CCIS Payroll Reference Guide

Transcription

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2 Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of CCIS Church Management Software, the Church Software Division of OnePlace, Ltd. The software and/or database described in this document is furnished under a license agreement or non-disclosure agreement. The software and/or database may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license or non-disclosure agreement. The purchaser may make one copy of the software for backup purposes. No part of this manual and/or database may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information recording and retrieval systems, for any purpose other than the purchaser s personal use, without the express written permission of OnePlace, Ltd., Church Software Division OnePlace, Ltd. and Phoenix Phive Software Corporation. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all names of companies, products, street addresses, and persons contained herein are part of a completely fictitious scenario or scenarios, and are designed solely to document the use of a CCIS Church Management Software product. CCIS Payroll is a registered trademark of OnePlace, Ltd. Windows, WordPad and Notepad are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe Reader and the Acrobat logo are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems, Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Other product names mentioned in this manual may be a trademark or a registered trademark of their respective companies and are hereby acknowledged. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT ENDORSED OR SPONSORED BY ADOBE SYSTEMS INCORPORATED, PUBLISHER OF ACROBAT READER. OnePlace, Ltd. CCIS Church Management Software 3759 Georgetown Road NW Cleveland, TN (800) (Voice) (423) (Fax) support@ccissoftware.com sales@ccissoftware.com A wholly owned subsidiary of Salem Communications Corporation.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION...1 Space requirements:...1 Installing CCIS Payroll...2 Starting for the first time...4 CHAPTER 1 - GETTING STARTED...6 Getting started overview...6 Navigating around the program...6 Function keys...7 How CCIS Payroll stores data...7 Mid year startup...8 Passwords...8 Password security and recovery...9 CHAPTER 2 - THE FIRM...10 Overview of the Firm...10 Specifying the Firm...10 CHAPTER 3 - MANAGING CLIENTS...12 Client management overview...12 Retrieving a Client...12 Changing to another client...13 How to print or view client information...13 The Consolidated Client...14 How to make a special Consolidated Client...14 How to print consolidated reports...15 Producing input sheets...15 CHAPTER 4 - MAINTAINING THE CLIENT MASTER FILE...16 Adding a new client...16 Viewing a Client:...16 Changing a Client's record...16 Deleting clients...16 Changing income and deduction labels...17 Setting the New Jersey S-Corp switch...17 Special purpose and reserved labels...18 CHAPTER 5 - DETAILS OF THE CLIENT MASTER RECORD...19 Identification Section...19 Payroll States...20 Departments...21 Bank Information...21 Preferences...22 Labels...23 CHAPTER 6 - GENERAL LEDGER...25 General Ledger Postings Overview...25 General Ledger list structure...25 How to edit the GL Account List...25 How to print the General Ledger Account list...28 Values output to the GL Report...28 How to print the General Ledger report...28 CHAPTER 7 - MANAGING EMPLOYEES...29 Employee management overview...29 Retrieving employee records...29 How to import employees Page i

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS How to print or view employee listings...31 Protecting Social Security Numbers...32 CHAPTER 8 - MAINTAINING THE EMPLOYEE MASTER FILE...33 Adding a new employee...33 Viewing an employee:...33 Changing an employee's record...34 Deleting employees...34 Restoring a deleted employee...34 Multi-state employees "employees", deductions and backup withholding...35 How to change the sick/vacation rates and accruals...36 How to remove an employee's YTD earnings...36 How to print the new hire report...36 Advance EIC...37 CHAPTER 9 - DETAILS OF THE EMPLOYEE MASTER RECORD...38 Details of the Employee Master Record...38 Identification...38 Pay Rates...41 Federal and State Taxes...41 Deductions...42 Biographical information...43 Local Taxes...43 Special entries for Arizona...44 Special entries for Connecticut...44 Special entries for Louisiana...44 Special entries for New York City...44 Special entries for Maryland...44 Special entries for Washington L & I...45 CHAPTER 10 - TREATMENT OF SPECIAL INCOME, TAX AND DEDUCTION CASES46 Special case overview...46 Flat rate and fixed amount withholding...46 How to inhibit withholding...46 Recording fringe benefits...47 Accruing SUTA for a different state...47 Sick, Vacation and Comp pay...48 Deferred compensation plans cafeteria plans...49 CHAPTER 11 - CALCULATING AND RECORDING PAYROLL INFORMATION...51 Recording payroll overview...51 How CCIS Payroll records payroll...51 The Payroll Recording Window...51 How withholdings are computed...52 Payroll jobs...52 The payroll recording process...52 Payroll recording dates...54 Input controls - hash totaling...55 Current Payroll Register...56 Department register...57 Calculation Properties...58 Using the Windows calculator...59 Export Page ii

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preparing payroll for Direct Deposit...60 How to record Rents, Royalties etc...60 CHAPTER 12 - AFTER THE FACT PAYROLL...62 Recording After the Fact payroll...62 Real-time A-T-F recording method...62 Batch A-T-F Recording Method...64 Gross-Up calculations...67 How Gross-Up works...67 Correct payroll period essential...68 How to use the Gross-Up calculator:...68 CHAPTER 13 - LIVE OR CHECK WRITING PAYROLL...70 Doing live payroll...70 Automatic...70 Time entry...71 Importing data for calculations...72 Expense reimbursement...74 CHAPTER 14 - TIPPED EMPLOYEES...75 Processing tipped employees...75 Processing of reported tips and tips deemed wages...75 Reducing withholdings for tipped employees...76 How TDW is computed...76 Forcing payment of Minimum Wage...76 How to force State minimum wage...77 Recording meal allowances...78 Recording charge tips...78 CHAPTER 15 - PRINTING PAYCHECKS...79 Choosing a check format...79 How to specify two vouchers on laser checks...79 Printing all checks in a job...80 Printing or reprinting a single check...81 Reprinting a group of checks...81 Check register...82 How to align checks...82 CHAPTER 16 - CORRECTING RECORDING ERRORS...83 Correcting errors overview...83 Correcting errors while a job is open...83 Correcting errors after a job has been closed...84 Correcting an employee's pay rate after issuing a check...85 Removing an employee who shouldn't have been paid...85 Paying an employee you forgot to pay...86 Correcting errors recording cafeteria plans...86 Correcting Deferred Compensation contributions recorded as 125 plans...87 Reprinting a check...88 Canceling checks...88 Adjusting payroll...88 Removing an entire year...89 Correcting errors after transmitting Direct Deposit to NPC...89 Correcting errors after transmitting Direct Deposit to your bank...90 CHAPTER 17 - DIRECT DEPOSIT...91 The Direct Deposit environment...91 What the employee receives Page iii

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Setting up and using Direct Deposit...92 Setting up Clients for Direct Deposit...92 Preparing payroll for Direct Deposit...93 Transmitting Direct Deposit to your bank...93 Sending Direct Deposit files to NPC...95 Changes in payroll reports...96 CHAPTER 18 - DIRECT DEPOSIT (EMPLOYEES)...97 Direct deposit employee setup...97 Employee Direct Deposit authorization forms...97 Recording employee bank information...98 Reviewing employee Direct Deposit information...99 Prenoting...99 How to record a successful prenote CHAPTER 19 - REPORTS AND WORKSHEETS Reports overview All month, all quarter report Company profile report Earnings Report History Register Sick, Vacation and Comp report CHAPTER 20 - PERIODIC REPORTS AND WORKSHEETS Quarterly and monthly report sets Printing the worksheet sets Federal tax report State tax report Deduction report Local tax report The Tax Summary report CHAPTER 21 - FORMS 940, 941, 941-SS, 943 AND Federal 900 series forms overview Form Form Form 941-SS Form Form How to specify a third-party designee How to have reports signed by Client How to Specify a Paid Preparer The fractions of cents adjustment Editing reports on-screen Resizing a viewed report How to align laser forms How to use Forms on a Changing the Liability section Liability Reporting Thresholds Changing Liability on Form Changing Liability on Form 941 and Form 941-SS Changing Liability on Form CHAPTER 22 - STATE WAGE AND TAX REPORTS State wage and tax reports overview Page iv

7 TABLE OF CONTENTS Electronic wage reporting Generic reports How to specify generic reports How to enter weeks worked CHAPTER 23 - STATE SPECIFIC REPORTS State specific forms Entering Paid Preparer information Arizona California Michigan New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Texas Washington State CHAPTER 24 W-2 PREPARATION W-2 filing overview W-2 filing using paper forms How to print a summary W How to print optional information on Form W W-3 filing using paper forms Partial printing of W-2's The Medicare test Reporting uncollected FICA on tips Splitting New Jersey UC and TDI on Form W Laser W-2 and 1099 alignment procedures CHAPTER 25 - W-2 FILING USING THE INTERNET Approvals and the PIN Preparing the submission Sending the W-2 file to SSA Testing W-2's using Accuwage CHAPTER 26 - THE W-2 EDITOR Overview of the W-2 editor W-2 Editor Examples Recording 3rd Party FIT How to create a W-2 Edit file How to add W-2's for an existing employee How to change an employee's W How to add W-2's for non-payroll Clients How to print edited W-2's How to open the W-2 edit file How to find a W-2 in the Edit file How to delete the W-2 Edit file How to print the W-2 Edit file for review CHAPTER PREPARATION preparation overview MISC filing using paper forms filing using paper forms Partial printing of 1099's CHAPTER FILING USING THE INTERNET Page v

8 TABLE OF CONTENTS Getting IRS approval Preparing the submission Sending the 1099 submission How to view an electronic file Reviewing electronic files CHAPTER 29 - TAX YEARS Tax years overview How tax years are stored Starting a new tax year Changing between tax years Deleting tax years CHAPTER 30 - TAX TABLES How CCIS Payroll stores tax tables Tax table updating overview Principles of wage bracket method recording Principles of incremental table method recording How to change the Federal tax tables How to change FICA and Medicare How to print the tax tables Recording the FUTA rate and limit Entering new SUTA rates and limits CHAPTER 31 - STATE TAX TABLES How to change state tax tables Alabama Arizona California Connecticut Delaware Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Mississippi Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio South Carolina Utah Wisconsin CHAPTER 32 - USERS AND SECURITY Users and security overview The Logon procedure Adding a User Changing a User's password Deleting a User Security zones Fingerprints How to terminate and reestablish password protection CHAPTER 33 - UTILITY FUNCTIONS Utility functions overview Page vi

9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Backing up Client Data Restoring Client data from a backup Developing a backup strategy How to change the appearance of the toolbars Installing updates and options CHAPTER 34 - PRINTERS Printers overview The Primary Printer The Check Printer CHAPTER 35 - HELP Help overview Contacting CCIS Payroll support Support for Direct Deposit using NPC Help from within the program Common input errors Moving CCIS Payroll Effect of system errors on your data Page vii

10 Introduction Welcome to CCIS Payroll, version 3 for Windows. The purpose of this document is to provide you with an overview of the key elements of processing payroll and how CCIS Payroll solves your payroll problems, and to answer those "How do I..." questions that arise while you re processing payroll. We suggest that you read the overviews of the Getting Started, Managing Employees and Managing Clients sections before you proceed. If you ve already done payroll for this year, the section called Mid Year Startup tells you exactly how to record that payroll quickly and easily. You may even be able to import that data. From its beginning in 1989, CCIS Payroll has solved the most demanding payroll problems. Such problems as cafeteria plans, 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE and SARSEP deferred compensation, and Fringe benefits are handled easily. You can also pay and report Rents, Royalties, Nonemployee Compensation, Other Income and Payments to Attorneys on Form 1099-MISC including computing of backup withholding effortlessly. Electronic filing of forms W-2 and 1099-MISC at the federal level is built in. CCIS Payroll is a true multi-state program, capable of processing and consolidating three states per client file. If a Client needs more than three, CCIS Payroll can create a consolidated client for reporting purposes. Moreover, any employee can simultaneously operate in any two of those states. Employees may also have taxes withheld from one state, and SUTA accrued for another. CCIS Payroll solves the problems posed by fringe benefit recording, including Subchapter 'S' medical payments. Advance EIC payments are computed and reported. Multiple city/local taxes are also processed quickly and easily, as are the special cases of minor children employed by their parents, and spousal employment. In addition to preparing Forms 941 and 944, CCIS Payroll also solves the problems of farm employment by producing Form 943, and handles household employment. Federal Unemployment Tax liabilities are easily tracked using CCIS Payroll's comprehensive worksheets. Changes in the Federal Tax Deposit Liability are reported on every register for any period. Annual FUTA reporting problems are solved by its ability to prepare Forms 940. Even the problems associated with Experience Rate changes are taken care of. Finally, CCIS Payroll solves one of the worst problems facing preparers of live payroll - the year end crunch. That stressful period between the issuance of the last check of one tax year and the first check of the new will be a lot easier thanks to CCIS Payroll's ability to process multiple tax years concurrently. Despite its great power, CCIS Payroll is extremely easy to install and manage. Each function is intuitive and can be easily selected from menus. Help is provided everywhere and, of course, our support staff stands ready to assist you. Space requirements: Programs and reference files Client Data Files Employee files for 1 year History File ± 80 M Bytes 2600 Bytes each client 3465 Bytes each employee 349 bytes per transaction Page 1

11 Installing CCIS Payroll These instructions are for a single, stand-alone installation. 1. Choose the computer that you are using for payroll. 2. Close any programs that are running. We also recommend that you temporarily disable any anti-virus software, and any other software that might stop you from performing the installation. 3. Put the CD into your CD drive and wait a few seconds. The opening screen of the installer should appear. 4. If it does not appear, choose Start Settings Control Panel Add Remove programs. 5. Follow the wizard for installing from a CD. 6. The Installer initializes then presents this opening screen. 7. Choose Next and the License Agreement window opens. 8. You can either accept or reject the terms of the license. If you reject the terms, the installer stops. 9. Choose Next and the Read Me window opens. This window contains news and other important items that you should know about. Please read this window before selecting Next Page 2

12 10. The Customer Information window shows your name and the name of the Organization you work for, if you recorded this information in your Windows installation. They can be left blank. 11. Then choose whether you want anyone to be able to use this installation, or just you. (Please refer to Windows Help to learn the distinction between these two methods.) This is a personal choice that doesn t affect CCIS Payroll. 12. Choose Next. 13. The Setup Types window appears. 14. Select Typical and choose Next. 15. The Ready to Install window appears and presents a summary of the choices you made earlier. Choose Install. 16. The Installer presents a progress screen during the installation. When complete, the Installation Complete window appears Page 3

13 17. Choose Finish to exit the wizard. Starting for the first time 1. Choose the icon to start CCIS Payroll for the first time. 2. The first window you see asks for the payroll year. It defaults to the current year. Generally you should accept this value. 3. Next you are asked if you want to enable access control. 4. Access control is a way to ensure that everyone who uses CCIS Payroll has been properly authorized by you. Enabling access control also lets CCIS Payroll tag every entry with the login name of the person who made then entry. Please see Users and Security (page 171) for more information. Choose either Yes or No. 5. The Welcome window opens Page 4

14 This window provides some handy pointers to jobs that you may want to do now that CCIS Payroll is installed. You are at the CCIS Payroll Main Menu, also called the Home Page. The next step is setting up the Firm (page 10). This is a special entity that is used as a gathering place for some system-wide information. If you prepare payroll for others, the Firm represents your own company. You then want to set up a Client (page16). Clients are our term for the entities that issue paychecks. To you they might be companies, churches or any other organization. Of course every Client needs employees (page 33) to pay. If you are presently using software that can export the data, you might be able to import the employees (page 30) and their information directly from the exported data Page 5

15 Chapter 1 - Getting started Getting started overview In this section, you will learn: How to negotiate the windows. How CCIS Payroll stores payroll data. How to start during the year. About passwords. Navigating around the program The easiest way to move around in CCIS Payroll is to use the web browser like interface. It is modeled after the familiar methods found in Microsoft Internet Explorer. There are three elements to this interface: The Navigation bar. The Current Client locator bar. The Links bar. The Navigation toolbar is used to move around the elements of the current screen, and to jump back to the calling screen, and the Home screen. Each button represents a function, such as Add, Edit, or Print. The buttons become enabled only when they can be useful. The Current Client bar is similar to the URL bar on browsers. It contains the name of the client that is being accessed or the current client. It can also be used to change to another client. The Links toolbar provides instant access to the major parts of the program. You are able to customize the appearance of the buttons and the position of each toolbar. If you tire of using the web style navigating, CCIS Payroll is a Windows program and also supports the Windows menu style of navigation. The top row of most screens contains a menu. Every item on the menu contains a single letter that is underlined. That menu choice can be opened by pressing Alt + the underlined letter. We show those underlined letters in this manual as a guide. You can move between choices by opening the menu and choosing from the list(s) that appear Page 6

16 Function keys CCIS Payroll uses certain function keys to speed input. They are: Key Function What it does Where it s available F1 Help Provides context-sensitive help Throughout the program F4 Copy Copies the last entry A-T-F Batch F6 Jump Jumps to the next column All Payroll recording functions F10 Save Saves the current record Firm, Client, Employee, Calculations F10 serves a dual purpose in Calculations. The first time you press F10 with an employee s check on the screen, CCIS Payroll does the calculations and pauses. This action is repeated every time you make a change. Pressing F10 is the same as clicking on the Compute button. When you press F10 twice without making changes, the entry is saved. At this point, pressing F10 is the same as clicking on the Post or Save button. How CCIS Payroll stores data CCIS Payroll is a multi-company payroll processing system. Certain information, such as Federal Unemployment Tax rates, is the same for every company. This type of global information is kept in an area that is called the Firm. There is only one firm. Other information, such as State Tax ID Numbers, applies to only one of all possible companies. It is unique to that particular payroll. Such information is kept in areas called Clients. Each Client has a unique 3-digit number that you assign. You need to have a Firm and at least one Client. If you process payroll for only one company, the Firm and the Client will probably contain the same name and address. If you assign a Firm payroll number here, you are able to restrict access to the Client file with that number. The main program and all its required files are kept in a folder called ISPAYW off the root directory of the computer it is installed on. For most systems, this is drive C. So the main program path is C:\ISPAYW. CCIS Payroll is also a multi-year payroll system. The payroll data for all Clients is grouped by year. It is kept in directories off the program directory. The directories are named for the year that they apply to. For example, all of the Clients in 2008 are contained in the directory called, \ISPAYW\2008. Having the data in folders off the program folder is the only supported configuration. The software will not function properly if it is installed in any other manner. These directories must never be removed using DOS or Windows Explorer. This can cause unpredictable program behavior. A special function is provided to remove these directories for you Page 7

17 Mid year startup CCIS Payroll can be started at any time during the year. You can even use it to record an entire year's worth of data in order to prepare W-2's. The software does not need to know the breakdown of prior earnings, unless you want it to prepare quarterly reports. If so, you need to break the current quarter out of the totals. There are two ways to bring your payroll information into CCIS Payroll. You can import the data (page 30). If you have been keeping your payroll information on a spreadsheet, you can export it into a CSV or TXT file and bring it over. Or, if you use payroll software, it might be able to export the information. You ll need to check its documentation. The other method is to enter the information manually. 1. First, be sure to create the client's Employee Master File by clicking on the Employees link or choosing File Employees. Please see Chapter Total the Earnings, Deductions, Withholdings and Net Pay from January 1 to the end of the last quarter for each employee. The program needs to have the prior earnings separated by the last quarter to properly prepare the current quarter 941 and other reports. 3. Accumulate the same figures for the current quarter. 4. Choose Calculate Pay from the Main Menu, or select the Calculations link. 5. Choose Start a New Job. (You may have to select Close this Job first.) 6. Select After the Fact. 7. Set the Check date to the last payroll date in the previous quarter. You may also elect to set period begin and end dates but they aren t required. 8. Enter Hash Totals if desired. 9. Enter the values from Step 2 for each employee. 10. When done, choose the Print button, then Register All employees, or select File Print Register All employees to print these transactions. 11. Press the Stop button. 12. Choose Close this job. 13. Choose Start a new job. 14. Select After the Fact. 15. Set the Check date to the last payroll date in the current quarter. 16. Repeat to record the current quarter. 17. To verify your entries, choose the Reports link. Then print a Year-to-date payroll register. Use it to prove your postings. Passwords CCIS Payroll has sophisticated routines to control program access. These routines are enabled during installation, or on demand. The Administrator gives each person who is allowed to use CCIS Payroll a unique user name, or login. The Administrator also assigns the user a password. Users need to know both their login, and their password in order to use CCIS Payroll Page 8

18 Passwords may be up to 12 characters long, chosen from the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0 to 9, and the characters!@#$%^&*(:)_-+=[];<>.,?/\. Approximately 3,548,160 distinct passwords can be made from this character set. Passwords are case-sensitive. Users can change their password any time they log on to CCIS Payroll. Password security and recovery Passwords are encrypted and stored in the Windows Registry. Encryption makes it very difficult for anyone to guess your password and breach your security. Since both upper and lower case letters are allowed, you need to remember not only what your password is, but also how you entered it. For example, if your password is CAT (all upper case letters), then cat, Cat, cat, cat, CAt, CaT, and cat will all fail since the case is incorrect. It also makes it very important that you keep a paper copy of your password. Even though we know the formula and the key, we can t retrieve a lost password because it is stored in Windows Registry. The System Administrator can assign a new password Page 9

19 Chapter 2 - The Firm Overview of the Firm The Firm file holds data that is used by all the Clients in CCIS Payroll to compute FUTA, determine Deferred Compensation limits, and electronic filing of Forms W-2 and 1099-MISC. If you are an Accounting Firm or other person that is doing payroll for others, the data from the Firm is used to complete the Paid Preparer areas of Forms 941 and other such forms. Also, if you are an accounting firm that prepares payroll for yourself as well as other Clients, you can restrict access to your particular Client data here. Specifying the Firm The information from this screen is used by the Electronic Filing functions and also sets global operating parameters. For instance, this screen specifies FUTA and 401(k) limits. Access to the Firm can be restricted. In case you haven t had a chance to read the section on Navigating around the program yet, any fields that have blue labels are required. They cannot be blank, even if you don t think you need them. Also, please press the Tab key to exit any field that you have changed. Pressing tab activates the data checking routines, whereas clicking out of a field does not. This window appears automatically during the initial setup. At any other time, it is reached by choosing File Firm from the Home Screen menu. (We also call it the Main Menu.) Begin by entering all the identifying information in the blue fields from Name through Zip Code. Use the information that you used when you applied for your Federal Tax ID Number as this is the way that the IRS recognizes you. The fields Contact Person, Title, Telephone and Address are optional. CCIS Payroll uses this information on reports. The Magnetic Media area applies to electronic filing of Forms 1099-MISC. The blue fields in the Deferred Compensation box are required to properly limit employee contributions to the indicated types of Deferred Compensation. CCIS Payroll supplies the initial 2008 Page 10

20 values but these are not updated by any update service. You are responsible for the accuracy of these values. The IRC allows certain taxpayers to contribute extra amounts. Enter the adder only in the column Age 50+ "catch-up" adders. This file also contains the FUTA values in the box labeled Tax Constants. The FUTA Maximum Wage is the maximum FUTA employee taxable earnings. The FUTA Rate % is the NET FUTA rate (after deduction any Federal credits) expressed as a percentage, not a multiplier. To change these values at any time, select the Edit button or choose Edit Change Firm Information. Navigate to the field you want to change, type the new data and press the Tab key. Select File Save, choose the Save button, or press F10 to save any changes. If the Save option is not available, check that all the fields with blue labels are complete. Also look for any field that is red. Red indicates a problem. Point your mouse at the field to learn about the problem. When done, press Exit to return to the Main Menu Page 11

21 Chapter 3 - Managing clients Client management overview CCIS Payroll can manage up to 998 separate payrolls of up to 5,000 employees each. Each payroll can be active in three states, and each employee can be simultaneously active in two of those states. A payroll consists of a master file containing company information, and employee files holding as many employee records as necessary. This set of information is what we refer to as a Client. It is not necessary that every payroll have a separate taxpayer identification number. CCIS Payroll can easily be used to manage very complex situations, such as a Headquarters with departments, multiple plants and sales offices, or a group of retail stores. CCIS Payroll can also create a special Consolidated Client to use for reporting of complex Client structures. In this chapter and the next two, you learn: How to change the current client. How to add, change, and delete clients. How to make a special Consolidated Client. How to share files with your Clients. How to change the payroll labels. How to change the Department labels. How to print payroll input sheets. About special purpose labels. How to set preferences for a client. How to set S Corp status in New Jersey. How to select checks. Retrieving a Client This Select Client screen appears each time that you want to change to another Client. There are two ways to find a Client, by the number you assigned to the Client when you created it, and by the Client s name. 1. To retrieve a client by number: Type the number. Choose OK Page 12

22 2. To retrieve a Client by name: Start typing the name. CCIS Payroll shows you the Client who most closely matches the name you type. Press the Tab key then select OK or Select the down arrow on the right of the entry box. Scroll or type until the desired Client is found. Select the correct Client name. Press Tab then click OK. Changing to another client The name of the Client that is currently open, called the Current Client, appears in the Current Client locator bar. To change the client that is being processed: 1. Select the down arrow at the right side of the Current Client locator bar. 2. Select Change Client 3. The Select Client window displays. Select the client from the drop-down list. 4. Choose a Client and select OK. If you are in the middle of a process that can t be stopped, a message drops down saying Can t change Clients now. How to print or view client information CCIS Payroll produces four client listings. Billing - A list showing the Client Number, Name, DBA and Address, Telephone, Contact and Standard Charge in a columnar, 3-row format in alphabetical order by Client Name. Quick Reference A list showing the Client Number, Name, DBA and Telephone in a single-line format in alphabetical order by Client Name. Master Record Prints the entire Client record for one or all Clients. Labels Prints mailing labels in 3-across format on Avery #5260 labels for lasers, or Avery #8160 Labels for inkjet, or 1" x 2½" for dot matrix printers. Of these reports, the Billing and Quick Reference can be viewed on-screen. To print or view a report, 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Retrieve the client. 3. Choose View from the menu. 4. Select the report you want from the drop-down menu. 5. Click the Stop button when done Page 13

23 To print a report: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Retrieve the client. 3. Choose File Print or select the Print button from the menu. 4. Select the report you want from the drop-down menu. The Consolidated Client There are many occasions where you may want to be able to separate Clients for payroll operations, and merge them for reporting purposes. One such occasion arises when a company operates in more than three states. You must make several instances of the Client to accommodate the separate states, yet you probably want to file a single 941 for the group. Or you might operate several stores or restaurants and want to keep the books separate to be able to better judge their individual performance. CCIS Payroll can consolidate Clients for reporting purposes. All Clients must use the same FEIN for this to work. On demand, CCIS Payroll creates a special Consolidated Client whose number is 999. This special Consolidated Client is static, meaning that any changes you make to it do not get passed to the individual underlying Clients. In a like vein, any changes you make to the underlying Clients are not automatically carried to the special Consolidated Client. Another thing to remember is that there can only be one special Consolidated Client. This means that, in the case you have more than one Client group; every new consolidation replaces the existing one. How to make a special Consolidated Client 1. Choose one Client to be the Headquarters Client. 2. Make that Client the Current Client. 3. Choose Reports File Consolidate. 4. Answer this question. 5. You see the Create Consolidated Client screen Page 14

