Notes

In Payroll, the Attributes/Notes tab makes it easy to maintain helpful pieces of information about a deduction. For example, you can create notes to record special information about the deduction.

Adding a note to a deduction record

1. From an open deduction record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.

2. In the Notes field, enter a description for the note and enter any necessary information such as date and author for the note.


Note: As an alternative to notes, you can annotate a record by selecting Edit, Annotate from the menu bar. To set the annotation to pop up automatically when you open the deduction, mark Display annotation automatically.

5chapter

Employees

Accessing Employee Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Finding and Opening Employee Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Adding Employee Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Adding I‐9 Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Managing Employee Contacts and Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Managing HR Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Adding Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Managing GL Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Managing Employee Compensation and Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Assigning Pay Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Assigning Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Assigning Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Changing Compensation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Managing Attendance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Assigning Attendance Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Adding Attendance Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Managing Tax Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Managing Tracks and Checklist Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Adding Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Adding Checklist Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Managing Bank Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Managing ACA Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Adding Flex Plan Disbursements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Managing Employee Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Calculating Payroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Viewing and Summarizing Employee Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Viewing History of Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Adding Historic Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Managing Time Entry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Managing Actions, Attributes, Media, and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Adding Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Adding Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Adding Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Adding Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

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Employee records are the primary records in Payroll. On the employee record, you can store information such as the employee’s addresses, contacts, biographical information, tax information, attendance plans, and I‐9 information. You can also calculate payroll for individual employees and create historic entries from the employee record.

Much of the information you add to employee records appears as defaults on other record types. This means the more detail you add to the employee record, the less you will have to add to other Payroll records later.

Accessing Employee RecordsBecause records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types on the Records page so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including employee records. To access the Employees page, click Records on the navigation bar and click the Employees link. The Employees page appears.

Consider the Employees page the starting point for employee records. From this page, you can add a new employee record or open existing employee records.

You can edit employee record options by clicking Edit options for Employees. This link opens the Options screen for records. For more information about setting options for employee records, see the Options chapter of the Program Basics Guide.

To save time when searching for a specific employee record, you can use the Search for an Employee by Employee name lookup to access the Open screen.

The Employees page also lists recently accessed employee records, which you can access from directly from the list.

Click View All Employees to view a list of all your organization’s employees. For more information about viewing all employees, see “Viewing All Employees” on page 42.

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Finding and Opening Employee Records

To find and open an employee record, you must be familiar with the Open screen. The Open screen has a number of filters you can use to narrow your search and quickly locate the employee you want to open. The search process is not case‐sensitive, so you can enter Smith, smith, or SMITH and get the same results. You can also use wildcard characters if you are not sure how a word is spelled — use a question mark to replace a single character and an asterisk to replace a series of characters.

You access the Open screen by clicking Open an Employee from the Employees page.

Opening an employee record

1. From the Employees page of Records, click Open an Employee. The Open screen for employees appears.

2. In the Find Employees that meet these criteria frame, enter the criteria you want to use to search for the employee.

3. After you enter the search criteria, click Find Now. The program searches the database and displays all employees meeting your criteria.

Note: For more information about using filters on the Open screen to search for records, see the Program Basics Chapter of the Program Basics Guide.

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4. In the grid, select an employee and click Open. The employee record appears.

5. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close on the toolbar to save the record and return to the Employees page.

Viewing All Employees

From the Employees page of Records, you can access the Employee List screen to view all employee records at once. From the Employee List screen you can filter the list of employees by department or status. You can also open, edit, and delete employee records directly from this screen.

EMPLOYEES 43

Viewing all employees from the Employees page

1. From the Employees page, click View All Employees. The Employee List screen appears.

2. You can use the Department and Status fields to filter the employee records that appear in the grid.

3. Click Clear All Filters to remove the filters and return to the original settings.

4. Click Back to return to the Employees page.

Adding Employee RecordsThe employee record is the core record in Payroll. You can store an employee’s biographical and HR information and track the activity and history.

Adding an employee record

1. From the Records page, click Employees. The Employees page appears.

Note: You can use the buttons on the taskbar to open, delete, and find employee records.

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2. Click Add a New Employee. The Add an Employee screen appears.

3. Click Employee name to access the Name screen.

4. In the Title 1 and Title 2 fields, select a primary and secondary title for the employee.

5. In the First name field, enter the employee’s first name.

6. In the Middle name field, enter the employee’s middle name.

7. In the Last name field, enter the employee’s last name.

8. In the Suffix 1 and Suffix 2 fields, select formal suffixes such as “Jr.” or “Ph.D”.

9. In the Full name field, verify or edit how the employee’s full name should appear. To update the full name based on the individual name fields or update individual name fields based on full name, mark Synchronize full name and individual name fields.

EMPLOYEES 45

10. Click OK to return to the Employee tab.

11. The Employee ID automatically appears in the Employee ID field of saved employee records if you mark the Automatically generate Employee IDs starting with option on the Employees page of Business Rules in Configuration. If you did not mark this option, enter the ID.

12. In the Gender field, select the employee’s gender.

13. In the SSN field, enter the employee’s social security number.

14. If the employee has a nickname, you can enter it in the Nickname field.

15. In the Current Status field, select the employee’s employment status.

16. In the Birth date and Age fields, enter the employee’s birth date and age.

17. If the employee is deceased, mark the Deceased? checkbox.

18. In the Ethnicity field, select the employee’s ethnicity.

19. In the Citizenship field, select whether or not the employee is a US citizen.

20. To enter I‐9 information, click I‐9 Info. For detailed instructions on adding I‐9 information, see “Adding I‐9 Information” on page 46.

21. Enter the employee’s marital status in the Marital status field.

22. You can enter address information manually or click Address to access the Address for New Employee screen. For more information about entering Employee address information, see “Adding address information from the Employee tab” on page 47.

23. In the contact grid, you can select multiple contact types and enter the associated numbers.

Note: You must have the appropriate security rights to view, add, delete, edit, or Social Security numbers. If you do not have rights, these numbers are masked. For more information, see the Security chapter of the Administration Guide for The Financial Edge.

Warning: Depending on your organization’s EEOC reporting requirements, you may want to consider making the Citizenship, Birth date, and Gender fields required. You can make fields required from the Fields page of Configuration.

46 CHAPTER

24. In the Salutation 1 and Salutation 2 fields, select salutation formats to appear on mailings. Formats for salutations are defined in Configuration.

25. In the Formal and Informal fields, you can select additional salutation formats. Formats for salutations are defined in Configuration.

26. Click Save and Close to return to the Employees page.

Adding I-9 Information

You can enter an employee’s I‐9 information on the I‐9 Info screen, accessed from the Employee tab of the employee record.

All employers must complete and retain the Form I‐9 for each employee they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens. On the form, you must verify the employment eligibility and identity documents presented by the employee and record the document information on the Form I‐ 9.

Adding I‐9 Information to an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the Employee tab.

2. Click I‐9 Info. The New I‐9 Info screen appears.

3. In the This employee is field, select “A US Citizen or National”, “A Lawful US Permanent Resident”, or “An Authorized Alien”.

If you select “A Lawful US Permanent Resident” enter the Alien number field.

If you select “An Authorized Alien”, enter the Alien number and Authorized until fields.

4. In the Examine one document from List A OR one document from both List B and List C field, select “List A” or “List B and List C.” Your selection depends on what documents the employee presented.

5. In the Document that establishes both identity and employment eligibility field, select the document the employee provided.

6. In the Issuing authority field, enter the agency that issued the document. For example, the US Passport Agency or the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

7. In the Document number and Expiration date fields, enter the number of the document and its expiration date.

8. You can create action reminders to warn you about upcoming expiration dates. For more information about creating action reminders, see “Adding an action to an employee record” on page 96.

Warning: Formats for salutations are defined in Configuration. To maintain consistency in your data entry, we recommend you select predefined salutations.

EMPLOYEES 47

9. Click OK to return to the Employee tab.

Managing Employee Contacts and Addresses

When you create a employee record, you should add contact and address information to either the Employee or Contacts and Addresses tab of the employee record. To enter only basic address and contact information, use the Employee tab. When you add an address on the Employee tab, it automatically becomes the primary for the record.

To enter more detail, click Address on the Employee tab or New Address on the Contacts and Addresses tab to access the Address for <Employee> screen. On the Contacts and Addresses tab, you can add and maintain multiple addresses for employee records. When you add an address on the Contacts and Addresses tab, you can designate the address as primary or leave it as an alternate or secondary address.

Formats for addressees and salutations are defined in Configuration. To maintain consistency in your data entry, we recommend you select predefined addressees and salutations.

Adding address information from the Employee tab

1. From an employee record, select the Employee tab.

2. Click Address. The Address for New Employee screen opens to the General tab.

3. In the Description field, enter a description for the address.

4. In the Address box and the City, State, Country, and ZIP fields, enter the employee’s address information.

5. In the Contact Type column, select a contact method. In the Contact Number column, enter a phone number or Web or email address.

6. In the Address as it will be printed box, verify the address is formatted the way you want it printed on reports and mailings. The Address as it will be printed box is the same as the Address box on the Employee tab of the employee record.

7. To update the address boxes based on the individual address fields on the Addresses screen or update individual address fields on the Addresses screen based on the address boxes, mark Synchronize with individual address fields.

Note: The primary address appears on the Employee tab.

Tip: For employees that share an address, you can copy the address from one record to another. For more information, see “Copying and Linking Addresses” on page 51.

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8. On the Address for New Employee screen, select the Options tab.

9. In the Address Type field, select the address location. Mark Primary Address for Employee if the address is the primary address for the employee.

