The Ledger : Payroll Post Notes

Make it Feel Like Home: The FE Home Page

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:56:00 GMT

Do you run the same saved reports and queries daily, weekly, or monthly? Save yourself time by adding links to them on your Home page. This simple process will help streamline your regular tasks by accessing common FE reports and queries, websites, or non-Blackbaud products, such as Word or Excel, from one location. Remember, these settings follow your user name, so you don't have to worry about resetting them, or doing more work , if you switch workstations.

The first thing you want to do is set FE to start on the Home page. To configure this, select Tools, Options from the menu bar, select the General tab, and then select Home from the Start on this page drop-down list.

If you have several items for a given task, such as the reports, spreadsheets, and queries needed for reconciliation, create a folder to keep organized. To add a new folder to the Home page, follow these steps:

Select Favorites, Organize favorites from the menu bar.
Highlight the appropriate home page and click New Folder.
Enter the name of the new folder and click OK.

Ok, now that you have set FE to open on the Home page of your choice and created any necessary folders, it's time to create the links.

For links to FE reports or queries:

Open the report or query and select Favorites, Add to Favorites from the menu bar.
Enter a name and description.
In the Create in field, select the modules name, such as Accounts Receivable, for the link to display on the Home page or the folder listed below the module name to add the link to the folder on the Home page.
Click OK.

For links to non-Blackbaud products or website:

Drag the saved file into the FE shell. You will see the document open and display within the shell.
Note: To create a shortcut to a Web page, right-click the desktop, and select New, Shortcut. Paste the entire URL in the location box and click Next. Enter a name for the shortcut and click Finish. Drag the shortcut on the desktop into the FE Shell.
Select Favorites, Add Page to Favorites from the menu bar.
Enter a name and description.
In the Create in field, select the modules name, such as Accounts Receivable, for the link to display on the Home page or the folder listed below the module name to add the link to the folder on the Home page.
Click OK.

Make sure you also add links to our online resources for quick reference.

Knowledgebase: http://kb.blackbaud.com
FAQs: http://www.blackbaud.com/support/faqs/fe7.aspx
User Guides: http://www.blackbaud.com/support/guides/fe.aspx
Newsletter back issues: http://www.blackbaud.com/support/newsletters/supnewsletters.aspx
The Financial Edge Forums: http://forums.blackbaud.com/forums/4.aspx
The Ledger blog: http://forums.blackbaud.com/blogs/financialedge/default.aspx

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

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Update Compensation Types with Ease

Jennifer Maroney — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Do you have employees receiving pay raises or do you need to update benefits and deductions? Don't go through the process of first changing the existing record to inactive and then adding a new record, trying to remember the options selected on the original record; do it all at once using the Change Compensation Wizard. This wizard allows you to copy and update an existing pay type, benefit, or deduction while replacing the existing record.

Before we continue, I should let you know exactly what happens when you use this handy dandy wizard. The existing compensation type will be expired on the date of your choosing and the new updated compensation type will be automatically added to the employee record. Nothing too complicated, but I wanted to let you know that both compensation records will remain on the record as a paper trail.

Here's how to use the Change Compensation Wizard:

In Records, Employees, open the employee record.
Select the Compensation/Deductions tab.
Click Change Compensation.
In the Change Compensation Wizard, select Copy Existing [compensation type].
In the ID field, click the binoculars and select a compensation type to copy.
Note: You must select a compensation type currently assigned to the employee.
Mark the Expire this [compensation type] checkbox and enter an effective end date.
Mark the Increase/Decrease [compensation type] using checkbox and enter an amount.
Note: To increase the [compensation type], enter a positive number. To decrease the benefit, enter a negative number.
Click OK.

The new compensation type will become effective the day after the existing compensation type expires.

Enjoy your extra time and talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes:Track Rehires' Length of Service

Jennifer Maroney — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:38:00 GMT

Do you have students that only work for you during the school year? Whatever the reason for rehiring the employee, make sure the rehire event is associated with a hire event. This allows you to accurately track the employee’s length of employment. Remember, in order to calculate payroll for an employee, the last event on their record must be associated with a hire event. Let's get to it.