24 6. Note the highlighted area. CCIS Payroll offers you the means to choose which parts of the group to consolidate. You might want this feature to print reports for a subset of your main group. Check this box and the next window appears for every consolidation candidate. 7. When the option becomes available select Done. How to print consolidated reports 1. Make the current client number Choose Reports. 3. Every report is available with one possible exception. If the Special Consolidated Client has more than 3 payroll states, the Unemployment and Wage reports are not available. 4. View or print the reports as desired. Producing input sheets CCIS Payroll prepares a Time Input Sheet as a tool for gathering information for input into the Calculation module. These sheets can be faxed or ed to a Client, or used by a clerk on the telephone with the client. Each employee is fully identified, including the SSN. There is room for four types of earnings. The first three earnings correspond to Income Labels 1 3 and include the rate. The 4 th is blank. There is room for four Deductions or reimbursements. A column is provided for new pay rates as well. How to print the input sheets: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Print button, or choose File Print. 5. Select Time Input Sheets Page 15

25 Chapter 4 - Maintaining the Client Master File Adding a new client CCIS Payroll uses a three-digit number to identify Clients. All of the files associated with that Client include the number, usually as an extension. Once a Client is assigned a number, it cannot be changed. Creating a new Client: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File New from the menu, or choose the New button. 3. Type the number you chose to identify this new Client in the box, and select OK. 4. Complete the client s information. 5. Select the Save button, File Save or Press F10. Viewing a Client: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select Next to view another client or Stop button. Changing a Client's record: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button. 5. Change the record. 6. Choose F10, File Save, or select the Save button. Deleting clients CCIS Payroll provides a way to permanently remove all files of any client. The Client s files are only removed for the current year. If the Client exists in other years, they are not touched. Note: Deleted client files cannot be recovered, even using an undelete utility. This procedure is the only way to remove a client. If you remove a client using Windows Explorer, DOS or a file management utility, CCIS Payroll will no longer function properly. To Delete a Client: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Delete button, or choose File Delete Page 16

26 5. Choose, Yes to confirm the deletion, or No to stop. Changing income and deduction labels CCIS Payroll has 16 income labels, eight for regular employees, and eight for 1099-MISC recipients. Every income label can have a rate associated with it in the Employee Master file. When a label is not blank, the contents of that field become visible both literally and figuratively. Blank labels are omitted from all reports and all calculations. The space they would normally occupy on input screens is blank and the cursor doesn't stop. However, all non-zero amounts print in the registers, whether or not a label exists. Also, the names of certain labels determine the availability of a feature to the program. Please read Special purpose labels, below There are eight income labels for regular pay and eight for 1099 pays for one-state employees whose Master Record has a blank in Payroll state 2. For two-state employees, whose Master Record has a state in Payroll State 2, labels numbered 1 to 4 and 9 to 12 apply to Payroll State 1. Labels numbered 5 to 8 and 13 to 16 apply to Payroll State 2. All employees in a Client have the same 12 deduction labels. To change the labels: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select on the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 5. Select the Labels tab. 6. Change the labels. Select the Save button, or select File Save. Setting the New Jersey S-Corp switch New Jersey Clients who have made the Federal S-Corp election but have not made the New Jersey S- Corp election require specific settings in order to properly process Subchapter S medical premiums and the Life Insurance fringe benefit Page 17

27 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or click on the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 5. Select the Preferences tab. 6. Check or clear the Client is a New Jersey S Corp checkbox. 7. Click the Save button, or select File Save. Special purpose and reserved labels Several features of CCIS Payroll are activated only if a reserved label name is present. These features include: sick, comp, and vacation pay accruals. Also, fringe benefits recording and processing. Once activated, no other information may be stored at these locations. For example, if a Client has a Deferred Compensation plan, the label is reserved for deferred compensation regardless of an individual employee s status. To learn more about Sick, Vacation and Comp pay please see page 48. To learn more about Fringe Benefits please see page 47. In other cases, CCIS Payroll reserves label names and positions. If there is a deferred compensation plan in effect for this client, deduction label #1 (the label numbered 17), is reserved. It will show the Deferred Compensation setting in the client. Reported tips are always stored in the last deduction, label #28. Fringe Benefit deductions are always stored in the second-to-last deduction, label #27. Minimum wage makeup earnings are always stored in the last regular income area, label # Page 18

28 Chapter 5 - Details of the Client Master Record The Client Master Record contains everything that CCIS Payroll needs to process payroll for a Client. Each client file" is divided into six sections denoted by tabs; these sections are: Identification - Information that identifies the Client. Payroll States - Information about the states the Client operates in. Departments - Information about the Client s departments. Bank Information - Information about the Client s bank. Preferences - Information about various operating particulars such as type of check to use. Labels - An area that defines the labels to use for the Client. Identification Section This section contains basic identification information. The selection you make for Type of Filer determines which Federal reports to file, and when deposits are required. Choose from: Form 941 Monthly Form 941 Semi-weekly Form 943 Form 944 Household Employer The section from Name to Zip Code contains the Client s principal address. The Continuation or D/B/A field can hold either the continuation of the Client s name, or the name under which the Client does business. If it is a trade name, add the letters DBA to the front of the name, as in Tom Jones Enterprises DBA Alice s Restaurant The Federal Tax ID must be the one issued to the entity in the Name field. Only FEIN s can be entered. Entries in the Contact Person and Title print on reports (if specified under Preferences), and Client bills. The EFTPS PIN is used for IRS electronic deposits and prints on the EFTPS report. Enter the number of hours in a standard work week for this Client in Work Week. Standard Charge is not currently used Page 19

29 Payroll States A Client can have taxes withheld or accrued for up to three different states. This section provides definitions of the states for which this Client is reporting payroll. No state needs to be the same as the Client s home state. Employees can only have taxes withheld or accrued for states that appear here. If a Client needs to be able to withhold and report for more than three states, set him up under as many client numbers as you need to accommodate his needs. When it comes time to create reports such as Form 941, create a consolidated Client to group all of the clients together for the purposes of preparing the report. 1. Type the state code, or press the down arrow to select a state from the State 1 box. (The Client s mailing state is the default.) The name of the state now replaces None assigned. 2. Enter the State Tax ID Number, if applicable. Try to maintain the formatting that is used by the state, including spaces. If there s not enough room, remove spaces, dashes, and other punctuation. 3. Enter the SUTA ID Number. This field is required. Try to maintain the formatting that is used by the state, including spaces. If there s not enough room, remove spaces, dashes, and other punctuation. 4. Enter the SUTA Maximum Wage and SUTA Rate % from your files. Note for New Jersey Clients. Enter your NJ Registration number with no punctuation plus /000 (e.g /000) in the State Tax ID. Enter the 4-character Alpha Code that New Jersey has assigned to this client. Alpha codes print beside the Registration Number on most forms you get from the state. An alpha code usually is the 1st 4 characters of the client's name. 5. The last part of each state is where you define the tax status of contributions to 125 Cafeteria Plans for: State Tax Withholding W/H State Unemployment SUTA State Disability DI 6. The default is Taxable for all three taxes. To exempt plan contributions from a specific tax, just click on the label. A checkmark or an X shows beside any exempt tax Page 20

30 7. Repeat for States 2 and 3 if needed. Note States must be assigned in order. Departments Each Client can have up to 20 departments. Departments can be used to group input, and special forms of the Registers showing department totals are available. An employee can be attached to one department during the year. If you need to divide an employee between departments, try using different income labels to identify the department. This screen shows the default labels supplied for any new client. The Code is an identifier. It appears in the Department box of the employee Pay Rates tab, and wherever a shorthand form of the department name is printed. It can be up to eight characters. Alpha characters are converted to upper case automatically. To blank out a code, press the Delete key with the code highlighted in Edit mode. The Description is a 19-character descriptive name for the Department. Bank Information Bank information is used when you have the MICR option, and by Direct Deposit. In all other cases, this window can be left blank. 1. Enter the Name and Street Address of the bank as it appears on the check. 2. Fraction refers to the tracing number that is printed on most checks. It is often in very small print, and usually formatted like a fraction 12-34/ If you are doing MICR for this Client, enter the three elements into the three Fractions fields. If there is no fraction on the check, enter zero in all three fields. 4. Put the bank account number into the Account Number field. Use a capital C to represent the on-us symbol and include any spaces between the last routing and transit symbol and the start of the Account number. Include any imbedded blanks and dashes. 5. Enter the nine-digit Routing and Transit number into its field. CCIS Payroll verifies the entry by computing the Check Digit and comparing it to that in the number. 6. Choose the appropriate Account Type, Checking or Savings Page 21

31 7. The MICR Information area contains three options used with the MICR Encoder. Select Use logo file if you have purchased a logo file for this Client from us. 8. Choose from three signature options: One signature line to print 1 signature line on the check Two signature lines to print 2 signature lines on the check Use Signature File to have the check signed using an optional purchased signature. 9. Enter the number of copies to print where indicated. 10. The Direct Deposit area holds information used for Direct Deposit. Preferences Many of the options for this Client are set on the Preferences Tab The Checks area is where you choose the type of check, how you want them to be sorted, and options for the check stub. Select a style from the Check Format section. The available styles are: Business-size QuickBooks format PPQ3L1 with the check on top and two blank vouchers. Complete current and YTD information is printed on a Phoenix Phive PP1L1 laser check with preprinted top stub and blank bottom stub. Complete current and YTD information and associated titles are printed on a Phoenix Phive PP3L1 laser all purpose check that has a blank stub on top and bottom. The Voucher Only option produces vouchers to give to your employees using Phoenix Phive VOUCHERCONT (dot matrix) or tri-perforated VOUCHERLASER. Checks can be sorted in four different ways. Choose the one you prefer from the Arrange checks by section. Selecting, Don t sort results in checks being printed in the order that the employees were entered into the Employee Master file. In the Stub Options area, choose any of: Print message causes CCIS Payroll to stop before printing and request a message to print on the check stub or voucher. Print FEIN prints the Client s FEIN on the check stub. This is required of certain agricultural employers. Print available Sick Hours and Print available Vacation hours causes the selected item to be printed in the message box on the check stub or voucher. The section on Tipped Employees offers two options: Select Force Minimum wage to have CCIS Payroll add enough wages to the employees earnings so that they are paid at least the Federal Minimum Wage as stored in the Tax Table. CCIS Payroll computes the hourly rate after allowing for tips deemed wages. If it is below the Federal Minimum wage, CCIS Payroll adds the required difference in Income field # Page 22

32 Sometimes there are insufficient cash wages and charge tips to pay the required withholdings. By checking Reduce W/H to cover taxes on tips, you tell CCIS Payroll to reduce first Federal, then State and Local withholdings enough to achieve a zero-balance check, if possible. FICA and Medicare are not changed. The Reports area sets options for Form 941 and other reports. Select Sign reports with Contact Name and CCIS Payroll inserts the Contact Person s name and title if the report has room for it, into the report. If the Firm is a Paid Preparer for the Client, select Firm is Paid Preparer for Client. CCIS Payroll will insert information from the Firm as appropriate on the report being prepared. Select the appropriate selection in the Deferred Comp area. Labels CCIS Payroll has 16 income labels, eight for regular employees, and eight for 1099-MISC recipients. Every income label can have a rate associated with it in the Employee Master file. When a label is not blank, the content of that field becomes visible both literally and figuratively. Blank labels are omitted from all reports and all calculations. The space they would normally occupy on input screens is blank and the cursor doesn't stop. However, all non-zero amounts print in the registers, whether or not a label exists. Some features of Industrial Strength Payroll, such as fringe benefit recording, require certain labels. 1. For one-state employees, whose Master Record has a blank in Payroll State 2, there are eight income labels for regular pay, and eight for 1099 pay Page 23

33 2. For two-state employees, whose Master Record has a state in Payroll State 2, labels numbered 1 to 4 and 9 to 12 apply to Payroll State 1. Labels numbered 5 to 8 and 13 to 16 apply to Payroll State All employees in a Client have the same 12 deduction labels. When you create a new Client, these labels are created by default: To change a label: 1. Click in the field of the label you want to change. 2. Enter whatever you want as the label. 3. To blank a label, select it, and then press Delete Page 24

34 Chapter 6 - General Ledger General Ledger Postings Overview CCIS Payroll can assign values to a GL list and print a report that can be used to input these values into your General Ledger. Each Client can either have its own list, or share the entries from a Master list. If CCIS Payroll finds a GL list for a Client, it uses that list. If there isn t one that is specific to the Client, CCIS Payroll looks for the master list and uses it to print the report. If no list is found, the menu option is grayed indicating that the report is not available. The General Ledger Report prints from the Calculations window. This section discusses: The structure of the General Ledger list How to add, remove, or change list items How to print the list The values that CCIS Payroll assigns to the list How to print the General Ledger report General Ledger list structure The General Ledger list file contains sections that correspond to the typical Chart of Accounts. There are two parts, an Account Number, and a Description. The Account Number can consist of any number or letter, and can be up to 15 characters long. The Description holds up to 25 characters. CCIS Payroll has a set of defaults that are based on an accrual-based chart of accounts. Creating a master list can change these defaults. Once you create a master list, CCIS Payroll always uses those values as the default. If you have a chart of accounts already established for a Client, we recommend that you use exactly the same Account Numbers and Descriptions. You can have a GL Account for every label per Client. CCIS Payroll cannot make an entry into a field if you have not entered a label for that field. CCIS Payroll adds two Bank Accounts, areas to separate Officer and Other earnings, and a series of debits and credits for Unemployment Insurance in addition to the labels that you provide. How to edit the GL Account List The GL Account List is maintained from the Home window. Choose Maintenance GL Accounts Page 25

35 You select the file to work with by choosing the radio button on the GL Accounts window. You can make or change a file for one specific Client, or edit a Master file that is used by all Clients who do not have a file of their own. There are five sections in the file: Earnings, Taxes, Deductions, Unemployment and Non-employee. Earnings: The Earnings section is reached by clicking the Earnings button. The Earnings sections contain the postings for all W-2 employees. There are three columns, GL Account Number, GL Name, and Label in Client. The GL Account Number can contain any character. It accepts up to 15 characters. The GL Name can contain any character. It accepts up to 25 characters. We recommend using the same numbering and naming system you use for your General Ledger. The default values for the first eight income fields are "Salary and Wages and the Label from CCIS Payroll. Income labels are number 1 through 8 from the label window. If an income field is not labeled in the Client, the word [Unused] appears and the GL fields are left blank. CCIS Payroll adds the two income labels that cannot be changed, Non-Tax/Tips, and TDW to complete the earnings. CCIS Payroll adds three GL accounts. One for Officers, another for other employees (i.e. employees that are not officers), and an offset to the bank called Payroll Bank Account. These accounts contain the totals from the previous 10 accounts, split between officers and others. To use this feature, put the word Officer into the Position field of any employee that is a corporate officer. The Payroll Bank Account receives the Net Check amount for W-2 employees Page 26

36 Withholdings: Select the Taxes button to display the Withholdings section. It contains fields for Federal Income Tax, FICA, Medicare, Advance EIC, three State Withholdings, three State Disability withholdings and two City/Local withholdings. Deductions: Select the Deductions button to display the Deductions section. It contains a GL Account and GL Name for every deduction label set up in the Client. Non-employees: The Non-employees section contains the same information as the Earnings section, except that it applies only to non-employees and third parties. CCIS Payroll adds a bank account field called, Operating Bank Account. This field holds the net check amount for all non-employees Page 27

37 Unemployment: The Unemployment section contains Liability and Expense accounts fro FUTA and three states. How to print the General Ledger Account list The entire contents of the General Ledger Account list can be printed when the update window is visible. To open the update window, go to the Home window. Then choose Maintenance GL Accounts. The Print button will be enabled if there is a file for this Client, or there is a Master file. Select the Print button to print the file. It prints on the System Printer. Values output to the GL Report Here is the way that CCIS Payroll outputs the GL values when it is processing a Time Entry situation. The signs of the output change according to the job. Cancel check would be the exact reverse of the values shown here. In the Earnings section, CCIS Payroll outputs the first 12 accounts as positive numbers. The offset to the Payroll Bank Account is output as negative. The special summary fields for Officers and Others are output as positive but they are not included in the GL Totals. Instead, they print at the end of the report. All amounts withheld in the Withholdings section are output as negative. The FICA Employer s Expense and Medicare Employer s Expense are output as positive. All Deductions are output as negative unless they are a reimbursement in which case they are positive. In the Non-employees section, CCIS Payroll outputs the first 8 accounts as positive numbers. The offset to the Operating Bank Account is output as negative. For Unemployment, all payables are negative, and all expenses are positive. How to print the General Ledger report The General Ledger report is available in the Calculations window. It uses the values from the current payroll job. First, complete entering the payroll for the period. It is not necessary to print checks in order to get the GL Report. Next, choose the Print button, then G/L Postings, or File Print G/L Postings Page 28

38 Chapter 7 - Managing Employees Employee management overview The next three chapters discuss the Employee Master File. This file contains all information about any given employee. Each employee must have a record in this file. However, it is not necessary to complete every field. In this chapter, you will learn: About the Employee Master Record How to Import Employees from common file types How to set up an employee for Direct Deposit How to Add, View, Change and Print employee information About multi-state employees How to retrieve employee records How to enter 1099 recipients How to print employee lists How to change the FICA, Medicare, FUTA and SUTA accrual status How to record W-5 information for Advance EIC How to remove an employee's payroll data How to print New Hire reports How to Protect Social Security Numbers Retrieving employee records Employees can be retrieved three ways: by the Employee Key, a unique number that was assigned by the software when the employee was created, by the Pay ID, a unique number from 1 to 32,000 that you assigned to the employee, and by Last name. Whenever CCIS Payroll needs an employee, you see this window. 1. To retrieve one employee by Last name select, Last Name. Start typing the name. CCIS Payroll shows you the employee who most closely matches the name you type. You can also select the down arrow to the right of the entry box and scroll or type the name of a particular employee. Choose the employee name to select a particular employee. Press Tab then choose OK. 2. To retrieve all employees in Last Name order: select Last Name and select Retrieve all employees 2008 Page 29

39 3. To retrieve an employee by Pay ID: Select Pay ID. Start typing the Pay ID. CCIS Payroll shows you the employee who most closely matches what you type or scroll down the list of names in the dropdown list until you find the employee. 4. To retrieve all employees in the Pay ID order select Pay ID, the Retrieve all employees. 5. To retrieve one employee by Key select Key and enter the employee key. 6. To retrieve all employees in Key order select Key then Retrieve all employees. How to import employees CCIS Payroll can import data from other software programs to save you the trouble of keying it all in. The data that you can import includes employee identification information and certain YTD values including wages, withholdings, and deductions. You can import as much or as little data as you wish. The most common types of files are supported: Comma-delimited (.CSV) files Tab-delimited (.TXT) files Fixed record length flat files When you choose to import your employee data, the imported data completely replaces any data that exists in CCIS Payroll for that Client. Your payroll or other software must be able to produce files in one of these formats. Sometimes you may have an intermediate step. For example, to import from QuickBooks, you first must export from QuickBooks to an Excel spreadsheet. Here is the information you need to know before beginning an import. For tab-delimited or comma-delimited files: The name and location of the file, The total number of fields in the each record, The number of each time field. For example, your file might have a total of 40 fields. The Pay ID might be #5. The First Name field might be #32; The Social Security Number might be #33, and so on. For fixed-length files: The name and location of the file, The length of each record, The beginning and end of each time field. For example, your file might be 356 characters (=bytes) long. The Pay ID might start at byte 20, and end at byte 24. The Regular time field might begin at 93 and end at 105, the Social Security Number might run from 64 to 72, and so on. 1. If you haven t already done so, create a Client to hold the imported employees. 2. Next, make that Client into the current Client. 3. Choose the Employees link. 4. Select File Import. CCIS Payroll warns you if there are employees in the Client. 5. The Import Employee Information window displays. This window has all the information needed for a successful import Page 30

40 6. Start by entering the location of the file. You can also press Choose file to search for the file. 7. Next enter the number of Fields in the file, or the length of one record. 8. Select the radio-button that properly describes your import file. 9. Enter the number of the field in the Field Position column for every field you want to import. For fixed-length files, enter the start and end position. 10. Now check the box called Default Values for All Employees. Every employee will be given these values by default so change them if necessary. Obviously these won t fit all your employees but they can always be changed after the import. 11. Choose Save Spec to save this layout for the future. 12. Select Begin Import to bring the employees over. 13. Lastly, check your imported data using the Register reports. How to print or view employee listings There are five reports and listings available from the Employee File Maintenance screen. They are: Full Record - includes the entire contents of an employee's file. One Line - includes the Key, Pay ID, Name, Social Security Number, and Pay Rate in a single-line format. Roster - includes all of the One Line, plus full mailing address, Telephone, Date Hired, Pay method, and Frequency. Tip Reporting - produces a substitute IRS Form New Hire - prints the New Hire Report. Of these reports, the Full Record, and the One line, can also be viewed on screen. All reports can be customized to include only employees of a given Type, and Status. Each can also be sorted three ways, by Last name, Pay ID, or in Key order (not sorted). To print or view a report: 1. Select the Employees link. 2. To view a report, choose View from the menu. 3. To print a report, choose File Print from the menu or select on the Print button. 4. The window shown below opens. 5. Choose the Report Type, Employee Status, Employee Type, and Sort Order from their respective areas. 6. Select the Print Report button. 7. Select the Stop button when you re done Page 31

41 Protecting Social Security Numbers CCIS Payroll has the ability to hide part or all of an employee s Social Security Number from check stubs, input sheets and other reports where the full SSN is not required. SSN s can be printed in three different formats: Totally hidden ***-**-**** Partially hidden last 4 are revealed ***-**-1234 Open CCIS Payroll defaults to ***-**-**** You specify the format to use in the Check Properties for a Client. To get there: 1. Choose the Calculations link. 2. Select File Properties. 3. Choose Edit. 4. Make a selection from the highlighted area and press F10 to save Page 32

42 Chapter 8 - Maintaining the Employee Master File You can add, edit, delete or view any employee record. Adding a new employee 1. Select the Employees link. 2. Select the New button, or choose File Add from the Employee File Maintenance menu. 3. Complete the employee information tabs using the instructions contained in the sections titled; Identification, Pay Rates, Federal and State Taxes, Deductions, Biographical, and Local Taxes. Required information has a blue label. 4. Choose F10 or the Save button to save this employee and advance to the next. 5. Choose the Stop button to close the tabs view. The Employee File Maintenance window displays The fields are all complete so why can t I save my data? CCIS Payroll checks the data in every field as you leave it by pressing Tab or Enter. If you simply click off the field, CCIS Payroll does not check the data. Some items, especially drop-down boxes, retain the value they had from the last employee it may be correct but CCIS Payroll doesn t know that because it hasn t tested it. To fix this just return to the Identification page and Tab through all the fields through to the Federal and State taxes page. Viewing an employee: 1. Select the Employees link 2. Choose the Open button, or select File Open from the Employee File Maintenance menu. 3. Retrieve the employee you want to view. There are seven tabs of information. Select the desired tab to see the contents Page 33

43 4. Select the Next button to advance to the next employee. 5. Choose Stop to close the tabs view. The Employee File Maintenance window displays. Changing an employee's record To change an employee s record, use Edit from the View function. 1. Retrieve the employee in View mode. 2. Select the Edit button or choose Edit from the menu. The Edit button latches to show you are in edit mode. 3. Change the information as required. Press Tab to exit each field. 4. Select the Save button to save the changes. 5. Select Next to advance to the next employee or choose the Stop button to close the tabs view. The Employee File Maintenance window displays. Deleting employees There are two ways to remove unwanted employees from the Master File. You can instruct CCIS Payroll to remove all terminated employees as it performs the New Year procedure. You are also able to delete an employee manually at any time. Before doing so, however, it is useful to consider that deleting an employee during the year will affect every report you have prepared for the year. An inappropriate deletion can cause you a lot of work trying to reconcile reports and reconstruct past events. Also, and perhaps most importantly, CCIS Payroll does not change any of the Liability records to account for this deletion. This can result in an easy to repair but disconcerting imbalance between, for example, the total liability of Form 941, and that on Schedule B, Form 941. Therefore, the better course is to use Cancel Check to delete an employee s earnings. To manually delete an employee: 1. Retrieve the employee in View mode. 2. Select the Delete button. 3. Confirm the deletion. Deleted employees records can be printed in one of the Employee lists, but they do not appear on any periodic report, history report, register, or year-end report. When you view a deleted employee record, the program displays a large red Deleted label. Restoring a deleted employee Employees who have been deleted manually can be restored easily Page 34

44 1. Retrieve the employee in View mode. 2. Press the Undo button. The Deleted label disappears. Employees who have been deleted during the New Year procedure cannot be restored. The best way to get them back is to delete the Client in the current year. Then do the New Year procedure again. Multi-state employees CCIS Payroll can record and process payroll in two states simultaneously for any employee. Here is the way to set it up. 1. Establish both states in the Client Master file for this Client. 2. Set Payroll State 1 of the employee Identification tab to one of the states, and Payroll State 2 to the other. Please do NOT use this procedure for an employee who works in one state, and has SUTA accrued in a different state. This procedure will produce undesired results. For instructions, refer to Accruing SUTA for a different state (page 47). Certain operating parameters change for multi-state employees. Also some features are no longer available. Here are the rules used by CCIS Payroll for multi-state employees. Income labels 1-4 apply to Payroll State 1. Income labels 5-8 apply to Payroll State 2. Reported Tips and Tax Deferred payments cannot be processed. Locality #1 and Locality #2 always apply to Payroll State 1. Cafeteria plans, fringe benefits, and deferred compensation plans are not available. Deductions that are designated as before tax are treated as ordinary deductions "employees", deductions and backup withholding CCIS Payroll processes payments to individuals who are not your employees, and to third parties. CCIS Payroll supports recording and payment of Rents, Royalties, Nonemployee Compensation, Other Income, and Attorney's fees on Form 1099-MISC. This support is for both paper and electronic filing. A 1099 employee is created when you enter any of the following codes into the Pay Method on the Identification tab of the Employee Master file: 1099 SSN A 1099 recipient using their Social Security Number 1099 FEIN A 1099 recipient using a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number 1099 ITIN A Foreign National using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number These entries cause CCIS Payroll to treat the employee as subject to the rules governing nonemployee compensation that we call a "1099 employee". Unless they are subject to backup withholding, no withholdings are calculated. Monies paid are summarized, rather than detailed, on the periodic reports, and are reported as nonemployee compensation on Form 1099-MISC employees and third parties share a separate set of Income labels. It is possible to make deductions either by entering the appropriate code and amounts to the master record, or at the time of payroll calculation. Remember never to use the before tax deduction codes for 1099 employees Page 35

