The Ledger

Converting to Payroll 7

2008-07-02T13:55:00Z

September is a month that I have alwasy shared a love hate relationship with. When I was a kid, it meant the end of summer vacation and thus began with a most somber feeling. On the other hand, my birthday falls in September so by default this should be one of my favorite months.

In 2008, this particlar September, something special is happening here as support for Payroll 6 draws to a close. I know that right now many of us are thinking, its early July right now and there is really no reason why I should start thinking about this with September 30th being so far off. Sorry fellow procrastinators, but this IS the time to start thinking about running the Payroll conversion. Obviously, the best thing to do is run a test conversion on the data now and work forward from there. I have included below my suggestions on steps to take right now to enjoy a smooth transition:

1. Start Today! Make a backup of your live database, and load it on a standalone machine. If you have any questions on how to do this, give us a call in Support, or just email me and I will get someone to contact you and help set this up. Or, try the following solutions from our Knowledgebase:
How to make a backup (BB94455)
How to install The Financial Edge (BB273248)

2. Once you have this standalone machine up and running with the copy of your database loaded, run through the Payroll conversion on this machine. Let it complete so you can get a feel of how long the actual conversion process may take.

3. When that completes, print out the exception report. As soon as the conversion is complete, there will be a link to click to view it. If you accidentally closed it,dont worry - you can always browse to c:\ and look for the file pyconvert.log to get this information.

4. If you get any messages or errors on the conversion log that dont make sense, contact support and we will be happy to walk through what these errors or exceptions mean, and how we can address them in the converted Payroll 7 system, or how we can address them in your current Payroll 6 system (when possible) to remove those from the live conversion.

The key here is planning, planning, planning! We want to be sure that we allow enough time to run a few test conversions. This ensures that when the date comes to go live on Payroll 7, it can be as simple as letting the conversion run, and when complete users can login, get a few things setup and start getting out Payroll checks!

Happy Payrolling.

Daniel

Posting Errors? Check Your Post Dates

2008-07-02T11:28:00Z

If your fiscal year ended June 30, you may suddenly start receiving errors such as Period Closed or Period Not Found when posting to General Ledger. These errors happen when transactions post to a hard-closed, soft-closed, or an undefined fiscal year. To resolve the error:

Review the Batch Validation or Pre-post Report to find the transactions that failed validation. You can find the exceptions in bold under the problem transaction. If you are posting a journal entry batch, the cursor stops in the date field of the transaction causing the error message.
If the post date is incorrect, change the post date of the transaction to a valid, open fiscal year. In Accounts Payable, if the Post date field is grayed out on a paid invoice, refer to How to edit the post date on a paid but unposted invoice (15863).
If the post date is correct:
1. Verify the fiscal year was created. If it hasn't been created, add the new fiscal year (BB75700).
2. If the fiscal year exists and is soft closed (BB1798), reopen the period (BB12248).
3. If the fiscal year is hard closed (BB1798), restore to a backup (BB52243) created before the fiscal year was closed or post to an open fiscal period.
  Note: If you restore to a backup, any data entered after the backup was created will be lost.

Happy posting. Talk to you soon!

Make It Feel Like Home

2008-06-19T14:24:00Z

Would you like The Financial Edge to work more for you as a user? You can define options and preferences to customize the look of screens and establish a wide variety of default values. These settings not only make your workday easier but more efficient. But wait, there's more...your options follow your user name, so you don't have to worry about resetting them, or doing more work , if you switch workstations.

Do you only work in Accounts Payable, Payroll, or one of the other modules? Regardless of what you do, you can save yourself time by opening FE in your module of choice. Here's how:

Select Tools, Options from the menu bar.
Select the General tab.
Select the module from the Start The Financial Edge drop-down menu.
Select the page from the Start on this page drop-down menu.

Stay tuned for more helpful hints to make The Financial Edge feel more like... home.

Talk to you soon!

The Accountability Summary

2008-06-17T17:12:00Z

I know some time has passed since my last post, but I am going to get back into posting and wanted to make my triumphant return with a piece of functionality linking The Raiser's Edge and The Financial Edge together. The Accountability Summary goes beyond the posting of gifts to General Ledger, and gives us some information in that is instantly available in The Raiser's Edge.