The first thing you need to do is tell the system which hire event to look at when calculating tenure. In most cases this would be the most recent hire event, but you can select either the original hire event or the most recent. The tenure displays on the bottom of the employee record.

To set the tenure start date, go to Configuration, Business Rules. Then highlight Employee General and select Most recent hire date or Original hire date from the If an employee has more than one hire event, calculate tenure based on the employee's drop-down list.

Now that you have the system configured to calculate the tenure correctly, it's time to create the rehire event. If you already have the rehire event created, you can skip to the next paragraph. To create the hire event, go to Configuration, Tables. Then highlight Event ID and click New Table Entry. In the new screen that appears, enter the short and long description for the event, select Hire in the Associate with field, and click OK.

The final step is to add the rehire event to the employee record. On the HR Info tab of the Employee record, click New Event. In the Event ID field, select the rehire event ID and enter a scheduled and actual date. Save and close the employee record and you're done!

Talk to you soon.

To Void or Purge...That is the Question

Jennifer Maroney — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:33:00 GMT

It's inevitable, no matter how careful you are, at some point you'll have to correct a check. The question is should you void or purge. What's the difference? Well, voiding cancels the check, leaving it available to view in the bank register. Purging, on the other hand, removes the check from the system as if it was never entered. Now that you understand the differences, check out these guidelines to help you determine which course of action to take:

Void a check when:
- The physical check is ruined.
- The physical check is not ruined, but is incorrect and needs to be reprinted. For example, the check was written to the wrong vendor or for the wrong amount, or it was returned by the vendor to request a replacement check.
- You don't want to use the actual check, but you want to show the check as used in the check register. For example, if the check number is out of range and will not be used, or if your internal policies and procedures mandate it.
Do not void a check when:
- The address is incorrect or did not print. The check can still be used without a window envelope.
- The check is recorded as the wrong number in the register, but the check is not ruined. In this case, renumber the checks.
- Only the post date or post status is incorrect, and the check is unposted, change the post status or post date.
Purge a check when:
- The check is recorded in the register and you need to reuse the check number. For example, you printed the check to blank paper. In this instance you should void and purge the check.
- Only the post date is incorrect and the check is posted. Void and purge the check and enter it again with the correct post date.
- You need to remove the check number from the register.
Do not purge a check when:
- You want the check to show as used in the check register.
- Your internal policies and procedures forbid purging checks.

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Got Fringe Benefits?

Jennifer Maroney — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:47:00 GMT

Many organizations provide employees with a company car, discounts on airline tickets, or memberships to exclusive country clubs and other social groups. A number of these perks, called non-cash fringe benefits by the IRS, must be included in the employee's gross earnings. You can find information about what is considered a non-cash fringe benefit in the IRS Employer's Guide to Fringe Benefits (PDF) or by speaking to your accountant.

Now you know what a non-cash fringe benefit is, how do you include it in gross wages? The answer lies in the Benefit record. When creating the new benefit, select to create a new Non-Cash Compensation Benefit or select Non-Cash Compensation for the Benefit category. This type of record allows you to calculate the benefit for a single period or over several periods without impacting the amount of the employee's take home pay. Here's how to set it up:

In Configuration, Benefits, select File, New, New Non-Cash Benefit from the menu bar.
Enter a Benefit ID and Benefit Description.
Select Percent or Amount and define the percentage/amount to calculate the benefit.
Mark the Include amounts for this benefit in W-2 Box checkbox and select the box, if applicable.
Define the appropriate tax settings for federal, local, and state.
On the GL Distribution tab, enter both the debit and credit account.
Save and close the benefit record.
Add the Non-Cash Benefit to the employee record.

Talk to you soon!

Improve Your Data's Quality and Consistency

Jennifer Maroney — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:30:00 GMT

A list of procedures and rules can improve your data's consistency and quality, and save you time and effort when entering data, preparing reports, and reconciling. I recommend compiling the procedures and rules to create a policies and procedures manual, also known as a data entry guide. The manual should specify how you enter and maintain records, and perform various functions related to your database. By documenting rules and guidelines, you can ensure consistent data entry. Here are some items to consider for your policies and procedures manual.