45 If a 1099 employee does not provide you with a Social Security Number, you are required to withhold Federal Income tax. The rate is shown in the Flat Tax Rate field of the General Information Screen of the Federal Tax Tables. To initiate this so-called backup withholding, enter " " as the Social Security Number. Backup withholdings are detailed on the periodic reports. At year end, these amounts are included in the 1099-MISC. Third parties generally follow the same procedures. They are included in any report that includes 1099 employees. Amounts paid to third parties appear as a separate total on the Federal Worksheet. Third Parties are not reported on any state or federal form, including Forms W-2, 941 and How to change the sick/vacation rates and accruals 1. Select the Employees link. 2. Choose File Open or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the employee and select the Biographical tab. 4. Make any changes. 5. Choose File Save or select the Save button to save the changes. How to remove an employee's YTD earnings The method you use to remove an employee s YTD payroll information depends on why you want to remove it. If the employee should never have been part of this year s payroll, you can simply the record. If the employee belongs in this year but you need to redo the year s postings, the recommended way to remove an employee's YTD payroll information is to use the Cancel Check function. By using Cancel Check, you are able to remove the entire year at once, or any other period of your choice. How to print the new hire report Many authorities require you to report new hires and re-hires. This report provides information about both the employer and the employee. The report consists of a number of "vouchers", one for each employee, printed across the page. Each voucher contains the employer's name, address, and FEIN on the left. The right side holds basic W-4 information about the employee, name, address, social security number, and date hired. Some states require other information that is added automatically. The report prints a voucher for every employee whose Date Hired field contains a date equal to or greater than the date you enter. To include re-hires, that is, employees that were previously terminated, be sure to make the Date Hired be the day that they returned to work. (If you need to save their original hire date, you can use the Reason field to hold that date as a memo.) To print the report: 1. Select on the Employees link Page 36

46 2. Choose File Print, or select the Print button. 3. Choose New Hire Report and any other options. 4. Select the Print Report button. Advance EIC EIC stands for Earned Income Credit. This is a tax credit for low-income employees with children. Qualified employees are entitled to EIC whether or not they have to pay any Federal Income Tax. The law authorizes advance payment of a part of the EIC. The payment is called "Advance EIC". It is added to the employee's paycheck. You receive credit against your federal tax liability for making EIC payments. Advance EIC payments are automatically deducted from your Federal Tax liability and on Form 941. Advance EIC is reported on Forms W-2 and W-3. CCIS Payroll is able to compute and make Advance EIC payments to employees who request it. CCIS Payroll will only pay Advance EIC up to the limits specified in the Head of House part of the Federal Tax Table. If the employee's circumstances change such that he is entitled to less advance EIC than he has already received, he will have to pay it back to the IRS with his tax return. Advance EIC payment authorization needs to be renewed every year so these checkboxes are cleared during the New Year process. To tell the program to pay Advance EIC, 1. Select the Local Taxes tab. 2. Next, answer the three questions by selecting the checkbox as appropriate Page 37

47 Chapter 9 - Details of the Employee Master Record Details of the Employee Master Record The Employee Master Record contains all of the information that CCIS Payroll needs to process employee payroll. Each employee "file" is divided into seven sections denoted by tabs. The sections are: Identification - Information that identifies the employee Pay Rates - Information about the employees pay, pension and tip status Federal and State Taxes - Information about withholdings and accruals for the employee Deductions - Information about the voluntary deductions for this employee Biographical - Important dates and Vacation, Sick and Comp accruals Direct Deposit - Bank information for up to two accounts Local Taxes - Local tax and Advance EIC information If a data entry field has a blue title, it is a required field. You cannot select the Save button until you complete all required fields. Users who are only processing after the fact payroll only need to complete the areas which affect 941's and W-2's. These include Identification, Federal and State Taxes, Local Taxes (if necessary) and, if deferred compensation or cafeteria plans are required, the Deduction information. The lower left-hand corner of the screen identifies the employee. You see the term Key followed by a number. This is one of the numbers that identify this employee to the system and is assigned by the system. You cannot access this key. It increases automatically as each employee is added. Identification 1. The Pay ID is an optional five-digit identifier. It may range from 1 to 32,000 and must be unique. It may be zero. 2. The Pay Method determines how the employee is processed, and how taxes are computed. The available methods are: a. For W-2 employees: Hourly Daily Hourly - Weekly Hourly - Biweekly Hourly - Semi-monthly Hourly - Monthly Salaried - Weekly Salaried - Biweekly Salaried - Semi-monthly Salaried - Monthly 2008 Page 38

48 b. For 1099 nonemployees: 1099 SSN A 1099 recipient using their Social Security Number FEIN A 1099 recipient using a Federal Taxpayer Identification Number ITIN A Foreign National using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number c. Third Party: other people you want to pay using this program. Third parties do not receive a W-2 or a 1099-MISC 3. The Social Security Number label changes to FEIN, ITIN or nothing depending on the Pay Method. CCIS Payroll checks this number against the standards given in the book Software Standards and Edit Criteria for Annual Wage Reporting published by the Social Security Administration. You may enter if the Social Security Number is unknown. FEIN s and ITIN s are checked using the applicable standards of the IRS. 4. The Job Class field has two purposes. The first is to hold the four-digit National Council on Compensation Insurance Code for the type of work performed by this employee. CCIS Payroll uses this number to group the Earnings Report. The second is to hold a classification code used by the Company Profile report. 5. There are three available Status states for an employee: Active, Terminated, and Idled (Laidoff). 6. The First Name, Middle Name and Last Name of W-2 (regular) employees and 1099 recipients who use their SSN s should be exactly as they appear on the employee s Social Security Card. This makes it easier for the Social Security Administration to pair the names with the Social Security Number when posting the earnings and contributions to the employee s social security file. If you omit the middle name, or use an alias such as Jimmy instead of James, the SSA might have to write you for clarification. At worst, you might be subject to fines for reporting incorrect information on Form W-2. To allow for those many cases where a person is known by something other than his full legal name, we have introduced the Name to print on check field. This fills automatically with the legal names, but you can change it to read anything you want. So if James Robert Smith wants to be known as Jim-Bob Smith, you can accommodate his needs. For other 1099 recipients, and third parties, try to fit their name into the name fields in a way that you will recognize on reports. The First name and Last name must have something in them. Then write the name the way it actually is in the Name to print on check field. 7. Payroll State 1 is the employee s state for Income Tax purposes. Normally, SUTA is accrued for this state as well. Please see Multi-state employees on page 35 for other situations Page 40

49 Pay Rates 1. The Department selection shows the department codes that are in the Client file for this client. An employee can be attached to one department throughout the year. 2. Check the Pension Plan box if the employee has any type of pension at all and you want to have the W-2 reflect that fact. The Pension Plan box must be checked for an employee to participate in any of the supported deferred compensation plans. 3. Select the appropriate Tip Status. 4. Select the Direct Deposit box if you direct deposit the employee s paycheck. 5. Every employee can have up to eight different pay rates. For salaried employees, the first box in the Rate per Unit column must represent 1 standard pay. That is, 1 week if the employee is Weekly, 1 month if Monthly, and so on. All other rates should be in units, typically hours. For Hourly or Piecework employees, enter the value of one unit. CCIS Payroll multiplies anything you enter in the Hours column of Calculations with whatever you enter in the Rate per unit when calculating payroll. Therefore, the entries you make here can represent anything you want them to. They could be a shift premium, an overtime rate or the value of picking a box of avocados. Pay special attention to the entries for multi-state employees. The first four Rates apply to Payroll State 1. The last four apply to Payroll State 2. Your income labels should reflect this. Federal and State Taxes This tab sets the parameters for computing the Federal and, where applicable, State Income tax withholdings. It is also used to determine withholdings for FICA, Medicare and Disability Insurance, and to set the accrual status for FUTA and SUTA Page 41

50 Record the filing status and number of dependents the employee claims on his Form W-4 and any equivalent state form. The filing status and number of dependents do not have to be the same for each jurisdiction. All the checkboxes default to Checked indicating that the tax does apply to this employee. Clear any that do not apply. Each SUTA State box shows the state that SUTA is accrued for. Normally, this is the same as the Payroll State. CCIS Payroll allows for Extra Federal and State withholdings. When an employee requests extra withholdings, choose between Percent of Gross and Flat amount methods. Then, enter the rate or amount in the Extra amount or rate box. Deductions There are 12 available deduction fields, numbered 1 through 12 in the Client file. In order for a deduction to be available, it requires a label. Except for the special cases mentioned below, the tax status of each deduction can be ordinary or pre-tax Cafeteria Plan. Deductions are also used for reimbursements of out-of-pocket expenses. Deductions can be made in 3 ways: A flat amount per hour (Hourly employees only) A percentage of Gross Pay A flat amount per check To select a deduction method, click on the Type column beside the desired deduction label. Then choose the type from the drop-down list that appears. Declining-balance deductions are supported. To set up a declining-balance deduction: 1. Select in the Type column beside the label for the deduction. 2. Select Declining Balance from the drop-down list. 3. Enter the payment value in the Value column. 4. Enter the balance due in the Balance column. CCIS Payroll deducts one payment with each check issued until the Balance reaches zero. Three of the deduction fields may be reserved for use by CCIS Payroll. They are: 1. Deduction #1 is reserved for Deferred Compensation. If the Deferred Compensation area of the Client file indicates anything other than "None", then Deduction #1 is only available if the Pension plan on the Pay Rates tab of the employee is checked. In that case, the available methods for Deduction #1 are: Flat amount, Percent of Gross or Amount per hour Page 42

51 2. Deduction #11 is reserved for Fringe Benefits. If the Client has no fringe benefit labels, the field is available. 3. Deduction #12 is reserved for Tips. If there are no tipped employees, the field is available. Biographical information This area of the employee file is used for management information and to specify accruals. Gender, Ethnicity, and Date of Birth boxes are required for the Company Profile report. Date Hired is required by the New Hire report, and if you accrue Sick, Vacation, or Comp time on an annual basis. Some states also require that you report the Date of Birth on the New Hire report as well. CCIS Payroll is able to accrue Sick, Vacation and Comp time. Accruals can be on an hourly or a yearly basis. Here s how to establish an accrual using Vacation as an example: 1. Select the Accrue Vacation checkbox. Accruals are made only when this box is checked. 2. Determine the frequency. When the Frequency is set to per Hour, the value in the Available Hours box can change with every payroll. CCIS Payroll multiplies the hours for the first income field only, by the rate in the Rate in Hours box, and then adds the result to the Available Hours. When the Frequency is set to per Year, no accrual is performed with each paycheck. Rather, CCIS Payroll stops on the payday that is nearest to the Date Hired, and asks if you want to reset the accrual. It also offers to reset the accruals during the New Year process. 3. Set the Rate in hours. 4. Lastly, you need an income label to be able to pay the accrued time. The required labels are: Vacation for vacation time, Sick for sick time, and Comp for comp time. Local Taxes The program supports two local taxes per employee. 1. Name of Locality - contains the name of the taxing entity. 2. Tax Rate (%) - contains the rate Page 43

52 3. Exempt Earnings - contains the value of exempt earnings, if any. 4. Taxable Earnings Limit - contains the earnings ceiling, if any. 5. If this tax is a Head Tax, select the This is a Head Tax and enter the dollar value in the Tax Rate (%) area. CCIS Payroll withholds Head Tax on the first paycheck of the month. 6. Select the Cafeteria Plans are Exempt and/or the Fringe Benefits are Exempt boxes if the condition is true. Special entries for Arizona Arizona allows employees to choose other than table rates for State Income Tax withholding purposes. This optional rate is placed in the Tax Rate (%) field in the area for Locality #1. Do not put a name in the Name of Locality. Do not use Locality #2 for this tax. Special entries for Connecticut Connecticut has a non-traditional tax structure that is based on a Tax Status selected by the employee on form CT-W4. Since the No. of Dependents field is not used, we use it to hold the tax status of the employee. Enter 1 for Status A 2 for Status B 3 for Status C and 4 for Status D Employees with any other entry automatically default to Status D. Special entries for Louisiana Louisiana has three personal exemptions. They are 0, 1, and 2. We accommodate this by using three tax tables. These are keyed to the marital status. Set the Marital Status to Single for those claiming 0 personal exemptions. Set the Marital Status to Head of House for those claiming 1 personal exemption. Set the Marital Status to Married for those claiming 2 personal exemptions. The Dependency Credit is computed using the Number of Dependents entry. Special entries for New York City CCIS Payroll determines New York City tax for residents automatically. To do so, a special code is entered into Locality #1. To enter the codes for an employee who is a resident of New York City. 1. Enter NYC in the Name of Locality field. 2. Enter 80 in the Tax Rate (%) field. Special entries for Maryland The Maryland tax tables use the non-resident tax rates in the Maryland computer formulas. These rates are stored in the Married Filing Joint rate table. Most Maryland residents are also subject to a local tax that is added to the non-resident rate for each bracket in the Maryland table. This produces a combined rate that is used to compute the withholdings Page 44

53 The appropriate added rate for an employee should be put in the Tax Rate (%) field of Locality #1. Enter the rate as a percentage and include only the piggyback amount. For example, employees subject to a 1.25% local tax rate would have 1.25 in the Tax Rate (%) field of Locality #1. Do not use Locality #2 for this tax. Special entries for Washington L & I CCIS Payroll automatically computes Washington State Labor and Industry deductions. It also produces a special version of the Local Tax Report for L & I. The L & I rates are kept in the Locality #1 area. Do not use Locality #2 for this tax. Enter ten times the applicable L&I rate for the type of work performed by this employee in the Tax Rate (%) field. The Name of Locality field should be blank Page 45

54 Chapter 10 - Treatment of special income, tax and deduction cases Special case overview This section discusses special cases involving the Employee Master File, cases requiring specific labels or labels in a specific position, or setting up parameters in several areas. Specifically, you will learn: How to set up flat rate or fixed amount withholding How to inhibit withholding How to record fringe benefits How to accrue SUTA for a different state How to establish deferred compensation plans How to set up 125 cafeteria plans How to set up sick, vacation, and comp accruals Flat rate and fixed amount withholding CCIS Payroll can optionally withhold Federal and both states income tax at either a fixed percentage of gross, or a flat dollar amount. The flat rate is applied to all income. You cannot apply a percentage rate to only one income item. To activate either feature, first stop the automatic tax computation by giving the employee 99 dependents. 1. Choose the Employees link. 2. Choose File Open or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the employee. 4. Select on the Edit button. 5. Select the Federal and State Taxes tab. 6. To stop Federal withholdings, enter 99 in the No. of Dependents field. 7. To stop state withholdings, enter 99 in the No. of Dependents field for either or both states. 8. Next, set the rate and method. 9. In the Extra Withholding area, select either the Percent of Gross or Flat amount check box. 10. Enter the percentage or dollar amount in the Extra Amount or Rate box. 11. Repeat for the other entities as necessary. 12. Choose the Save button, or choose File Save. How to inhibit withholding The tax rules generally permit an employee to request that you do not withhold either Federal or State taxes, or both. Please refer to the appropriate tax guides for the rules that apply to you. In those cases, show the number of dependents as Choose the Employees link. 2. Choose File Open or click the Open button. 3. Retrieve the employee. 4. Click on the Edit button Page 46

55 5. Click the Federal and State Taxes tab. 6. To stop Federal withholdings, enter 99 in the No. of Dependents field. 7. To stop state withholdings, enter 99 in the No. of Dependents field for either or both states. 8. Select the Save button, or choose File Save. Recording fringe benefits CCIS Payroll processes group term life insurance premiums that exceed the allowable amounts, dependent care benefits, taxable automobile benefits, and medical premiums for 2% shareholders of Subchapter S corporations. Whether or not a benefit is processed depends entirely upon the existence of specific labels in the Regular pay column, labels 1 to 8. If the label doesn't exist, the benefit will be treated as ordinary income. CCIS Payroll automatically deducts fringe benefits in deduction number 11. It changes the label to read Benefits. To record Fringe Benefits. 1. Begin by updating the labels for the Client. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 5. Click on the Labels tab. 6. Record a label in the Regular (W-2) Pay section, labels 1 through 8, using these rules: Enter F1-Life F2-Dcare F3-Car F4-SMed To record Group term life insurance Dependent care benefits Automobile Sub-S medical premiums. The F1, F2, F3, and F4 in these labels mean "Fringe benefit number 1", "Fringe benefit number 2", etc. They are the separate keys, <F><1>, etc. NOT the function keys <F1>, <F2>, <F3>, and <F4>. 7. Repeat the last step for every Fringe benefit. 8. Select the Save button, or choose File Save. Now that the labels are established, you can set up any standard amounts in the Pay Rates tab of the Employee Master file. This is optional. You can enter the amounts as you re recording the paychecks. Accruing SUTA for a different state Many people who live in bordering states are affected by reciprocity agreements whereby income taxes are withheld for their state of residence, and unemployment insurance is accrued in the state that they work in. CCIS Payroll easily handles such situations. Both states must be established in the Client Master Record for that client. They can be in any order. 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose Change <Client Name> from the Edit menu. 5. Click the Payroll States tab. 6. Enter the information for both states Page 47

56 7. Choose the Save button, or select File Save. 8. Next, set up the employee. Select the Employees link. 9. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 10. Retrieve an employee. 11. Select the Edit button, or choose Change <Employee Name> from the Edit menu 12. On the Identification tab, set Payroll State 1 to the state for which taxes will be withheld. 13. Clear Payroll State 2 if necessary. There can be no entry in Payroll State Select the Federal and State Taxes tab. 15. Go to the SUTA State area of the [name of Payroll State 1] Taxes area. 16. Type or select the state for which SUTA is to be accrued from the list in the box. This will be a different state than Payroll State Select the Save button, or choose File Save. Following these steps ensures that the employee s income for State Withholding purposes is reported in one state, and his income for SUTA purposes is reported in the other. Sick, Vacation and Comp pay Two items must be present in order to accrue and pay Sick, Vacation or Comp time: 1. A checkmark in the Accrue [desired area] of the Biographical section of the Employee File. 2. An Income label in the Regular (W-2) Pay section of the Labels section of the Client. If the label doesn't exist, the Sick, Vacation and Comp accruals in the Employee Master Record will not be updated. Also, in some cases, sick and vacation pay is treated differently by a state. This will not happen if the labels are missing. To record Sick, Vacation or Comp time: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or Select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Choose the Edit button, or select File Edit 5. Click on the Labels tab. 6. Record a label in the Regular (W-2) Pay section, labels 1 through 8, using these rules: Enter To record Vacation Vacation pay Sick Sick pay Comp Comp pay 7. Repeat the last step for every accrual that you need. 8. Press the Save button, or choose File Save. Now that the labels are established, you can set up the accrual rates and methods in the Biographical section of the Employee Master file. Deferred compensation plans CCIS Payroll computes and reports 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE and SARSEP deferred compensation plans. To establish deferred compensation plans. 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button Page 48

57 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 5. Choose the Preferences tab. 6. Choose the plan in the Deferred Comp area. 7. Select the Labels tab. 8. Make sure that label number 17 in the Deductions area is the plan name. Change it if necessary. 9. Select the Save button, or select File Save. Next, set up each participating employee. 1. Select the Employees link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or Select the Open button. 3. Retrieve an employee. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 5. Select the Pay Rates tab. 6. Select the Pension Plan checkbox. Deferred compensation will only be computed if the box is checked. 7. Select the Deductions tab. 8. Record the method and amount. 9. Select the Save button, or File Save. Finally, check the earnings limit in the Firm file. These values are not updated by the Tax Table Service and may be out of date. 125 cafeteria plans Cafeteria plans are vehicles that allow employees to pay for certain benefits using pre-tax income. They are defined in 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended. A third party usually administers such plans. CCIS Payroll knows the rules to follow for Federal Income Tax, FICA, Medicare and FUTA purposes. It does not know the rules that your state and locality have established, due to the nationwide complexity of these rules. Thus, one part of establishing the cafeteria plan involves updating the Client Master Record and the Employee File to show these rules. The other part involves applying the proper Type in the Deductions of the Employee Master Record for each employee who is in the plan. Any deduction can be switched back and forth between cafeteria plan and regular status. It is important to know, however, that cafeteria plan deductions are accumulated in a separate area. Merely switching the status of a deduction from cafeteria plan to ordinary will not remove any amounts that have been stored as cafeteria plans. If you have a situation wherein you need to remove monies from a cafeteria plan, please read Correcting errors recording cafeteria plans on page 86. To establish a cafeteria plan: 1. Begin by updating the tax status for the Client. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose File Open from the menu, or select the Open button. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit Page 49

58 5. Select the Payroll States tab. 6. Check or clear the three checkboxes under Cafeteria Plans in State 1. A checked box means that Cafeteria Plan contributions are exempt for that withholding or accrual. 7. Repeat for State 2 and State 3 as needed. 8. Select the Save button, or File Save. 9. Next, set up each participating employee. Select the Employees link. 10. Choose File Open, or select the Open button. 11. Retrieve an employee. 12. Select the Edit button, or choose File Edit. 13. Set up the Deduction method and value. 14. If applicable, set the tax status for Local taxes on the Local + EIC tab. 15. Select the Save button, or File Save Page 50

59 Chapter 11 - Calculating and recording payroll information Recording payroll overview CCIS Payroll provides three methods to process live (check-writing) payroll. It imports time in an ASCII format such as output by time clocks, and pays a standard time card. It also records After the Fact payroll quickly and easily, and provides methods of reversing and adjusting previously recorded information. Since this is the module that you will use the most, we recommend that you read this chapter closely. This chapter will teach you: How CCIS Payroll works How to record live payroll How to record after the fact payroll About the Current, Department and Check registers How to print paychecks How to Import and Export payroll data How to handle tipped employees How CCIS Payroll records payroll CCIS Payroll speeds payroll processing by incorporating high-speed "real time" data processing technology. This is the same technology used by banks and airline reservation systems. Unlike batch processing, all editing and correction is done on the computer window. When you accept the window by selecting Save, all of the employee's data, month, quarter and year to date, is immediately updated by physically writing it onto the safety of the hard disk. Another advantage to real time processing is that all printed output, including checks, vouchers, etc, are only reports. Printing these reports has no effect on an employee's earnings. Even reprinting an entire batch of checks will have no effect on the earnings. Checks are simply a specialized report. Advanced hashing technology is available to provide input controls that ensure that an employee is not skipped, and to catch transposition errors. Hash totals are automatically calculated based on Payroll ID, Social Security Number, and Gross Pay or Hours Worked. The Payroll Recording Window The Payroll Recording Window receives all of the input for recording pay. It is made to look like a standard paycheck Page 51

60 How withholdings are computed CCIS Payroll computes withholdings when doing live payroll. It annualizes all earnings and uses the exact calculation or percentage method to arrive at Federal, and State (and New York City) withholding amounts. If a flat rate method of withholding is specified in the Employee Master Record, CCIS Payroll multiplies the Gross Pay by that rate. Extra withholdings can be specified as either fixed amount or percentage of gross. Withholdings are computed to the penny unless an authority specifies wholedollar withholdings only, or you specify whole-dollar withholding in the Tax Table. Each taxing authority is assigned a tax table. All the information that pertains to withholding for a given taxing authority is contained in tables. Local taxes are determined by multiplying the Local Taxable Pay by the percentage shown in the Tax Rate field of the column for the locality in the Local Taxes tab of the Employee Master Record for any given employee. Local Taxable Pay can be changed. CCIS Payroll begins by assigning all earnings to every locality. The value appears in the Amount column and can be changed. To change Local Taxable Pay, type the desired value into the Amount column. CCIS Payroll will not change the value you type, no matter what other changes you might make to earnings. Head taxes are computed in the first payroll for a month. Each employee is charged the head tax value from the Local Taxes tab of his or her master record. Withholdings can be changed any time after they are first computed by pressing the Edit button. FICA and Medicare can never be changed doing live payroll. Payroll jobs CCIS Payroll treats each of the recording functions as a "job". After the Fact is a job. Live payroll (whether Import, Automatic or Time Entry) is another job. Cancel Check is another job. And so on. CCIS Payroll uses a scratch file for each job. A scratch file is analogous to a worksheet. It contains all of the information pertaining to the current payroll job, including the information needed to print checks. Whenever you tell CCIS Payroll to begin a new job for the same client, it throws away the worksheet for the last job. Remember, all the data has been saved. Only the worksheet is discarded. It is important to remember this concept. Once you tell CCIS Payroll to start a new job for the same client, you cannot return to the prior job. This is true even if the check date and period dates remain the same. The payroll recording process You begin the payroll recording process by choosing the calculations link. The Current Payroll Job statistics screen appears in one of two formats Page 52

61 To continue a previous payroll job: 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. The Current Payroll Job statistics window appears. Current Payroll Job tells you what the current job is The three date fields tell you when it is recorded The Job Status area tells you the number of Employees Input in the job, whether or not you printed the checks, if you printed the register and Check Register. 3. Select: Continue this Job to continue working on the job. CCIS Payroll reloads all of the checks that are recorded so far. The Back button lights up and you are ready to add more checks, make corrections, print or view reports. Close this Job to close this job and start a new one. CCIS Payroll discards the work files for the last job and waits for you to choose a new job. Select Exit to exit Calculations. To start a new payroll job: 1. If there is no current job available for this Client, or you have pressed the Close this Job button, the Current Payroll Job window displays with a message telling you to choose a job from the Enter Pay Menu: 2. Select Start a new Job, or select the Record Pay menu to begin. 3. Select the type of payroll job you want to perform. For more information about these selections see: 2008 Page 53

62 Importing data for calculations, Page 72 Automatic, Page 70 Adjusting Payroll, Page 88 Recording After the Fact Payroll, Page 62 Canceling Checks, Page 88 Time Entry, Page Enter the recording dates. 5. Next, you record the Hash Totals (optional). CCIS Payroll is now ready to record your data. Except for the automatic method, the recording of payroll data for each employee is a seven-step process. 1. Retrieve the employee to be processed 2. Enter the data and select the Compute button or choose F CCIS Payroll does any required calculations, shows you the results and waits for your confirmation. In order to allow you to override any deduction, the deductions are computed only the first time you choose Compute for an employee. This means that deductions that are based on earnings or time will not change when you change the earnings or time values. To have the deduction re-computed, do not post the check. 1. Choose New, and then reload the same employee with the correct earnings and time values. 2. Review the information on the screen. 3. If it is correct, press the Post button or F10 to accept it. 4. If it is incorrect, navigate to and change the error, and press the Compute button again. Payroll recording dates The first step after choosing a new payroll job is setting the recording dates. CCIS Payroll is totally controlled by the Check Date that you enter here. 1. The Check Date determines when income is recorded for tax and reporting purposes. Even if you don't actually issue checks, the Check Date is required. The Check Date cannot be changed after a Job has begun, so please be careful when entering this date. You may record more than one payroll on the same date and each will be recorded separately Page 54

