Summary

The Pay Schedule Maintenance window is used to create and maintain pay schedules and add timesheets to a pay schedule period if you use the timesheets feature.

When paychecks are generated in a Computer Checks batch (PR> Computer Checks> Generate), you can select a pay schedule and pay period to generate the batch. The pay schedule and pay period selected determines how the paychecks in the batch will be calculated (for example, which deduction cycle should be used) and which employees will be pulled into the batch (only employee records attached to the selected pay schedule will be included in the Computer Checks batch).

The Pay Schedule Maintenance window is also used to add timesheets to pay schedule pay periods. 

After pay schedules have been created, attach the pay schedules to employee records using the Employee Maintenance window (PR> Maintenance> Employee> General tab> Pay Schedule field). When Computer Checks are generated, employees are included in batches based on the pay schedule attached to their employee record.

Pay schedules determine how paychecks are calculated because they are used to set the following values:

• Period end date and period begin date - The period end date determines which pay settings, deduction/benefits and rate code revisions are included in the Computer Checks batch.
• Timecard date - The timecard date determines which default timecard attached to the employee record will be included in the Computer Checks batch.
• Timecard cycle - The timecard cycle determines which default timecard on an employee record will be included in the Computer Checks batch.
• Deduction cycle - The deduction cycle determines which deductions and benefits attached to the employee record will be included in the Computer checks batch.

Step by Step

1     View the pay schedules.

• Open the Pay Schedule window (PR> Maintenance> Pay Schedule).
• Select a pay schedule and click DELETE to delete the selected pay schedule. You cannot delete a pay schedule that is attached to an employee record.
  • Pay schedules are attached to employee records using the Employee Maintenance window (PR> Maintenance> Employee> Financial tab> Pay Schedule field).
• Select a pay schedule and click EDIT to open the selected pay schedule.
• Click ADD to create a new pay schedule. This will open the Create Pay Schedule window.

2     Create or modify a pay schedule.

• Enter a Calendar Year for the pay schedule and click the Refresh button  . This will limit the schedule period data displayed in the data grid below to the specified calendar year.
  • Enter a zero in the this field to load all available years.
• Enter the title of the pay schedule in the Title field. For example, enter MONTHLY if the pay schedule is for employees paid monthly.
• Select the pay cycle to generate the pay schedule in the Pay Cycle field. The pay cycle will determine the number of pay cycles in the year.
  • The number of periods in the selected pay cycle will determine the Begin Date and End Date of the scheduled pay periods. For example, if the pay cycle is set up as a monthly pay schedule (PR> Maintenance> Pay Cycle> Periods field> 12), the pay schedule will create a monthly pay schedule.
• The Salary Adjust Type field is used to configure how salary adjustments are calculated when they fall before the end of a pay period.
  • The Prorate by Days adjustment type will calculate the percentage of days that each revision was active during the pay period. That percentage is then multiplied by the pay period salary for each revision, resulting in an earned salary amount for each revision. Those amounts are then combined to calculate the total salary earned during the period.
    • For example, an organization that uses a monthly pay schedule could have an employee that earns $2250 per month. If that employee received a raise to $2500 per month on the 10th day of a 30 day pay period, this is how the Prorate by Days adjustment type would calculate the pay period salary:

9 (number of days at $2250) / 30 (total days in period) = 0.3 (percentage of period at $2250)

21 (number of days at $2500) / 30 (total days in period) = 0.7 (percentage of period at $2500)

0.3 X $2250 = $675 (total period salary at $2250 rate)

0.7 X $2500 = $1750 (total period salary at $2500 rate)

$675 + $1750 = $2425 (total salary for the period)

• The Prorate by Schedule Hours adjustment type calculates the period salary in a similar manner, but uses the employee's actual scheduled hours rather than the total days in the period. Because this adjustment type allows you to exclude weekends or other days not worked, this can be a more accurate reflection of the earned salary.
  • If we use the example above, and assume that the 1st day of the pay period is a Monday and that the employee works Monday through Friday, this is how the Prorate by Schedule Hours adjustment type would calculate the pay period salary:

56 (scheduled hours at $2250) / 176 (total scheduled hours in period) = 0.318 (percentage of scheduled hours at $2250)

120 (scheduled hours at $2500) / 176 (total scheduled hours in period) = 0.682 (percentage of scheduled hours at $2500)

0.318 X $2250 = $715.50 (total period salary at $2250 rate)

0.682 X $2500 = $1705 (total period salary at $2500 rate)

$715.50 + $1705 = $2420.50 (total salary for the period)

• Choose Use Last Revision to calculate the period salary by using the last revision within the pay period.
• Choose Use First Revision to calculate the period salary by using the first revision within the pay period.

• Enter the standard hours for the pay schedule in the daily hours fields. This will determine the standard hours of the pay schedule when entering accruals in the pay schedule calendar.