10. To return to the Employee tab of the employee record, click OK.

Adding address information on the Contacts and Addresses tab

1. From an employee record, select the Contacts and Addresses tab.

EMPLOYEES 49

2. On the action bar, click New Address. The Address for New Employee screen appears.

3. In the Description field, enter a description for the address.

4. In the Address box and the City, State, Country, and ZIP fields, enter the employee’s address information.

5. In the Contact Type column, select a contact method. In the Contact Number column, enter a phone number or Web or email address.

6. In the Address as it will be printed box, verify the address is formatted the way you want it printed on reports and mailings. The Address as it will be printed box is the same as the Address box on the Employee tab of the employee record. To update the address boxes based on the individual address fields on the Addresses screen or update individual address fields on the Addresses screen based on the address boxes, mark Synchronize with individual address fields.

7. On the Address for New Employee screen, select the Options tab.

8. In the Address Type field, select the address location. Mark Primary Address for Employee if the address is the primary address for the employee.

9. To return to the Contacts and Addresses tab of the employee record, click OK.

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Adding contacts to employee records

1. From an employee record, select the Contacts and Addresses tab.

2. On the action bar, click New Contact. The New Contact screen appears.

3. In the Name field, enter the contact’s name.

4. In the Type field, select a type for the contact. For example, you might have a primary and secondary contact.

5. In the Relationship field, select the contact’s relationship to the employee.

6. In the Contact Type column, select a contact method. In the Contact Number column, enter a phone number or email address.

7. In the Address box, enter the address.

8. Enter any additional notes or more detailed information in the Notes box.

EMPLOYEES 51

9. In the Birth date field, enter the dependent’s birth date. The IRS requires either the SSN or DOB for all covered individuals on the ACA form. Financial Edge tracks only the dependent’s birth date.

10. Mark Contact is an ACA dependent for any ACA dependent. When you mark this checkbox, you can select which month the dependent was covered.

11. To return to the Contacts and Addresses tab of the employee record, click OK.

Copying and Linking Addresses

To help eliminate data entry errors, you can copy or copy and link an address to an employee record from another record. When you copy an address, you are merely pasting a separate copy of the address directly from a record onto the employee record. Changes to the address on one record are not made to the other record.

When you copy and link an address, you are inserting a copy of the address that is still tied to the original address. Changes you make to the address on either record are made automatically to the other record.

Copying and linking an address

1. From an open employee record, select the Contacts and Addresses tab.

2. On the action bar, click New Address. The Address screen appears.

3. To copy the address from another employee record, click Copy Address From.The Open screen appears.

Note: The Dependent information you enter in the Birth date and ACA dependent fields is required for ACA tax forms.

Note: When you edit an existing linked address, you can open only one record, make your changes, and the program updates the addresses on the linked records.

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4. Locate the employee to copy from and click Open. The Addresses for <Employee> screen appears displaying the address to copy.

5. To link the addresses, mark Link these addresses.

6. Click Copy Now. You return to the Address for <Employee> screen, and the copied address information appears. The Link? column indicates contact types are linked.

7. To save the information and return to the Contacts and Addresses tab, click OK. The copied address appears in the grid.

Unlinking Addresses

You may find it necessary to unlink addresses. When you stop sharing a linked address, you remove links between the records. Changes you make to the address on either record are no longer made automatically to the other record. Each address still has the potential to be shared.

To unlink only a contact type, select “Not Shared” in the Linked? column.

Unlinking an address

1. From an open employee record, select the Contacts and Addresses tab.

Note: When you link addresses, information is shared. A contact type marked “Not Shared” in the Link? column cannot be copied or linked.

EMPLOYEES 53

2. Select the address to unlink and click Open. The Address for screen appears.

3. Click Linked Addresses. The Address Links screen appears displaying the records the address is linked to.

4. Click Stop Sharing This Address. The employee’s address is no longer linked to the others.

5. To return to the Address for screen, click Close. The address still appears but is no longer linked.

6. To save the new information and return to the Contacts and Addresses tab, click OK.

Managing HR InformationOn the HR Info tab of an employee record, you can store employee information such as department, supervisor, job level, and position. You can also create events such as separations or performance reviews and monitor that information.

Note: When you stop sharing an address, the link is broken between only the employee and the records listed on the Address Links screen. If the records listed have addresses linked to each other, those links are not broken.

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Adding HR information to an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the HR Info tab.

2. In the Employment Assignments frame, select the employee’s primary department and primary position.

3. In the Supervisor field, enter the employee’s supervisor.

4. In the Job level field, select the employee’s job level.

5. Click Additional Departments/Positions to access the Departments and Positions screen.

6. Mark the checkbox in the Primary column of the employee’s primary department.

7. If the employee holds multiple positions or works in multiple departments, you can click Distribute Evenly to distribute the full time equivalency evenly across the different positions or departments.

8. Click OK to return to the HR Info tab.

9. In the Events frame, you can record information about the employee and add events. For more information about events, see “Adding Events” on page 55.


Warning: Depending on your organization’s EEOC reporting requirements, you may want to consider making the Position ID required. You can make fields required from the Fields page of Configuration.

EMPLOYEES 55

Adding Events

On the HR Info tab, you can add events to employee records to track hires, separations, performance reviews, contract start and end dates, or any other events your organization records.

An employee’s pay schedule is calculated using the date entered in the Actual Date field on the employee’s New Hire event. The Scheduled Date field on the New Hire event is not used when calculating employee pay and is simply used to note a scheduled start date, which can differ from an employee’s actual start date.

Adding an event to an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the HR Info tab.

Note: From the Event taskbar, you can use filters to organize the events that appear in the grid. You can also open and delete events.

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2. In the Events frame, click New Event. The New Event for [employee] screen appears.

3. In the Event for grid, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee. The name on the open employee record defaults into the Employee Name column.

4. In the Event ID field, select the event ID. If the event ID you want to use is not listed, you can enter it in the field and add it to the Event ID table in Configuration.

5. In the Scheduled date field, enter the scheduled date of the event.

6. In the Actual date field, enter the date the event actually occurs.

7. In the Approved by field, enter who approves this event.

8. Enter any additional comments or more detailed information in the Comments field.

9. Select the Attributes/Notes tab.

Warning: An employee’s pay schedule is calculated using the date entered in the Actual Date field on the employee’s New Hire event. The Scheduled Date field on the New Hire event is not used when calculating employee pay and is simply used to note a scheduled start date, which can differ from an employee’s actual start date.

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10. Enter any attributes or notes you want to associate with the event. Attribute types are established in Configuration.

11. Select the Media tab.

12. You can use the filters in the Media Type field to organize the media that appear in the grid. You can also select media in the grid and click Open to access the media, or click Delete to delete media.

13. Click New Media to add any media you want to associate with the event. For more information about adding media, see “Adding Media” on page 98.

14. Click Save and Close to return to the HR Info tab.

Managing GL DistributionsOn the GL Distribution tab of the employee record, you enter default GL distributions to spread payroll expenses across funding sources and cost centers. These distributions provide an efficient way to track employee wages, benefits, and taxes back to departments, projects, locations, and any other account code segment for which you want to track expenses.

When you add a GL distribution to an employee, the account code segment is always masked. By masking the account code, the program can combine an employee’s GL distribution, which can consist of account number segments like fund, department, or location, with account codes that you assign to your organization’s pay types, benefits, and taxes. When you set up debit accounts for compensation items with an account code and then create payments for employees, the payment postings will distribute expenses for employees to each employee’s unique set of funds, departments, or projects.

For example, if your organization expenses employee costs by department, you can define a default account distribution on each department record. When a new employee is assigned to a department, the corresponding distribution defaults onto the GL Distribution tab of the employee record. When calculations are created for pay types, benefits, deductions, and taxes, the account code assigned to those records combines with the employee’s distribution and the expenses are tracked back to the employee’s department.

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Selecting an employee’s default GL distribution

1. From an employee record, select the GL Distribution tab.

2. Click the percent button to enter a distribution.

3. In the Interfund field, select an interfund set to balance the accounts if you enter debit and credit accounts from different funds. Interfund sets are defined in Configuration.

4. In the DR Account Number column, enter the debit account for the distribution. The account code is always masked. When calculations are created for pay types, benefits, deductions, and taxes, the account code assigned to those records combines with the employee’s distribution so that the expenses track to the employee’s department or other account segment.

You can use the small binoculars to search for an account segment or use the large binoculars to search for an account number. You can click Load Distribution to use default account distributions. To use an account distribution defined in Configuration, select From Table. To use the default account defined for the employee’s primary department, select From primary department. To use the default accounts defined for all departments assigned to the employee, select From all assigned departments.To select a distribution from a department not assigned to the employee, select From other department.

5. In the Percent column, enter the percentage of each debit account in the distribution. You can manually enter percents for each account or you can click Distribute Evenly to distribute percents equally among all selected accounts.

6. If you have the optional module Projects and Grants, enter the project ID in the Project ID column or use the binoculars to search for a project ID. When you enter a valid project ID, the description appears automatically in the Project Description column.

7. In the Class column, select a class for the distribution.

8. To use an account distribution defined in Configuration, click Load Distribution.

Tip: You can click the Load Distribution button if you have a previously defined distribution that you want to apply to your new distribution.

Note: To move between rows in a grid column, press CTRL + the up or down arrow key.

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9. To delete all of the distributions, click Delete All. To delete one distribution line, select the row to delete by clicking the button to the left of the grid, then select Edit, Delete Row.


Managing Employee Compensation and Deductions

On the Compensation/Deductions tab of the employee record, you can assign pay types, benefits, and deductions directly to an employee. You can also select pay schedules and change an employee’s compensation.