Soft close all periods except the current period and the next period. Closing previous periods prevents accidental posting to a closed and balanced period. By closing periods in the future, you prevent inadvertently posting transactions to periods that should not yet be affected.
Use journal codes correctly. Journal codes, also known as source codes, tell you the origin of a transaction. The codes specifically assigned to sub-ledgers should never be used in journal entries and vice versa. In GL Journal Entry, you can define which journal codes are allowed to prevent any errors. Check out BB58058 for the steps.
Create recurring journal entries for your regularly occurring journal entries. These templates allow you to define transactions and/or distributions to use over and over again.
Create distribution templates for commonly used distributions so all you have to do is select the template instead of manually typing in each account number, amount, project, or t-code. Using distribution templates not only prevent data entry errors but also save time, especially if you have detailed distributions.
Use business rules to promote accuracy and consistency. There are a variety of business rules that allow you to determine some things that should or should not be allowed in your database. Some examples include not posting zero dollar amounts, excluding inactive records from searches, allowing non-bank transactions to cash accounts, and automatically assigning record IDs. Each sub-ledger has its own business rules to set. Check out these solutions for some business rule tips: General Ledger | Accounts Receivable | Student Billing | Payroll
Configure security groups to restrict user rights. Carefully consider which users need what rights. For example, not all users should have access to voiding, deleting, or purging transactions. Depending on your organization's size and needs, you may be able to set up just one or two security groups or you may need to set up a separate security group for each user.

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Top Questions for May '09

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:32:00 GMT

Each month we keep track of the top Payroll questions you ask. Here are the top questions for May and April.

May

How to troubleshoot performance issues: BB8626
When will Payroll be updated to reflect the tax provisions of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?: BB585656
Scheduled queues are not processing: BB221816
Bank reconciliation shows out of balance to GL Cash Account or vice versa: BB61184
How to void checks, bank drafts, and EFT notices: BB59007
How to purge a voided check, EFT Notice, or bank draft: BB53728
How to create an import file: BB102268

April

When will Payroll be updated to reflect the tax provisions of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?: BB585656
How to add or update federal and state tax tables: BB246638
How to troubleshoot performance issues: BB8626
Bank reconciliation shows out of balance to GL Cash Account or vice versa: BB61184
Scheduled queues are not processing: BB221816
How to void checks, bank drafts, and EFT notices: BB59007
How to purge a voided check, EFT Notice, or bank draft: BB53728

Talk to you soon!

Meet Ms. Queue

Jennifer Maroney — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:30:00 GMT

Do you run the same reports and queries everyday or every week? Would you like to hire an assistant to just run these reports so you can focus on more important things? FE has your assistant waiting. Please meet Ms. Accounting Queue:

Ms. Queue is proficient in running reports, queries, exports, and posts automatically. The best part is, she works at any hour, does not require vacation, breaks, and bonuses, and no supervision is required. I recommend using Ms. Queue during non-working hours so you can be more productive by utilizing all workstations and printers during working hours.

For more information, check out the Accounting Queue Guide. If you would like to hire Ms. Accounting Queue to work for you, contact your account manager.

Talk to you soon!

Reconciliation Recommendations

Jennifer Maroney — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:33:00 GMT

At some point we all need to perform the dreaded reconciliation process. It can go smoothly, especially if you reconcile on a regular basis, or can be a headache if you don't reconcile regularly and have inconsistent data entry. The Transaction Business Rules, implemented in version 7.77, can help with inconsistent data entry, but you still need to get in the habit of reconciling regularly; have you caught my theme yet ?

Sometimes, no matter how careful you are, your subsidiary ledger does not balance to the GL. Here are some of the common causes of balancing issues:

Voided or deleted transactions
Voided checks
Transactions where the transaction date and post date are in different fiscal periods
Remitting Payroll taxes, deductions, or withholdings from the incorrect account
Journal entries made directly to the subledger summary account

You can find these sneaky transactions by creating a query or running additional reports.

I've put together a list of recommendations for reconciling subsidiary ledgers, but they can also help when reconciling balance sheet and income statement line items.