63 2. The Period Begin and Period End are printed on the registers, checks and vouchers. The Period Begins date cannot be later than the Period Ends date. Also, Period Ends cannot be in a later month than the Check Date. After your first live payroll job for any Client, CCIS Payroll tries to guess which dates are going to be used for the next job. It adds the difference between the pay periods to all the dates. For example, if there are 7 days between the start and end of the pay period, CCIS Payroll guesses that you are on a weekly cycle and adds seven days to all dates in future payroll jobs. 3. Select OK to accept the information in this window. If you chose to use Hash Totals, the next window accepts the values. Otherwise, you get to the Payroll Recording window. Input controls - hash totaling CCIS Payroll incorporates a sophisticated optional hashing scheme to help you avoid skipping employees, paying the wrong employees or paying the incorrect amounts during payroll input. Hashing is a method of developing a control value using some component of the input other than the actual number of items. Three different totals can be created in CCIS Payroll: the sum of the Pay IDs the sum of the last four digits of the employee's Social Security Number, and the sum of either the number of Regular hours for Live Payroll, or the sum of Gross Pay. Using any one of these methods gives you good protection against transposition errors and skipping employees. Using two or more methods provides even greater security. CCIS Payroll monitors the values and will automatically end input when a hash total is reached. If you end input and the computed hash values do not agree with those you keyed at the beginning of the job, the program halts and displays a message. The choice to use hashing is set in the Calculation Properties for a client. To use hashing: 1. Calculate a total of the desired field, either the Pay ID, the last four- digits of the Social Security Number, the Regular Hours or the Gross Pay IN PENNIES. 2. Enter the value(s) into the Set Hash Totals box. 3. Select the OK button to proceed, or the Cancel button to cancel Page 55

64 Current Payroll Register The Current Payroll Register prints full details of everything in the current job. All non-zero values are printed in the details, even if a field has no label. Zero values are left blank. The Change in the Federal Tax Deposit Liability caused by this job prints at the end of the report. You can print the Current Payroll Register as often as you like. It is a handy tool to use in proving your input before printing the checks, for instance. If you are using Hash totals both the computed and control hash values print at the end of this register. To print the Current Payroll Register: 1. Select the Print button, or choose File Print Register. You can print the register in three formats: a. a register showing all employees b. a register showing only W-2 employees c. a register showing only 1099 and Third Parties. 2. The first line of the register identifies the employee and shows summary information from Gross Pay to Net Pay. A column heading, some of which have been shortened, identifies each item. These abbreviated headings and their meaning are: 1. HS - The employee's Pay Method. The codes are: a. For W-2 employees: HD = Hourly - Daily HW = Hourly - Weekly HB = Hourly - Biweekly HS = Hourly - Semi-monthly HM = Hourly - Monthly SW = Salaried - Weekly SB = Salaried - Biweekly SS = Salaried - Semi-monthly SM = Salaried - Monthly b. For 1099 nonemployees: 1S = 1099 SSNA 1099 recipient using their Social Security Number. 1F = 1099 FEINA 1099 recipient using a Federal Tax Identification Number. 1I = 1099 ITIN A Foreign National using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. c. For third parties: 2008 Page 56

65 3P = Third Party - Other people you want to pay using this program. Third parties do not receive a W-2 or a 1099-MISC. 2. AT - The employee status, Active or Terminated. 3. M /S /H- - Marital status in this order: Federal, State 1 and State FD - Number of Federal dependents. 5. S1 - Number of dependents in state S2 - Number of dependents in state 2 7. The next 3 rows are the details of the earnings in this order: a. First row = Field Label. b. Second row = Dollar value. c. Third row = Number of hours or units. 8. Next there are two rows each for deductions, and taxes. Total rows for Earnings and Deductions print at the end of the report and the totals for taxes are broken down by taxing authority. The change in the employer's Federal tax deposit liability appears at the right of the totals. The TOTAL in the Change column is carried to the daily liability boxes of Schedule B, Form 941 and Schedule B, Form 943. The Current Payroll Register is a vital part of your program. It forms a trail that can be used to track down any problems that should arise. You are warned if you try to close a current job before printing the register. We recommend that you always print this register. Current Payroll Registers are lost whenever you start a new payroll Job. Department register The Department Register is a summary report that groups the employees processed in the current job by the department code contained in the Employee Master Record for each employee. The report is in alphabetical order by Department Code. The content is identical to the Current Payroll Register except that no Company totals are given. To print the Department Register, select the Print button, or choose File Print from the Calculate Pay menu. Select Dept Register to print the report Page 57

66 Calculation Properties You are likely to spend most of your time in the Calculate Pay area so we have set up a special group of properties that you can use to control how it interacts with you. Most of the properties control confirmation dialogs. You can disable them as you become more proficient (and they become more annoying). The Properties window also contains check preferences in case you forgot to set them in Clients and don t want to go there. This is where you specify the number of stubs to print on laser checks, and whether to use hashing. Calculation Properties follow the Client, not the User. This means you can have different properties for each Client. To change the Properties: 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. Choose File Properties from the Calculate Pay menu. The Check Preferences area is where you choose the type of check, how you want them to be sorted, and options for the check stub. 3. Select a style from the Check Format section. The available styles are: Business-size QuickBooks format PPQ3L1 with the check on top and 2 blank vouchers. Complete current and YTD information is printed on a Phoenix Phive PP1L1 laser check with preprinted top stub and blank stub on bottom. Complete current and YTD information and associated titles are printed on a Phoenix Phive PP3L1 laser all purpose check that has a blank stub on top and bottom. The Voucher Only option produces vouchers to give to your employees using Phoenix Phive VOUCHERCONT (dot matrix) or tri-perforated VOUCHERLASER. This option is handy for those Clients who prefer to pay in cash, or to write their own checks. The MICR check option is used for our extra-cost MICR add-in. 4. Checks can be printed in four different ways. Choose the one you prefer from the Arrange checks by section. If you select Don t sort, the program prints checks in the order that the employees were entered into the Employee Master file. 5. In the Stub Options area, choose one or any combination of these options: 2008 Page 58

67 Print message causes CCIS Payroll to stop and request a message to print on the check stub or voucher. Print FEIN prints the Client s FEIN on the check stub. This is required of certain agricultural employers. Print available Sick Hours and Print available Vacation hours causes the selected item to be printed in the message box on the check stub or voucher. Print 2 stubs (Laser Checks only) causes 2 stubs to print on a laser check. 6. In the Warning Messages area, select the options you want from: Warn me before I leave Calculations forces you to confirm leaving the Calculate Pay area. Warn me before I delete a check forces you to confirm a command to delete a check. Warn me before I change a posted check forces you to confirm that you want to change a posted check. Warn me before I close a job forces you to confirm that you want to close the current job. 7. The Set Hash Totals window appears at the start of a new Job, when the I want to use Hashing checkbox is checked. 8. Select Save to save the properties and close the window. Using the Windows calculator The Calculator button that appears when calculating payroll activates the Windows standard calculator. This allows you to do calculations while recording payroll. Some of its possible uses include adding up time cards, computing non-standard rates of pay, and commission payments. Answers can be inserted directly into a field. Calculator is one of the Windows basic tools. It has its own help that provides details on how to use the Calculator. To use the calculator: 1. Select the Calculator button. 2. Perform any calculations. 3. Choose Edit Copy from the Calculator menu to copy the answer onto the clipboard. 4. Choose Edit Paste from the Calculations menu to paste the answer into the field. 5. Close the Calculator if you want. Export CCIS Payroll can create an ASCII coded file in a folder of your choosing. This file can be read into programs such as Excel, Lotus, Access, Quattro, Word, or any other program that reads standard ASCII files. (Excel calls ASCII files.csv files.) Once in these programs, the data can be used to produce any kind of custom report or for any other purpose. Some accounting programs can also use this file format. Please check the manual for your accounting software, or with your accounting software vendor. The file name is CRNTxxx.ASC where xxx is the client number. The file for Client 345 would be CRNT345.ASC. The file contains the check number, Pay ID, Employee Name, Social Security Number, department, job class, status and every numeric field from the Current Payroll Register in 2008 Page 59

68 the same order as they appear in the register. To see a detailed list of the file contents, open the Export topic in the online help file. To create an export file: 1. Choose the Calculations link. 2. Select Continue this job. 3. Choose File Export from the Calculate Pay menu. 4. Select a location for the file from the window and choose OK. Preparing payroll for Direct Deposit Producing Direct Deposit payroll is a three-step process: 1. Record the payroll in check writing mode, Time Entry, Automatic, or Import. 2. Prepare the direct deposit work files. 3. Transmit the payments to NPC or your bank. How to record Rents, Royalties etc CCIS Payroll supports recording and payment of Rents, Royalties, Nonemployee Compensation, Other Income, and Attorney's fees on Form 1099-MISC. This support is for both paper and electronic filing. CCIS Payroll uses coded labels to determine the proper box on Form 1099-MISC. The codes are the beginning 2, 3 (or only) characters of the Income Label as follows: To record Rents, begin the label with B1. Example: "B1 Rent" To record Royalties, begin the label with B2. Example: "B2 Royalty" To record Nonemployee compensation, begin the label with B7. Example "B7 Nonee" Note: Nonemployee Compensation is the default for any 1099 "Employee" so this entry is optional. To record Other Income, begin the label with B3. Example: "B3 Other" To record payments to Attorneys, begin the label with B14. Example: "B14 Legal" To ensure backward compatibility, any label that does NOT begin with one of the above codes is reported as Nonemployee Compensation. You can use the same code for more than 1 label. CCIS Payroll groups them together when completing paper Form 1099-MISC or doing electronic filing. To set up the labels: 1. Choose Clients from the Links toolbar. 2. Select Open. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Click the Labels tab to see this window. 5. Select Edit Page 60

69 6. Change any label in the 1099 Pay area, labels numbered 9 through 16, to include the desired code. (Note in this example that the existing labels 9, 10, 11, and 16 are all reported as Nonemployee Compensation.) 7. Choose F10 or Select Save to save these changes. How to enter the payments: 8. Set up the 1099 recipients in the Payroll Master file. 9. Payments are recorded using any of the usual Calculate Pay procedures Page 61

70 Chapter 12 - After the Fact payroll Recording After the Fact payroll After the Fact payroll is payroll that has been done either by someone else, or by some other software. The After the Fact option in Calculate Pay serves as a tool for entering this payroll into CCIS Payroll for purposes of reporting it to the various authorities. The After the Fact payroll option is most often used by accountants to record information for payroll that was done by their clients. Its other uses include recording of year to date information when first installing the program or adding a client/payroll, recording a manual check, or to record any other increase in an employee's payroll information. After the Fact payroll also has a Gross-up option in the Real Time method. CCIS Payroll provides two different ways to record A-T-F payroll, a Batch method, and a Real-time method. The Real-time method is the preferred method to use when you are making only a few postings for any employee, or when you want to post only the total of a group of transactions. The employee s permanent files are updated after each record. The Batch method is the preferred method to use when you want to record a detailed series of transactions for a group of employees over a period of time. Employees, checks and pay periods can be processed in any order. Productivity is increased by a special Copy Check function that duplicates an employee s check. Editing transactions is facilitated by a Find feature that locates a transaction by check number, employee name, and transaction number. Any transaction can be edited or deleted from the batch. A special Batch Input Register groups employees by last name, producing a form of "Payroll Card". The permanent payroll files are not updated until you post the batch. Real-time A-T-F recording method The real-time recording method is used to process payrolls on a pay-period-by-pay-period basis. All the checks are recorded and the registers printed before beginning a new period. Each employee s files are updated in real time as they are posted. For cases when retaining the details of each transaction are not important, you can input totals you developed off-line using this method. It is even possible to post an entire year s worth of data in a single posting as long as no single amount exceeds 21 million dollars. How to record after the fact payroll using the real-time method: 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. Choose the Start a new Job button. 3. Select After the Fact Real Time from the menu Page 62

71 4. The Set Payroll Parameters window appears. Note the frame labeled ATF Recording Period. It offers four choices: The Year assumes that all entries include the entire year. The Check Date is December 31, the Pay Period Beginning Date is January 1, and the Pay Period Ending Date is December 31. The Gross-up calculator does not change the entry. One Quarter assumes that all entries are for the specified quarter. The Check Date is the last day of the quarter, the Pay Period Beginning Date is the first day of the quarter, and the Pay Period Ending Date is the last day of the quarter. The Gross-up calculator multiplies all entries by 4 to annualize them. One Month assumes that all entries are for the specified month. The Check Date is the last day of the month, the Pay Period Beginning Date is the first day of the month, and the Pay Period Ending Date is the last day of the month. The Gross-up calculator multiplies all entries by 12 to annualize them. Another period tells the Gross-up calculator to base its calculations on the frequency in the Employee's master record. You manually enter the Check Date, Pay Period Beginning Date and Pay Period Ending Date. 5. Select OK when you're ready. 6. Set the Hash totals if desired. The Payroll Recording Window is divided into three principal sections, Earnings, Taxes and Deductions. The Taxes and Deductions show YTD values as well as the current amounts. For employees who receive income from two different states, State 1 appears in black, and State 2 is blue. The state codes are appended to the income labels as a further aid. The first four (4) Earnings apply to State 1, and the last 4 to State 2. In a similar fashion, the first Locality is in black, and the second is blue. There are two Earnings fields that are non-standard. They are: Tax Def d (= Tax Deferred Pay): This field is intended for those cases where you do not want to have taxes withheld from otherwise taxable income and really doesn t apply to A-T- F payroll. Money recorded here will be reported as income on Form 941 and Form W-2. DO NOT USE THIS FIELD FOR REIMBURSEMENTS. This field is called TDW if the employee is tipped Page 63

72 Tips: Records tips from tipped employees. If you separate reported tips into tips, and tips deemed wages, record only the tip portion here. Put the tips deemed wages portion into the field labeled TDW. CCIS Payroll records the sum of these fields as FICA tips. This sum is shown in the Tip deduction. To record real time after the fact Payroll: 1. Select the New button. 2. Retrieve the employee to be processed. If you don t want to pay this employee, select New again. 3. Enter the Check Number (optional). 4. Record all of the Earnings, Taxes and Deductions. 5. Select Compute. CCIS Payroll automatically computes FICA and Medicare when you press Compute. If the result differs from the amount(s) you entered, the program pauses, showing this dialog. 6. Select the Yes button to have CCIS Payroll adjust FICA and Medicare to their correct values (recommended). The balance will be either added to or subtracted from the FIT withheld. 7. CCIS Payroll automatically computes SDI if applicable when you press Compute. If the result differs from the amount(s) you entered, the program pauses. Select Yes to accept the computed values (recommended). Any balance is posted to SIT Withheld. 8. CCIS Payroll waits for your confirmation. 9. Select: New if you do not want to pay this employee Post if the information is correct and you are ready to update the employee s records. Computer after you make changes to any incorrect information Stop to end input 10. You can now print the Registers for you file. Batch A-T-F Recording Method The Batch method is the preferred method to use when you want to record a detailed series of transactions for a group of employees over a period of time. Employees, checks and pay periods can be processed in any order. Productivity is increased by a special Copy Check function that duplicates an employee s check. Editing transactions is facilitated by a Find feature that locates a transaction by check number, employee name, and transaction number. Any transaction can be edited or deleted from the batch. A special Batch Input Register groups employees by last name, producing a form of "Payroll Card". The permanent payroll files are not updated until you post the batch. The payroll is recorded as of the Check Date that you enter into each transaction. The pay period beginning and ending dates are adjusted automatically as you save a transaction. The Check Date is compared to the current range of dates. If the check date lies outside of this range, the range is widened to include the check date. A pay period always begins on the first day of the month, and ends on the last day Page 64

73 To record after the fact payroll using the A-T-F Batch method: 1. Choose the Calculations link. 2. Select Work on this batch if you are continuing an A-T-F batch job, or Start a new job button to open a new payroll job. 3. Select After the Fact, the Batch from the menu. 4. Select Start a new batch After the Fact Batch Mode. The Payroll Recording Window is divided into three principal sections, Earnings, Taxes and Deductions. The Taxes and Deductions show YTD values as well as the current amounts. For employees who receive income from two different states, State 1 appears in black, and State 2 is blue. The state codes are appended to the income labels as a further aid. The first four (4) Earnings apply to State 1, and the last four (4) to State 2. In a similar fashion, the first Locality is in black, and the second is blue. There are two Earnings fields that are non-standard. They are: Tax Def d (= Tax Deferred Pay): This field is intended for those cases where you do not want to have taxes withheld from otherwise taxable income and really doesn t apply to A-T-F payroll. Money recorded here will be reported as income on Form 941 and Form W-2. DO NOT USE THIS FIELD FOR REIMBURSEMENTS. This field is called TDW if the employee is tipped. Tips: Records tips from tipped employees. If you separate reported tips into tips, and tips deemed wages, record only the tip portion here. Put the tips deemed wages portion into the field labeled TDW. CCIS Payroll records the sum of these fields as FICA tips. This sum is shown in the Tip deduction. There are four steps to Batch A-T-F recording: Add checks to the batch file. Verify the input. Make necessary changes, additions or deletions. Post the transactions to the permanent files. Add checks to the batch file Page 65

74 1. Retrieve the employee to be processed. If you don t want to pay this employee, select New again. 2. Enter the Check Number (optional but highly recommended). 3. Enter the Check Date. 4. Record all of the Earnings, Taxes and Deductions or select the Copy button or F4 to copy the last check you saved for this employee. 5. Select Compute or F CCIS Payroll automatically computes FICA and Medicare when you press Compute. If the result differs from the amount(s) you entered, the program pauses, showing this dialog. Select the Yes button to have CCIS Payroll adjust FICA and Medicare to their correct values (recommended). The balance will be either added to or subtracted from the FIT withheld. 7. CCIS Payroll automatically computes SDI if applicable when you press Compute. If the result differs from the amount(s) you entered, the program pauses. Select Yes to accept the computed values (recommended). Any balance is posted to SIT Withheld. 8. Review the information on the window. 9. If you didn t want to pay this employee, choose Stop. 10. If it is incorrect navigate to and change the error, and select Compute again. 11. If it is correct, press Save to add this transaction to the batch. 12. CCIS Payroll expects that you want to enter another check for this employee, so it returns to the Check Number field. Select New to end this employee and begin a new one, or Stop to end input. Verify the Input There are three ways to check your input: 1. By selecting the Forward and Back buttons and reviewing each transaction on the window, 2. By printing a Check Register, or an Input Register. Choose Print. 3. By viewing a register on the screen. Press View. Make necessary changes, additions or deletions 1. You can retrieve the records by choosing the Back and Forward buttons, or by using the Find feature. The Find feature searches for transactions that either match a Check Number, a Transaction Number, or part of the Last Name. You activate Find by choosing Edit Find, or by selecting the Find button Page 66

75 2. Next choose the way you want to search, enter the search parameter and select OK. 3. To repeat a find, press F3. 4. With the record on the screen, select Edit and make the changes. Choose Compute, and then Save to save the change. Choose Stop or New to discard the changes. 5. If there is a transaction that you want to delete entirely, choose Delete with it on the screen. A message appears in the lower right side of the check indicating that the transaction has been deleted. 6. If you delete a transaction in error, retrieve it as above, and then select Undo. The delete message disappears. Post the transactions to the permanent files. Select the Stop button to return to the Current Job window. Post this batch button, or OK to confirm the decision if you told CCIS Payroll to warn you before closing a job. All valid (= not deleted) transactions are added to the permanent records. When done, you see this message confirming what was done. On this screen, the term "Records skipped" refers to deleted transactions. The batch is now closed. It can never be brought back. Gross-Up calculations Gross-up calculations are a way to get to a Gross Pay amount from a net payment. The net payment can be any value up to $1.5 million for the year, $350,000 for a quarter, $115,000 for a month and about a year's gross for other periods. It is handy for those times when an owner always pays him or herself a fixed amount, or for annual bonus or profit-sharing payments. It can even be helpful in reconstructing a payroll which has been lost. How Gross-Up works The Gross-up calculator is available doing After the Fact, real time calculations. The Gross-up calculator takes a net input value and performs backwards tax calculations until the resulting Gross 2008 Page 67

76 Pay yields the net value input. It can be thought of as a reverse of the Time-entry method of doing live payroll, but with limitations. Gross-up calculations compute: Federal Tax FICA Medicare State tax State disability Local tax Deferred compensation (only if it is a percentage of gross pay) The limitations are: The earnings must be in only one (1) state. It does not compute any voluntary deductions other than percentage-of-gross deferred compensation. It stops when the difference between the computed net and the target net is less than $1.00 and adjusts FIT to make the difference be zero. Correct payroll period essential For the Federal and states that use anything other than a flat percentage method for determining withholding, the accuracy of the withholding developed during gross-up calculations, and hence the Gross Pay, depends entirely upon the proper selection of the payroll period being covered. The gross-up calculator annualizes the net amount according to the selected payroll period. As will be seen later on, choosing the wrong period produces incorrect results. How to use the Gross-Up calculator: 1. Start a new After-the-fact, Real time method job in Calculate Pay. 2. The Set Payroll Parameters window appears. Note the frame labeled ATF Recording Period. It offers four choices: The Year assumes that all entries include the entire year. The Check Date is December 31, the Pay Period Beginning Date is January 1, and the Pay Period Ending Date is December 31. The Gross-up calculator does not change the entry. One Quarter assumes that all entries are for the specified quarter. The Check Date is the last day of the quarter, the Pay Period Beginning Date is the first day of the quarter, and the Pay Period Ending Date is the last day of the quarter. The Gross-up calculator multiplies all entries by four (4) to annualize them Page 68

77 One Month assumes that all entries are for the specified month. The Check Date is the last day of the month, the Pay Period Beginning Date is the first day of the month, and the Pay Period Ending Date is the last day of the month. The Gross-up calculator multiplies all entries by 12 to annualize them. Another period tells the Gross-up calculator to base its calculations on the frequency in the Employee's master record. You manually enter the Check Date, Pay Period Beginning Date and Pay Period Ending Date. 3. Select OK when you're ready. 4. Retrieve each employee as usual. 5. When the employee appears on screen, choose the Gross up button on the toolbar. 6. Enter the Net Pay in the window that pops up and select Enter. The Net Pay can be any value up to $1.5 million for the year, $350,000 for a quarter, 115,000 for a month and about a year's gross for other periods. 7. The Gross-up calculator performs the calculations and shows you the results. Select Post or F10 to save them. If you like you can edit the results of the gross-up using the same techniques that you use for any other payroll method. If you should enter a value that is too large to be computed exactly, the Gross-up calculator does as much as it can and stops with a message. You can then edit the results Page 69

78 Chapter 13 - Live or Check Writing Payroll Doing live payroll Live payroll is our name for the process of entering earnings and having the computer calculate withholdings and deductions. Some people know the process as Check Writing Payroll. CCIS Payroll has three ways for you to prepare live payroll: Automatic - a hands-off process whereby each employee receives one standard pay. This is the fastest way to perform live payroll. However, it does not allow any changes until all of the employees are paid. Import - a procedure that has CCIS Payroll read information from an ASCII-coded file, then use this information to compute the paychecks. This is the preferred way to use information from Time Clocks and certain Time and Attendance software. As with Automatic, changes can be made only after all employees in the import file are processed. Time Entry - a process whereby an operator enters earnings information for each employee. Once the input and calculations are complete, it is possible to print paychecks or vouchers. Automatic This choice pays all employees without operator intervention. You use this option in those cases when all of a certain group of employees on file are to be paid one unit or period of their pay #1 field. This method is by far the fastest way to process payroll; however, it allows no changes at all during the process. You can edit any check after the automatic cycle has completed, of course. If your payroll involves people with variable earnings or deductions, you should choose Time Entry. This method also does all the tax calculations, but you dictate the amounts of earnings and deductions. You can also combine the two methods. Begin by processing all the salaried employees in Automatic. Then continue the job, and record the hourly employees. To process Automatic payroll: 1. Select the Calculation link. 2. Select Start a New Job button and Automatic or Record Pay Automatic. 3. Select the type of employees you want to pay: Both Hourly and Salaried - Pays all active regular employees. Automatic does not pay 1099 employees. Salaried Employees Only - Pays only active salaried employees. Hourly Employees Only - Pays only active hourly employees. 4. The check for each employee flashes on the screen during processing Page 70

79 When all selected employees have been paid, you will be at the Calculate Pay Menu. The Back button will be enabled, as will the View menu. You can proceed to edit any check, print checks or registers, or finalize this payroll job. Time entry Use this method whenever any employee has non-standard earnings or deductions, reports tips or earns a bonus, and for 1099 employees and third parties. This method performs all withholding calculations and all automatic deductions. You are able to change any of the deductions and withholdings. 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. Select the Start a new Job button and Time Entry from the menu. 3. Enter the check and payroll dates. 4. Set the Hash totals if desired. You work with the Payroll Recording Window. It is divided into three principal sections, Earnings, Taxes and Deductions. The Taxes and Deductions show YTD values as well as the current amounts. For employees who receive income from two different states, State 1 appears in black, and State 2 is blue. The state codes are appended to the income labels as a further aid. The first four Earnings apply to State 1, and the last four to State 2. In a similar fashion, the first Locality is in black, and the second is blue. There are two Earnings fields that are non-standard. They are: Tax Def d (= Tax Deferred Pay): This field is intended for those cases where you do not want to have taxes withheld from otherwise taxable income. Money entered here will not be included when CCIS Payroll performs the calculations for Federal, State or Local Withholdings. FICA and Medicare will be deducted as usual. This money will be reported as income on Form 941 and Form W-2. DO NOT USE THIS FIELD FOR REIMBURSEMENTS. This field is called TDW if the employee is tipped. Tips: Please see Processing tipped employees on page 75. To enter Time Entry payroll: 1. Select the New button. 2. Retrieve the employee to be processed. If you don t want to pay this employee, select New again. 3. Enter the earnings. CCIS Payroll has already completed the amount for the first pay field. If incorrect, simply navigate to the field and make any changes. Each of the other fields can accept units, such as hours, or money. 4. Enter any non-standard deductions or reimbursements as needed. Click beside the field and enter the value. 5. Select Compute when you finish the input for this employee. CCIS Payroll does any required calculations, shows you the results and waits for your confirmation. 6. Review the information on the window. If you didn t want to pay this employee, select New. 7. Select the Post button to update the employee s record Compute button again after you correct any errors Stop button to end imput 2008 Page 71

80 Edit button any tax, except FICA and Medicare. This stops all withholding calculations except FICA and Medicare. The Taxes label becomes a warning message. Select the tax you want to change, change it and choose Compute. 8. Chose Stop at any time to end input. Importing data for calculations CCIS Payroll can read data from ASCII files in three different formats, comma-delimited (.CSV), tab-delimited, and fixed-length. These files are commonly available from time clock systems and time and attendance recording software. Any spreadsheet such as Excel and most word processors can produce them. They can also come off the Internet. You can also create an import file using any ASCII text editor such as Notepad, or straight from the keyboard using COPY CON in DOS. The files can contain anything at all. CCIS Payroll requires only two fields, a Pay ID, and a numeric field containing hours or piecework units. It will import up to eight such fields, one for each available type of income. Time fields can be in hours, fraction of hours or hours: minutes format. It ignores anything else in the file. Here is the information you need to know before beginning an import. For tab-delimited or comma-delimited files: The name and location of the file The total number of fields in the each record The number of the Pay ID field The number of each time field For example, your file might have a total of 40 fields. The Pay ID might be #5. The Regular time field might be #32, Overtime 1 - #33, Sick - #4. For fixed-length files: The name and location of the file The length of each record The beginning and end of the Pay ID The start and end of each time field For example, your file might be 356 characters (=bytes) long. The Pay ID might start at byte 20, and end at byte 24. The Regular time field might begin at 93 and end at 105, Overtime 1 might run from 64 to 76, and so on. 1. Select Start a new Job, then Import. The window in the following example displays: Note that there is an input area for each income label in the Client Master file, and that it occupies the same relative position Page 72