Assigning Pay Types

You can create pay types for many varieties of employee compensation, including salary, hourly, overtime, and bonus. You create pay type records in Configuration. There, you can define account distribution information and specify tax settings for pay types that determine whether taxes are withheld. You can set restrictions that determine which employees receive the pay type and assign a schedule to determine when the pay type is calculated.

Once you have created pay types, you can assign them to specific employees from the Compensation/Deductions tab of the employee record.

Assigning a pay type to an employee

1. From an employee record, select the Compensation/Deductions tab.

2. In the Pay schedule field, select the pay schedule you want to use to calculate the employee’s pay type. Schedules are created in Configuration.

Note: You can assign pay types directly from an employee record. You can also assign pay types from the Pay Types page of Records.

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3. To view the details of the schedule you select, click View Schedule.

4. To filter the compensation settings that appear in the grid, mark Only show compensation settings effective as of and enter a date.

5. Click New Pay Type. The New Pay Type for [employee] screen appears.

In the Pay type for grid, information on the open employee record defaults into the Name, ID, and SSN columns.

6. In the Pay category field, select a pay category. Pay categories are defined on the Tables page in Configuration.

7. In the Pay type ID/description field, enter the pay type ID or use the binoculars to locate a pay type. When you enter an ID, the description appears automatically.

8. In the Effective dates field, select the dates for the pay type to be used. The effective dates and schedule determine when the pay type will be calculated. The effective dates should be used to keep a history of pay assigned to the employee over time.


• If you select “Salary”, in the Annual salary field, enter the salary amount.

• If you select “Fixed amount”, in the fields below, select “Total amount” or “Amount per period” and enter the amount. Use “Total amount” for specified amounts paid over a number of periods, such as a short‐term, temporary assignment. Use “Amount per period” for specified amounts paid each period for which no specific total is defined. For example, an employee receives $1,000 a month.

• If you select “Hourly”, in the fields below, select “Amount per hour” or “Percent of hourly gross” and enter the amount or percentage. This selection calculates the pay amount based on a percentage of all pays and benefits the employee receives per hour. A grid appears so you can include specific pays based on filters.

If you select “Credit attendance code”, select an attendance code in the field to the right and enter a rate in the For every hour worked credit [ ] hours of attendance field. For example, you can select the Compensation Time attendance code and when you run calculations, compensation time is credited to the employee for those hours worked.

• If you select “Piece rate”, select a piece rate unit in the Unit field. Piece rate units are defined on the Tables page in Configuration. In the Amount per unit field, enter the amount to pay for each unit. In the Default units per period field, enter the number of units to use per period.

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• If you select “Percentage of gross”, enter a percentage in the Percentage field. This selection calculates the pay amount based on a percentage of all pays and benefits the employee receives. A grid appears so you can include specific pays based on filters.



12. Select when to pay the pay type:

• Mark Pay on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule to pay the pay type according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Pay on all dates”, “Do not pay between [ ] and [ ]”, or “Only pay between [ ] and [ ]” and enter a date range.

• Mark Pay only in periods with specific dates to pay the pay type according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly between each date. You can edit the schedule in the grid.

• Mark Do not pay in periods with specific dates to pay the pay type in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly between each date. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid paying the pay type three times in one month.


14. Click Save and Close to return to the Compensation/Deductions tab.

Assigning Benefits

Benefits are the employer expense for fringe benefits or advantages such as health care coverage and 401(k) plans. You create benefit records in Configuration. There, you can specify tax settings for benefits that determine whether taxes are withheld from the employer expenses and you can define the distribution for benefit payments.

Note: If you link a benefit to a deduction, the benefit follows the deduction’s schedule.

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Once you have created the benefit records, you can assign a benefit category and benefit type to specific employees from the Compensation/Deductions tab of the employee record.

Assigning a benefit to an employee


2. In the Pay schedule field, select the pay schedule you want to use to calculate the employee’s benefit. Schedules are created in Configuration.

3. To view the details of the schedule you select, click View Schedule.


5. Select “Benefit” from the Compensation Type menu on the action bar.

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6. Click New Benefit. The New Benefit for [employee] screen appears.

7. In the Benefit for grid, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee. The name on the open employee record defaults into this field.

8. The Benefit category field, select a benefit type. The available fields and options change based on your selection.

• Select “Employer Contribution” for benefits for which your organization pays part of the expense and the rest is paid by the employee. For example, the employer’s expense for 401 (k) plans or medical insurance.

• Select “Cash” for financial assistance benefits you pay to employees, for example, dependent care or adoption expenses assistance.

• Select “Non‐Cash Compensation” for non‐cash benefits your organization provides, such as the value of an employee’s company car.

9. In the Benefit ID/Description field, select the benefit ID or use the binoculars to locate a benefit. When you enter an ID, the description appears automatically.

10. In the Effective dates field, select a date range for this benefit. The effective dates and schedule determine when the benefits will be calculated. The effective dates should be used to keep a history of benefits assigned to the employee over time.


12. To add a start time restriction to the benefit, mark Start granting benefit when [ ] and select “Hours‐worked increments”, “Hours worked per period reaches”, or “Total hours worked” and enter the number of hours required.

13. To stop providing the benefit when the payment reaches a certain level, mark Stop granting benefit when YTD benefit exceeds [ ] and select “Amount”, “Percentage off projected annual gross”, or “Percent of pay per period” and enter the maximum amount or percentage or gross pay allowed.

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14. Select the Schedule tab. This tab does not appear if you linked the benefit with a deduction.


16. Select when to grant the benefit:

• Mark Grant in any calculation for the employee to grant the benefit any time a calculation is run for the employee. For example, if an employee has a pay type that follows a different schedule than the employee’s default schedule, the benefit is granted for both schedules.

• Mark Grant on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule to grant benefit according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Grant on all dates”, “Do not grant between [ ] and [ ]”, or “Only grant between [ ] and [ ]” and enter a date range.

• Mark Grant only in periods with specific end dates to grant the benefit according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month.

• Mark Do not grant in periods with specific end dates to grant the benefit in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a pre‐defined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month.

17. To add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability, select the Attributes/Notes tab.

18. To save the benefit and return to the Compensation/Deductions tab, click Save and Close.

Assigning Deductions

Deductions are items, other than taxes, that reduce an employee’s pay. Some examples of deductions include health and dental premiums, deferred compensation plans, life insurance, credit union contributions, and any others unique to your organization. You can create deduction records in Configuration that define employee withholdings for benefit plans such as 401(k) plans and health care plans or employee pay deductions for flex spending plans, and charitable contributions.

Once you have created the deduction records, you can assign them to specific employees from the Compensation/Deductions tab of the employee record.

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Assigning a deduction to an employee


2. In the Pay schedule field, select the pay schedule you want to use to calculate the employee’s the deduction. Schedules are created in Configuration.

3. You can click View Schedule to view the details of the schedule you select.


5. Select “Deduction” from the Compensation Type menu on the action bar.

6. Click New Deduction. The New Deduction for [employee] screen appears.

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In the Deduction for grid, information on the open employee record defaults into the Name, ID, and SSN columns.

7. In the Deduction ID/Description field, enter the deduction number or use the binoculars to locate a deduction. When you enter an ID, the description appears automatically.

8. In the Effective dates field, select the dates for the deduction to be used.

9. In the Rate field, select the method of calculating the amount paid for the deduction.

• If you select “Amount”, in the fields below select “Total amount”, “Amount per period” or “Variable amount” and enter the amount.

• If you select “Percentage of gross”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters.

• If you select “Percentage of net”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. A grid appears when you select this option where you can include specific pays based on filters.

• If you select “Percentage of disposable income”, select in the field below whether to use a set percentage or variable percentage and enter a percentage. The percentage of disposable income adds a filter which allows you to select certain deductions to be taken out before the amount of this deduction is calculated.

10. To add a start time restriction to the deduction, mark Start deducting when and select “Hours‐worked increments reach”, “Hours worked per period reach”, “Total hours worked reach”, or “YTD annual gross reaches”. In the field, enter the number of hours required.

11. To stop the deduction when the amount reaches a certain level, mark Stop deducting when YTD deduction exceeds [ ] and select “Amount”, or “Percentage of projected annual gross”. In the field, enter the maximum amount for the deduction or the maximum percentage of gross pay allowed.


13. If a default schedule is not automatically loaded, you can click Load Schedule to select a predefined schedule or enter dates and amounts/percentages in the grid. Click Distribute Evenly to distribute the amount evenly among the dates. A default schedule can be edited.

14. Mark the option determining when to grant the deduction.

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• Mark Deduct in any calculation for the employee to deduct any time a calculation is run for the employee. For example, if an employee has a pay type that follows a different schedule from the employee’s default schedule, the deduction is deducted for both schedules. This option is disabled if you selected “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab.

• Mark Deduct on period end dates according to employee’s default schedule to deduct according to the employee’s default schedule. In the field, select “Deduct on all dates”, “Do not deduct between [ ] and [ ]”, or “Only deduct between [ ] and [ ]” and enter a date range. If you selected “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab, you cannot enter an amount because it is distributed evenly across periods.

• Mark Deduct only in periods with specific dates to deduct according to the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a predefined schedule or enter dates.

• Mark Do not deduct in periods with specific end dates to deduct in any period except those that occur during the schedule entered in the grid. Click Load Schedule to select a predefined schedule or enter dates. You can use this option for months that have an extra pay period to avoid granting benefits three times in one month. This option is disabled if you select “Total amount” as the amount type on the Deduction tab.