3     Set up the pay schedule periods.

• Once the pay schedule information is entered, click the Add Periods to Schedule button   to open the Build Pay Schedule Periods window.
  • Select a Build Type from the drop-down menu to specify how often the pay schedule periods will occur.
    • The selected Build Type will determine the value that will populate in the Number of Periods field. This value can be edited to add or remove periods to the pay schedule, but the period frequency will remain the same.
  • Specify a Build Year for the pay schedule.
  • Specify a Begin Date for the pay schedule. This will be the period begin date for Period 001.
    • The Semimonthly Date 2 field will only be enabled if Semimonthly is selected in the Build Type field above. This allows you to edit the days between periods when creating a semimonthly schedule.
  • Once you have established the pay schedule period options, click the Generate New Periods button to generate the periods and populate the data grid below.
  • The Period Begin Date, Period End Date, and Timecard Date fields can all be edited at this point.
• Click the Save button to return to the Pay Schedule Maintenance window and populate the pay schedule information in the columns at the bottom of the window.

4     Edit the pay schedule.

• Select a period in the data grid and use the Settings tab to modify the information in the pay schedule if desired.
  • The Period Begin Date and Period End Date will populate based on the number of pay periods in the pay cycle selected in the Pay Cycle field, and the date range entered in the Schedule Begin Date and Schedule End Date fields. You can modify the values in the period begin date and period end date fields if they do not apply.
  •  The Time Card Date column is used to enter the timecard date that will be applied to the Computer Checks batch. This is an optional column because you can leave this field blank and enter the timecard date during the Computer Checks process (PR> Computer Checks> Generate).
  • The Calculate Accruals toggle determines if accruals should be calculated on the paychecks in the pay period.
  • The Time Card Cycle column is used to enter the time card cycle. When default time card line items are attached to employee records, each line item is assigned a time card cycle (PR> Maintenance> Employee> Time Cards tab> Details section> Cycle toggles). When Computer Checks are generated, only time card line items with the same time card cycle as the pay schedule will be included in the batch. For example, if you enter a 1 in the Time Card Cycle column, only default time card line items assigned to time card cycle 1 will be included in Computer Checks batches generated using the pay schedule line item. The time card cycle can be a number between 1 and 7.
  • The Deduction Cycle column is similar to the Time Card Cycle column. When deductions and benefits are attached to employee records, each deduction and benefit is assigned a deduction cycle (PR> Maintenance> Employee> Deduction or Benefits tab> Cycle toggles). When Computer Checks are generated, only deductions and benefits with the same deduction cycle as the pay schedule will be included in the batch. The deduction cycle can be a number between 1 and 7. Enter a 0 if you do not want any deductions or benefits to be applied.
  • The Period Open toggle will be checked if the pay period is open and available for use in a Computer Checks batch. When a pay period's payroll checks are committed in a computer checks batch (PR> Computer Checks> Commit), the pay period is closed and the Period Open toggle is automatically unchecked. When this toggle is unchecked, either automatically after being processed in a computer checks batch or by manually unchecking the toggle, the pay period will be closed and cannot be processed in another computer checks batch.
    • If the Period Open toggle is rechecked after the pay period has been closed, the pay period will be available in another Computer Checks batch. This allows the use of existing pay periods when a payroll batch must be voided and reprocessed.
  • The Hours, Days and Weeks columns display the amount of time in the selected period.
• Use the Timesheet Period tab to add a timesheet to the selected period.
  • Click the ADD TIME PERIOD button.
  • This will create a new line item under the selected period.
  • Enter a Timesheet Begin and Timesheet End Date for the new timesheet. These dates must fall within the Period Begin and Period End Dates.
  • Click the ADD TIME PERIOD button again to add another timesheet period to the pay schedule period.
  • Repeat this process for the remaining pays schedule periods.
• Click the Save button   when complete to save the pay schedule.
  • Once the pay schedule has been created, you can attach it to an employee record using the Employee Maintenance window (PR> Maintenance> Employee> General tab> Pay Schedule field).
  • When a Computer Checks batch is generated (PR> Computer Checks> Generate), the pay schedule and pay schedule period selected will determine which employees are included in the batch and how payroll will be calculated (for example, which default timecard on the employee record to use and which deductions and benefits will be included on the paycheck).

5     Add periods to an existing schedule.

• When creating a pay schedule for the upcoming year, an additional set of periods can quickly be added to an existing schedule.
• Select the pay schedule you would like to use as the basis of your new schedule on the Pay Schedule Selection window (PR> Maintenance> Pay Schedule). This will open the Pay Schedule Maintenance window.
  • Click the Generate icon to add additional periods to the selected pay schedule. This will open the Build Pay Schedule Periods window.
    • Select "Copy Latest Year" from the Build Type drop-down menu.
    • The Build Year field will default to the next year.
    • The accruals and cycles set up on the original pay schedule will be copied to the new periods.
    • Click the Confirm icon to add periods to the pay schedule.
  • Click the Save icon to save the revised pay schedule.