COMPUTE PAYROLL

Use this screen to create potential paychecks, including tax withholding calculations at the federal, state, and local level. Accruals for employer contribution calculations, workers' compensation, state unemployment, and federal unemployment are also calculated.

Compute Payroll is always in a recompute mode. For example, it is not necessary to remove a timesheet flag in order to recompute payroll. Timesheets with dates falling within the current pay period are always selected for processing. Timesheets with dates before or after the current pay period are skipped.

In order for employees to be paid from timesheets, the timesheets must be processed to payroll. The Compute Payroll program performs the following functions:

• Computes gross pay, federal, state, and local withholdings, and other deductions for each employee. Accruals are calculated for workers' compensation, state unemployment, federal unemployment, and employer contributions. You can review this information on the Manage Payroll Records screen, or you can print a report from the Print Payroll Edit Report screen.

Beginning January 1, 2013, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires an employer to withhold Additional Medicare Tax on wages that are paid to an employee in excess of the IRS threshold amount (set at $200,000 in 2013). Costpoint has been updated for this requirement and now the Additional Medicare Withholding amount is stored in a separate column on the Employee Earnings table. As part of this enhancement, when you compute payroll, Costpoint calculates and stores Medicare Additional Wages and Medicare Additional Withholding amounts.

• Makes computed timesheets unavailable for edit. Timesheets that have been included in the creation of payroll can no longer be modified on the Manage Timesheets screen. After you compute payroll, the Computed Payroll check box in the header of the timesheet is selected.

To modify a timesheet after computing payroll when the timesheet is not posted or computed for other processes, run the Delete Timesheet Payroll Computed Flags screen for that timesheet. Change the timesheet and then recompute payroll for the employee.

• If you selected a Calculation Method of Days Per Cycle in the Prorate Options group box on the Configure Labor Settings screen and if the employee is salaried and works over or under the scheduled hours in the work schedule for that day, the employee's time is adjusted to reflect the work schedule hours. If you selected the Prorate Hired/Terminated Employees Only check box on the Configure Labor Settings screen, time is adjusted only for employees hired or terminated within the timesheet cycle.

• If you selected the Enable SUTA Reciprocity Functionality check box on the Configure Payroll Settings screen, all SUTA eligible wages for employees are applied towards the SUTA limit in each state. When an employee moves from one state to another, SUTA eligible earnings do not start over, and any eligible earnings from the first state apply to the SUTA limit for the second state as well.

You must initialize the federal, state, and local tax data and tables before withholdings can be computed (see the Federal Taxes and State Taxes menus). Before processing your first payroll, verify that the relevant data in the Payroll Controls menu and the Basic Employee Information menu in the Employee module have been provided. (Refer to the Processing the Payroll topic for more information.)

Enter and appropriately modify all timesheets before executing this program. You cannot change an original timesheet after the timesheet is either processed to payroll (computed) in this module, or posted to the G/L on the Post Timesheets screen. However, if corrections must be made, enter additional or correcting timesheets. You can also run the Delete Timesheet Payroll Computed Flags utility if the timesheet was not posted to the G/L. You can then execute the Compute Payroll program again. If a check has not been issued (that is, there is no check number on the Manage Payroll Records screen for the specific paycheck type (regular or bonus)), the new timesheet is combined with the original timesheet to create a new paycheck.

You cannot create payroll in one pay period when there are items remaining on the Manage Payroll Records screen from a previous pay period. You can, however, still enter timesheets and post them to Labor Distribution, even though a previous pay period has not been paid. This control is important because it keeps timesheets segregated by pay period and does not allow you to accidentally combine timesheets from more than one period into one paycheck.

Multi-state functionality was added to a number of applications. This functionality allows the proper calculation of withholdings for employee who work in multiple states during a single pay period. Because the new tables are needed for multi-state calculation, this application now looks at new tables to hold the tax data.

Location

Selection Ranges

Pay Cycle

For any pay cycle code, there can be only one open (pay) period. For any given pay cycle code, only one pay cycle end date can be present in the Payroll Journal. If an old pay cycle period is in the Payroll Journal, you must post that pay cycle period before computing payroll for the next pay period.

Computing payroll after modifying records on the Manage Payroll Records screen results in the edits being lost for those employees selected for computing payroll. Payroll is always computed for the entire payroll period and updated on the Manage Payroll Records screen.

Option

This field always displays One.

Start

Enter, or click to select, the pay cycle code you want to process. If you compute payroll and the payroll cycle is a union payroll (that is, there is a "local" associated with the pay cycle on the Manage Pay Periods screen), Costpoint attempts to calculate union deductions. Union deductions are assigned on the Manage Union Profile Setup screen. Costpoint looks for a Union Profile record based on the Union, Local, and GLC and where the timesheet date falls between the Manage Union Profile Setup start and end date. If it finds a record, it calculates a deduction amount for each combination of Union/Local/GLC based on the calculation method on the Manage Union Profile Setup screen.