15. Select the Flex Plan Details tab. This tab appears only if the deduction is a flex spending plan. All fields, except for the Employee eligibility date default from Configuration. You can use these values or enter different dates.

16. In the Employee eligibility date field, enter the date the employee becomes eligible for a deduction.

17. In the Flex plan start date and end date fields, you can enter the beginning and ending dates for the flex plan.

18. In the Cutoff date field, enter the date when the deduction will no longer be used.

19. In the Changes in employee Eligibility grid, you can include a reason for any changes and enter the corresponding date.


21. Click Save and Close to return to the Compensation/Deductions tab.

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Changing Compensation

You can change an employee’s compensation using the Change Compensation Wizard. We recommend you use this wizard when giving an employee a pay raise or when adding new benefits or deductions that replace old benefits or deductions. When you add a new compensation record that replaces an existing one, it is best to use this wizard to ensure that the old compensation is expired properly. Otherwise, you must update the effective dates on the prior compensation setting.

Changing an employee’s compensation

For this procedure, we copy an existing pay type. However, you can use the Change Compensation Wizard to assign new pay types, benefits, and deductions, or copy existing deductions and benefits.


2. Click Change Compensation. The Change Compensation Wizard appears.

3. In the What do you want to do? field, select “Copy an existing pay type”. The available fields and options change based on your selection.

4. In the Pay Type ID field, click the binoculars to select a pay type. You can click Edit Pay Type to edit the pay type record.

5. Mark Expire this Pay Type and select the pay type then enter the Effective end date field.

6. If you mark Increase/Decrease pay type using amount, enter the amount.

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7. Click OK to return to the Compensation/Deductions tab.

Managing AttendancePayroll makes it easy to record attendance. Since you may have different attendance plans for your staff based upon years of service, status within the company, or different employment schedules, you can create and assign different attendance plans to meet your needs.

You can have a single attendance plan for all your employees or multiple attendance plans. Attendance plans are defined in Configuration and assigned from the employee record.

Once you add an attendance plan to the employee, you can create attendance records to record days or hours used or credited for the employee by attendance code.

Attendance accrues between an employee’s hire date and separation date. If an employee is hired, then separated and rehired, attendance accrues between the employee’s rehire date and separation date. If you set the business rule to calculate tenure based on the earliest hire event, attendance will accrue from the earliest hire event to the latest separation event. If the business rule is not set to calculate tenure from the earliest hire event and there are multiple hire events, attendance will accrue only for periods between a hire event and the next separation event.

If you want to calculate tenure based on the earliest hire event but do not want attendance based on the earliest hire event, you can delete all attendance history (attendance used and credit records) for the employee and add a new attendance plan based on the latest hire date. You can print and save attendance record history and add it to the employee’s file if they need a record of past employment. Keep all history in the program and use the start and stop dates in the attendance plan for years where the employment ends or starts. If there are full‐year gaps in employment, you can add an attendance plan that covers one or more full‐year gaps with ‘0’ as the amount to accrue for each attendance type.

For more information about creating attendance plans, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

Assigning Attendance Plans

Once you have created the attendance plans for your organization in Configuration, you can add them to individual employees. An effective date is defined for every plan that is added to the employee record so that only one plan is active at one time.

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Assigning an attendance plan

1. From an employee record, select the Attendance tab.

2. In the View field, select “Attendance Plans”.

3. Click New Attendance Plan. The New Attendance Plan for [employee] screen appears.

4. In the Attendance plan for grid, enter the name or ID of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee. The name on the open employee record defaults into the Name field.

5. In the Plan ID field, select the attendance plan ID you want to assign to the employee. Attendance plans are created in Configuration.

Note: You can select an attendance plan in the grid and click Open to access the plan, or click Delete to delete the plan.

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6. In the Plan year field, select the year for the plan. For example, you can create a plan for a fiscal year, calendar year, or from the employee’s starting date.

7. In the Start month and day field, select employee’s start date.

8. In the Plan effective date field, select the effective date for the plan.

9. On the Attendance and Carryover tab you can edit the grid to show the correct attendance and carryover information.

10. Select the Accrual Methods tab.

11. On the Accrual Methods tab you can edit the grid columns to show the correct accrual methods.

12. Click Save and Close to return to the Attendance tab.

Adding Attendance Records

Once you add an attendance plan to the employee, you can create attendance records to record days or hours used or credited for the employee by attendance code.

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Adding an attendance record

1. From an employee record, select the Attendance tab.

2. In the View field, select “Attendance Records”.

3. Click New Attendance Record. The New Attendance Record for [employee] screen appears.

Note: You can select an attendance record in the grid and click Open to access the record, or click Delete to delete the record.

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4. In the Employee name field, enter the name of the employee for whom you are creating the attendance record. The name on the open employee record defaults into this field.

5. In the Attendance code field, select an attendance code for the employee. Attendance codes are created in Configuration.

6. In the Start date and End date fields, enter the start and end dates for the attendance record.

7. In the A total of [ ] days [ ] fields, enter the number of days used or credited.

8. Enter any additional comments or more detailed information in the Comments field.

9. To distribute the time evenly across the start and end dates, click Distribute Evenly.


Managing Tax SettingsOn the Tax Settings tab of an employee record, you can define federal, state, and local taxes, as well as W‐2 information for each employee.

You can set up specific tax information on the Taxes tab in Configuration. For more information about the Taxes tab in Configuration, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

Entering federal tax settings

1. From an employee record, select the Tax Settings tab.

2. Select Federal Tax Settings in the box on the left. The Federal Tax Settings appear on the right.

3. In the Withholding status field, select “Married” or “Single”.

Warning: Blackbaud provides defaults for the tax tables in Payroll. While we do our best to ensure this information is accurate and up‐to‐date with the latest guidelines, it is your responsibility to verify tax table information and to make any changes required by federal or state governments at the time they become effective.

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4. In the Number of exemptions field, enter the number of exemptions using the up and down arrows. Exemptions should not exceed 10. If an employee’s exemptions are greater than 10, you should file a separate form with the IRS.

5. In the Withholding adjustment field, you can manually enter an adjustment amount.

6. In the Federal income tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list.

7. In the Social security tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list.

8. In the Medicare tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list.

9. In the RRTA tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list. This field is active only when you select Employee is subject to Railroad Retirement tax.

10. In the FUTA tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list.

11. Mark Eligible for Advanced Earned Income Credit if the employee is eligible for advanced earned income credit and you plan to make advance EIC payments. You can add part of an employee’s EIC to every paycheck, and the employee gets the rest of the credit after filing a tax return.

12. Mark Both Filing? if the employee is filing jointly with his or her spouse. This option is disabled unless you select “Married” as the withholding status.


Entering state income tax settings


Warning: If an employee’s exemptions are greater than 10, you should file a separate form with the IRS.

Warning: The RRTA tax provides for railroad employees’ pensions, and replaces their Social Security and Medicare benefits. You should confirm the type of withholding method you want to use for this employee before selecting RRTA. Please keep in mind, employees can receive Social Security plus Medicare, or RRTA. They cannot receive both.

Warning: The FUTA tax option is not present if you marked the business rule in Configuration to hide FUTA information in the program.

Warning: You cannot remove a state tax when a local tax for that state is also attached to the employee.

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2. Select State Income Tax Settings in the box on the left. The State Income Tax Settings appear on the right.

3. Click Open to open existing state income tax settings listed in the grid. You can delete existing state income tax settings by clicking Delete.

4. Click New State Income Tax to access the New State Income Tax screen. The fields on the New State Income Tax screen may vary from state to state.

5. In the State income tax for field, select the state for which you are entering the tax information.

6. In the State income tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or select an option from the list.

7. In the Withholding status field, select “0 exemptions” or “1+ exemptions”.

Note: The state of Maine has changed its withholding tax tables effective January 1, 2011. For more information, see http://www.maine.gov.

Warning: You can attach only those state taxes defined in Configuration to an employee.

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8. In the Number of exemptions field, enter the number of exemptions using the up and down arrows. Exemptions should not exceed 10. If an employee’s exemptions are greater than 10, you should file a separate form to the IRS.

9. In the Withholding adjustment field, you can manually enter an adjustment amount.

10. Click Save and Close to return to the Tax Settings tab.

Entering state labor tax settings

The fields on the State Labor Tax Settings screen may vary from state to state.


2. Select State Labor Tax Settings in the box on the left. The State Labor Tax Settings appear on the right.

3. In the State Labor taxes for field, select the state for which you are entering labor tax information.

4. In the SUTA tax field, enter the state’s SUTA tax rate.


Entering local tax settings

You cannot add a local tax to an employee for local IDs in states other than one of the employee’s income tax states.


Warning: When entering state income tax information for your employees in Mississippi, mark the Do not claim $6000/$12,000 exemption checkbox when the employee fails to file an exemption certificate, or if the employee is already taking the full exemption with another employer. For more information see KB Solution BB717808.

Warning: Only one state labor tax can be attached to an employee record.

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2. Select Local Tax Settings in the box on the left. The Local Tax Settings appear on the right.

3. Click Open to open existing local tax settings listed in the grid. You can delete existing local tax settings by clicking Delete.

4. Click New Local Tax to access the Add a new Local Tax screen. The fields on the State Labor Tax Settings screen may vary from state to state.

5. In the Local income tax for field, select the state for which you are entering local tax information.

6. In the Local tax ID field, enter the local tax ID.

7. In the Local tax field, you can use the default settings from the pay types assigned to the employee or another option from the list.


Entering W‐2 information


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2. Select W‐2 Information in the box on the left. The W‐2 Information appears on the right.