The Accountability Summary tool allows you to quickly gather and report to a constituent in The Raiser's Edge what exactly their donations are going to. The way we do this is through account attributes and projects in The Financial Edge. To summarize:

Accounts are assigned an account attribute in General Ledger that is used for tracking this (the attribute type needs to be a table value)

In The Raiser's Edge, the account attribute is defined to be used for the Accountability Summary in Configuration

On the Fund record in The Raiser's Edge, the project is defined, and when gifts are posted into General Ledger this project must be present when the General Ledger batch is posted

Invoices in Accounts Payable that are using funding from a gift/donor we are tracking are expensed to an account using that same project and Accountability Summary attribute entry

Once all of this activity has been posted in General Ledger, users in The Raiser's Edge can easily open an individual gift record and view the accountability summary to see where this money went. There are some different output and formatting options as well. So, what does this mean for the Business Office? I think it means we may have some setup to do! Seriously though, this could serve as a great tool that Development Office staff can use rather than asking you to produce several different reports and do a bit of research in The Financial Edge to determine how a gift was spent.

If anyone is interested in more detail, or with assistance using this feel free to review the Knowledgebase solution BB148089 or contact me. If anyone has any comments on this, or if you are already using this functionality I would love to hear feedback on how your organization uses it.

Payroll Post Notes Time Saver: Globally Add Records to Employees

2008-06-16T12:01:00Z

The top question asked last month was how to globally add compensation types, attendance information, and events. Since a lot of people are asking this question, I thought it would be a good topic to cover. Globally adding records is a great way to save time and your wrist when you need to add the same record to a large number of employees. You can globally add the following records:

Pay Type
Benefit
Deduction

Attendance Record
Attendance Plan
Event

Pay types, benefits, and deductions can be added for one calculation or with a schedule for multiple calculations.

I strongly recommend creating a backup of your database right before globally adding or changing anything in your database. This is one of those processes that can only be reversed by manually correcting each record, which defeats the purpose of the shortcut, or restoring to a backup, which will cause you to lose all data entered after the backup was made (hence the backup right before the change).

Just so you know, the last paragraph was not meant to scare you completely, I just want to make sure you're prepared in case you find an error after clicking Process Now. As long as you take your time and verify the records that will be changed before processing, you'll be fine .

Ok, now that the standard warnings are out of the way, let's get to the fun stuff and don't be scared it is a great tool. Here we go:

In Payroll Processing, click Create Group Assignments.
On the Options tab, select to Assign new records to employees.
Select the appropriate field from the Assign new drop-down menu and the appropriate ID or code.
On the Assignment Grid tab, select the records to include or click Select All.
Note: Depending on the pay type and defaults defined, additional information, such as hours or amounts, may be required.
After you verify the records and information is correct on the Assignment grid tab, click Process Now.

The process may take a while to complete depending on the number of records to be updated. If you are adding a record to a large number of employees, you may want to run the process overnight.

On a side note, since the only way to undo a global change is manually updating records or restoring to a backup, I recommend granting Global Change security rights to only a handful of users. This way you will be able to more easily monitor who uses the tool.

Talk to you soon!

Where's Waldo's Transaction?

2008-06-12T13:13:00Z

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you're looking for a transaction but it's missing from the Activity tab of the record? You know the charge exists because you're the one that added it or you've seen it before, but where did it go? Where's Waldo's transaction?

Well, the good news is you don't have to search the line at the theme park for it . If the transaction was posted and then deleted, all you need to do is adjust your user options to view deleted transactions.

To view the deleted records, select Tools, Options from the menu bar. On the options screen, select the Records tab, highlight Activity, and mark the Show deleted transactions checkbox. After you click Apply and then OK, open the record and the transaction will now show.

Remember, this change is only for your user name. If you hear your coworkers asking "where's Waldo's transaction," impress them by adjusting their user preferences and leave the Waldo searching to the kids.

Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Avoid Errors When Adding New Accounts

2008-06-12T10:45:00Z

Error: All segments must have valid values! I'm sure this is an error all of you have see at least once in your General Ledger lifetime. Instead of throwing up your hands when you get this error, follow these steps to fix it and prevent another error in the process.

Verify the account code has been created. If not, you can add it in Configuration (BB42207) or on the fly (BB42206).
Verify the account code is active:
1. In Configuration, click Tables.
2. Highlight the segment table and open the table entry.
3. Unmark the Inactive checkbox and click OK.
Verify the account code combination is valid:
1. In Configuration, click Account Setup.
2. Highlight Invalid segment combinations.
3. Remove the invalid segment combination.
4. If the segment combination should be invalid, select a different combination when creating the account.