End Date

Option

This field always displays One.

Start

This field displays the pay period end date.

Check Date

Option

This field always displays One.

Start

Enter, or click to select, the check date for the payroll run.

Deduction Schedule

Use these fields to enter the name of the turn-off schedule to be used for creating regular paychecks, or the turn-on schedule to be used for bonus paychecks. Set up these schedules on the Manage Deduction Schedules screen.

Option

This field always displays One.

Start

Enter, or click to select, the schedule code to use for processing paychecks.

Employee

Use these fields to select the employees for whom you want to compute payroll.

Option

This drop-down list provides the following range selections:

• All

• One

• Range

• From Beginning

• To End

If you select All, the Start and End fields are disabled; if you select One, the End field is disabled; if you select From Beginning, the Start field is disabled; and if you select To End, the End field is disabled.

Start

If your range selection is One, Range, or To End, enter, or click to select, the employees for which you want to start the range.

End

If your range selection is Range or From Beginning, enter, or click to select, the employees with which you wish to end the range.

Non-Contiguous Range

Select this check box to choose a noncontiguous range of employees. Use the Employee Non-Contiguous Ranges subtask to select the ranges of employees.

Options

Timesheet Type

Use the options in this group box to select which timesheets to process. You can select regular timesheets (to include correcting) or bonus timesheets. You must process one type at a time, then print checks and post the Payroll Journal (but don't close the pay period) before you can process the other type. This control exists so that you cannot produce paychecks with questionable YTD FICA and other tax amounts.

Regular 

Select this option to process all regular and correcting timesheets.

Bonus

Select this option to process bonus timesheets.

Error Report

Print Warning Messages

Select this check box to print warning messages on the error report.

Compute

If you click the arrow to the right of and select Compute Payroll after printing the Journal Report as part of this session (this option becomes available after printing), you receive a message box asking if you really intend to compute. If you click OK, the compute process proceeds.

If you selected the Enable Deductions in Arrears Functionality check box on the Configure Payroll Settings screen and a record is found where taking all deductions results in a negative net pay, a message displays that "A negative net pay condition has occurred" and a report is printed in employee ID order showing the deductions for the employee, the assigned amount, the amount taken, and the arrears amount.

To adjust this record, go to the Manage Payroll Records screen and enter the adjustment.

Print/Compute

Click the arrow to the right of and select Print/Compute Payroll to receive a message box asking if you really intend to compute. If you click OK, the Journal Report prints, and the compute process follows immediately. After computing has begun, several messages showing records processed, processing step, and percent of completion appear.

Subtasks

• Table Information

  Changes to this screen update the following tables:

  Employee Payroll — PR_EMPL_PAYROLL         

  Employee Payroll Pay Type — PR_EMPL_PR_PAY_TYPE         

  Employee Payroll Worker's Comp — PR_EMPL_PR_WC

  Employee Payroll Deductions — PR_EMPL_PR_DED      

  Employee Payroll Contributions — PR_EMPL_PR_CNTRB          

  Employee Payroll Local — PR_EMPL_PR_LOCAL           

  Timesheet Header — LD_TS_HDR

• FAQs

  How do I process a bonus timesheet outside of the normal payroll?

  To process a bonus timesheet outside of the normal payroll, complete the following steps:

  1. On the Manage Timesheets screen, enter the bonus timesheet.  

  2. On the Post Timesheets screen, post the timesheet.   

  3. Compute payroll on the timesheet.

  4. On the Print Paychecks screen, print the check (suspend direct deposit if a live check is required).   

  5. On the Post Payroll Journal screen, post payroll before running the regular timesheets payroll process.

  What steps do I need to take if a late timesheet needs to be paid and payroll has already been processed?

  To process a late timesheet that needs to be paid after payroll has been processed, complete the following steps:

  1. If checks and direct deposit have not been processed:

  • On the Manage Timesheets screen, enter the timesheet.

  • Compute payroll for the appropriate employee.

  • On the Print Payroll Edit Report screen, print the payroll edit report.

  2. If the checks and direct deposits have been printed but the direct deposit has not been transmitted:

  • On the Manage Payroll Records screen, delete the check number and date for the employee ID.

  • On the Manage Timesheets screen, enter the timesheet.

  • Compute payroll for the appropriate employee

  • On the Create ACH Bank File screen, recreate the direct deposit file (if the employee is on direct deposit).

  • On the Print ACH Bank File Report screen, print the direct deposit edit report.

  • On the Print Payroll Edit Report screen, print the payroll edit report.

  • Print the check (Print Paychecks) or direct deposit advice (Print Payment Advices).

  3. If the checks and direct deposit have been printed and the direct deposit has been transmitted:

  • After posting your regular payroll, you can enter the timesheet, compute payroll for that employee, and print a check by setting the employee's Direct Deposit Information to not active.

  • If the bank does allow you to re-transmit the direct deposit file, follow the steps for #2. Add the timesheet to the employee's next check.