3. In the Check Applicable W‐2 Boxes frame, mark Statutory for a statutory employee, for example, an agent or a traveling salesperson who is allowed to report income and expenses as a business.

4. Mark Retirement plan if the employee contributes to a retirement plan.

5. Mark Third‐party sick pay if the employee receives third‐party sick pay.

6. In the Box 14 Labels fields, you can enter additional employee information, such as health insurance premiums deducted, moving expenses paid, nontaxable income, and educational assistance payments. The information you enter in these fields appears on the employee’s W‐2.


Managing Tracks and Checklist ItemsOn the Checklist tab of an employee record, you can add tracks and individual checklist items. Tracks and checklist items must be defined in Configuration before you can add them to an employee record.

For more information on defining tracks and checklist items, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

Adding Tracks

A track is composed of individual checklist items that can include tasks to be completed by the employee. Once you have created the tracks in Configuration, you can assign them to specific employees on the Checklist tab of the employee record.

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Adding tracks to an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the Checklist tab.

2. Click Add a New Track. The Add a Track screen appears.

3. In the Track ID field, select the track you want to assign to the employee. Track IDs are created in Configuration.

4. Click Add Now to add the track and return to the Checklist tab.


Adding Checklist Items

In Payroll, you can manually add a checklist item to an employee record without adding an entire track. Although manually added checklist items are not associated with tracks or actions, they are specific to the employee. You can delete checklist items at any time if they are not associated with a track.

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Adding a checklist item to an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the Checklist tab.

2. In the Item column, select a checklist item.

3. In the Date Requested column, enter the scheduled completion date for the checklist item.

4. In the Status column, select the status of the checklist item.

Once the checklist item is complete, enter the completion date in the Completion Date column.

5. In the Comments column, enter any additional comments about the checklist item.

6. To save the record and return to the Employees page, click Save and Close.

Managing Bank InformationOn the Bank Information tab of an employee record, you can establish the employee’s EFT banking information. When you set up the employee bank you can designate the account type, account and routing numbers, discretionary code, and contact address information.

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Adding a new employee bank

1. From an employee record, select the Bank Information tab.

2. In the Pay this employee by [ ] from this bank account [ ] fields, select the method in which you want to pay the employee and from which bank account.

3. Click New Employee Bank to add a new bank to the employee record. The New Bank for [employee] screen appears.

Note: You can edit and delete existing bank information by selecting a bank in the grid and clicking Open or Delete on the taskbar.

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4. In the Bank name field, enter the name of the employee’s bank.

5. In the EFT Status field, select “EFT”, “Pre‐Note”, “Inactive”, or “Print Regular Check”.

6. In the Account type field, select “Checking”, “Savings”, or “Loan”.

7. Mark International ACH transaction if this transaction is going to, or coming from, an international account. For international transactions, you will need the bank to provide you with the routing number type, GO routing number, and the ISO country code.

8. In the Routing number type field, select the code that identifies the destination bank. This field is required for all international transactions.

9. In the Routing number field, enter the routing number provided by the employee’s bank.

10. In the Account number field, enter the account number assigned by the bank.

11. In the GO routing number field, enter the nine‐digit routing number of the domestic financial institution that will initiate the international transaction. This field is required for all international transactions. Ask your bank for the routing number to use for the GO routing number. GO refers to the US Gateway Operator.

12. In the ISO country code field, enter two‐character country code to identify the destination, or origination, of the transaction. This field is required for all international transactions.

13. In the Discretionary code field, enter the discretionary code provided by the employee’s bank.

14. In the EFT amount type field, select “Amount”, “Percent of net” or “Remainder”.

15. To create payments for a specific EFT cycle you have created, mark EFT cycle.

16. In the Amount field, enter the full amount or the remainder amount of the EFT. If you selected “Percent of net” in the EFT amount type field, enter the percentage.

17. In the Order of deposit field, use the up and down arrows to select the order of this deposit.

18. To add bank address information, click Address. For more information about entering address information, see “Managing Employee Contacts and Addresses” on page 47.

19. To add bank contact information, click Contact. For more information about entering contact information, see “Managing Employee Contacts and Addresses” on page 47.

20. In the Contact position field, enter the contact’s position.

21. In the Contact info grid, select a contact type in the Contact Type column and enter the contact number in the Contact Number column.


23. Click Save and Close to return to the Bank Information tab.

Managing ACA InformationOn the ACA Information tab of an employee record, you can enter information necessary for the tax forms required for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These forms are referred to as the 1094 and 1095 by the IRS.

Note: You must have the appropriate security rights to view, add, delete, edit bank account numbers. If you do not have rights, these numbers are masked. For more information, see the Security chapter of the Administration Guide for The Financial Edge.

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Adding ACA information

1. From an employee record, select the ACA Information tab.

2. Click New ACA Information to add a new ACA information to the employee record. The New ACA Information for [employee] screen appears.

3. In the Description field, enter how you want to identify the employee’s ACA information.

4. In the Year field, enter the year for which you are reporting.

5. Mark Full time employee for ACA Reporting if the employee was full time. All ALE members are required to file Form 1095‐C with the IRS and furnish a copy of Form 1095‐C to each full time employee, regardless of whether or not health coverage was or was not offered to the employee.

6. In the Employee offer and coverage grid, make your selections for the year.

On the Offer of Coverage line, select a coverage code for each month. These coverage codes are pulled directly from the IRS instructions. If you have questions about which one to choose, please consult with your tax professional.

Note: In addition to the information you enter on the ACA Information tab, you must also enter dependant information on the employee’s Contacts and Adresses tab to ensure complete ACA reporting. For more information about the 1094 and 1095 tax forms, visit the IRS website. For additional information about the ACA tax preparer, visit the Aatrix website.

Note: You can edit and delete existing ACA information by selecting it in the grid and clicking Open or Delete on the taskbar.

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On the Employee Share line, enter the coverage amount the employee was responsible for paying each month.

On the Safe Harbor line, select a safe harbor code for each month. These coverage codes are pulled directly from the IRS instructions. If you have questions about which one to choose, please consult with your tax professional.

7. In the Employee months covered field, select each month the employee was covered. You can select All to have each month marked automatically.

8. Click Save and Close to return to the ACA Information tab.

Adding Flex Plan DisbursementsYou can use flex plan disbursements to enter reimbursements to employees from flex spending accounts. Flex plans enable employees to withhold pre‐tax money from their pay and deposit it into a flex withholding account. In most cases, the money must be used for certain health or child care‐related expenses. When used, the employer reimburses the employee from the flex plan funds. For employers who manage their own flex plans, an invoice can be created from the flex plan disbursement record so they may distribute money directly to employees.

Before you add a flex plan disbursement, you must designate a deduction as a flexible spending plan on the Deductions page in Configuration. You must also select a deduction on the employee’s Compensation/Deductions tab in Employees. Only then will any flex plan IDs appear in the Flex plan ID list.

You can add flex plan disbursements from an employee record of from the Records page of Payroll. You can also add flex plan disbursements from the Flex Plan Disbursements page in Records. However, by adding a flex plan disbursement directly from an employee’s record you can eliminate searching for a specific employee.

Adding a flex plan disbursement from an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the Flex tab.

Note: You can edit and delete existing flex plan disbursements by selecting a disbursement in the grid and clicking Open or Delete on the action bar.

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2. Click New Flex Disbursement to create a new flex plan disbursement.

3. In the Flex disbursement for grid, enter the name of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee.

4. In the Flex plan ID/Description field, select a flex plan. If there are not any Flex plan IDs listed, make sure you have designated a deduction as a flexible spending plan on the Deductions tab of Configuration.

After you select the flex plan ID/description, specific flex plan disbursement information including start, end, and cutoff dates, as well as the plan balance, appear at the bottom of the tab.

5. In the Pay date field, enter a date within the range defined for the flex plan ID.

6. In the Amount field, enter the amount to reimburse.

7. In the Comment field, you can enter any comments about this disbursement.

Note: The bottom of the screen displays the start date, end date, and cutoff date. You can also view the total periods, periods used, total withheld, employee balance, paid to date, and available balance.

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8. If you have Accounts Payable, you can click Create Invoice to add a new invoice. The New Invoice screen appears.

9. On the New Invoice screen, enter invoice information on the tabs and click Save and Close. You return to the New Flex Plan Disbursement record. For more information about creating invoices, see the Invoices chapter of the Accounts Payable Records Guide.

10. Select the Attributes/Notes tab.


12. In the Attribute Type column, select an attribute. Attribute types are defined in Configuration.




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16. Click Save and Close to return to the Flex tab.

Managing Employee ActivityOn the Activity tab of the employee record, you can view, sort, and add payroll calculations associated with the employee. From this tab, you can also access the Summary screen so you can view summaries of employee statistics and activity.

On the History of Changes tab, you view changes to the employee record, including who made the change and the date the change was made.

Calculating Payroll

You can calculate payroll for an employee from the Activity tab of the employee record. For information about calculating payroll for multiple employees, see the Running Payroll chapter of the Processing Guide for Payroll.

Before you can create payroll calculations for an employee, you must define the employee schedule, federal withholding status, and default bank.

Calculating payroll from an employee record

1. From an employee record, select the Activity tab.

2. You can use the filters on the action bar to organize the calculations that appear in the grid. You can also select calculations in the grid and click Open to access the calculation, or click Delete to delete calculation.

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3. Click New Calculation. The Calculate Payroll screen appears.

