Payroll Business Rules

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Imported Time Cars from 3rd Party Programs or an Excel Spreadsheet

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Business Rules for Time Cards

 

 

Imported Time Cards from 3rd Party Programs or an Excel Spreadsheet


Mandatory Fields:  The import file must contain the following fields:  Employee Number, Hours, Pay Type (Regular, Overtime @ 1.5, Overtime @ 2.0, Overtime @3.0).

 

Optional Fields: The following fields may be included in the import file but are not required.   In all cases, the optional field will override any default settings for the employee unless the contents of the optional field are invalid.

 

Please refer to the Business Rules for Time Card Import for more information.

 

 

Business Rules for Time Cards


Labor Distribution Codes - LDCs are used to facilitate time card entry by linking one or more of the following items to a labor phase:  department code, union code, workers comp code, or state code.  If an LDC exists, then the system will apply the LDC business rules once the job and phase have been entered.

 

1.A check is made to see if a LDC code exists for the job entry with the following hierarchy of order:

 

Matching Job, Phase, and Employee (Employee override on Job Specific Phase)

Matching Job and Phase (Job Specific Phase)

Matching Phase (Phase Master Only)

 

2.If an LDC code is found, then the time card record will be updated with one or more of the default codes from the associated LDC codes. Furthermore, any fields that are updated from the LDC defaults will be highlighted in yellow as a visual indicator of the field change(s) (visible when entering time through the time card batch file only). The LDC default fields will be run through a validation check as follows before the time card fields are updated:

 

Worker Comp Code – The default LDC comp code must exist on the workers comp master list or else it will NOT be changed.

 

Department Code – The default LDC department code must exist on the department code master list or else it will NOT be changed.

 

State Code – A state exemption withholding record for the specified state must exist in the employee file in order for the time card record to be updated with the LDC state.  If a withholding record does NOT exist, then the state code will not be changed and a pop up message indicating a LDC State Code error will be displayed.

 

Union Code – The union code has multiple business rules to follow: First, the default LDC union code must exist on the Union Master Table or else it will not be changed.  If the union code does exist, then a second process will be run to see if the employee has a specific union class code set up on his or her employee file (valid class codes are 01-99 and represent the decimal position of the union code.)  If a union class code does exist, then the union master table will be checked to see if a union code exists for the employee's union class code.  If a union code exists for the employee's union class, then it will be used, otherwise the original default LDC union code will be used.  For example, if the original LDC union code is 200.00 and the employee's union class code is '02', then the time card union code will be changed to 200.02 provided this code exists on the union master table.

 

If a specific LDC field is blank, then it will look to the employee file for the field value.  The LDC value will not trigger a change to other fields like the change of a field on the time card screen.  For example, if the LDC contains a department code and a workers comp code, but the department code is linked to a different workers comp code than the code on the LDC, only the workers comp code that is contained on the LDC will be used; the system will NOT attempt to update the WC field based on the department code default UNLESS you update the department code on the time card screen itself.  

 

Department Codes  

 

No Department Code - If department codes are not used in a transaction, then the gross pay and labor burden expense accounts are determined by the Payroll Properties - Ledger Interface settings.  If the time card contains a job number, then the system will use the Direct Labor set of accounts.  If the time card does not contain a job number, then the Overhead Labor set of accounts will be used.  

 

With Department Code - The department code linked to the time card transaction will determine the general ledger expense accounts used on the transaction.  

 

1.When the time card entry is first created, the system will update the record based on the department code found in the employee's file, if any.  

2.The department code can be changed on the time card entry as needed.  If the department code is changed on the time card screen, and the department code is linked to a workers comp code, then the workers comp field will also be updated.  This will override the default workers comp code from the employee's file, if one exists.

3.If the time card transaction has been entered with a union code, and the union code contains a department code, then the department code will also be updated.  This will  override the default department code from the employee's file, if one existed.  Remember, as stated in Step 2 above, the workers comp field may also automatically change if the department code is linked to a workers comp code.

4.If an LDC (which is based on a job cost phase) is applied to the time card entry, then the department field will be updated with the LDC department code, if one exists.  If no department code is linked to the LDC, then the system will look to the employee's file for a department code.

 

Union Codes

 

1.When the time card entry is first created, the system will update the record based on the union code found in the employee's file, if any.  If the employee file contains a union code and the employee file has been updated with the related misc pays and deductions, then the time card will be automatically add the related pays and deductions into the time card batch.

2.The union code can be changed on the time card entry as needed.  If you change the union code on the time card entry screen, be sure to utilize transaction codes 21 - 24 or 121 - 124 to be sure that the union's miscellaneous pays and deductions are also added to the time card batch file.  

3.If the union code is changed on the time card screen, and the union code is linked to a department code, then the department field will also be updated.  This will override the default department code from the employee's file, if one exists.