81 2. Select the Choose File button and then the file using the Open File dialog. 3. Select the appropriate record structure in the Fields are choice. If the records are fixedlength, this screen changes to include an End column. 4. Enter the required values for the fields that you are importing. 5. When you are finished, select the Save Spec button to save this specification for future jobs. 6. Select Begin Import to button to import the records. The check for each employee flashes on the window during processing. Caution - Once started, it is not possible to stop this process. When all selected employees have been paid, you will be at the Calculate Pay Menu. The Back button will be enabled, as will the View menu. You can proceed to edit or finalize this payroll job Page 73

82 CCIS Payroll doesn't erase the file after using it. This allows you to create and save standard input files to use for future payrolls. Select the Save Spec button to save this specification for future jobs. Expense reimbursement CCIS Payroll easily reimburses out of pocket expenses incurred by employees. It uses negative deductions for this purpose. Any deduction field, except the first one when labeled 401(k), 403(b), SARSEP, or SIMPLE will accept negative numbers, just type a minus sign (-) before the number. Whenever an employee has a recurring reimbursement, the value can be stored in the Employee Master file. By doing this, the reimbursement is paid automatically with each paycheck. Caution! Please do NOT use the income field labeled Tax Def d for reimbursements. This field is considered to be income. It is used in the calculations of FICA and Medicare. It is included in all Gross Pay as ordinary income, and prints on W-2 s Page 74

83 Chapter 14 - Tipped employees Processing tipped employees Tipped employees produce their own set of payroll requirements. You must be able to segregate, withhold on, and report both reported and charge tip income. Most large establishments, those with 10 or more employees (including non-tipped employees) on the typical day, must also file Form 8027 and be able to allocate tips on the W-2's of those people who under-reported their tip income. CCIS Payroll processes employees that are tipped either directly, such as servers, or indirectly, such as bussers, cooks, and greeters. To indicate that an employee is tipped, select the appropriate Tip Status on the Pay Rates tab of the Employee Master Record. Processing of reported tips and tips deemed wages CCIS Payroll separates tips into Tips and the maximum amount of reported tip income that is allowed to be applied to meet the employer s federal minimum wage obligation, we call TDW. That amount is derived from the FLSA values that are stored in the Federal Tax Table as follows: The federal minimum wage is kept in the Married Amount field of the Deductions section of the Federal Tax Table. Record 100 times the amount, $5.85 = 585. The Maximum Tip Credit Against Minimum Wage is found in the Percent field of the Deductions area. Please note that this value has no relation to the Credit for Employer Social Security claimed on IRS Form Please read this article from the IRS for more information. CCIS Payroll separates tips deemed wages on all registers. If you are recording live payroll using Time Entry, it also computes the value. Here's how it works. The Earnings area of the Payroll Recording Window for all tipped employees shows the label TDW in place of the Tax Def d label. When doing live payroll, enter the total amount of tips reported by the employees using the substitute IRS Form 4070 in the Earnings field labeled Tips. Please remember to include the value of any charged tips, or service charges that the employee earned. When you press Compute, CCIS Payroll computes the employee's effective hourly wage. If this is below the federal minimum wage in the Tax Table file, money will be taken from the Tips and put into the TDW. The TOTAL of Tips and TDW is placed in the Tips deduction field and subtracted from the check. It is reported as FICA tips on the 941, and W-2. If you need to change the amount of reported tips, return to the Tips income field and re-enter the TOTAL amount of reported tips from Form The software will divide it up for you. During After the Fact, Cancel Check, or Adjust, the TDW field acts like any other. There is no automatic division of tips. The amount reported as FICA tips is still the SUM of Tips and TDW. This sum is also recorded as a Tips deduction in After the Fact and Cancel Check Page 75

84 Reducing withholdings for tipped employees It sometimes happens that a tipped employee has insufficient cash wages and charge tips to cover the required withholdings. In such situations you can either adjust deductions or taxes manually, or have CCIS Payroll do the adjusting for you. To have CCIS Payroll do the adjusting: 1. Choose the Clients link and retrieve the Client 2. Select the Edit button 3. Select the Preferences tab 4. Select the Reduce W/H to cover taxes on tips checkbox 5. Select the Save button. The next time there are not enough earnings to pay the taxes, CCIS Payroll will reduce first Federal, then State withholdings until the check has a zero balance, or it runs out of withholdings. FICA and Medicare are never adjusted. CCIS Payroll stops with a message if it runs out of withholdings. You can then enter a negative deduction that covers the shortfall and post the check. The shortfall can be collected from later checks. How TDW is computed The Fair Labor Standards Act defines both the minimum wage and the maximum value that may be taken from reported tips to make up the minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is kept in the Married Amount field of the Deductions section of the Federal Tax Table. Record 100x the amount. The Maximum Tip Credit Against Minimum Wage is found in the Percent field of the Deduct ions area. Please use this link to the US Department of Labor for more information: CCIS Payroll totals the wages and hours from the input screen. It divides the wages by the hours to get the hourly wage. This figure is compared to the minimum wage. If it is less than the minimum wage, the software will multiply the total hours by either the actual shortfall, or the statutory maximum from the Federal Tax Table, whichever is less. The result is placed in TDW and subtracted from Tips. This calculation occurs every time you press Compute in Time Entry mode. Please note that this value has no relation to the Credit for Employer Social Security claimed on IRS Form Please read this article from the IRS for more information. Forcing payment of Minimum Wage The Fair Labor Standards Act defines the minimum wage that an employee must be paid, and a minimum cash wage that a tipped employee must receive Page 76

85 There are times when a tipped employee does not receive enough tip income to bring his pay rate up to the mandated minimum. In such situations you can either adjust earnings manually, or have CCIS Payroll do the adjusting for you. To have CCIS Payroll do the adjusting: 1. Choose the Clients link 2. Retrieve the Client 3. Select the Edit button 4. Select the Preferences tab 5. Select the Force Minimum wage checkbox 6. Select the Save button. The next time a tipped employee s rate does not meet the minimum wage; CCIS Payroll will automatically add the required difference to the 8th earnings field. How to force State minimum wage As discussed, CCIS Payroll uses the Federal rules to compute the amount of reported tips that can be used towards payment of minimum wages to tipped employees. The values come from the Federal Tax Table. The federal minimum wage is kept in the Married Amount field of the Deductions section of the Federal Tax Table. Record 100 times the amount, $5.85 = 585. The Maximum Tip Credit Against Minimum Wage is found in the Percent field of the Deductions area. You may be in a state whose minimum wage is higher than the Federal minimum wage. CCIS Payroll can force payment of your state minimum wage if you make two simple changes to the Federal Tax Table. Do not change any values if your state has no minimum wage, or has a minimum wage that is lower than the Federal. By law you must pay at least the Federal minimum wage. Begin by changing the Federal minimum wage to reflect your state. The federal minimum wage is kept in the Married Amount field of the Deductions section of the Federal Tax Table. Record 100 times the amount, $5.85 = 585. Change that value to the State minimum wage. Next, determine the Maximum Tip Credit Against Minimum Wage. You obtain this information from your state. This link to the US Department of Labor has a synopsis but may not be current Page 77

86 The FLSA rules supersede the state so carefully compare the state value with the FLSA. If the state value is less than the FLSA, change the Percent field of the Deduct ions area to that value. For example, if your state allows $2.50, record that value instead of the FLSA value. If the amount permitted by your state is greater than the FLSA value, do NOT change. Use the FLSA value instead. You will need to record these values every year since the Tax Table Service supplies the default Federal values. Recording meal allowances CCIS Payroll has three ways to treat meals: as ordinary income, as non-taxable reimbursements, or as ordinary deductions. None of the methods exempts certain portions of meals from any accrual or withholding. 1. To treat meals as ordinary income Create an income label called Meal and record the value of meals in this field. All withholdings and accruals will be performed as for ordinary income. 2. To treat meals as non-taxable reimbursements, Create a deduction label called Meals. Record any meals as negative amounts by preceding them with a minus sign. 3. To treat meals as ordinary deductions, Create a deduction label called Meals and record meals as a deduction You can even store them in the Deductions tab of the Employee Master Record if you like. Recording charge tips Charge tips are special cases in that they must be both reported as tip income to the employee for W-2 purposes, and, since he did not receive them, remitted to him as well. Also, they must be tracked for purposes of Form Processing the income side of Charge tips is handled automatically. Just be sure that the amount of charge tips is included in the total reported in the Tip earnings field. The reimbursement side needs to be entered manually while in Time Entry. To prepare to record charge tips: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Choose Open. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Select the Edit button. 5. Select the Labels tab. 6. Create a Deduction label called "Charge Tips". 7. Select Save to save the changes. This new label serves as a place to hold the reimbursement. When you pay the employee, click beside the Charge Tips label. Then, enter the amount of charge tips as a negative. This causes the amount to be added back to the employee s check Page 78

87 Chapter 15 - Printing Paychecks Choosing a check format CCIS Payroll has four different built-in payment formats. You can choose a check format either from the Clients link, or the Properties in the Calculations link. To change the Properties: 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. Choose File Properties from the Calculate Pay menu. 3. The Check Preferences area is where you choose the type of check, how you want them to be sorted, and options for the check stub. 4. Select a style from the Check Format section. The available styles are: Business-size QuickBooks format PPQ3L1 with the check on top and two blank vouchers. Complete current and YTD information is printed on a Phoenix Phive PP1L1 laser check with preprinted top stub and blank bottom stub. Complete current and YTD information and associated titles are printed on a Phoenix Phive PP3L1 laser all purpose check that has a blank stub on top and bottom. The voucher only option produces vouchers to give to your employees using Phoenix Phive VOUCHERCONT (dot matrix) or tri-perforated VOUCHERLASER. MICR check select if you own our MICR Encoder add-in. 5. Select Save to save the properties and close the window. How to specify two vouchers on laser checks Those of you who use preprinted laser checks can opt to have two stubs print on the check. 1. Select the Calculations link. 2. Choose File Properties from the Calculate Pay menu Page 79

88 The Check Preferences area is where you choose the type of check, how you want them to be sorted, and options for the check stub. 3. In the Stub Options area, select the Print 2 stubs (Laser Checks only) check box to print two stubs on a laser check. 4. Select Save to save the properties and close the window. Printing all checks in a job Printing checks can be done at any time after you have paid the first employee in a live payroll job. Most of the time you will want to issue checks only after completing and checking the input, of course, but the employees who have been entered can be printed whenever you want. To print all paychecks: 1. Choose File Print from the Calculate Pay menu, or select the Print button. 2. Choose All employees. 3. Put the checks in the printer and select OK. 4. Align the checks if you want. 5. Enter the Starting check number. 6. Enter the message, if applicable. 7. Select OK. The Checks print in the order you specify in Preferences for this Client. When you're done, proceed to Check Register and Current Payroll Register Page 80

89 Printing or reprinting a single check To print or reprint a check for one employee: 1. Choose File Print from the Calculate Pay menu, or select the Print button. 2. Choose 1 Employee. 3. Put the checks in the printer and select OK. 4. Align the checks if you want. 5. Enter the Starting check number. 6. Enter the message, if applicable. 7. Retrieve the employee and select OK. When you're done, proceed to Check Register and Current Payroll Register. Reprinting a group of checks Follow this procedure if the checks jammed during printing, were inserted the wrong way, or are otherwise unacceptable. 1. Search through the checks and find the last good check, the last one that printed before the jam occurred. Write down that number. 2. Choose File Print from the Calculate Pay menu, or select the Print button. 3. Choose Reprint. CCIS Payroll has a special procedure for reprinting checks when the reprint is necessitated by a check jam. This procedure starts printing from a specific point in the check series, a check number that you specify. There must have been at least one acceptable check. If there wasn't, simply reprint the entire job. Remember, checks are only reports. Printing checks will not add to an employee's earnings. 4. Enter the number of the last good check here. 5. Put the checks in the printer and select OK Page 81

90 6. Align the checks if you want. 7. Enter the Starting check number. 8. Enter the message, if applicable. 9. Select OK. When you're done, proceed to Check Register and Current Payroll Register. Check register This choice produces a check register showing check number, employee name, and amount in Check Number order. 1. Choose the Print button, or select File Print from the Calculate Pay menu. 2. Select Check Register to print the report. How to align checks 1. This dialog box appears whenever you want to print checks. 2. Choose Yes if you want to align the checks. If your Check Printer is dot matrix A test pattern prints on a check and the align dialog reappears. Repeat until the checks are aligned. Select No to proceed. 3. If your Check Printer is PCL or GDI, a test pattern prints and this window appears. 4. Examine the sample and use the sliders to move the print into position. 5. Choose Try Again to repeat this cycle or OK to proceed Page 82

91 Chapter 16 - Correcting recording errors Correcting errors overview This chapter discusses correcting common operator errors. These include keying incorrect values, entering correct values in the wrong place, forgetting to record raises, and improper employee or client setup. Errors almost always happen at the wrong time. It is helpful to analyze the error to decide the best corrective action. Some really massive errors, such as paying everyone on the wrong date, or forgetting across-the-board raises, can take a very long time to undo using the procedures in this section. Such massive errors are best corrected by restoring the payroll to its condition prior to the error, and redoing the job. In this chapter you will learn: How to correct errors while a job is open How to change entries after a job has been closed How to correct an employee's rate How to remove an employee who shouldn't have been paid How to correct improper recording of 125 cafeteria plans How to correct errors in recording deferred compensation plans How to reprint a single check How to cancel one or several checks How to make adjustments to payroll How to erase a whole year's payroll How to pay an employee you forgot This topic in the Maintaining the Employee Master File section is also useful. How to remove an employee s YTD earnings on page 36. Correcting errors while a job is open A payroll job is open until you tell CCIS Payroll to start a new job. If the job containing the error is not available, please see Correcting errors after a job has been closed to make corrections. Many errors in Calculate Pay are discovered while the employee is still displayed on the screen. To correct an error while the employee is still on the screen, navigate to the place you want to change. Make the change and select Compute. CCIS Payroll will compute the taxes again (if appropriate) and wait. If everything is OK, choose the Post. Other errors are caught during a desk review after the checks and registers have been printed. Here's how to correct those errors. You are working with the Payroll Recording Window. 1. Destroy the registers and any bad checks. 2. Select the Calculations link if necessary to get to the Calculate Pay menu. 3. Select Continue this job. 4. Select the Back button until the employee you want is on screen Page 83

92 The next step completely removes the posting! 5. Select the Edit button. (Confirm if asked). 6. Make the necessary corrections. 7. Select the Compute button. 8. Carefully check the window. 9. Select Post to post, or make other corrections. 10. Reprint the checks and registers. Correcting errors after a job has been closed This section describes correcting entries that change the employee's Net Pay after the job has been closed and is therefore no longer available. (Please see Payroll jobs). If you need to correct an error that does not affect the Net Pay, please go to the section called Adjusting payroll. Each payroll recording function has a direct opposite. Cancel Check is the opposite of Import, Automatic and Time Entry. Cancel Check is the opposite of After the Fact. After the Fact is the opposite of Cancel Check. To correct an error discovered after the job has been closed; first, use the opposite function to reverse the incorrect posting. Then, use the original function to record the correct values. For example, you record after the fact payroll. Checking the totals for the quarter, you discover a mistake occurred two months ago. To correct the mistake, you find the Current Payroll Register for that posting. You then use Cancel Check (the opposite of After the Fact) to reverse the erroneous posting, and After the Fact to re-post the correct amounts. To use Cancel check: 1. Locate the Current Payroll Register for the job with the incorrect entries. 2. Choose the Calculations link 3. Select Close this Job. 4. Select Start a new Job. 5. Choose Cancel Check 6. Set the payroll recording dates to those on the Current Payroll Register. 7. Set the hash totals (optional). 8. On the Payroll Recording Window. Select the New button. 9. Retrieve the employee. 10. Enter the Check Number (optional). 11. Record the time and earnings using a minus sign in front of the number as in Record the withholdings using a minus sign in front of the number as in Record any deductions using a minus sign in front of the number as in Page 84

93 14. Select Compute and review the information on the window. 15. If you didn t want to pay this employee, select New. 16. If it is correct, choose Post to accept. The employee s records are updated. If it is incorrect navigate to and change the error, and select Compute again. 17. Repeat as needed. Select Stop to end. 18. Print the registers. Correcting an employee's pay rate after issuing a check Read this section to learn how to correct a check for someone who received the wrong pay because you forgot to record a raise. This procedure requires the job to still be open. If the job is not available, use the procedures in Correcting errors after a job has been closed to remove this pay from the employee's records. Then, use Time Entry to pay only this employee. 1. Follow these steps to remove the bad check, change the rate, redo the pay for the employee and issue the check. 2. Destroy the registers and the bad check. 3. Select the Calculations link if necessary to get to the Calculate Pay menu. 4. Select Continue this job. 5. Select the Back arrow until this employee appears. 6. The next step completely removes the incorrect posting! 7. Choose the Edit button. 8. Move to the Rate column beside the incorrect rate and change the rate. 9. CCIS Payroll offers to update the rate in the Employee Master file. Answer Yes or No. 10. Record the earnings and select Compute. 11. Review the information on the screen. 12. If it is correct, select Post to accept. The employee s records are updated. 13. If it is incorrect navigate to and change the error, and choose Compute again. 14. To change any tax, except FICA and Medicare, select Edit. This stops all withholding calculations except FICA and Medicare. The Taxes label becomes a warning message. Select on the tax you want to change, change it and select Compute. 15. Print the check and reprint the registers. Removing an employee who shouldn't have been paid Use this section to remove a check for someone who should not have been paid during the current period. This procedure requires the job to still be current. If the job is not available, use the procedures in Correcting errors after a job has been closed to remove this pay from the employee's records. 1. Destroy the registers and any bad checks. 2. Select the Calculations link if necessary to get to the Calculate Pay menu. 3. Choose Continue this job. 4. Select the Back button to display the Time Entry window. 5. Select the New button and retrieve the employee record. The next step completely removes the posting! 6. Select the Delete button. (Confirm if asked.) 7. Reprint the checks and registers Page 85

94 Paying an employee you forgot to pay Use this section to issue a check for someone who should have been paid during the current period but was forgotten. This procedure requires the job to still be current. If the job is not available, start a new Time Entry job on the same date and process only that employee. 1. Destroy the registers. 2. Select the Calculations link if necessary to get to the Calculate Pay menu. 3. Select Continue this job. 4. Select the New button. 5. Retrieve the employee. 6. Record the earnings. 7. Choose Compute. 8. Review the information on the screen. 9. If you didn t want to pay this employee, select New. 10. If the information is correct, choose Post to accept. The employee s records are updated. 11. If it is incorrect navigate to and change the error, and choose Compute again. 12. To change any tax, except FICA and Medicare, choose Edit. This stops all withholding calculations except FICA and Medicare. The Taxes label becomes a warning message. Select the tax you want to change, change it and select Compute. 13. Print the check and reprint the registers. Correcting errors recording cafeteria plans This is one of the more complex problems to correct. Not difficult, just complex. It will help you to read the next few paragraphs in order to understand how cafeteria plans are processed, before going to the step-by-step instructions. When you set the Type of any deduction in the Employee Master record of any employee to be pretax Cafeteria Plan, you are instructing CCIS Payroll to keep two separate accumulators for that deduction. Deductions for 125 cafeteria plans are kept in separate accumulators. This allows you to convert ordinary deductions into cafeteria plans at any time. Changing the Type of a deduction doesn't change what's already in a cafeteria plan accumulator. CCIS Payroll only updates these special cafeteria plan accumulators when recording payroll using one of the Calculate Pay functions. The only way to change the contents of a cafeteria plan accumulator is by using one of the Calculate Pay functions. Therefore, if an amount is wrongly classified as being a cafeteria plan, simply changing its Type will not correct the error. You need to move the money into a properly Typed deduction field. 1. Write down exactly what you want to do. For example, you have a deduction labeled "Health" that should be a cafeteria plan but isn't. Your action statement would be "I want to remove the money from the old "Health" label, and put it into a new "Health" label that has a Type containing pretax Cafeteria Plan. 2. Next, write down how you're going to do it. In this example, you need to: Create a new label called "Health". Change the old "Health" label to "OldHlth". Give the new "Health" deduction of every employee in the cafeteria plan a Type containing pretax Cafeteria Plan Page 86

95 Subtract the money from "OldHlth" and add it to "Health". 3. Now, perform these steps: Each employee that you want to change needs at least two available deductions. One that is a Type containing pretax Cafeteria Plan, and another that is an ordinary Type. Neither deduction can be a deferred compensation plan. Click the Employees link if necessary to make sure that the employee has at least one deduction Type containing pretax Cafeteria Plan and one ordinary deduction. Repeat for all employees that participate in the plan and need correction. Print an All Quarter Report. This report tells you the amounts that have been accumulated as 125 cafeteria plans. 4. If you need to: REDUCE cafeteria plan amount, follow the steps in Adjusting payroll to SUBTRACT the amount from the cafeteria plan deductions and ADD it to the ordinary deduction INCREASE cafeteria plan amounts, follow the steps in Adjusting payroll to ADD the amount to the cafeteria plan deduction and SUBTRACT it from ordinary deductions. 5. Print an All Quarter Report to verify the cafeteria plan accumulators. 6. If you made a temporary deduction label earlier in this procedure, you might want to remove it. Correcting Deferred Compensation contributions recorded as 125 plans 401(k), 403(b), SIMPLE, and SARSEP deferred compensation plans require a specific setup that is discussed here. Some people do not follow those steps. Instead, they create a label that reads 401(k), SIMPLE, SARSEP or 403(b). They then set this deduction up as a pretax-cafeteria plan in the Employee Master file for the employee. This, in fact, creates a 125 cafeteria plan, not a deferred compensation plan. Cafeteria plans follow rules that cannot be applied to deferred compensation. All money accumulated under these rules needs to be moved into the deferred compensation accumulators. Follow these steps: 1. Begin by verifying the Deferred Compensation setup in the Client. Select the Clients link. Select the Open button. Retrieve the Client. Select the Preferences tab. Verify that the proper type of Deferred Compensation is selected. Select the Labels tab. Verify that the first deduction label contains the name of the deferred compensation plan. Also, if there s another deferred compensation label, change it. Finally, make sure you have a temporary label to be used for this procedure. 2. Now, change the deductions for each employee. 3. The deferred compensation deduction is the very first one. The type cannot contain the words "pretax-cafeteria plan". 4. Next, remove the total accumulated 125 cafeteria plan money into a temporary deduction by following the steps in Correcting errors recording cafeteria plans Page 87

96 5. Follow the steps in Adjusting payroll to move the money from the temporary deduction to the deferred compensation deduction. 6. If you made a temporary deduction label earlier in this procedure, you might want to remove it. 7. Print Quarterly reports to verify your results. Reprinting a check There are two reasons to reprint a check; either the check was damaged by the printer, or the check was wrong. To reprint a single check that was damaged by the printer, use the procedure Printing or reprinting a single check on page 81. To reprint a series of checks that were damaged by the printer, use the procedure Reprinting a group of checks on page 81. If the check for an employee is wrong, his payroll information is also wrong and must be corrected. The procedure Correcting errors while a job is open tells how to correct the payroll information and reprint the check on page 83. Canceling checks The need to cancel a check dictates that the employee's payroll information needs to be updated as well. CCIS Payroll provides three ways to cancel a check and update the employee's payroll records to reflect the cancellation. They are: Correcting errors while a job is open Correcting errors after a job has been closed. Removing an employee who shouldn't have been paid Adjusting payroll Many people use the term "Adjust" whenever they refer to correcting mistakes. In CCIS Payroll, the term "Adjust" is used to mean fixing mistakes that do not affect the Net Pay. Choose Adjust when you need to move money from one field to another. This section describes fixing errors that do not affect the Net Pay. If you need to correct an error that increases or decreases the employee's Net Pay, please go to the section called Correcting errors after a job has been closed on page 84. The Adjust function is used to adjust the earnings, deductions or taxes. You are able to adjust within the earnings area, and within and between the deductions and withholdings. All adjustments to earnings must total zero. The totals of Taxes and Deductions must either be zero, or add up to zero (Taxes + Deductions = 0). The Net Pay must be zero. Remember that any adjustment to Federal Income Tax, FICA, Medicare, or Advance EIC will affect the client's tax deposit liability for deposit and 941 purposes. For example, employee Smith had earnings of $ recorded as Regular Pay, when it should have been Holiday Pay. Also, a one-time local head tax of $15.00 needs to be moved from a deduction called Other into the City field Page 88

97 To correct this error: 1. Select the Calculations link (if necessary). 2. Select Close this Job. 3. Select Start a new Job. 4. Choose Adjust from the pop-up menu. 5. Enter the dates for this transaction. Ignore the Hash Total entry screen. Since all values must balance out, the concept of Hashing doesn t apply to Adjust. 6. Retrieve employee Smith. 7. Start with the income. Select the Amount column beside the Regular income label. Enter and select the Tab key. 8. Select the Amount column beside the Holiday label. Type and select the Tab key. Note that the Total Earnings is zero. 9. Now move the deduction. Select the column beside the other deduction label and enter and select the Tab key. Note that the Total Deductions is and the Check Amount is negative. 10. Select the column beside the City Tax label. Enter and select the Tab key. Note that the Total Taxes reads 15.00, and the Check Amount is zero. 11. Carefully verify the entries. 12. Select the Compute button if the information is correct. 13. Select the Post button to save the adjustments. Removing an entire year This is a last-resort measure that sets all numeric accumulators for a client to zero. For example, it might be needed if your data were to become corrupt by a hardware failure. Here's how to set all of the current year's accumulators to zero for a client. All other clients are not changed. 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Select Open. 3. Retrieve the Client. 4. Choose File Zero Year 5. This message appears. 6. Choose Yes or No. Correcting errors after transmitting Direct Deposit to NPC If you discover any errors after transmitting a Direct Deposit file to NPC, you need to do two things: 1. First, contact NPC ( ). If the job has not been sent, you can cancel it. Or, if only one entry is incorrect, it can possibly be voided. NPC maintains a qualified staff that is eager to help you with any transmission problems Page 89