4. In the Calculations batch description field, enter a description that identifies the batch.

5. In the Calculate for period ending dates from [ ] to [ ] fields, enter the dates for the batch.

6. In the Calculations are for this pay date field, enter the pay date for which the calculations apply.

7. In the Pay calculation from bank account field, select the bank from which your organization pays its payroll.

8. If any employees receive a pay other than their regular pay and you want to pay each pay in a separate check or EFT, mark Create separate payments for each calculation. If the calculations have the same pay dates, you can leave the checkbox unmarked to pay them in one check or EFT. If the calculations have different pay dates, a separate check will print for each payment.

9. To create an exception query of the calculations processed, mark Create exception query.

10. Click Next or select the Summary tab.

11. Select the employees you want to include in the calculation by marking the Create? checkbox. To calculate payroll for multiple employees, see the Processing Guide for Payroll.

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12. Click Create Calculations Now to start the process. When the calculation process is complete, a confirmation screen appears.

13. Click View Control Report to view the details of the calculation.

14. Click View Results to view the results of the calculation.

15. Click Close to return to the Activity tab.

Viewing and Summarizing Employee Activity

The Activity tab of the employee record displays payroll calculations associated with the employee. If the status of a calculation is “Paid” or “Paid and Posted”, you can select the calculation in the grid and click View Payment to view the payment record created for the calculation.

You can also view an activity summary which shows employer expenses, employee pay, employer benefits, and employer tax information. This summary reflects the total employer expense or total employee compensation package.

Viewing and summarizing an employee’s activity

Note: To establish employee user options for displaying activity, select Tools, Options from the menu bar in Payroll. For more information about user options, see the Options chapter of the Program Basics Guide.

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1. From an employee record, select the Activity tab.

2. If the calculation status is “Paid” or “Paid and Posted”, you can click View Payment. This opens the payment record created for the calculation.

3. To view summaries of employee statistics, such as employee pay, employer benefits, and tax information, click Summary.

The activity summary shows employer expenses, as well as employee pay, employer benefits, and employer tax information. This summary reflects the total employer expense or total employee compensation package.

4. To return to the Activity tab, click Close.

Viewing History of Changes

The History of Changes tab displays an historic record of key changes made to the employee record. For example, if you change the employee’s name or a tax setting, the change appears on the History of Changes tab.

The information is for informational purposes only. You cannot add or edit data on the History of Changes tab.

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Viewing an employee’s history of changes

1. From an open employee record, select the History of Changes tab. The grid displays Item Changed, Previous Setting, New Setting, Changed On, and Changed By columns. The History of Changes tab is for informational purposes only.


Adding Historic Entries

You can add historic entries to record payments made to employees outside of the system. This is helpful if you have converted from another program and need to enter previous payroll information, and it ensures that the employee’s W‐2 and tax information is correct for the year. Before you can add a historic entry for an employee, the employee’s tax information must be entered on the Tax Settings tab.

Summarized calculations and payments made in your previous system should be imported as historic entries.

Once an historic entry is added, a check record is created for the entry on the Activity tab. This check record is not added to the bank register.

Need end of year help? Check out these resources:

• The W‐2 Wizard for step‐by‐step instructions to correct your W‐2 form.

• The Financial End of Year Guide (PDF) to help you with the end of year process.

• The Ledger blog for insight about the end of year process from Blackbaud employees.

Note: You cannot post historic entry transactions.

Warning: Deductions and benefits with limitations used in historical entries are not linked to currently assigned deductions and benefits. To ensure that limitations are enforced, the limits for currently assigned deductions and benefits should be reduced by any amount entered for that year via a historic entry.

http://www.blackbaud.com/support/faqs/w2.aspx

http://www.blackbaud.com/files/support/guides/fe/feeofyr.pdf

http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/financialedge/archive/tags/PY+end-of-year/default.aspx

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Adding historic entries

1. From the employee record, select Add Historic Entry from the Employee menu. The Historic entry for [employee] screen appears.

2. In the Historic entry ID field, enter an ID for the entry. The IDs for historic entries are shared with calculation batch IDs.

3. In the Period ending date field, enter the ending date for the entry.

4. In the Pay date field, enter the pay date for the entry.

5. In the Bank account field, select the bank to use for payment.

6. In the Payment method field, select “Check”, “EFT”, or “Split Check”. The payment method you select determines how the bank handles this payment.

7. In the Payment number field, enter the check or EFT number you want to associate with the historic entry.

8. In the Payment Details box, select Gross Pay, Deductions, Taxes or Benefits. You can edit or delete items that appear in the Payment Details grid. The columns in the grid change based on your selection.

9. In the Hours worked field, enter the number of hours worked to apply to this entry.

10. In the Days worked field, enter the number of days worked to apply to this entry.

11. In the Weeks worked field, enter the number of weeks worked to apply to this entry.

12. Click Save and Close to return to the employee record.

Managing Time EntryOn the Time Entry tab of an employee record, you can create time and attendance batches to record changes in an employee’s default work hours, pay, and the GL distribution of that pay. Time and attendance batches are normally equivalent to the employee’s pay period, but you can create batches for specific date ranges.

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Adding time and attendance batches

1. From the employee record, select the Time Entry tab.

2. You can use the filters on the taskbar to organize the batches that appear in the grid. You can also select batches in the grid and click Open to access the batch, or click Delete to delete batch.

3. Click New Time Entry. The New Time and Attendance Batch screen appears.

4. In the Description field, enter a description for the batch you are creating.

5. In the Start date and End date fields, enter a start and end date for the batch. You can use these dates to identify the batch and filter employees.

6. Enter any additional notes or more detailed information in the Notes field.

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7. In the Assigned Pay Types frame, you can mark Provide a row for each employee’s assigned pay type(s) and select what you want to include.

8. To add a blank row for each employee not having the pay type you are entering, in the Exceptions frame, mark Add a row for these pay types for every employee in the batch using these hours and rates. If the employee record already has the same pay type, the program overwrites the default hours and rate with the information you enter; it does not add an additional row.

9. To exclude specific pay types, mark Exclude these pay types from the batch. In the Pay Type and Description columns, select the pay types to be excluded from this batch. You can exclude only pay types already assigned to the employee.

10. To add additional rows for each employee, mark Provide and select the number of rows to add in the [ ] additional blank row(s) per employee field. You can add up to 20 additional rows for each employee.

11. Click Next or select the Attendance Entry Options tab. This tab is disabled if you did not select the business rule that allows paying/recording attendance.

12. You can mark Provide a row for each employee for these attendance codes and select the codes you want to include.

13. To distribute the hours among days, click Distribute Hours on the action bar below the grid.

14. To add attributes or notes to the attendance record, click Attributes/Notes. With attributes defined, you can filter information to your specification — a useful feature for sorting or filtering attendance records for reports.

15. To add additional rows for each employee, mark Provide and select the number of rows to add in the [ ] additional blank row(s) per employee field. You can add up to 20 additional rows for each employee.

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16. Click Next or select the Filters tab.

17. On the Filters tab, you can refine your selection of employee, status, primary department, primary position, default schedule, pay type, or employee attribute.

18. Click Next or select the Employees tab.

19. Select the employees you want to include in the calculation by marking the Include? checkbox. You can use the Select All and Deselect All buttons on the toolbar. Employees included in the batch, based on your entries on the Time Entry Options, Attendance Entry Options, and Filters tabs, appear in a grid.

20. To create the time and attendance batch, click Create Batch. Once the program begins processing the batch, a progress bar appears.

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21. When the program finishes processing the batch, the batch record opens so you can review or update the information.

22. Click Save and Close to return to the Time Entry tab.

Managing Actions, Attributes, Media, and NotesYou can further define an employee record by adding information to the Actions, Attributes, Media, and Notes tabs.

On the Actions tab, you can record various communications between your organization and the employee, such as meetings or phone calls. On the Attributes tab, you can add more characteristics to the employee record. On the Media tab, you can store media objects, such as a photograph, for an employee. On the Notes tab, you can add notes specific to that employee.

Adding Actions

The Actions tab maintains the various communications between your organization and an employee. Actions can include meetings, mailings, phone calls, and email.

If you have security rights established from Set up system security in Administration, you can add, edit, and delete actions from this tab.

Adding an action to an employee record

1. From an open employee record, select the Actions tab.

Note: You can use the filters on the action bar to organize the actions that appear in the grid. You can also select an action in the grid and click Open to access the action, or click Delete to delete the action.

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2. On the action bar, click New Action. The New Action for [employee] screen appears.

3. In the Employee name field, enter the name of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee. The name on the open employee record defaults into this field.

4. In the Action type field, select the type of action taken for the record.

5. In the Action date and Time fields, enter the date you want the action to occur.

6. In the Status field, select a status of the action.

7. In the Priority field, select “High”, “Normal”, or “Low” as the priority of the action.

8. In the Assigned to field, select a user responsible for the action.

9. In the Description field, you can add notes describing the action.

10. To send a reminder of this action, mark Auto‐Remind. The action reminder appears on the home page.

11. In the Send reminder to field, you can select who to send a reminder to complete the task.

12. In the Set reminder for field, specify how much time before the action to send the reminder.

13. When the task is completed, mark Completed on and the date fills in automatically.

14. To return to the Actions tab, click Save and Close.

Adding Attributes

You can record additional information about an employee on the Attributes tab of the employee record. You can then use these employee attributes as filters in other areas of Payroll, such as Query and Reports. For example, you can report on employees with specific attributes.

You can define attributes using a variety of data types created in Configuration. If you make an employee attribute required, a message appears reminding you to add it when creating an employee record. For more information about defining attributes, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

Note: Attribute types are defined in Configuration. For more information about defining attribute types, see the Configuration Guide for Payroll.