4.If the union code was changed on the time card entry, and the union code is linked to a department code, AND the department code is linked to a workers comp code, then the workers comp field will also be updated.  This will override the default workers comp code from the employee's file, if one existed.

5.If an LDC (which is based on a job cost phase) is applied to the time card entry, and the LDC contains a union code, then the union field will be updated based on the LDC. If no union code is linked to the LDC, then the system will look to the employee's file for a union code.

 

If the union code utilizes the Vacation Pay field with a pay type of 'withheld', then the amount will expense the job and to the direct labor (gross pay) expense account and credited to the account listed in the Union W/H (Vac) field on the Payroll Properties - Ledger Interface screen.  

 

If the union code has items on the benefit schedule that are listed as 'include with burden', then the amount will be expensed to the job and to the direct labor burden general ledger account as dictated by the department code business rules.  The amount will be credited to the g/l account listed in the Union Burden field on the Payroll Properties - Ledger Interface screen.

 

Workers Compensation Code

 

1.When the time card entry is first created, the system will update the record based on the workers comp code found in the employee's file.  The workers comp code can be changed on the time card entry as needed.

2.If the department code is changed on the time card screen, and the department code is linked to a workers comp code, then the workers comp field will also be updated.  This will override the default workers comp code from the employee's file, if one exists.

3.If the time card transaction has been entered with a union code, and the union code contains a department code, then the department code will also be updated.  This will  override the default department code from the employee's file, if one exists.  Remember, as stated in Step 2 above, the workers comp field may also automatically change if the department code is linked to a workers comp code.

4.If the time card transaction has been entered with a job number, and the job list contains a workers comp code, then the workers comp code will be updated based on the job info.  This will override the default workers comp code from the employee's file, if one exists.

5.If an LDC (which is based on a job cost phase) is applied to the time card entry, then the workers comp field will be updated with the LDC workers comp code, if one exists.  If no union code is linked to the LDC, then the system will look to the employee's file for a union code.  

 

The system will calculate the liability based on the associated rate.  This amount will be expense the labor burden account as dictated by the department code business rules.  The amount will be credited to the g/l account listed in the Workers Comp field on the Payroll Properties - Ledger Interface screen.

 

If the time card record contains a job number, and the job has been set up with a default workers comp code, then the time card record will be updated with the job's workers comp code.  

 

 

State Code

 

For multi-state users, be sure to link the state code on the Job Cost > Update Jobs > Payroll Tab on the job set up to be sure that the proper state code is pulled into the time card entry.  

 

If the state code field is blank on the job, and an LDC does not exist, then the system will utilize the default state in the employee file, and if a default state does not exist, then the system will utilize the first state code it finds in the employee's file(lowest numbered code).

 

 

 

Business Rules for Time Card Worksheet


The AccuBuild Mobile Settings screen allows you to choose which time card transaction codes may be selected by the mobile user.  If the payroll clerk changes the time card transaction code to a type that the mobile user does not have access to, then the record will no longer be available for viewing or editing by the mobile user, however, it may still be viewed on the mobile time card report.  

 

Miscellaneous pay transactions, such as for Vacation, Holiday or Sick pay, will require that you to enter those transactions through the Enter/Update Time Card Screen (the payroll batch file).

 

If the Work Date on the Time Card Worksheet records does NOT match the date of the Daily Report, the changes to the time card record will be canceled. (Version 9.4.0.1 Blue)

 

If the Job Number on the Time Card Worksheet record does NOT match the job number on the Daily Report, then the changes to the time card record will be canceled. (Version 9.4.0.1 Blue)

 

For multi-state users, be sure to link the state code on the Job Cost > Update Jobs > Payroll Tab on the job set up to be sure that the proper state code is pulled into the time card entry.  

 

If the state code field is blank on the job, and an LDC does not exist, then the system will utilize the default state in the employee file, and if a default state does not exist, then the system will utilize the first state code it finds in the employee's file(lowest numbered code).

 

Note:  If you assign the wrong state code on the time card wosrksheet and the employee has not been set up for that particular state, then the entry will be imported with NO state code and you will get the error message: 'Check Record Missing for Employee No: xx State Code: xx' when calculating payroll taxes. You will need to delete and re-enter the time card entry

 

 

Time card records that have been entered through the PM > Daily Reports or through AB Mobile and which have been processed, cannot be modified through the PM > Daily Report if the "ReadOnlyWorksheetTimecardsAfterPost" option has been enabled in the System Admin > Configuration > Accounting > Advanced Property Settings Screen.  

 

The processed record status of a timecard record is determined by either a link in the TIMECARD table that joins the record to the PMPERSONNEL table (PMPERSONNEL.MISCINTEGER5 =TIMECARD.TIMECARDKEY) OR where the ImportedToAccounting flag in the PMPERSONNEL table is set to TRUE. If either of these two settings are true, then the time card entry is considered as processed for payroll.

 

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