98 2. Next, correct the information in your computer. Remember that once a job is transmitted to NPC, it is closed. The employee records have been updated. What to do depends on how much you have to undo. a. If only one check is wrong and NPC is able to stop that transaction: Use Cancel Check to remove the incorrect entry. Use Time Entry to repay the employee. Prepare his check by hand this week. b. If the entire batch has to be destroyed, you have two choices. Restore your backup of this client, or Use Cancel Check to remove all entries. Once the payroll records are returned to their condition as of the last pay period, you can proceed to re-enter the payments using Time Entry, and issue new checks and Direct Deposit records. Then, send this new batch to NPC. Correcting errors after transmitting Direct Deposit to your bank If you discover any errors after transmitting an ACH-formatted Direct Deposit file to your bank, you need to do two things: 1. First, contact your bank. If the job has not been sent, you can cancel it. Or, if only one entry is incorrect, it can possibly be voided. The banker can locate the transaction using the routing and transit number of the bank that the deposit was going to, and the check number. 2. Next, correct the information in your computer. Remember that once a job is transmitted, it is closed. The employee records have been updated. What to do depends on how much you have to undo. a. If only one check is wrong and your bank is able to stop that transaction: Use Cancel Check to remove the incorrect entry. Use Time Entry to repay the employee. Prepare his check by hand this week. b. If the entire batch has to be destroyed, you have two choices. Restore your backup of this Client, or Use Cancel Check to remove all entries. Once the payroll records are returned to their condition as of the last pay period, you can proceed to re-enter the payments using Time Entry, and issue new checks and Direct Deposit records. Then, send this new batch to the bank Page 90

99 Chapter 17 - Direct Deposit The Direct Deposit environment A standard feature of CCIS Payroll is the ability to deposit all of an employee s pay into a bank account. Two different types of direct deposit are supported. 1. The first uses a third party, National Payment Corporation. They handle all of the protocols for collecting and transferring your payroll to the employee s bank account. If an employee does not have a bank account, payroll can be put onto Payroll Pay Cards (state law permitting). Payroll pay cards are available through National Payment Corporation. 2. The other supported type of direct deposit involves sending payroll information directly to your (or your Client s) bank. CCIS Payroll creates a file using the protocol for an ACH Payroll file. In order to perform Direct Deposit, your computer needs to be connected to the internet. You also need to have made prior arrangements with your bank, or a third party processor. The only thirdparty processor that CCIS Payroll supports is National Payment Corporation. CCIS Payroll supports one bank account per Client, and a maximum of two bank accounts per employee. Direct Deposit is an all-or-nothing situation in that an employee may not have part of his net pay deposited, and part paid in form of a check. What the employee receives Employees on Direct Deposit receive two items to help them keep track of their pay: a non-negotiable remittance advice, and a note beside the deposit on their bank statement. The remittance advice received depends on the format you use for pay remittance. If you use only vouchers, the employee receives a numbered slip showing the amounts deposited into each account. If you print checks, either on preprinted checks or using our optional MICR Encoder, the scripted amount on the check changes to read "Please see the stub for Direct Deposit information". The words "NON NEGOTIABLE COPY" are printed in the signature area, and the numeric dollar amount is replaced by the word VOID except on MICR checks. Any remittance method you use will produce a numbered document. The number will appear on the employee's bank statement beside the deposit in this form. "Pay #####" where ##### is the document number. For example, if you issue the employee a non-negotiable check number 12345, the employee will see "Pay 12345" beside that deposit Page 91

100 Setting up and using Direct Deposit There are seven steps to setting up and using the Direct Deposit feature: 1. Open an account with National Payment Corporation, or make arrangements with your bank. 2. Set up the banking information for the client. 3. Print the employee authorization form. 4. Set up the banking information for the employee. 5. Prenote the employee. 6. Pay your employees. 7. Transmit the payroll to your bank or to NPC. Setting up Clients for Direct Deposit To set up a Client for Direct Deposit: 1. Select Clients then Open and open the Client. 2. Choose the Bank Information tab 3. Enter the name and address of the bank as it appears on the check. It is very import to enter a Street Address, even if there isn t one printed on the check. CCIS Payroll does not consider the direct deposit information to be complete without the Street address. You cannot set up employees for Direct Deposit if CCIS Payroll doesn t think the bank information is complete. 4. The Fraction refers to the tracing number that is printed on most checks. It is often in very small print, and usually formatted like a fraction 12-34/5678. It is not needed for Direct Deposit. 5. Put the bank account number into the Account Number field. Use a capital C to represent the on-us symbol. Include any imbedded blanks and dashes. 6. Enter the nine (9)-digit Routing and Transit number into its field. CCIS Payroll verifies the entry by computing the Check Digit and comparing it to that in the number. 7. Select the appropriate Account Type, Checking or Savings. The Direct Deposit area holds information used for Direct Deposit. Account Number: If you are using the ACH method to send Direct Deposit, enter the letters ACH here. Otherwise, enter the 8-digit Account Number that you are assigned by NPC. Security Key contains the 4-letter encode word supplied by NPC. It is not used for ACH transmittals. Password contains a 10-character password that you use when transmitting files to NPC. It is not used for ACH transmittals. 8. Choose Save or select F10 when done Page 92

101 Preparing payroll for Direct Deposit Direct deposit is a simple extra step to the typical check writing payroll process. After first setting up your Client and its employees with the required direct deposit information, you prepare payroll in the usual way using any of the live payroll modes: Time Entry, Automatic, or Import. 1. Print your checks or vouchers. This ensures that you provide the required information to your employee, and that each direct deposit transaction has a number. 2. Print your Check Register. 3. Print your Payroll Register. 4. Print your Summary Report if you must make a semi-weekly deposit per the IRS deposit rules. 5. Transmit the direct deposits to NPC or your bank. NOTE: Transmitting the Direct Deposit closes the current payroll job. You will not be able to return to make corrections or print any reports you may have missed. Transmitting Direct Deposit to your bank CCIS Payroll prepares an ACH deposit file for transmission over the internet using the ACH specifications for a Payroll file. This file is not complete and ready to transmit through the ACH system to the Federal Reserve. Your bank must add any necessary batch headers and footers. If your bank cannot do this, please use a third Party such as National Payment Corporation. It contains: A Type 1 File Header record A Type 5 Customer Header record One Type 6 Detail record for every employee transaction A Type 8 Customer Total record A Type 9 Batch Total record This set of records defines one complete batch file that you send to your bank. The bank will provide you with the necessary software and connection protocols. Their software may do more than simply send the file; it may perform data validation, provide reports, and have other options. Please refer to the documentation supplied by the bank. This is the only file format that we support. It is not intended or designed to be sent through the banking system alone so it does not have the header information for the Federal Reserve and other expected banking controls. Your bank merges this file in with the other transactions during its communications with the ACH network. If your bank insists on having a stand-alone file, please consider using National Payment as your direct-deposit supplier. The file is located in the current year folder. It is called "DDBat" + 3-digit batch number + "." + the Client number. The 12th batch for Client 156 would be called, "DDBat ". This is the name to supply to the bank s software. Direct deposit files are prepared for the current Client only. To prepare the file: 2008 Page 93

102 1. Choose Calculations. 2. Then select Direct Deposit Send file. Please remember that sending the direct deposit file closes the current payroll job forever. If you have not yet printed checks or registers, please do so now. CCIS Payroll reminds you in this window: 3. Choose Yes and CCIS Payroll prepares the file and shows you a summary: 4. Select OK if this summary matches your controls, or Cancel to terminate. CCIS Payroll opens a browser window asking for the URL to your bank or financial institution. Enter the fully-qualified URL and choose OK. 5. The bank s web page opens. 6. Complete the screens as instructed by your bank. When it comes time to locate the file to upload, it is shown in this highlighted area Page 94

103 7. CCIS Payroll has placed this location on its clipboard so all you have to do is click on the upload file box in the web page and press Shift + Insert. This pastes the address into the browser. 8. Choose Close when done. 9. If all went well, select Yes in the next dialog. CCIS Payroll creates an archive file in a subfolder of the current year. The file is renamed to make it easy to identify. Example of a archive file entry: Client 014 Batch 001 sent 06_25_ _33PM 10. The job is then closed. Sending Direct Deposit files to NPC CCIS Payroll creates a file using National Payment Corporation specifications. This file is located in the current year folder. It is called "DDBat" + 3-digit batch number + "." + the Client number. Example: The 12th batch for Client 156 would be called "DDBat ". This is the name to supply to the bank s software. Direct deposit files are prepared for the current Client only. To prepare the file: 1. Choose Calculations. 2. Select Direct Deposit Send file. Please remember that sending the direct deposit file closes the current payroll job forever. If you have not yet printed checks or registers, please do so now. CCIS Payroll reminds you in this window: 3. Choose Yes and CCIS Payroll prepares the file and shows you a summary: 4. Select OK if this summary matches your controls, or Cancel to terminate. 5. CCIS Payroll connects you to the NPC web site login page Page 95

104 6. Proceed through until you arrive at the final page before sending. Be sure to select Phoenix Phive as the Type. 7. When it comes time to locate the file to upload, it is shown in this highlighted area. 8. CCIS Payroll has placed this location on its clipboard so all you have to do is click on the upload file box in the web page and press Shift + Insert. This pastes the address into the browser. 9. Complete the rest of the process using the instructions from NPC. If you need help, please call NPC at Choose Close when done. 11. If all went well, select Yes in the next dialog. CCIS Payroll creates an archive file in a subfolder of the current year. The file is renamed to make it easy to identify. Example of a archive file entry: Client 014 Batch 001 sent 06_25_ _33PM. 12. The job is then closed. Changes in payroll reports The Check Register shows 2 asterisks ** beside each check that was sent using direct deposit. There are totals of the number and value of direct deposits at the end of the Check Register. The Current Payroll Register is unchanged Page 96

105 Chapter 18 - Direct Deposit (Employees) Direct deposit employee setup CCIS Payroll supports the Direct Deposit of an employee s paycheck in up to two different bank accounts. This section describes entering the Direct Deposit information on the Employee s record. The Client records need to be set up for Direct Deposit before you set up the employee records. Please read the section on setting up the Client first. Regulations generally require that you have the employee s permission to pay him using direct deposit. CCIS Payroll provides an authorization form that must be completed by the employee. The form has room to attach sample check(s). You need these to know the correct bank information. Each employee can have a paycheck deposited into up to two different bank accounts. Once you have the employee's permission, you need to tell CCIS Payroll how much of the paycheck to deposit directly, and where. 1. Select the Employees link. 2. Open the employee. 3. Select Edit. 4. Select the Pay Rates tab. 5. Select the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox. If the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox is grayed out, this means that the Client has not been properly set up for Direct Deposit. Typically one part of the bank information is missing. If you plan to use NPC you must enter their account and other information before coming here to enter the employee data 6. Next, record the bank information. 7. Select Save to save the changes. Employee Direct Deposit authorization forms Before you can send an employee's pay directly to their bank account, you must have their written authorization. CCIS Payroll prints authorization forms from the Employee link. To print the authorization: 1. Retrieve the employee. 2. Choose Edit. 3. Select the Pay Rates tab. 4. Select the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox. 5. Choose the Direct Deposit tab 6. Select the Print button. 7. The Authorization Form prints immediately on your primary printer Page 97

106 Recording employee bank information Each employee can have a paycheck deposited in up to two different bank accounts. Once you have the employee's permission, you need to tell CCIS Payroll how much of the paycheck to deposit directly, and where. 1. Choose the Employees link. 2. Retrieve the employee. 3. Select Edit. 4. Select the Pay Rates tab. 5. Select the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox. If the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox is grayed out, this means that the Client has not been properly set up for Direct Deposit. Typically one part of the bank information is missing. If you plan to use NPC you must enter their account and other information before coming here to enter the employee data. 6. Select the Direct Deposit tab. 7. Locate the Direct Deposit Authorization form that the employee completed. Using the sample check for Bank Account #1, enter: Account Number which contains the On-Us number from the employee s sample check. Enter only the numbers in this field. Do not enter spaces or the On-Us symbol. Routing and Transit Number which contains the 9-digit ABA number from the employee s sample check. Prenoted shows whether the employee has been prenoted or not. Direct deposit will only be done when this field shows "Ok for DD". If there are two bank accounts for this employee, both accounts must show Ok for DD before CCIS Payroll will perform Direct Deposit for the employee. This field can be updated automatically when you prepare the next direct deposit job for this Client. If you are beginning Direct Deposit for a new Client whom you know has prenoted the employees, you can set this field to Ok for DD. Date Prenote Sent contains the date that the prenote was sent to the employee s bank. CCIS Payroll enters this date automatically. Account Name contains the name on the account. You may ignore this field Page 98

107 Determine amount by is the way CCIS Payroll determines how much to put into this account. For Bank Account #1, you may choose from Flat amount, or a percent. Bank Account #2 always gets the balance of the payment. Choose Save to save the changes. Please note these conventions. a. CCIS Payroll can send the funds into two bank accounts. Account #1 can have any deposit value, up to the full value of the check. Account #2 always receives any amount that is left over after funding Account #1. b. If the information for Account #1 is invalid, no Direct Deposit is performed. c. If the employee adds another account after the Account #1 has been successfully prenoted, Direct Deposit stops until Account #2 has also been successfully prenoted. Reviewing employee Direct Deposit information A listing of all employees with Direct Deposit information can be viewed on the screen and printed. The report includes all employees who have a checkmark in the Perform Direct Deposit checkbox of the Pay Rates tab. To view the report: 1. Select the Employee s link. 2. Choose View. 3. Choose Direct Deposit in the reports window. All other choices; employees to select, sort sequence, etc. are ignored by the report. 4. Select the Show the Report button. To print the report: 1. Choose the Employee s link. 2. Select Print. 3. Choose Direct Deposit in the reports window. All other choices; employees to select, sort sequence, etc. are ignored by the report. 4. Select the Print the Report button. Prenoting Federal banking regulations require that a zero balance transaction be sent through the system at least ten (10) days before money is deposited to the account. Such a transaction is called a Prenote. It allows the ACH system to verify the routing and transit number and account number. It also allows the bank to verify that it can receive the credit without any problems. Prenoting is mandatory. CCIS Payroll will not prepare a Direct Deposit record for any employee who has not been prenoted. Employees with two bank accounts need to have been successfully prenoted on both accounts in order for Direct Deposit to be prepared. If a prenoted employee changes banks or accounts, you must send another prenote. We recommend that you inform each employee that there is a federally-mandated delay period and to expect a short delay before checks go directly to his bank. Depending on your workload, the minimum delay would be ten days. Prenotes are prepared whenever you send a direct deposit job to your bank. It doesn t matter whether the employee is paid during the current payroll job. CCIS Payroll looks at the prenote status of 2008 Page 99

108 every employee. A prenote is prepared, and his prenote status is updated if the employee needs to be prenoted. CCIS Payroll will update the employee record to show that a prenote has been sent. The Prenoted field changes to Waiting. The Date prenote sent field will change from "mm/dd/yy" to the Check Date for the payroll that includes the prenote. How to record a successful prenote CAUTION: You must wait 10 working days from the Date you send the prenote before performing this step. There are two ways to update the prenote status from Waiting to Approved. You can have CCIS Payroll update them automatically, or you can do it yourself. CCIS Payroll updates the prenote status when printing checks or sending Direct Deposit. Or, you can choose Employees, Open and Edit each employee by hand Page 100

109 Chapter 19 - Reports and worksheets Reports overview CCIS Payroll prints a number of management reports; monthly and quarterly federal, state and local tax worksheets; a unique company profile report; federal Forms 940, 941, 941-SS, 943 and 944; and state wage and withholding reports. This section describes the management reports and monthly and quarterly worksheets that are available. In this section, you will learn: How to print the sick and vacation report. How to produce employee history. How to print registers. How to print an EEO-1 facsimile. How to print workers compensation worksheets. How to print Federal, State, Deduction and Local tax worksheets. About quarterly worksheet sets. How to produce EFTPS reports and letters to Clients. All month, all quarter report The All Month Report and the All Quarter Report are handy auditing tools. They show Gross Pay, FIT withheld, FICA and Medicare withheld, the sum of State 1 Tax plus State 2 tax, the sum of State 1 Disability plus State 2 Disability, and the sum of Local 1 plus Local 2 withholdings. The reports also show FICA tips, Cafeteria plan deductions, Advance EIC, and, if the Client has a plan, the amount of deferred compensation. The reports are detailed and totaled by employee and by the Client. They can include one employee, or all employees of a given type. They can be sorted three ways. Reports can be viewed on screen, or printed. To print an All Month or All Quarter report: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose All Month or All Quarter. 4. From the Specifications window, a. Choose one employee, all employees, all W-2 employees, or 1099 & 3rd Party recipients from the Employees to Include list. b. Choose the sort order from the Arrange report in order of list. The choices are: Last Name Pay ID The order the employees were entered c. Enter the number of copies. 5. Select Next. 6. Select the Stop button when done or at any time to stop Page 101

110 To view an All Month or All Quarter report, 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the View button. 3. Choose All Month or All Quarter. 4. Select your options from the Specifications window. 5. Select Next. The example below shows a portion of an All Quarter report. 6. Press the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. Company profile report The Company Profile Report is a two-page report. Page 1, the Employment by Job Category Report, is a direct copy of the EEO-1 report that many companies are required to file with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The report details employment by gender and ethnic background for the nine job categories that have been defined by the EEOC. CCIS Payroll takes the Gender and Ethnicity from the Employee Master File. Job categories use the Job Class field as follows: Officials and Managers 100 series Professionals 200 series Technicians 300 series Sales workers 400 series Office and clerical 500 series Craft workers (skilled) 600 series Operatives (semi-skilled) 700 series Laborers (unskilled) 800 series Service workers 900 series Within any series, the numbers 12 and 13 are reserved for Trainees. 12 denotes a White Collar Trainee, and 13 a Production Trainee. For example, a management trainee is coded Page 102

111 Page 2 of the Company Employment Profile Report is entitled Employment by Worker Age. It analyzes the workforce by gender, ethnic background and age. To print a Company Profile report: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Company Profile. 4. Enter the number of copies. 5. Select Next. 6. Select the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. Earnings Report The Earnings Report is a listing of a user-specified group of employees showing earnings by each income label. It reports one or any range of months. The report is arranged in order of Job Class. If you choose to categorize each employee according to the NCCI classification rules used by your state, this report should be useful when discussing and reviewing your Workers Compensation policy. To print an Earnings report: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Earnings. 4. From the Specifications for Earnings Report window: Choose one employee, all employees, all W-2 employees, or 1099 & 3rd Party recipients from the Employees to Include list. Select a Start month from the list. Select an End month from the list. Enter the number of copies. 5. Select Next. 6. Select the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. History The History report is a specialized form of the Register report. It includes every transaction into an employee s payroll over a time span that you specify in the current year. The report totals every employee, and also the Client. Client totals include liability information. Histories can be printed or viewed. Printed Histories list each employee and can also show gross to net only or full details. Viewed Histories appear in Gross-to-Net format. You can learn the breakdown of a value by clicking on the value. Viewed Histories also contain the details of how and who created the entry. To print a history: 1. Select the Reports link and then select the Print button. 2. Choose History. 3. From the Specifications for History Report window, a. Choose one employee, all employees, all W-2 employees, or 1099 & 3rd Party recipients from the Employees to Include list Page 103

112 b. Choose the sort order from the Arrange report in order of list. The choices are: Last Name, Check number or Check date. 4. Enter a Start date and an End date. 5. Enter the number of copies. 6. Select Gross to Net only to limit the report details. 7. Select Next. 8. Select the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. To view a history: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the View button. 3. Choose History. 4. Select your options from the Specifications for History Report window. 5. Select Next. 6. Select the Stop button when finished or at any time to stop. The example below shows a portion of the History report. Register CCIS Payroll produces registers for the current period, any month, any quarter, and the year. Registers may be printed or viewed. They may include a single employee, all employees, only W-2 employees, or only 1099 and 3rd party recipients. They can be sorted in order of Pay ID, Last Name, Check number, or in the order that they were entered. Printed Registers can show department totals only, or list each employee and can also show gross to net only or full details. Viewed Registers appear in Gross-to-Net format. You can learn the breakdown of a value by clicking on the value. Viewed Registers also contain the details of how and who created the entry. The example below is the show the report options window Page 104

113 To print a register: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Register. 4. From the Specifications for Register Report window, a. Choose one employee, all employees, all W-2 employees, or 1099 & 3rd Party recipients from the Employees to Include list. b. Choose the sort order from the Arrange report in order of list. The choices are: Pay ID, Last Name, Check Number or No sorting (the report prints in the order that employees were entered into the Employee Master file). c. Choose a reporting period from the Reporting period list. d. Enter the number of copies. e. Select Gross to Net only to limit the report details. f. Select Departments only to print the Department report. 5. Select Next. 6. Choose the Stop button when finished or at any time to stop. To view a register, 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Choose the View button. 3. Choose Register. 4. Select your options from the Specifications for Register Report window. 5. Choose Next. The example below shows how the report displays. To learn the makeup of Earnings, Taxes or Deductions, click in the field, and then click on the down arrow that appears. To learn how and when the record was created, click the Check Date field, and then click on the down arrow that appears. Press the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. Sick, Vacation and Comp report The Sick, Vacation and Comp report is a listing of taken and available hours for each of the 3 accruals. The report covers the current year. You can include one or all W-2 employees. The report is a handy way to track time lost due to illness and to plan for vacations and accrue vacation and comp pay. To print this report: 1. Select the Reports link Page 105

114 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Sick, Vacation and Comp. 4. Choose One employee only or Regular (W-2) Employees from the Employees to Include list. 5. Choose the sort order from the Arrange report in order of list. The choices are: Pay ID Last Name No sorting (the report prints in the order that employees were entered into the Employee Master file). 6. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 7. Select the Stop button when finished or at any time to stop Page 106

115 Chapter 20 - Periodic Reports and Worksheets Quarterly and monthly report sets CCIS Payroll produces various worksheets: a Federal Tax Report, a State Tax Report, a Local Tax Report and a Deduction Report. The reports are printed singly, or as a group. They are available on a monthly or quarterly basis. Each client has its own group of reports. To select the reports for the current Client: 1. Choose File Print Period Worksheets, or select the Print button and choose Period Worksheets. This window appears. 2. On the Specifications for Periodic Work Sheet Reports window, check or clear the checkbox beside each report that you want to print. 3. Select the Save button if you want to save the settings for this Client. Printing the worksheet sets The worksheet sets can be printed for any month or quarter. 1. Choose File Print Period Worksheets, or select the Print button and choose Period Worksheets. 2. Set the number of copies you want to print. 3. Select Next. Federal tax report The Federal Tax Report is a grouping of all of the elements that affect Federal periodic reports. It includes the Gross Pay, Deferred compensation contributions, Federal Tax withheld, FICA wages, tips and withheld, Medicare wages and withheld, FUTA wages and liability, and Cafeteria Plan deductions. If fringe benefits are available, details of Dependant Care, Life Insurance and Subchapter S medical premiums are shown as well. The totals from this report tie directly to Form 941, and Form 940. If you re having difficulty reconciling those forms, this report helps greatly in tracking down the error. The report is detailed in alphabetical order of employee Last Name. Report totals include Federal Liability by month, Advance EIC payments, 1099 Compensation, Backup Withholding, and payments to 3rd parties. The Federal Tax Report forms part of the monthly and quarterly report sets Page 107

116 State tax report The State Tax Report shows the Gross Pay for the state, state taxable wages and withholdings, SUTA wages and tax, and Disability wages and withholdings. The totals from this report tie directly to the Wage and Withholding reports for the state. If you re having difficulty reconciling those forms, this report helps greatly in tracking down the error. The report is detailed in alphabetical order of employee Last Name. Each column is totaled. The SUTA and Disability columns include totals for excess wages and taxable wages. Reports for a Quarter also show the number of employees per month. The State Tax Report forms part of the monthly and quarterly report sets. A separate State Tax Report prints for each state in the Payroll States tab of the Client Master file. Deduction report The Deduction Report shows the Wages and Withholdings and Balance in alphabetical order of employee Last Name. A report is printed for each different Deduction label found in the Client Master file. The Deduction Report forms part of the monthly and quarterly report sets. Local tax report The Local Tax Report shows the Wages and Withholdings in alphabetical order of employee Last Name. A report is printed for each different Name of Locality found in the Employee Master file so it is important to be consistent spelling or abbreviating city names. Clients in Washington State receive an L & I report showing Hours and L & I withheld. The Local Tax Report forms part of the monthly and quarterly report sets. The Tax Summary report The Tax Summary Report summarizes the Federal, State and Local taxes for any specified period. Available periods include any Quarter, any Month, and the Current job. This report can be viewed on the screen or printed in three formats, an EFTPS report, a letter to your Client, and a generic report form. To view this report: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Choose the View button. 3. Choose Summary. 4. Choose the period from the Reporting Period list and select Next. 5. Select the Stop button when done or at any time to stop. To print this report: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Choose the Print button. 3. Choose Summary. 4. Choose the period from the Reporting Period list. 5. Choose the Format from the Desired Format list. 6. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 7. Select the Stop button when finished or at any time to stop Page 108

117 Chapter 21 - Forms 940, 941, 941-SS, 943 and 944 Federal 900 series forms overview CCIS Payroll prints Federal Forms 940, 941, 941-SS, Schedule B-Form 941, Form 943 as well as Form 940, Schedule A (Form 940) and Worksheet. These reports are available for a single Client, or grouped into a special Consolidated Client. Forms 941, 941-SS and schedules all print on blank paper. Approved form images come with your annual support plan. The other forms print on preprinted forms as standard or our optional Forms on a Disk. In this chapter, you will learn: How to print Form 940 How to print Form 941 How to print Form 941-SS How to print Form 943 How to print Form 944 How to change the daily liability box amounts How to use our optional Forms on a Disk About the fractions of cents adjustment How to align laser forms How to zoom an on-screen form image Form 940 CCIS Payroll produces pages 1 and 2 of Form 940, and Schedule A Form 940 and the 940 Worksheet as required. To prepare Form 940: 1. Select the Reports link. 2. Choose the Print button. 3. Choose 940. The Specifications for Form 940 window appears. Please note the Important 940 Questions area. Both questions must be answered before proceeding. For convenience, CCIS Payroll remembers the settings from the last Client so please check these settings carefully. 4. Select Next to proceed. If CCIS Payroll finds another Form 940 for this Client, it offers to use that report here Page 109

118 5. Select Yes if there are no changes to the report or No to start over. 6. The page you see next depends on the choices you made in the Important 940 Questions. Certain conditions disqualify your Client from receiving the full FUTA credit. In such cases you must complete the Form 940 Worksheet to determine the correct liability. The 940 Worksheet is not filed with your Form 940, but the results carry forward onto the form. 7. Clients who are entitled to the full FUTA credit are processed as follows: First you are asked the amount of FUTA deposited during the year. Then you see Form 940 Page 1. Make any changes then press Print to produce the form. Frequently-asked Questions: Why doesn t the Liability print? See page 116. How can I change the quarterly Liability? See page 116. I need to specify a third-party designee? See page 112. How do I enter Paid Preparer information? See page 113. How do I print the Client s signer information on the form? See page 113. Form 941 Form 941 and Schedule B-Form 941 are available for any quarter. Form 941 prints for all Clients. The Schedule B-Form 941 prints for Clients who are shown as semi-weekly depositors in their Client Master record, and who pass the IRS reporting threshold. To print Form 941: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Select a Quarter from the Reporting Period list. 5. Enter the number of copies. 6. Select Next. 7. Form 941 pages 1 and 2 and Schedule B-Form 941 load. Form 941 page 1 is displayed on the screen. The Right Arrow button lights up with the title reading Form 941 p Edit the forms if necessary. 9. Select the Print button to print or choose the Stop button at any time to quit this procedure Page 110