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Adding an attribute to an employee record

1. From an open employee record, select the Attributes tab.


3. In the Attribute Type column, select an attribute. Attribute types are defined in Configuration.

4. In the Description column, enter or select a description of the attribute.



7. To return to the Employees page, click Save and Close.

Adding Media

On the Media tab you can store media objects relevant to an employee. These objects can include newspaper clippings, letters, pictures, and graphs. By storing these objects in your database, Payroll keeps this information at your fingertips.

The Media tab is a great way to include visual and sound objects on an employee record. You can create a new object or use an object that already exists.

Note: The Required column is for informational purposes only. You can make an attribute required in Configuration when defining attribute types. If required, the attribute automatically appears on the employee record. You must enter a description for the attribute.

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Adding new media to an employee record

1. From an open employee record, select the Media tab.

2. Use the filters in the Media Type field to organize the media that appear in the grid. You can also select media in the grid and click Open to access the media, or click Delete to delete media.

3. On the action bar, click New Media. The Insert Object screen appears.

4. To create a new media object, mark Create New. If you select this option, you can create a new file with content you provide.

5. In the Object Type box, select a file type. This designates the type of media file you are adding. For example, if you select Bitmap Image, a blank bitmap is inserted. You can edit the image once it is inserted. The object types available depend on the applications you have installed.

6. To display the media object as an icon on the Media tab, mark Display As Icon. If you mark the checkbox, you can click Change Icon to customize the icon.

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7. Click OK. The New Media for [employee] screen appears. If you display the item as an icon, you can double‐click the icon on the media record screen to open the file and add or edit content.

8. In the Date field, enter the date to record when the media is added.

9. In the Type field, select a media type. You define media types in Configuration.

10. In the Description field, enter a description of the media object.

11. In the Author field, select your user name.

12. In the Title field, enter a title for the media object.

13. To save the media file and return to the Media tab, click Save and Close.

Adding existing media to an employee record

1. From the Media tab of an employee record, click New Media. The Insert Object screen appears.

2. To add a media object from a file you previously created and saved, mark Create from File. The Insert Object screen appears.

3. To locate the media object, click Browse. The Browse screen appears. Select the media object and click Open. You return to the Insert Object screen.

4. Mark Link to insert a shortcut to the file on the Media tab. If you mark Link, the program copies the file contents into the record and any changes made to the original file are reflected in the document on the employee record.

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5. To display the media object as an icon on the Media tab, mark Display As Icon. If you mark the checkbox, you can click Change Icon to customize the icon.

6. Click OK. The New Media for [employee] screen appears.

7. In the Date field, enter the date to record when the media is added.

8. In the Type field, select a media type. You define media types in Configuration.

9. In the Description field, enter a description of the media object.

10. In the Author field, select your user name.

11. In the Title field, enter a title for the media object.

12. To save the media file and return to the Media tab, click Save and Close.

Adding Notes

The Notes tab makes it easy to maintain helpful pieces of information you received, read, or need to remember about an employee. You can create notepads to record information about a bank account, special information about the employee, or contact information you may need later.

Each notepad has a date, type, description, title, and author. The notepad itself accepts free‐form text.

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Adding a note to an employee record

1. From an open employee record, select the Notes tab.

2. You can use the filters in the Type field to organize the notes that appear in the grid. You can also select a note in the grid and click Open to access the note, or click Delete to delete the note.

3. On the action bar, click New Note. The New Note screen appears.

4. In the Date field, enter the date of the note.

5. In the Type field, select a notepad type. Notepad types are defined in Tables in Configuration.


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6. In the Description field, enter a description for the note.

7. In the Title field, enter a title for the note.

8. In the Author field, enter or select the note’s author.

9. In the text box, enter any notes to associate with the employee.

10. To return to the Notes tab, click Save and Close.

Note: You can use the formatting options on the toolbar to format your note.

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6chapter

Flex Plan Disbursements

Accessing Flex Plan Disbursement Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Finding and Opening Flex Plan Disbursement Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Managing Employee Flex Plan Disbursements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108GL Distributions and Flex Plan Disbursement Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108Using Flexible Spending Plan Schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Assigning Flex Plan Disbursements to an Employee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Managing Attributes and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Adding Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Adding Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

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In Payroll, you can use flex plan disbursements to track reimbursements to employees from flex spending accounts. Flex plans enable employees to withhold pre‐tax money from their pay and deposit it into a flex withholding account. The money must be used for certain health or childcare related expenses, in most cases. When used, the employer reimburses the employee from the flex plan funds. For employers who manage their own flex plan, an invoice can be created from the flex plan disbursement record so they may distribute money directly to employees.

Before you add a flex plan disbursement you must designate a deduction as a flexible spending plan on the Deductions page in Configuration. You must also choose a deduction on the employee’s Compensation/Deductions tab in Employees. Only then will any flex plan IDs appear in the Flex plan ID drop‐down list.

Once you create new flex plan deductions in Configuration, you can use the Flex Disbursements page in Records to quickly and easily assign disbursements to specific employees. You can search for a specific employee and assign a flex disbursement to that employee. Once you select a Flex plan ID/Description for the employee, default settings you established in Configuration will appear on the flex disbursement record.

Accessing Flex Plan Disbursement RecordsBecause records are such an important part of Payroll, we have placed all record types on the Records page so you can quickly access them. Think of Records as a filing cabinet. You open a filing cabinet to pull out a record, or file. When you open Records, you can directly access several record types, including employee records. To access the Employees page, click Records on the navigation bar and click the Flex Plan Disbursements link. The Flex Plan Disbursements page appears.

Consider the Flex Plan Disbursements page the starting point for flex plan disbursement records. From this page, you can add a new employee record or open existing employee records.

You can edit employee record options by clicking the Edit options for Flex Plan Disbursements link. This link opens the Options screen for records.

To save time when searching for a specific employee record, you can use the Search for a Flex Plan Disbursement by Flex Plan ID field. The Flex Plan Disbursements page also lists recently accessed flex plan disbursement records.

Note: Before you add a flex plan disbursement you must designate a deduction as a flexible spending plan on the Deductions page in Configuration.

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Finding and Opening Flex Plan Disbursement Records

To find and open an employee record, you must be familiar with the Open screen. The Open screen has a number of filters you can use to narrow your search and quickly locate the employee you want to open. The search process is not case‐sensitive, so you can enter Smith, smith, or SMITH and get the same results. You can also use wildcard characters if you are not sure how a word is spelled — use a question mark to replace a single character and an asterisk to replace a series of characters.

You access the Open screen by selecting File, Open, Flex Plan Disbursement, or by clicking Open a Flex Plan Disbursement from the Flex Plan Disbursements page.

Opening a flex plan disbursement record

1. From the Flex Plan Disbursements page of Records, click Open a Flex Plan Disbursement. The Open screen for flex plan disbursements appears.

2. In the Find Flex Plan Disbursements that meet these criteria frame, enter the criteria you are using to search for the employee.

3. After you enter your search criteria, click Find Now. The program searches the database and displays all employees meeting your criteria.

4. In the grid, select the employee to open.


Tip: For a quick search, use the Search for a Flex Plan Disbursement by Flex Plan ID field on the Benefits page.

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5. Click Open. The flex plan disbursement record appears.

6. After you view or edit the record, click Save and Close on the toolbar to save the record and return to the Flex Plan Disbursements page.

Managing Employee Flex Plan DisbursementsTo use flex plan disbursement records effectively, you should first create flex plan deductions in Configuration. The flex plan deductions you create in Configuration hold default information you use repeatedly when assigning flex plan disbursements in Records.

For example, using the Deductions link in Configuration, you can create a dependent childcare flexible spending plan, for which you define restrictions, schedules, and distributions. Then, when you assign a flex plan disbursement record to an employee from the Records page, you simply select the pre‐defined Flex plan ID/Description, and all of the information for that flex plan deduction, such as employee restrictions, schedules, and GL distributions, defaults onto the employee record. Although default information is used, restrictions and GL distributions do not appear on the deduction record assigned to an employee. You can access the Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs and make changes only in Configuration. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

GL Distributions and Flex Plan Disbursement Restrictions

When you create flex plan deduction records in Configuration, you define distributions for payments and set restrictions to determine which employees receive certain payments. You use the GL Distribution tab and the Restrictions tab in Configuration to establish these settings. Once established, these distributions and restrictions default onto the flex plan disbursements you create and assign to employees from the Records page.

Flex plan disbursement distributions contain account distribution information such as credit accounts, amounts to distribute, and whether to classify distributions using projects, classes, or transaction codes. Restrictions you set up in Configuration give you the ability to determine a time period for payments and also enable you to assign

flex plan disbursements to employees with specific characteristics. For more information about restrictions and GL distributions, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Note: The Restrictions and GL Distribution tabs appear only on deduction records in Configuration.


Using Flexible Spending Plan Schedules

When you assign a flexible spending plan deduction to an employee, you also determine a schedule which Payroll uses to calculate the flexible spending plan. You set up pre‐defined schedules in Configuration. Schedules created in Configuration are then loaded automatically when you select a Flex plan ID/Description in Records. For more information about deduction schedules, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

Assigning Flex Plan Disbursements to an Employee

When assigning a flex plan disbursement record to an employee, you can enter information on the Flex tab and the Attributes/Notes tab. On the Flex tab of a flex plan disbursement record, you enter basic information about the flex plan disbursement, such as employee name, flex plan description, pay date, and the amount. On the Attributes/Notes tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability.

If you enter common values repeatedly for multiple disbursements, you can create a default set with these values to save time during data entry. The values are defaults only and you can still change any field on a record. From the menu bar of the record, select Item, Load Defaults from to select an existing default set or create a new default set for the record type. To manage default sets for all record types in the program, select Tools, Organize/Create Defaults. For more information about default sets, see the Program Basics chapter in the Program Basics Guide.