Enjoy adding accounts without errors. Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Give Credit Where Credit is Due

2008-06-11T13:04:00Z

If you use Accounts Payable, at some point you'll need to credit a vendor, reduce the vendor balance, or decrease the amount of an invoice. There can be over one hundred reasons for needing to credit a record, including receipt of an overpayment refund, promotional credit, or to adjust a vendor balance. Regardless of the reason, add a credit memo. Here's how.

In Records, Credit Memos, click Add a New Credit Memo. On the Credit Memo tab, select a vendor. Then enter the credit memo number, date, description, amount, and post date. Select the GL Distribution tab and define the appropriate accounts. I recommend adding a note to the Notes tab to keep track of why the credit was added; it gives a form of a paper trail. Click Save and the Credit Memo is done!

Here's a great date shortcut!

Press F3 on your keyboard when the cursor is in any date field to automatically enter today's date.

You can apply a credit memo to an invoice from the Credit Memo record or the Invoice record.

Credit memo:

You can apply the credit to the invoice while creating the credit memo or after. On the Credit Memo tab, all unpaid invoices for the vendor appears in the lower grid. Click Auto Apply to automatically apply the credit to the oldest invoice first. To distribute the credit to several invoices or select the invoice to apply, enter the amount in the Applied Credit field, enter the post date, and then click Apply.

Invoice:

Open the Invoice and select the Payment/Credits tab. The available Credit Memos are listed under Credit Memos. Click Auto Apply to automatically apply the credit to the invoice. To apply a specific credit amount, enter the amount in the Applied Amount field and then click Apply.

Enjoy your credits. Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Attendance Arithmetic (Part 6 of 6)

2008-06-10T15:28:00Z

Welcome to the final installment of the Attendance Arithmetic series. Let's talk about start of cycle attendance. Start of cycle attendance accrues all attendance on the effective date of the attendance plan.

For example, David Jones started January 1, 2007 and accrues 40 vacation hours per cycle. This means that as of January 1, David has earned all 40 hours.

I hope you've enjoyed this series. Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Attendance Arithmetic (Part 5 of 6)

2008-06-09T14:01:00Z

Welcome to part five of the Attendance Arithmetic series, let's talk about by hours worked attendance. To manually calculate the accrual:

Determine the number of hours worked since the start of the attendance year.
Find the number of cycle hours in the schedule.
Divide the number of hours worked by the total cycle hours.
Multiply the results of step three by the number of hours accrued per cycle.

([Number of Hours Worked] / [Total Cycle Hours]) * [Accrued Per Cycle] = [By Hours Worked Accrual]

For example, David Jones started January 1, 2007, accrues 40 vacation hours per cycle, and the hours per cycle value is 2080. Let's calculate the by hours worked attendance accrual through January 30, 2007.

David has worked a total of 173 hours so far this year, so the calculation would be:

(173/2080) * 40 = 3.326 hours

This means that from January 1 through January 30, David has earned 3.33 hours.

Stay on the lookout for the final chapter (Part 6). Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Reuse Check Numbers

2008-06-06T11:10:00Z

A common headache we all get from time to time stems from printing checks. Maybe you go through the process of printing checks to later realize that the check stock was not in the printer. Perhaps the checks show in the bank register but the checks did not actually print. Whatever your reason don't waste check stock, instead, reuse the check numbers.

The first thing, if you have not done so already, is to void the check or range of checks. You can void checks by clicking Void selected payments under Administrative tasks in Banks. Then define the check information and click Void Now.

The next step, purging, is key to being able to reuse the check numbers. This process removes the check from the bank register and frees the check number to be used again. Purging a check, however, will not automatically change the starting check number. To purge checks, go to Banks, Administration and click Purge voided transactions. Then define the appropriate options and click Purge Now.

Since the starting check number is still incorrect, you need to change the starting check number back to the first check number voided. This can be updated on the Payment tab in edit account details for the bank.

That's it, your ready to re-print checks. Happy check printing!

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Attendance Arithmetic (Part 4 of 6)

2008-06-05T18:42:00Z

Welcome to part four of the Attendance Arithmetic series, let's talk about by pay period attendance. To manually calculate the accrual:

Determine the last completed period before the accrue through date.
Find the total number of pay periods in the schedule.
Divide the accrue through date period by the total number of pay periods in the schedule.
Multiply the results of step three by the number of hours accrued per cycle.