119 Frequently-asked Questions: Why doesn t the Liability print? See page 116. How can I change the monthly Liability? See page 116. I need to specify a third-party designee? See page 112. How do I enter Paid Preparer information? See page 113. How do I print the Client s signer information on the form? See page 113. Form 941-SS Form 941-SS prints automatically instead of Form 941 for Clients in Guam, the US Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and American Samoa. CCIS Payroll prints IRS-approved substitute forms using our Forms on a Disk technology and your laser or other sheet-fed printer. To print Form 941-SS: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Select a Quarter from the Reporting Period list. 5. Enter the number of copies. 6. Choose Next. Form 941-SS pages 1 and 2 and Schedule B-Form 941 load. Form 941-SS page 1 is displayed on the screen. The Right Arrow button lights up with the title reading Form 941 p Edit the forms if necessary. 8. Select the Print button to print. 9. Select the Stop button at any time to quit this procedure. Frequently-asked Questions: Why doesn t the Liability print? See page 116. How can I change the monthly Liability? See page 116. I need to specify a third-party designee? See page 112. How do I enter Paid Preparer information? See page 113. How do I print the Client s signer information on the form? See page 113. Form 943 Form 943 is filed by certain Agricultural Employers. To print Form 943: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose the Print button. 3. Choose 941/ Enter the number of copies. 5. Select Next. 6. Select Print to print. Frequently-asked Questions: Why doesn t the Liability print? See page 116. How do I print the Client s signer information on the form? See page Page 111

120 Form 944 Form 944 is the Annual version of Form 941. The IRS sends letters to companies that are required to file this form. Only those companies can file it. Before you can prepare Form 944, you must tell CCIS Payroll that the Client files it. To do so: 1. Open the Client you want to edit. 2. Select Edit. 3. Choose the Identification tab. 4. Select the down arrow beside Type of Filer, select Form 944 and choose the Tab key. 5. Select the F10 key to save. To print Form 944: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Enter the number of copies. 5. Select Next. 6. Select Print to print. Frequently-asked Questions: Why doesn t the Liability print? See page 116. How can I change the monthly Liability? See page 116. I need to specify a third-party designee? See page 112. How do I enter Paid Preparer information? See page 113. How do I print the Client s signer information on the form? See page 113. How to specify a third-party designee Generally, the IRS will only discuss any of the 900-series forms with the person who actually signed the return. To allow for the many cases where the signer does not actually do the details of the form, there is a provision for the signer to allow the IRS to speak with someone else. The following excerpt is from the 2008 Form 941 Instructions. "If you want to allow an employee, a paid tax preparer, or another person to discuss your Form 941 with the IRS, check the "Yes" box in Part 4. Then tell us the name, phone number, and the five-digit personal identification number (PIN) of the specific person to speak with - not the name of the firm who prepared your tax return. The designee may choose any five numbers as his or her PIN. By checking "Yes," you authorize the IRS to talk to the person you named (your designee) about any questions we may have while we process your return. You also authorize your designee to: give us any information that is missing from your return, call us for information about processing your return, and respond to certain IRS notices that you have shared with your designee about math errors and return preparation. The IRS will not send notices to your designee." 2008 Page 112

121 The other 900 series forms contain similar statements. To complete this authorization: 1. Open the page of the form, usually page Choose Edit. 3. Put an "X" in the Yes checkbox and press the Tab key. 4. Enter the Designee s name, telephone number and 5-digit PIN in the labeled boxes. 5. CCIS Payroll offers to save this information as the form is printed. Once saved, it automatically inserts it wherever it needs to. How to have reports signed by Client CCIS Payroll can insert the Client Contact name, title and telephone number on forms as required. To activate this feature: 1. Choose the Clients link. 2. Open the Client you want to edit. 3. Choose the Preferences tab. 4. Select Edit. 5. Select the option, Sign report with Contact Person 6. Choose F10 to save. How to Specify a Paid Preparer CCIS Payroll can insert the Paid Preparer information on forms as required. To activate this feature: 1. Select the Clients link. 2. Open the Client you want to edit. 3. Select the Preferences tab. 4. Choose Edit. 5. Select the option, Firm is Paid Preparer for Client. 6. Select F10 to save. The information from the Firm file may not be exactly what you want to show. You may want to change the name of the person, indicate that you are self-employed or change the EIN to an SSN or PTIN. You can edit the Paid Preparer information to show whatever you want when that page is on the screen Page 113

122 If you do make any changes, CCIS Payroll asks permission to save these changes. If you agree, they become the default until you change them again. The fractions of cents adjustment There is sometimes a difference between the Total social security and Medicare taxes (line 5d on the 2008 Form 941) and the sum of the taxes actually withheld from the employees plus the employer's contribution. Adding or dropping fractions of cents in computing the tax for each individual causes this difference. The IRS allows an adjustment to Form 941 in such cases. The adjustment is entered in line 7a of the 2008 Form 941. If the adjustment is within plus or minus 99 cents, CCIS Payroll automatically makes the adjustment for you. It appears in the Current quarter s fractions of cents area (Line 7a in 2008) in the Tax Adjustments (Area 7 in 2008). Editing reports on-screen As a general rule, any Federal or State report that is displayed on the screen can be edited to some degree before it is printed. You usually cannot change Client name and identification information, as well as figures that are derived directly from the payroll data base such as Gross Pay or Taxes withheld. 1. Select the Edit button. 2. Select the field you want to change. The field turns yellow indicating that it is ready to accept input. (Any field that does not turn yellow cannot be edited.) 3. Make the change. 4. When ready to print, select the Edit button again. This takes the form out of edit mode and illuminates the Print button. Select the Print button to print the report. Resizing a viewed report Any editable Federal or state report that is larger than the viewing area on the screen can be resized. There are 5 available sizes as shown in this menu: To change the displayed image: 1. Open the Edit menu. 2. There is a checkmark beside current magnification. 3. Choose on the magnification that you want Page 114

123 How to align laser forms CCIS Payroll contains an alignment routine that lets you move the printed image right or left, up or down. This routine is designed to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and differences caused by aging of the laser printer. If your Primary Printer is PCL or GDI, a test pattern prints and this window appears. 1. Examine the sample. 2. Use the sliders to move the print into position. 3. Select, Try Again to repeat this cycle or OK to proceed. How to use Forms on a Disk You can purchase an additional option call Forms on a Disk. Forms on a Disk are images of actual forms. The software prints them using a laser or other sheet-fed printer. There is a separate Form on a Disk for every supported form. Fileable Forms on a Disk are fully approved by the IRS, SSA or State agency as applicable. They take the place of many preprinted laser sheets. They can be used for all "black-ink" Federal forms, like Form 941, Schedule B-Form 941, Form 940, Form 943 and Form 944, and most state forms. Some states, such as Ohio and Texas, insist on your using a preprinted laser sheet. Forms on a Disk images are used automatically whenever CCIS Payroll finds the form and knows it can use it. You can order Forms on a Disk from: Phoenix Phive Phorms, :00am- 6:00pm (Mountain Standard Time) Page 115

124 Changing the Liability section CCIS Payroll records the change in Federal tax deposit liability on the day of the month from the Check Date. The amount increases or decreases according to the type of payroll job. The way you enter After the Fact payroll directly affects the amount of detail available for reporting. For example, when you record a month at a time, daily liability detail is not available for semiweekly depositors. Recording by quarter means that both daily and monthly details are not available. This section discusses how to change the liability areas. Liability Reporting Thresholds The IRS establishes thresholds for liability reporting on 900-series forms. Consider this segment from Form 941: The highlighted area clearly shows that liability is only to be reported if it exceeds $2, If it does not, it must not be reported. Forms 940, 941-SS, 943 and 944 all have similar thresholds. CCIS Payroll knows and follows these rules. Changing Liability on Form 940 Quarterly FUTA liabilities are found on Form 940, page 2. To change the figures: 1. Display Form 940 page Choose Edit. 3. Enter the new values in the appropriate boxes. Changing Liability on Form 941 and Form 941-SS Liability is reported in two areas of Form 941, depending on when the Client must deposit his liabilities. Monthly filers report the liability by month on page 2 of Form 941. Semi-weekly depositors report their daily liabilities on Schedule B Form 941. You change the liabilities for both types of depositors using the Schedule B Form 941 screen Page 116

125 To change the figures: 1. Select the Form 941B arrow. 2. Choose the Edit button. 3. Select the field to change and enter the new value. To zero the totals, zero every day. 4. Choose the Form 941 p2 arrow when finished. After following this procedure, you will see that the Monthly liabilities now reflect the totals from the Schedule B. You can access and change any of these daily liabilities immediately prior to printing the form. The changes are discarded once the form is printed. Changing Liability on Form 944 Monthly liabilities print on page 2 of Form 944. To change the figures: 1. Display Form 944 page Select Edit. 3. Enter the new values in the appropriate boxes Page 117

126 Chapter 22 - State wage and tax reports State wage and tax reports overview CCIS Payroll provides a number of ways to help you fulfill your SUTA and State Wage reporting requirements. There is an electronic method for filing over the internet and two generic printed reports that can be customized to suit your needs, and the specific state reports you ll find here. In this section you will learn: How to specify generic wage reports About electronic wage reporting How to record weeks worked How to print report About Generic reports Electronic wage reporting Many states have web sites that are set up to easily import wage information. Each site supports at least the most common file formats,.csv and.txt, while others have sophisticated routines that can decipher many different structures. The state sites that allow importing have a place that tells how the file should be arranged (or structured). CCIS Payroll has a way to set up your wage data to conform to those specifications, and a way to create wage files for you to upload to the state. Please remember that this is a generic report. We do not guarantee that it will be suitable for any particular state. If you want to report wages using the state s specific formats for electronic filing we have separate programs to do that. Please visit Before you can report wages electronically, you must set up the format. Please visit the state s wage reporting site to learn the format that they prefer before proceeding. When ready: 1. Choose Reports Edit Electronic Wage Report Format Page 118

127 2. The Specify EFile Parameters window appears: 3. Start by choosing your State from the list and then select the Tab key on the keyboard. The fields Column 1 through Column 7 fill with the default values. If you are changing a layout that you saved previously, these fields contain the saved values. 4. Choose the drop-down arrow to change the value of any field. 5. Choose the value you want and choose Tab. Please note there cannot be a Column marked (Not Used) between other columns that are used. 6. Choose Save to save the specification. 7. Select Exit to close this window. Generic reports Many states require wage and time reports for unemployment compensation and/or withholding purposes. In addition to the specific state forms supported, CCIS Payroll produces generic reports. Generic report layouts are used if there is no state-specific form available, or if you have not renewed your state-specific forms for the current year. Many states will accept these reports as a direct substitute for their form. Others, even some using scannable forms, accept them provided they are attached to the official state form as a continuation sheet. Obtain any necessary approvals from your state before submitting these generic reports. We do not guarantee their conformity to state laws Page 119

128 Two reports are available, a State Tax Wage Report and a State Unemployment Wage Report. You decide which report format to use when you specify the report. If a report takes more than one page, each page prints sub-totals of all money columns and the number of employees. Reports print automatically as part of the Wage report. To print Generic wage reports: 1. Confirm that you have defined a format for this client. 2. Choose the Reports button. 3. Select Wage reports. 4. Choose the month or quarter from the Reporting period list. 5. Choose Next. You see the reports briefly on the screen as they print. 6. Select Stop at any time to cancel. How to specify generic reports To determine or change the format of either of the generic reports: 1. Select the Reports button. 2. Choose Edit from the Reports Menu. To edit the Withholding report, 1. Choose Generic SIT wage reports. 2. The Layout of SITW Report window opens. To edit the SUTA report 1. Choose Generic SUTA wage reports Page 120

129 2. The Layout of SUTA Report window opens. 3. Here are the available options. Social Security Number format choices are: a b c Select the down arrow at the right to choose a format. The Available Name format options are: a. First name Middle Name Last Name b. First Name Middle Initial Last name c. Initials Last Name d. Last name, First Name Middle Name e. Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial f. Last Name, Initials 5. Use the down arrow at the right to choose a name format. 6. Report is required: Check this box to include this report with the Wage reports. If the checkbox is clear, this report is not printed. 7. Answer the rest of the questions by checking or clearing the checkboxes. 8. Choose the Save button to save the specification. How to enter weeks worked CCIS Payroll uses an exception method to report weeks worked. It asks you how many weeks there are in the period, then asks you to enter the weeks worked by employees who did NOT work the full period. If the report requires weeks worked, CCIS Payroll pauses just before printing the report and asks you to enter the maximum number of weeks in the period. Enter the maximum number of weeks and choose OK. Confirm your entry Page 121

130 CCIS Payroll gives all regular employees who have Gross Pay for this state during the period the number of weeks you entered above. It then presents these to you in the form of a grid. The grid opens in Last Name order. You can change the order easily by dragging the columns. Move to the Weeks Worked column beside any employee who needs to be changed and enter the correct number of weeks worked. Select OK when finished Page 122

131 Chapter 23 - State specific reports State specific forms CCIS Payroll prints actual state reports for many states. Most are listed in this section. The very latest additions to the list can be found in the Read me file. CCIS Payroll needs to be updated every year to print these forms. If you have forgotten to update, you will be asked if you want to produce a generic report instead of the one for your state. All of these reports have a Form on a Disk. For most, the Form on a Disk output is a fileable form. Some states insist that you only file forms of a specific color, or forms that they supply. In such cases, the Form on a Disk prints file copies. Entering Paid Preparer information Many state forms have areas to be completed by paid preparers. CCIS Payroll can save this information if you like. Absent any other information in a file, CCIS Payroll looks at the Preferences in the Client Master record. If the file shows that the Firm is the Paid Preparer it uses as much of the Firm information as fits on the form. This information appears as the form is displayed. Change the information as needed using the usual methods. When done, click the Save button to save the changes. CCIS Payroll will use the saved information in all future reports of this type for this Client. Arizona CCIS Payroll prints Arizona forms A1-WP, A1-QRT, UC 018 and UC 020. A Form on a Disk of fileable forms is available. The A1-WP is produced for any month. The A1-QRT and UC 018 are produced for quarters. To print a A1-WP for any month: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the month in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 6. The A1-WP appears on the screen. Select Edit and make any necessary changes. 7. Choose the Print button. To print Forms A1-QRT and UC 018 for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button and select Wage. 3. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list Page 123

132 4. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 5. The UC 018 appears on the screen. Select Edit and make any necessary changes. 6. Select the Print button to print the form. Form UC 020 prints whenever there are more than eight employees to report. 7. The A1-QRT, page 1 appears on the screen and the right arrow lights up with the title of Page If the Client is a semi-weekly depositor for 941 purposes as indicated in his Client Master Record, Sections A, B, and C are completed. Otherwise, CCIS Payroll asks you if the Client has to deposit state taxes at the same time as his federal deposits. If the answer is Yes, boxes AA, BB, and CC are completed. If No, Box DD is completed. 9. Select Edit and make any necessary changes to page Select the Page 2 button to display A1-QRT, page Select Edit and make any necessary changes to page Select the Page 1 button to return to page Select the Print button to print the form. California CCIS Payroll produces EDD-approved substitute forms DE 88ALL and DE-6. They are created automatically on PCL-capable laser printers. A file copy only Form on a Disk is available for the DE-6. The DE 88ALL is designed to fit properly onto Item Number 1099PAPER available from Phoenix Phive. If you use plain paper, the form needs to be cut out of the page along the lines. The DE 88ALL is produced for any month or quarter. The DE-6 is produced only for quarters. To print a DE 88ALL for any month: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the month in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies. 6. Change paper and choose Next. 7. The DE 88ALL appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 8. Select the Print button on the DE 88ALL form. To print a DE 88ALL and a DE 6 for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button and choose Wage. 3. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 4. Enter the number of copies. 5. Change paper and select the Next button. 6. The DE 88ALL appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Select the Print button on the DE 88ALL form. 8. The DE 6 appears on the screen. Make any changes. 9. Press the Print button to print the form Page 124

133 Michigan CCIS Payroll produces Michigan Forms UA 1020 and UA Fileable Form on a Disk are available for both forms. To print a UA 1020 and B for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies and choose Next. 6. The UA 1020 appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Select the Print button. 8. The UA 1017 prints automatically after the UA New Jersey CCIS Payroll prepares state-approved substitute Forms WR-30, 927, and 927-W on PCL-capable laser printers. No other printers are supported for the 927 and 927-W. A report that can be used to enter the values on a state-supplied form prints instead. A file copy Forms on a Disk is available for the WR-30. New Jersey has stringent requirements for the NJ 927 and 927-W. The forms must be printed on both sides of the page. Also, a unique identifying string prints just below the Client name and address. CCIS Payroll uses information in the Client Master file to create this string. Please make sure that the Registration Number and Alpha Code for the Client are entered correctly. New Jersey has up to four different employer and employee rates. These are recorded using the Define New Jersey Rates screen. This screen appears automatically the first time that you prepare New Jersey reports. Make needed changes and press the Save button to save the rates. You will not be asked for these rates again this year. To print NJ 927/927-W and WR-30 for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button and then Wage. 3. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 4. Enter the number of copies and select the Next button. 5. Enter the Weeks Worked. 6. Page 1 of the form appears on the screen and the right-arrow button lights up with the caption Page 2. To change the tax rate split: Choose Edit Change New Jersey Rates from the Reports Menu Page 125

134 Record the rates. Press the Save button to save the rates. 1. Select the Page 2 button. Select Edit and make any necessary changes. 2. Choose the Page 1 button. 3. Select the Print button. Page 1 of the NJ 927 or 927-W prints. The computer stops asking you to turn the page over. 4. Remove the paper and re-insert using the on-screen instructions. Then press OK. Page 2 prints on the back of page The following message appears. 6. Choose, Yes if the report is OK. 7. The WR-30 prints next. 8. Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut the 927 or 927-W from the sheet. Do not submit the whole 8½ x 11 sheet of paper. The New Jersey 927 and 927-W must be duplexed. If they are not, the state will reject them and consider that the Client has not filed the report timely. A properly printed NJ 927 or 927-W have the coupon information on the front and back at the bottom of the page. A large plus sign can be seen by holding the paper up to a light. If you cannot see the plus sign, the form is misprinted and must not be filed. New York CCIS Payroll prepares Forms NYS-1, NYS-45 and NYS-45-ATT including Paid Preparer, Part D and Part E. Forms on a Disk for New York are available to create entire forms using your PCLcapable laser printer. They will not print on an ink-jet. The NYS-1 is produced for any month. The NYS-45 and NYS-45-ATT are produced for quarters. To print a NYS-1 for any month: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button then Wage. 3. Select the month in the Reporting period list. 4. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 5. Say whether the Client is still in business. 6. The NYS-1 appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Select the Print button. To print a NYS-45 and NYS-45-ATT for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link Page 126

135 2. Click the Print button and then Wage. 3. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 4. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 5. Say whether the Client is still in business. 6. The NYS-45 page 1 appears on the screen. The right arrow button lights up with a title of NYS-45 p2. 7. Make any necessary changes to page Select the NYS-45 p2 button to change page 2. Make any necessary changes to page Click the NYS-45 p1 button to return to page Press the Print button to print the form. 11. NYS-45-ATT prints if there are more than five employees to report. 12. Select the Print button to print the form. North Carolina CCIS Payroll prepares North Carolina Forms NCUI 101 and 101B. The state prefers these forms to be preprinted but will accept computer-generated forms. Form on a Disk are available for both forms. To print a NCUI 101 and NCUI 101B for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies and choose Next. 6. The NCUI 101 appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Select the Print button. The NCUI 101B prints automatically whenever there are more than 10 employees to report in the quarter. Ohio CCIS Payroll produces Ohio Form UCO-QTR1 and Form UCO-2QRS. Form UCO-2QRS must be filed on preprinted forms. There is a Form on a Disk available for the UCO-QTR1 and the file copy only of the UCO-QTR2RS. To print Form UCO-QTR1 and Form UCO-2QRS for any quarter: Texas 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose the Print button and choose Wage 3. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 4. Enter the number of copies and choose Next. 5. Enter the Weeks Worked. 6. Form UCO-QTR1 appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Select the Print button. Form UCO-QTR1 prints. 8. The computer stops for you to insert Form UCO-2QRS. Select OK. The file copy of Form UCO-2QRS prints if you have the Form on a Disk. CCIS Payroll completes Texas Form C-4. Texas requires the use of preprinted forms only. A filecopy-only Form on a Disk is available Page 127

136 To print a C-4 for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 6. The C-4 appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 7. Choose the Save button to save the changes. 8. Select the Print button. Washington State CCIS Payroll completes State of Washington forms 5208 A and B. To print a 5208 A and B for any quarter: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose the Print button. 3. Choose Wage. 4. Select the quarter in the Reporting period list. 5. Enter the number of copies and select Next. 6. Tell CCIS Payroll whether to print the Client Name or not. 7. The 5208 A appears on the screen. Make any necessary changes. 8. Select the Save button to save the changes. 9. Select the Print button. The 5208 B prints automatically after the 5208 A. A Form on a Disk is available Page 128

137 Chapter 24 W-2 Preparation W-2 filing overview CCIS Payroll can produce year-end information returns in a variety of preprinted paper formats and also electronically. It produces Forms W-2 and W-3. This chapter discusses: How to file paper W-2's How to file paper W-3's How to file W-2's over the Internet How to align laser W-2's About the Medicare test How to print a summary W-2 W-2 filing using paper forms CCIS Payroll produces Forms W-2 on a variety of paper formats. Laser and inkjet printer users have the options of printing in a traditional, two to a page format, a 4-up format for employee copies, or using our Forms on a Disk to create black-ink copies. Dot matrix printer users can use one-wide traditional forms in single or twin-sets. Two-wide W-2 forms are no longer supported. Forms can be printed using either the System Printer, or the Check Printer. W-2 s can be printed for one Client at a time, or in a batch. The batch can contain as many Clients as you like. You can also limit the employees that are printed to a group of your choosing. The group must be from the current Client only. It can contain as few as one employee. This makes it easy to reprint a W-2 for an employee. To print W-2 forms: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose Year end reports W-2 Print. 3. The W-2 Paper Forms options window appears. Set up the print job using this window. The required information appears in blue. 4. Choose a printer and form combination from the Printer and form to use section. It shows both the System and Check printer, and the type of forms they support. Select the setting you wish Page 129

138 5. The types of forms that the printer supports appear in the Copies to print section. All available forms for the type of printer and options appear in the window. Forms that are not available either because your printer doesn t support them, or you haven t purchased the required Forms on a Disk option are grayed-out. You can choose any or all of the available selections. CCIS Payroll will stop every time you need to change forms or paper. This way you can choose to print all the forms from Copy A to the W-3 for each Client at once, or minimize form changes by doing all forms of a given type for all Clients. Note the options Red and Black beside SSA Copy A and W-3. SSA accepts W-2 and W-3 forms printed entirely in black ink. People who purchase our Forms on a Disk option receive the black images of SSA Copy A. Many people prefer to file their SSA copies on red-ink paper, even though it is not required. If you have purchased the W-2 Forms on a Disk but want to print the SSA copies in Red, check the Red box, otherwise check the Black one. 6. Select any available form use it. The program displays a checkmark beside all forms you select to use. 7. The Employees to include section is where you tell CCIS Payroll the employees for which you want to print W-2 s. The choices are All employees, or a Range of Employees. Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending Social Security Number that you want to be included. Remember to press [Tab] when leaving these boxes. To print a W-2 for one employee only, make the beginning and ending SSN s the same. Use the Range of Employees option whenever you need to reissue a W-2 that has been lost, or you need to reissue W-2 s to the employees BEFORE you have sent them to SSA. Select Replacing a LOST W-2: when you are replacing W-2 s that have been lost. A Message prints on the W-2 saying it is a replacement. Select Correcting a W-2: when you want to re-issue employee W-2 s BEFORE any W-2 s have been sent to SSA, whether on paper or electronically. If you HAVE sent the W-2 s to SSA, do NOT choose this option. In that case you need to file a W-2c for every W-2 that needs correcting. W-2c s can be prepared on the SSA web site 8. Select the order you want your W-2 s to print in the Arrange Forms By section. Your choices are SSN or Last Name. 9. Use the Select clients to process list box to tell CCIS Payroll which Clients to print. To select a Client, use the up and down arrows on the right of the list box to scroll through the Clients. They are in client-number order. When the desired Client appears, select the name to have it turn blue Page 130

139 A checkmark or x (depending on your system settings) appears beside every Client that is chosen. The Clients selected area shows the number of Clients that you have selected to print. 10. The Print them button becomes available once you have selected at least one Client and one copy to print. To Save choices of Printer and Copies for future use select the Save button. 11. Once the setup is complete, select Print them. CCIS Payroll cycles through the Copies to print from top to bottom starting with the first Client you selected. Every time that a paper change is required, it stops and waits for you to change forms. Preprinted forms can be aligned at this time as needed. When CCIS Payroll finishes with the set for one Client, it starts over from the top of the Copies to print area for the next. How to print a summary W-2 The summary W-2 shows totals for each box, and the total number of W-2's that were printed. Here s how to set this up for a Client: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose Year end reports W-2 Print. 3. The W-2 Paper Forms window appears. 4. Choose the Summary W-2 option in the Copies to print section. 5. Select the clients you want to print 6. Select Print them How to print optional information on Form W-2 Box 14 on Form W-2 can be used to report any other information that you want to give to your employees. There is room for four lines of information in this box. Not all lines may be available to you, depending on your situation. The IRS suggests that Box 14 be used instead of a separate statement to report the Lease value of a vehicle. Also, those states with some form of disability deduction generally require you to report deducted amounts in this box. CCIS Payroll automatically adds this type of required information. The available space is yours to use as you want. Our program can add information automatically. Here s how it works. Our software looks to the Deduction fields to see what information you want to include, if there s room. To tell the program which field(s) to include, open the Clients page. Choose the Client then click the Labels tab Page 131

140 Note the checkboxes beside labels 18 through 26. You may select any or all of these deductions. (As you know, Deduction 17 is reserved for Deferred Compensation, reported elsewhere on Form W-2, and labels 27 and 28 are reserved.) If there s only room for four lines in Box 14 of Form W-2, why can we select all the deductions? CCIS Payroll only chooses a field if the employee has had any money deducted. This allows you to differentiate between types of employees and gives you greater flexibility. In the typical payroll, not every employee has exactly the same deductions. For example, you may have employees with Union and Uniform deductions, others with Health Insurance only, still others with Child Support or Long-Term Disability Insurance. Make your selections by choosing Edit, selecting each box as needed, then choosing Save or pressing F10. What you see on the W-2: After adding any required information, our software begins at the top of the list of Deductions, looking for one that you have checked. Next it looks to see if the employee has had any money deducted for that field. If so, it prints an abbreviated label and amount in Box 14. CCIS Payroll repeats this process until it either runs out of room in Box 14, or it runs out of deductions. Remember, if there isn t enough room in Box 14, our software will not generate another W-2. It will simply not print anything more in Box 14. Other ways to add to Box 14: The W-2 Editor can be used to add information to Box 14 as well. W-3 filing using paper forms The W-3 s may be printed as part of the complete W-2 set for a Client, or individually. To print them individually: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose Year end reports W-2 Print. 3. Select W-3 for SSA in the Copies to print area. If you have purchased Forms on a Disk for the current year, choose between printing the W-3 in Red, or Black. 4. Select W-3 file copy if you have the Forms on a Disk for it. 5. Select the Clients to print. 6. Choose Print them Page 132