Find a reliable starting point. This may be your annual audit or another period when your subledger and general ledger were in agreement. If you cannot find a period, you may need to make a one-time adjustment at your reconciliation start date. Without a good starting point in the past, none of the subsequent beginning balances will be reliable.
Avoid manual journal entries to the summary accounts (e.g., Accounts Payable Summary, Accounts Receivable Summary, or the Accumulated Depreciation accounts). Make corrections to items such as invoices or checks in the subsidiary ledger, rather than making a manual journal entry to General Ledger. If you must make journal entries, consider creating a separate account for them to simplify subledger reconciliation.
Use journal codes to indicate the source of transactions. When posting journal entries, do not use the journal code used by the subsidiary ledger. Clearly and consistently identifying the journal codes helps you trace a transaction to its origin.
Reconcile monthly . Perform reconciliations at least monthly. Finding and correcting items regularly may prevent additional errors. If you have several periods to reconcile, start with the oldest and reconcile one period at a time.
Be aware of how your organization uses post dates and transaction dates. Items such as invoices may be dated in one fiscal period, posted in another, and paid in yet another fiscal period. When running reports, determine whether you want to see the transaction date or the post date. Ensure you have established guidelines for determining the correct transaction post date. Inconsistency can cause reconciliation issues and possible financial statement misrepresentation.
Ensure transactions have the correct post status.
Update your policies and procedures manual regularly. Include detailed instructions for correcting reconciling issues. Create a reconciliation schedule as part of your policies and procedures manual, detailing which accounts should be reconciled with what frequency, and by whom.

For detailed reconciliation information, check out the Subsidiary Ledger Reconciliation Guide.

Is it Okay to Cancel Out of Posting, Copying, or Reversing a Batch?

Jennifer Maroney — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:42:00 GMT

Do you ever notice your workstation task manager shows The Financial Edge is not responding? Just because it shows not responding on your workstation doesn't mean that FE has stopped working. Many times the process is still running on the server. If you cancel the process at the wrong point it could result in data corruption and who wants that?

Pardon the interruption, but this is a great example of why you should regularly back up your database. Check out the Backup and Recovery series on Inside the Edge for more details about the importance of backing up your database and testing it on a regular basis. Now back to you regularly scheduled program.

Here are some helpful tips:

Before initiating the process, disable any applications running unnecessarily, including those running in the background that may be using up system resources.
Post regularly, and assign a specific time of day to complete your posting.
Large batches with complex distributions, attributes, transaction codes, and projects will take longer to process because more information must be validated for each element of the transaction. If you have large distributions, post in smaller batches.
Allow sufficient time for the process to finish.
If you think you have performance issues, check out Knowledgebase solution BB8626 for performance considerations.

So remember, the next time you're posting, copying, or reversing a batch and your workstation's task manager indicates that the software is not responding, wait before you cancel the process.

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Get Your Calculation Information Here

Jennifer Maroney — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:35:00 GMT

Do you need to report on employee 403(b) deductions and their employer match or ever wonder how much you pay out for a specific pay type? With the Compensation and Deductions Register, there is no need to wonder...you can get the totals quickly and easily. This flexible report allows you to list employee earnings, benefits, deductions, and tax amounts for paid or unpaid calculations over a specified time period. Let's get to the good stuff.

You can find the report under Transaction Reports in PY. Once there, highlight Compensation and Deductions Report and click New. On the General tab, select to display the report in detail, summary, or both detail and summary. Also define which transactions to include, paid, unpaid, or both, and the date range. After you define those options, select the Filters tab. Here, change the appropriate Benefits, Deductions, or Pay Types filters not to include on the report from All to None. Please note these filters default to include All, so to run the report for only one of these compensation types, you must change the other two filters from All to None. All that's left is to click Preview and you're done.

Talk to you soon!

Got Backup?

Jennifer Maroney — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:29:00 GMT

Natural disasters, power outages, and hardware and network failures... Oh My! These things can happen at any time and could lead to unrecoverable data loss. Losing just one day's worth of data can be devastating to any organization, but if you back up monthly that's 30 days of data you could lose in a split second.