You can add flex plan disbursements from the Flex Plan Disbursements page of Records, the Open screen for flex plan disbursements, or by selecting File, New from a flex plan disbursement record.

Adding a flex plan disbursement record to an employee

1. On the navigation bar, click Records.

2. Click Flex Plan Disbursements. The Flex Plan Disbursements page appears.

Tip: You can use default sets to define common information for records. For a new record, you can select Item, Load Defaults from to select a default set of information to copy into the record. For more information about using default sets, see the Program Basics Guide.

110 CHAPTER

3. Click Add a New Flex Plan Disbursement. The New Flex Plan Disbursement screen appears.

4. In the Flex disbursement for grid, in the Name or ID field, enter the name of the employee or use the binoculars to locate an employee.

5. In the Flex plan ID/Description field, select a flex plan from the drop‐down list. If there are no Flex plan IDs listed, make sure you have designated a deduction as a flexible spending plan on the Deductions tab of Configuration. For more information about setting up a deduction as a flexible spending plan, see the Payroll Configuration Guide.

After you select the Flex plan ID/Description, specific flex spending plan information including start, end, and cutoff dates, as well as the plan balance, display at the bottom of the tab.

6. In the Pay date field, enter a date within the range defined for the Flex plan ID.

7. In the Amount field, enter the amount to reimburse.

8. In the Comment field, you can enter any necessary comments relating to this disbursement.

For informational purposes, the bottom of the screen displays the Start date, End date, and Cutoff date. You can also view the Total periods, Periods used, Total withheld, Employee balance, Paid to date, and Available balance.



9. If you have Accounts Payable 7 installed, you can click Create Invoice to add a new invoice. The New Invoice screen appears. For more information about creating invoices, see the Accounts Payable Records Guide.

10. On the New Invoice screen, enter invoice information on the tabs and click Save and Close. You return to the New Flex Plan Disbursement record.

11. Select the Attributes/Notes tab. On this tab, you can add attributes and notes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability. For more information. For more information about attributes and notes, see “Managing Attributes and Notes” on page 111

12. To save the flex plan disbursement and return to the Flex Plan Disbursements page, click Save and Close.

Managing Attributes and NotesYou can further define a flex plan disbursement record on the Attributes/Notes tab. Here, you can add attributes for an additional level of detail and reporting capability and add notes specific to a flex plan disbursement record.

Adding Attributes

Use the Attributes/Notes tab to record additional information about a flex plan disbursement. You can report on flex plan disbursements with specific attributes. You can also use flex plan disbursement attributes as filters in other areas of Payroll, such as Query and Reports.


112 CHAPTER

Adding an attribute to a flex plan disbursement record

1. From an open flex plan disbursement record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.







7. To return to the Flex Plan Disbursements page, click Save and Close.

Adding Notes

In Payroll, the Attributes/Notes tab makes it easy to maintain helpful pieces of information about a flex plan disbursement. For example, you can create notes to record special information about any health care related expenses.

Adding a note to a flex plan disbursement record

1. From an open flex plan disbursement record, select the Attributes/Notes tab.


Note: As an alternative to notes, you can annotate a record by selecting Edit, Annotate from the menu bar. To set the annotation to pop up automatically when you open the pay type, mark Display annotation automatically.


2. In the Notes field, enter a description for the note and enter any necessary information such as date and author for the note.


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Index

Aaccessing

benefit records 20deduction records 30department records 2employee records

Records 40flex plan disbursement records 106pay type records 10

actionadding 96employee records 96overview 96

activityemployee records 87summarizing 89viewing 89

addingactions 96addresses 47, 48attendance plans 70attendance records 72attributes

benefit records 26deduction records 37employee records 98flex plan disbursement records 112pay type records 17

bank information 81, 83benefit schedules 23benefits 62checklist items 80deductions 65emergency contacts 50employee records 43events 55flex plan disbursement records 84, 109HR information 54I‐9 information 46media

existing 100new 99

notesbenefit records 27deduction records 38employee records 102flex plan disbursement records 112pay type records 18

pay type records 14time and attendance batches 93tracks 79

addressadding to employee records 47, 48employee contacts 47unlinking on

employee records 52attendance

addingattendance plans 70records 72

attendance plans 69entering 92overview 69records 71

attributeadding to

benefit records 26deduction records 37employee records 98flex plan disbursement records 112pay type records 17

benefit records 26deduction records 37employee records 96flex plan disbursement records 111pay types 17

Bbank information

adding to employee records 81, 83overview 80

benefit recordaccessing 20adding

attributes 26benefit schedules 23new records 23notes 27to employee records 23, 62

attributes/notes tab 26compensation/deductions tab 61finding 21GL distributions 22notes 26opening 21

116

overview 22schedules 23tabs

attributes/notes 26, 27benefit 23schedule 23

benefit restriction 22benefit schedule

adding 23overview 23

benefits page 20

Ccalculating payroll 87change compensation wizard 68changing employee compensation 68checklist item

adding to employee records 80overview 79tracks 78

compensation, see pay type recordcontact

emergency 50employee records 47

copying department records 6

Ddeduction record

accessing 30adding

attributes 37new records 34notes 38schedules 34to employee records 65

assigning to employee records 33attributes 37employee compensation 59finding 31GL distributions 32notes 37opening 31overview 32restrictions 32tabs

attributes/notes 37, 38deduction 33

deduction restriction 32deduction schedule

employee records 33overview 33

department recordaccessing 2copying 6

exporting 6finding 3overview 2

disbursement, flex plan 82disbursement, flexible spending plan 106distribution

benefits 22deduction records 32

Eemergency contact, adding to employee records 50employee benefit 22employee compensation

changing 68editing 68overview 59

employee list 42employee record

accessing 40adding

actions 96addresses 47, 48attendance plans 70attendance records 72attributes 98bank information 81, 83benefits 62checklist items 80deductions 65emergency contacts 50events 55federal tax settings 73flex plan disbursement records 84flex plan disbursements 109historic entries 92HR information 54I‐9 information 46local tax settings 76media objects, existing 100media objects, new 99new records 43notes 102pay types 59state income tax settings 74state labor tax settings 76time and attendance 93tracks 79W‐2 information 77

attendance plans 69benefits 23, 61calculating payroll 87checklist item 79deduction schedules 33deductions 32, 59editing compensation 68entering time and attendance 92

INDEX 117

events 55finding 41flex plan disbursements 109historic entries 91HR information 53I‐9 information 46opening 41overview 40pay typespayroll calculations 87restricting flex plan disbursements 108selecting default GL distributions 58summarizing activity 89tabs

actions 96activity 87attendance 69attributes 97bank information 80checklist 78contacts and addresses 47employee 46GL distributions 57history of changes 90HR info 53, 55media 98notes 101tax settings 73

tracks 78unlinking addresses 52viewing

activity 89history of changes 91lists 43

employees page 40entering

attendance 92time worked 92

eventadding to employee records 55overview 55

exporting department records 6

Ffederal tax, adding settings to employee records 73finding

benefit records 21deduction records 31department records 3employee records 41flex plan disbursement records 107pay type records 11

flex disbursements page 106flex plan disbursement record

accessing 106adding

attributes 112notes 112to employee records 109

employee records 82finding 107flexible spending plan schedules 109opening 107overview 106, 108restrictions 108schedules 109tabs

attributes/notes 111, 112flex 109

flex plan disbursement schedule 109

GGL distribution

benefit restrictions 22deduction restrictions 32employee records 57flex plan disbursement records 108pay type records 12selecting on employee records 58

Hhistoric entry

adding to employee records 92overview 91

history of changes, employee records 90HR information


II‐9 information


Llist, employees 42local tax, adding settings to employee records 76

Mmedia

addingexisting objects 100new objects 99

employee records 98

118

overview 96

Nnote

adding tobenefit records 27deduction records 38employee records 102flex plan disbursement records 112pay type records 18

benefit records 27deduction records 38employee records 96, 101flex plan disbursement records 112pay type records 18

Oopening

benefit records 21deduction records 31department records 3employee records 41flex plan disbursement records 107pay type records 11

Ppay schedule

adding 14employee records 13using 13

pay type recordadding

attributes 17new records 14notes 18pay schedules 14to employee records 59

attributes 17finding 11GL distributions 12notes 17opening 11overviewpay schedules 13restrictions 12tabs

attributes/notes 18pay type 13schedule 13

payroll deduction, see deduction recordpayroll, calculating 87personnel information, see HR information

proof of citizenship, see I‐9 informationproof of employability, see I‐9 information

Rrecord

flex plan disbursements 106attendance 71benefits 20deductions 32departments 2employees 40flex plan disbursements 108pay types 12

restricting flex plan disbursements 108restriction

benefits 22deductions 32

Sschedule

benefits 23deductions 33flex plan disbursements 109flexible spending plans 109pay 13payroll deductions 33

selecting default GL distributions 58state income tax, adding settings to employee records 74

state labor tax, adding settings to employee records 76

summarizing employee activity 89

Ttax setting

adding to employee recordsfederal 73local tax 76state 74state labor tax 76

overview 73time and attendance, adding to employee records

93time worked, entering 92track

adding 79checklist items 79overview 78

INDEX 119

Uunlinking addresses

employee records 52

Vviewing

employee activity 89employee records 43history of changes 91

WW‐2 information, adding to employee records 77wizard, changing compensation 68

payroll records guide...in payroll, you can create pay types for many varieties of employee...

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