The timecard window is the main window used to enter employee’s time. Hourly time, daily hours, piecework, commissions, tips and other types of pay are all entered into this window. An employee can only have one timecard per pay period. This screen can also be used to view processed timecards and the taxes withheld from the wages. A pay period must be established before any timecards can be entered.
To enter employee hours into timecards take the following steps:
1. Go to Payroll > Time Card Entry and the following window will appear:
2. Enter an Employee Id or click on the lookup button to the right of the field and select from the employee list.
3. Select the Pay Period from the list of open pay periods by clicking on the down arrow. Note that multiple open pay periods can be established at one time.
4. The Pay Frequency field identifies this timecard as weekly, BI-weekly, or otherwise. The Pay Frequency field is copied from the Pay Frequency field within the employee window. Unless the employee’s pay frequency changes on a regular basis, set the frequency field within the employee window under the Payroll > Employees > Pay tab.
5. An unlimited number of detail lines can be entered within a timecard. If an employee is involved in different work areas within the same day, the multiple work codes must be entered on multiple lines. Each day’s work should be entered on separate detail lines. The window will scroll to accommodate as many lines as necessary.
a. Enter the Date the employee worked. A separate line should be used for each day in which an employee worked. The expense of the payroll detail line will be posted to the general ledger month in which the detail occurred. For example, if most of the payroll occurred within the last month, but the paycheck was printed this month, the expense would be posted to the month in which the expense occurred, rather than on the date the employee was paid.
b. Enter the Pay Type, i.e. regular, overtime, etc. These pay types are determined within the Payroll > Options window. Go to Payroll > Options > Pay Types. The pay type on the first line will default to the pay type that is specified within payroll options (Payroll > Options > Settings – Default Pay Type field). The pay type on all other lines will copy from the previous line. The pay type determines the pay rate unless a piecework or prevailing wage code is used. It also identifies the entry format on the wage that is being entered. For example, if the Pay Type is Overtime (hour based) the system will prompt for the number of hours but if the Pay Type is Commission (dollar based) the system would ignore the hour column. Go to Payroll > Employees > Pay tab to set the employee’s pay type rates.
c. The Work Code identifies the type of work the employee was involved in. The general ledger account is set based on the work code. Review the Work Codes > Work Codes section for more details on work codes. This field will default to the pay type work code set in the employee pay tab key (Payroll > Employees > Pay tab key – Pay Rates table – Default Work Code). If piecework or prevailing wage work codes are used the rate is derived from the work code.
d. Enter the Hours worked. If the Pay Type is dollar based this field will be ignored. If a piecework work code is used this column identifies the number of piecework units being processed.
e. The Rate will be copied from the Payroll > Employee > Pay tab – Pay Rates table. This rate can be changed on a per line basis without any problem. For example if you wish to increase the hourly rate for a detail line, change the Rate value to the desired amount. Note that if the Pay Type is dollar based the rate column will be irrelevant.
f. The Pay will be calculated by multiplying the hours times the rate if the pay type is hour based or of piecework type. This field will be entered directly if the pay type is dollar based.
g. The G/L Account identifies the account that the wage expense is posted to within general ledger. This code is defaulted by the work code. This column normally does not need to be changed.
Repeat the steps above for each detail line. Enter a new detail line if either the date, pay type, or work code are different from the line before.
Calculating Overtime
If an employee worked ten (10) hours in one day but should be receiving overtime on the last 2 hours you are required to:
1. Enter one line with a regular pay type and 8 hours.
2. Enter a second line with a pay type of Overtime and a quantity of 2 hours.
Both lines would contain the same date and work code. If an employee is working at two or more different projects in the same day, a detail line must be entered for each work code containing the same date.
Overtime can be calculated by EBMS by selecting Calculate Overtime from the timecard’s Process menu.
1. Set the Regular Pay Type to the pay type used for regular pay.
2. Set the Overtime Pay Type to the pay type used for overtime pay.
Overtime can be calculated by the week (over 40 hours) or by the day (over 8 hours) depending on the companies overtime payment policy. Set the appropriate option.
Identify the overtime threshold amounts and click the OK button.
NOTE: The user can manually alter the regular and overtime pay types after this utility has been completed.
View Options
By clicking on the View menu on the timecard screen you can choose from a number of view options listed below.
· Click Employee Account menu option to quickly view the employee information screen.
· View Taxes option allows the user to view the total taxes that will be withheld from the paycheck as well as company taxes. You must calculate taxes prior to viewing or the list will be blank. Go to Timecard menu > Process > Calculate Taxes option to calculate taxes. Note that taxes and deductions can be calculated in a batch basis within the Employee Payment window.
· Advanced Options window is used to view or change advanced options copied from the employee screen such as payroll payable. To permanently change these codes within an employee go to Payroll > Employee > Advanced tab.
· The Daily Hours option allows the user to view the pay type totals or the daily hour detail. If the Daily Hours are not checked, the pay type summary totals will show both total hours and total gross for each pay type. If the Daily Hours option is checked (this can be done by selecting Daily Hours on the menu), the Daily Hours are shown instead of the Pay Type Totals.
Review the Daily Hours section for details in entering and processing daily hours. The Daily Hours menu option is an option, which is checked when it is ON or unchecked when the status is OFF.
· Select the Memo option to enter or edit a memo or note to add to the current timecard. This can be used to enter miscellaneous notes about this employee within the current pay period.
· Click Details to hide the timecard detail section and to view more timecard detail lines. This convenient feature enables the user to see more timecard detail lines simultaneously. The Details selection is a switch option similar to the Daily Hours option.
These View options are optional during Timecard Entry.
Summary Totals
Located at the bottom of the timecard are varieties of summary totals:
· The Workweeks amount is calculated at the time that taxes are calculated and reflect the total workweeks for the current period. The Workweeks field is the only total that can be changed by the user. Do not change this field unless you are familiar with workweeks. Review the Processing Workweeks section for more details.
· Makeup Pay is automatically calculated to ensure that employees meet minimum wage requirements. Review the Minimum Wage and Makeup Pay section for further description of makeup pay or details to disable the feature.
· Total Hours for the current timecard.
· Total Gross Pay for the current Pay Period. Gross pay may include benefit adjustments and take home tips, which are not paid to the employee via a paycheck.
· Total Deductions is the total withholding taxes and deductions. To view a detailed list of this total, select View > Taxes from the timecard menu.
· Take Home Tips total identifies the cash paid tips that are added to the gross pay but subtracted from paycheck since they were paid by cash. Review the Payroll > Processing Payroll > Processing Tips section.
· Net Pay amount is the total amount of the paycheck.
Net Pay = Gross Pay – Deductions – Take Home Tips.
Saving a Timecard
Save the timecard by selecting the Save option within the timecard’s File menu or by pressing the Ctrl + S on the keyboard. All processes can be accomplished in a batch manner within the Employee Payment window.
Creating Another New Timecard
To create another new timecard select File > New within the timecard menu or press Ctrl + N.
Exit the Timecard Window
To exit the timecard window select File > Close.