Ok, so you're probably saying to yourself, "that will never happen to us". The truth is you never know what Mother Nature is going to throw your way. Don't depend on your luck; be prepared by creating and implementing a disaster recovery procedure. This procedure must include plans to back up important files daily, test the backups regularly, store them in a secure, off-site location, and take a copy with you if you evacuate.

Check out the Backup and Recovery series on Inside the Edge for more details about the importance of backing up your database and testing it on a regular basis.

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: Top Questions for April '09

Jennifer Maroney — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:24:00 GMT

Each month we keep track of the top Payroll questions you ask. Here are the top questions for April and March.

April

When will Payroll be updated to reflect the tax provisions of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?: BB585656
How to add or update federal and state tax tables: BB246638
How to troubleshoot performance issues: BB8626
Bank reconciliation shows out of balance to GL Cash Account or vice versa: BB61184
Scheduled queues are not processing: BB221816
How to void checks, bank drafts, and EFT notices: BB59007
How to purge a voided check, EFT Notice, or bank draft: BB53728

March

When will Payroll be updated to reflect the tax provisions of The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act?: BB585656
How to add or update federal and state tax tables: BB246638
How to troubleshoot performance issues: BB8626
How to define or change federal, state, local taxes or W-2 information for employees: BB286760
How to void checks, bank drafts, and EFT notices: BB59007
How to purge a voided check, EFT Notice, or bank draft: BB53728
How to enroll in Aatrix and electronically file tax reports: BB237177

Talk to you soon!

Payroll Post Notes: One-Time Calculations

Jennifer Maroney — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:03:00 GMT

Every couple of months we see a spike in calls about how to create a one-time check. OK so the question is not "How do I print a one-time check," it usually has to do with paying employees a bonus, reimbursement for expenses, or paying them for a calculation error. Whatever the reason, the process is always the same.

First, create the new pay type in Configuration. The rate selected and the number of pay types needed depends on the reason for the check. Here are a few scenarios for an employee bonus:

If all employees will receive the same amount, select Fixed amount and enter the total amount.
If all employees will receive the same percentage of pay, select Percentage of gross and enter the appropriate percentage.
If different groups of employees will receive a specific amount, create a different pay type for each group.
If all employees will receive different amounts, select Fixed amount and enter the total amount that most of the employees will receive. When adding the pay type to the employee records using Create Group Assignments, you can manually update each employee amount on the Assignment Grid tab.

On the Schedule tab of the pay type, mark the Pay only in periods with specific end dates option. If the one-time calculation's pay date falls on the same date as the regular payroll calculation, the software will calculate both pay types together. If the other scheduled pay(s) are already calculated, only the one-time pay will be calculated.

Now you're ready to add the pay type to employee records. There are two options depending on the number of employees. If you only have a dozen or so employees, I'd recommend manually adding the pay type, but if you have a large number of employees, save yourself time by using Create Group Assignments.

Okay, you made it through the hard part. At this point all you have to do is create calculations and print the checks or EFTs; a process I am sure you are all familiar with . If you would like step-by-step instructions, take a look at KB solution BB244550.

Talk to you soon!

Need to Void a Check?

Jennifer Maroney — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:19:00 GMT

This is a quickie but goodie for all of you that need or may need to void a check. There are an unlimited number of reasons why you may need to void a check, including the check stock was not in the printer, the printer was not turned on, the checks printed to the incorrect printer, the check stock jammed in the printer, or the check information is incorrect. Even if you don't print checks, you may still need to void a check if you reconcile the bank accounts or process payroll.

Ok, so that's enough chatting since this was supposed to be a quickie. The process to void the check falls into two scenarios: errors discovered immediately and errors discovered later.

For errors discovered immediately, void the checks or void and purge the checks from the Payment Printing Status screen; this is also known as the check printing summary screen. If the printed checks are correct, but the check numbers do not match the checks in the bank register, you can renumber the checks instead of voiding and reprinting them.

The majority of the time, you'll find the errors at a later date. In this case, void and purge the checks from the Banks page. If the check is reconciled, you will need to create a bank adjustment to make the correction (BB91608) since reconciled items cannot be edited or voided.

Talk to you soon!