([Last Completed Period] / [Total Number of Pay Periods]) * [Accrued Per Cycle Hours] = [By Pay Period Accrual]

For example, David Jones started January 1, 2007 and accrues 40 vacation hours per cycle. Let's calculate the by pay period attendance accrual as of August 14, 2007. Here is a screen shot of his attendance plan:

The last completed pay period before August 14 is period 14 (07/31/2007) and there is a total of 24 periods in the year. Since David earns 40 hours per cycle, the calculation would be:

(14/24) * 40 = 23.3 hours

This means that David has earned 23.3 hours for any day between July 31st and August 14th.

If you calculate the number of earned hours for August 15th, the calculation would be:

(15/24) * 40 = 25 hours

Stay on the lookout for Part 5 and 6. Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Top Questions for May

2008-06-02T13:59:00Z

Each month we keep track of the top Payroll questions you ask. Here is the list of the Payroll questions for May and April. I recommend you also review The Ledger Lowdown top question list for general FE or non module specific questions.

May

How to globally add a Pay Type, Benefit, Deduction, Attendance Record, Event, or Attendance plan to employees: BB164768
Taxes calculating incorrectly: BB267464
How to add a Deduction: BB226646
How to create a one-time payroll calculation: BB244550
Error: You must assign a pay type or a cash or non cash benefit to the employee within the period end dare range of this calculation when creating calculations: BB348170
Error: [Pay type] is not scheduled for a period end date within the date range of this calculation when calculating from a Time and Attendance batch: BB453602
How to void checks: BB59007

April

State and Federal tax reports are missing: BB373712
Demo Do Not File is printing on W-2s and 941s: BB430526
How to update Aatrix forms: B248846
How to create a one-time payroll calculation: BB244550
How to enter time worked in a batch: BB221882
How to print Form 941: BB248846
Taxes calculating incorrectly: BB267464

Talk to you soon!

The Ledger Lowdown: Top Questions for May

2008-06-02T13:53:00Z

Each month we keep track of the top questions you ask. This FAQs list includes GL, AP, AR, FA, and general FE or non-product specific questions. To see the FAQs broken out by individual module, review The Financial Edge FAQs on our website.

May

How to install or update: BB273248
Error: Unable to establish database connection when logging in: BB144086
Bank reconciliation shows out of balance to GL Cash Account or vice versa: BB61184
How to install or remove optional midules or change the number of user licenses: 24255
Error: Error in report 544 when validating a batch or posting: BB66862
How to move or install the database and the Blackbaud Management Console on a new Windows server: BB114770
How to attach a database to the Blackbaus Management Console: BB95152

April

How to install or update: BB273248
Error: Native error: 4060 when logging in: BB144086
Bank Reconciliation shows out of balance to GL Cash Account or vice versa: BB61184
Error: Invalid login when logging in: BB140810
How to install or remove optional modules or change the number of user licenses: 24255
How to download the latest update: BB273122
Vendor tax ID field is grayed out: BB381560

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Attendance Arithmetic (Part 3 of 6)

2008-05-28T11:15:00Z

In part 3 of the Attendance Arithmetic series, let's talk about monthly attendance. To manually calculate the accrual:

Determine the number of months from the plan effective date up to and including the last day of the previous month.
Divide the number of months by 12.
Multiply the results of step two by the number of hours accrued per cycle.

([Accrual Months] / [12]) * [Accrued Per Cycle Hours] = [Monthly Accrual]

For example, David Jones started January 1, 2007, and accrues 40 vacation hours per cycle. Let's calculate the monthly attendance accrual as of August 14, 2007:

There are 7 months from January 1 through July 31 and David earns 40 hours per cycle. The calculation would be:

(7/12) * 40 = 23.3 hours

If the start date of the attendance plan is not the first day of the month, the start and end of each month follows the plan start date. For example, David Jones started January 15, 2007, and accrues 40 vacation hours per cycle. The monthly attendance accrual as of September 9, 2007:

There are 7 months from January 15 through August 15 and David earns 40 hours per cycle. The calculation would be:

(8/12) * 40 = 26.7 hours

Stay on the lookout for Part 4 through 6. Talk to you soon!