141 Partial printing of W-2's With CCIS Payroll, you can limit the number of W-2 forms that are printed to a range of Social Security Numbers, or a single employee. The Employees to include section of the W-2 paper filing window is where you tell CCIS Payroll which employees to print. Your choices are All employees or a Range of Employees. Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending Social Security Number that you want to be included. Remember to press Tab when leaving these boxes. To print a form for one employee only, make the beginning and ending SSN s the same. The Medicare test There have been so many mistakes made by filers of Form W-2 since FICA was split into OASDI and Medicare some years ago that the Social Security Administration has instituted computerized edits of Forms W-2, whether filed on paper or magnetic media. These edits compare, among other things, the amount of Medicare withheld and the reported Medicare wages. If the amount withheld falls outside of the range of 1.4 to 1.5% of Medicare wages, the SSA adjusts the Medicare wages and you get a letter advising you of the change. CCIS Payroll performs these same tests while printing Forms W-2, or producing Magnetic Media. If your client's file fails the Medicare edit, the program halts for your input. You may choose to ignore the warning. Reporting uncollected FICA on tips If an employee owes FICA from tip income, report the amount owed on a separate paper W-2. Splitting New Jersey UC and TDI on Form W-2 CCIS Payroll will split the New Jersey UC/DI withholdings into their component parts for reporting on in Box 14 of Form W-2. The NJ Registration Number and UI wages are also printed in the Local Tax area of Form W-2. You can enter or change the rate components when you prepare the NJ-927(W) quarterly reports. The rates are accessible from the Edit menu just prior to printing. If you have used CCIS Payroll to prepare New Jersey Form 927 or 927-W, the rates are already entered. Laser W-2 and 1099 alignment procedures There is an alignment procedure for users of preprinted laser W-2's and 1099's. Most people will never need to use it. It is provided for those of you whose laser printers are at the extreme ends of the manufacturing tolerance and who may need to adjust the print positions Page 133

142 To use the alignment function, put forms in the printer and choose Yes when the dialog box appears. If your Primary Printer is PCL or GDI, a test pattern prints and this window appears. Examine the sample. Use the sliders to move the print into position. Choose Try Again to repeat this cycle or select OK to proceed Page 134

143 Chapter 25 - W-2 filing using the internet The SSA requires that copy A of Form W-2 be filed using the Internet whenever the total number of forms required to be filed by a single employer exceeds a specified minimum. In 2008 this level was 250. The SSA also encourages Practitioners, Service Bureaus and companies that report several payrolls to use magnetic media when the aggregate exceeds 250 forms. Electronic filing offers several advantages, not the least of which is an extended filing deadline. The filing date for forms W-2 using the internet has been March 31 for the past few years. Please confirm this each year. Another advantage is the availability of the processing status of your file. Generally, files will be processed within 120 days of receipt by SSA. The status of your file will be available on the BSO site. Internet filing is so much faster than paper filing that we recommend you use it if at all possible. The SSA does not refuse submissions of less than 250 aggregate W-2 s. You can even submit a file with one W-2 on it. CCIS Payroll can properly file Copy A of form W-2 via the Internet using the SSA specifications contained in SSA Publication MMREF-1. Magnetic media filing of state W-2 information may also be available at extra cost. Approvals and the PIN You do not require permission to file W-2 information using the internet with the Social Security Administration. You do require a PIN that uniquely identifies your submittals. PIN s are issued by SSA on their Business Services Online web site (see below). One thing to be careful of is your password expire date. You assign your own password and it is only good for 1 year. You must remember to log on and change your password before the year passes. If you fail to do that, your Registration is cancelled and you have to re-register. CCIS Payroll will not prepare a file without a PIN. You will need to provide the following information: The EIN of your own company. Your Social Security Number. Your name (first name, middle initial or name, and last name) as shown on your Social Security Card. Information about how SSA can contact you in case of a problem, such as your telephone number and address Page 135

144 To get a PIN: 1. Log on to the SSA employer 2. Select Electronically File your W-2 s. 3. Choose the Register button and follow the rest of the screens. Before issuing your PIN, SSA will match your name and SSN against their records. They will then check to see that you work for the company submitting the wage reports. Some states require pre-notification of your intent to use magnetic media. Please check with your state coordinator. Preparing the submission A W-2 electronic submission consists of: a. An identifying record. b. One or many SETS of: Client identifying record Employee W-2 records Client total record A final record To prepare the submittal: 1. Carefully check your data. The submission process cannot be stopped and restarted. 2. Choose the Reports link. 3. Choose Year-end Reports from the Reports menu. 4. Choose W-2, then Electronic. The Transmitter/Submitter Header record window appears: 2008 Page 136

145 5. The Transmitter is the entity that has the PIN. It does not necessarily have to also be sending its own data. If it is sending its own data, it must also be set up as a Client. 6. The areas that have a blue label are required. 7. The Name and identification information must be exactly the same as was used when you applied for the PIN. Since the Firm is normally the entity that is sending the data, identification information is drawn from the firm file the first time that you display this window. You can make any changes you like to this information. If you click Save, the information is saved in a different file for future W-2 submissions. The Firm information stays the same, unchanged. 8. Select from one of the options in the Notification method group. 9. Choose the option that best describes your relation to the Clients in the Description of Transmitter group. 10. If you are sending a replacement file, Choose "This file replaces " box. Then enter the WFID from the notice sent by the SSA. 11. The name and location of your file area shows the place CCIS Payroll is storing your submission. You need this information when performing the actual download. You might want to write it down for reference. 12. Use the Select clients to process list box to tell CCIS Payroll which Clients to put in the file. To select a Client: The Clients are in alphabetical order, use the up and down arrows to the right of the list box to scroll through the list to find and select the desired client. When the client is chosen the name will turn blue. A checkmark or X (depending on your operating system settings) appears beside each chosen client. 13. The Clients selected area shows the number of Clients that you have selected to send. 14. When you are ready to send the file, choose the Make the file button. 15. CCIS Payroll puts every selected Client into the file. Sending the W-2 file to SSA Depending on the size of your file and the speed of your internet connection, you might want to compress your file before sending it. SSA accepts files in the standard ZIP format. ZIP-file creation software is available from several vendors and goes under the names of PKZip, WinZip and others. These companies all have web sites. 1. Select the Send to SSA button from the preparation window. The SSA-BSO home page opens. 2. Scroll down and choose Log in. 3. Choose Log in Page 137

146 4. Log in using your PIN and password. 5. Select Report Wages to Social Security. 6. Choose Submit or Resubmit Wage file. 7. Choose Submit a W-2 Wage File. 8. Answer the questions and select Continue. 9. Several advisory screens appear. Accept each one by choosing Continue Page 138

147 10. Enter the location of your file, or select the Browse button to find it. It is always in ISPAYW/[the year]. The typical location in 2008 is C:\ISPAYW\2008\W2REPORT. 11. Choose Submit. 12. SSA assigns a unique number called a WFID to each file that it receives over the web. You need this number in order to track your file. 13. The file information appears immediately after the download. Please print the page for your records. You will need it. Testing W-2's using Accuwage The Social Security Administration (SSA) has developed free software that tests the W-2 magnetic media or electronic files produced by CCIS Payroll. SSA provides a link to the current year s ACCUWAGE software on the BSO site Follow the login steps described here until you see this window. 1. Choose the Download Accuwage link (highlighted in yellow in the picture). 2. AccuWage software checks your W-2 submission for over 200 different errors. All you need to do is start AccuWage, point it to your submission and it does the rest Page 139

148 Chapter 26 - The W-2 Editor Overview of the W-2 editor The W-2 editor is a tool that allows you to change a W-2, add a W-2 for an existing employee, and add W-2 s for employees that you do not process payroll for. For example, if you need to report Federal Income Tax that was withheld and remitted by a third party, you would use the W-2 Editor to edit the employee s W-2. If you have employees who work in more than two local tax jurisdictions, you would use the W-2 Editor to add more W-2 s for that employee. However, you must not use the W-2 Editor if you have to file W-2 s electronically. Only W-2 s prepared using payroll that has been recorded conventionally and not edited can be filed electronically. The W-2 Edit file doesn t interact with your general payroll files in any way at all. Anything you do to the W-2 Edit file will not be reflected in any other reports. This section shows you: How to create a W-2 Edit file How to Open the W-2 edit file for viewing or editing How to add W-2's for an existing employee How to Change an employee's W-2 How to add W-2's for non-payroll Clients How to find a W-2 in the Edit file How to Delete the W-2 Edit file How to Print the W-2 Edit file W-2 Editor Examples Splitting Local Taxes. Mr. Jones moved from Ada to Enid during the year. Both cities impose a 1% income tax. He is also subject to the Greater Erie school district tax of 2%. You need to show each amount on a W-2. When he moved, you changed the name of his Locality #1 field from Ada to Two to remind you that there were 2 localities in that field. You also recorded his YTD Local Wages and Local Withholdings at that time. You need to report the following on his W-2: Locality Wages Withholdings Ada 15, Enid 10, GESD 25, This is easy. Follow these steps: 2008 Page 140

149 1. Create a W-2 Edit file (if you haven t already done so). 2. Open the W-2 Edit file. 3. Find Mr. Jones W Select Edit. 5. Go to Box 19 and change the entry to Ada. 6. Go to Box 20 and change the value to Go to Box 21 and change the value to Select Save. Mr. Jones W-2 is still on the screen. 9. Select Copy. 10. A new W-2 with blank boxes 1-21 appears. 11. Go to Box 19 and enter Enid. 12. Go to Box 20 and enter Go to Box 21 and enter Choose Save and select Stop. Now there are 2 W-2 s for Mr. Jones. Recording 3rd Party FIT Ms. Smith was disabled in an on-the-job accident. She received income from the state disability fund. The state withheld $76.38 FIT but you are required to report it in Box 15 of Form W-3. CCIS Payroll has a special box for 3rd party FIT in the W-2 Edit. Any money entered there is automatically placed in Box 15 of Form W-3. To record money there: 1. Create a W-2 Edit file (if you haven t already done so). 2. Open the W-2 Edit file. 3. Find Ms. Smith s W Select Edit and Go to the box labeled FIT Withheld by 3rd Party. 5. Type and choose <tab>. 6. Press F10 or select Save to save the changed W-2. How to create a W-2 Edit file A W-2 edit file is created the same way that conventional paper W-2 s are and contains exactly the same information arranged the same way, in ascending Social Security Number order. The information for Boxes 13 and 14, plus all the state and local information is shown also. You can create a W-2 Edit file as often as you like. So, in the case that you make some catastrophic error and want to start over, you simply delete the old W-2 Edit file, and create a new one Page 141

150 The W-2 Edit file doesn t interact with your general payroll files in any way at all. Any changes you make only appear on the W-2 s, and Form W-3. They do not carry onto Form 941, Form 940(EZ) or anywhere else. 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Year-end Reports W-2 Edit. 3. The W-2 Editor help information panel appears. (Unlike other help information panels in CCIS Payroll, this one cannot be hidden. We did that because most people will only access it once a year.) 4. Select the New button to make the file. How to add W-2's for an existing employee The W-2 Editor uses the employee identification information from the W-2 that is currently displayed on the screen as the basis for a new W-2. The employee s name, address, and Social Security Number are copied to a new and otherwise blank W-2. This new W-2 is put at the end of the file. To add a W-2: 1. Open the W-2 Edit file. 2. Use the Back or Forward arrows, the Open button, or the Find button to find a W-2 for the employee. 3. Select the Copy button. 4. A new W-2 is created and the cursor is in Box Record the information and press Save to save the W-2. How to change an employee's W-2 You can change any of the information in Boxes 1 through 22 using the W-2 Editor. The Editor is free form and makes no assumptions about what you should be putting in a given field. It is especially important to remember this if you make any changes to Box 13. All items in Box 13 must have an alpha code letter. The proper letter for a particular item, like 401(k) deferred compensation, is set forth in the annual instructions issued by Social Security and the IRS. The editor does test FICA and Medicare wages and withholdings, but you can ignore the warning messages and force the W-2 to print the way you typed it. We do not recommend ignoring any warnings. Fines and penalties for filing incorrect W-2 s range up to $50.00 per W-2! 2008 Page 142

151 To change a W-2: 1. Open the W-2 Edit file. 2. Use the Back or Forward arrows, the Open button, or the Find button to find the W-2 for the employee. 3. Select the Edit button. 4. Navigate to the field you want to change, make the change and press the Tab key. 5. Choose the Save button when done. 6. Choose Stop when you re done editing W-2 s. How to add W-2's for non-payroll Clients The W-2 Editor can be used as a form filler to accommodate those non-payroll Clients who want you to prepare their W-2 s. When the W-2 Editor is used this way, nothing is saved permanently, other than the Client information. In order to save the employee information for use in future years, please use the conventional methods to enter the employees, and their payroll information. 1. Begin by creating a Client. 2. Next, choose the Reports link. 3. Select the Year-end Reports W Select Edit. The W-2 Editor help information panel appears. (Unlike other help information panels in CCIS Payroll, this one cannot be hidden. We did that because most people will only access it once a year.) 5. Select the New button to make the file. 6. Add the employees. 7. Choose Stop to end. How to print edited W-2's To print a W-2 Edit file from the W-2 Editor screen, click on Print W2 s, or choose File Print W2 s. Printing W-2 s that you have edited uses the same procedures as are used to print ordinary W-2's. CCIS Payroll shows you only those Clients with a W-2 Edit file. Any Client without an edit file isn t available to print here. Please remember that is it not possible to file electronically using an edited W-2 file Page 143

152 How to open the W-2 edit file The W-2 Edit file contains all the W-2 information for a Client. To add or change a W-2, the W-2 Edit file needs to be loaded into memory. Once there, you can reach any W-2. To load the W-2 Edit file: 1. Choose the Reports link 2. Select the Year-end Reports W-2 Edit. 3. The W-2 Editor help information panel appears. Select the Open button on this screen. 4. A blank W-2 appears on-screen when the file is loaded and ready to be worked on. How to find a W-2 in the Edit file When first created, the W-2 Edit file is in Social Security Number order. Each individual W-2 is numbered, beginning with number 1. The number of any given W-2 shows in Box a Control Number. You can find any W-2 by clicking the Back and Forward buttons to scroll through the file. If you know the control number, you can also retrieve a W-2 by choose Open, then entering the number in the box and selecting OK. If you don t know the control number, there are two other ways you can find a W-2: by last name, and by Social Security Number. To find a W-2: 1. Load the W-2 Edit file into memory. 2. Select the Find button, or choose Edit Find. 3. Select the menu for the method you want to use. 4. Enter the last name, or Social Security number in the box. If you enter a partial name, CCIS Payroll retrieves every name that contains the fragment you entered. How to delete the W-2 Edit file The W-2 Edit File is a work file that is created using the information from your permanent payroll records, or by hand for non-payroll Clients. It does not interact in any way with your permanent payroll. Any changes you make only appear on the W-2 s, and Form W-3. They do not carry onto Form 941, Form 940(EZ) or anywhere else Page 144

153 When you delete a W-2 Edit file, all changes and additions that you have made to the file disappear. To delete the W-2 Edit file: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Select the Year-end Reports W-2 Edit. 3. The W-2 Editor help information panel appears. 4. Select the Delete button and confirm your decision. The file is permanently deleted. How to print the W-2 Edit file for review The W-2 Edit file is printed using the same procedures as are used to print ordinary W-2's. CCIS Payroll automatically uses the W-2 Edit file for a Client if it finds one. Please remember that it is not possible to file electronically using an edited W-2 file. To print a W-2 Edit file from the W-2 Editor screen, select Print, or choose File Print Page 145

154 Chapter Preparation 1099 preparation overview CCIS Payroll can produce year-end information returns in a variety of preprinted paper formats and also electronically. This section discusses Forms 1099-MISC and How to file paper 1099-MISC's How to file paper 1096's How to file 1099-MISC's over the Internet 1099-MISC filing using paper forms CCIS Payroll produces Form 1099-MISC for rents, royalties, nonemployee compensation, other income and payments to attorneys on a variety of paper formats. Sheet-fed printer users have the options of using our Forms on a Disk to create black-ink copies. Dot matrix printer users can use one-wide forms in the traditional format. Forms can be printed using either the System, or the Check Printer MISC s can be printed for one Client at a time, or in a batch. The batch can contain as many Clients as you like. You can also limit the employees that are printed to a group of your choosing. The group must be from the current Client only. It can contain as few as one employee. This makes it easy to reprint a W-2 for an employee. To print forms 1099-MISC: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose Year end reports 1099 Print. The 1099 Paper Forms window appears. Set up the print job using this window. The required information appears in blue. 3. Choose a printer and form combination from the Printer and form to use section. It shows both the System and Check printer, and the type of forms they support.. 4. The types of forms that the printer supports appear in the Copies to print section. All available forms for the type of printer and options appear. Forms that are not available either because your printer doesn t support them, or you haven t purchased the required Forms on a Disk option appear grayed-out. You can choose any or all of the available selections. CCIS Payroll will stop every time you need to change forms or paper. This way you can choose to print all the forms from Copy A to the 1096 for each Client at once, or minimize form changes by doing all forms of a given type for all Clients Page 146

155 5. Select the forms. The programs display a check mark beside the form(s) you select to print. 6. The Employees to include section is where you tell CCIS Payroll which employees to print. Your choices are All employees, or a Range of Employees. Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending TIN that you want to be included. Remember to press [Tab] when leaving these boxes. To print a 1099-MISC for one employee only, make the beginning and ending TIN s the same. 7. Select the order you want your 1099-MISC forms to print in the Arrange Forms By section. Your choices are SSN or Last Name. 8. Use the Select clients to process list box to tell CCIS Payroll which Clients to print. To select a Client, use the up and down arrows on the right of the list to scroll through the Clients. They are in client-number order. When the desired Client appears, select on the name to have it turn blue. A checkmark or x (depending on your system settings) appears beside every Client that is chosen. 9. The Clients selected area shows the number of Clients that you have selected to print. 10. The Print them button becomes available once you have selected at least one Client and one copy to print. To save the choices of Printer and Copies for future use, select the Save button. 11. Once the setup is complete, select Print them. CCIS Payroll cycles through the Copies to print from top to bottom starting with the first Client you selected. Every time that a paper change is required, it stops and waits for you to change forms. Preprinted forms can be aligned at this time as needed. When CCIS Payroll finished with the set for one Client, it starts over from the top of the Copies to print area for the next filing using paper forms The 1096 s may be printed as part of the complete 1099-MISC set for a Client, or individually. To print them individually: 1. Choose the Reports link. 2. Choose Year end reports 1099 Print. 3. Select 1096 Transmittal (Red) in the Copies to print area or 1096 file copy if you have the Forms on a Disk for it. 4. Select the Clients to print. 5. Choose Print them. Partial printing of 1099's With CCIS Payroll, you can limit the number of 1099 forms that are printed to a range of Social Security Numbers, or a single employee. The Employees to include section of the 1099 paper filing window is where you tell CCIS Payroll which employees to print. Your choices are All employees or a Range of Employees. Should you choose a range of employees, you are limited to the current Client only. Enter the beginning and ending Social Security Number that you want to be included. Remember to press the Tab key when leaving these boxes. To print a form for one employee only, make the beginning and ending SSN s the same Page 147

156 Chapter filing using the internet The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that Form 1099-MISC be filed electronically over the Internet whenever the total number of forms exceeds a specified minimum. In 2008, this level is 250. The IRS also encourages Practitioners, Service Bureaus and companies that report several payrolls to use the Internet. The IRS electronic filing system is referred to as the F.I.R.E. system (File Information Returns Electronically). Electronic filing is so much faster than paper filing that we recommend you use it if at all possible. There is no lower limit on the number of 1099's in a submission. This means you can file even one 1099 on the internet! The other beautiful thing about electronic filing is the F.I.R.E. system s you the results of your submission, usually the next day (although the IRS suggests waiting two days). You know almost immediately whether your filing is acceptable. Getting IRS approval Prior approval from the IRS is required. You can find all the necessary information at this IRS website, Here's how to complete Form Application for Filing Information Returns Electronically. This form is available at the IRS site mentioned above in a filable-pdf format. 1. Complete boxes 1-3 using the Firm Information. 2. Skip Box In Box 5 enter the current year. 4. In Box 6 answer No. 5. Put an X in the box beside Forms 1098, 1099, 5498 and W-2G in Box Complete and sign in Box 8. The following statements are from Form 4419: "In order to ensure timely filing, submit Form 4419 at least 30 days before the due date of the return. If you prefer, the Form 4419 can be faxed to (304) , but do not do both (faxing and mailing). If your application is approved, IRS will assign a TCC to your organization. We will not issue your TCC without a signed Form 4419, and we will not issue a TCC over the phone or by . If you do not receive a reply from IRS within 30 days, contact us at the telephone number shown below. Do not submit any files until you receive your TCC. For further information concerning the filing of information returns with IRS electronically, you may access for Publication 1220 for the current tax year. If you do not have internet access, you may contact the IRS Enterprise Computing Center - Martinsburg toll-free at (866) between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm Eastern Standard Time." 7. Record the TCC in the Firm file Page 148

157 Preparing the submission A 1099 Electronic submission consists of: A Transmitter record An identifying record One or many SETS of: Payer (Client) identifying record 1099 records Client total record A final record CCIS Payroll prepares submissions that can be sent by the internet to the IRS electronic filing center. To prepare the submittal: 1. Carefully check your data. The submission process cannot be stopped and restarted. 2. Select the Reports link. 3. Choose Year-end Reports from the Reports menu. 4. Choose 1099, then Electronic. The Transmitter/Submitter Header Information window appears: 5. The Transmitter is the entity that has the TCC. It does not necessarily have to also be sending its own data. If it is sending its own data, it must also be set up as a Client. The areas that have a blue label are required. 6. The Name and identification information must be exactly the same as was used when you applied for the Transmitter Control Code. Since the Firm is normally the entity that is sending the data, identification information is drawn from the firm file the first time you display this window. 7. You can make any changes you like to this information. If you choose Save, the information is saved in a different file for future 1099 submissions. The Firm information stays the same, unchanged. 8. The location of the submission file is shown in the Name and location of your file area. Note this information down. You need it in order to send the file Page 149

158 9. Use the Select clients to process list box to tell CCIS Payroll which Clients to put in the file. To select a Client, use the up and down arrows on the right of the list box to scroll through the Clients. They are in alphabetical order. When the desired Client appears, select the name to have it turn blue. A checkmark or X (depending on your operating system settings) appears beside every Client that is chosen. 10. The Clients selected area shows the number of Clients that you have selected to send. 11. When you are ready to send the file, select the Make the file button. CCIS Payroll puts every selected Client into the file. Sending the 1099 submission Depending on the size of your file and the speed of your internet connection, you might want to compress your file before sending it. SSA accepts files in the standard ZIP format. ZIP-file creation software is available from several vendors and goes under the names of PKZip, WinZip and others. These companies all have web sites. 1. Choose the Send to IRS button from the preparation window. 2. Enter your User ID and Password, and then choose Login. 3. Read the important bulletins then choose Click here to continue in the upper-right of the page. 4. Choose Send Information Returns Page 150

159 5. Enter your IRS-assigned TCC, and the EIN associated with it. This is the same EIN you used completing Form Verify the information. Change as necessary and choose Accept when you re ready. 7. Choose Original File. (CCIS Payroll does not support Replacement and Correction files.) 8. Read "The Legalese" then enter your PIN (chosen when you registered) and choose Submit. 9. Your file is called IRSTAX (unless you changed in when making a ZIP) and it is usually in C:\ISPAYW\[the current year]. 10. Either enter the file name, or choose Browse to find it. Select Upload when done. 11. The IRS responds with a file name and number of bytes received. Verify that against the actual file by right-clicking the file name and reading the size from the Properties box Page 151

160 12. If you re satisfied, log off the IRS F.I.R.E. site. The IRS will send you an within 2 days. If you haven t received one, log back onto the F.I.R.E. site and check the status. How to view an electronic file Windows provides all the tools you need to view a magnetic media file on the screen. Small files can be read using Notepad. Larger files can be read using WordPad. 1. Choose Start Programs Accessories Notepad. 2. Choose File Open. Select the current year s directory To read a W-2 submission, look for files called W2REPORT. To read a 1099 submission, look for files containing IRSTAX. 3. Double-click the file to open it. (If the file is too big for Notepad, Windows offers to use WordPad.) 4. Choose File Exit when done. 5. Do NOT save any changes if prompted by Notepad or WordPad. 6. If you change the file in any way at all, it will not be acceptable and you'll have to repeat the entire process. Reviewing electronic files Both W-2 and 1099 magnetic media files are written in standard ASCII. They can be printed or viewed without any special software. This means that your review reads exactly what the SSA/IRS computers will be reading. W-2 files are called W2REPORT. Each record or line in the file is exactly 512 characters long. The contents of each part of the file are specified in SSA publication MMREF-1. The SSA provides a free software program that reads MMREF-1 files and checks them for proper formatting. The program does NOT check the actual contents, just whether the file is made properly. You can get the file from the SSA BSO site files are called IRSTAX. Each record or line is exactly 750 characters long. The contents of each part of the file are specified in IRS Publication A quick way to check the file is to look at the total records. Generally, if those prove to your controls, the rest of the file is OK Page 152

161 Chapter 29 - Tax years Tax years overview CCIS Payroll is a multi-year payroll processing system. You are able to begin processing payroll for a new payroll year without first printing W-2's and doing the other end-of-year chores. This chapter discusses: How CCIS Payroll stores tax years How to start a new tax year How to switch between years How to delete tax years How tax years are stored CCIS Payroll keeps each set of information for a tax year in a different folder. A set of information includes the Employee Master files, the Client Master files, all earnings and liability data, the Firm file, and the Tax Table. Each set (= tax year) is separate and distinct from all other sets. This allows you to process current year payrolls before the prior year is closed and the W-2's prepared. The current tax year is displayed prominently on the Main Menu. It is also the first entry on every Help menu. Starting a new tax year CCIS Payroll keeps all data files for a year in a folder for that year. There is never any inter-mingling of data. It isn t possible for CCIS Payroll to say it is working in one year, and change the data for a different year. It is designed this way so that you can write paychecks for a New Year before you have finished with the old year. This gives you all the time you need to prove your figures and prepare W-2 s and summaries. Three things need to be done in order to produce payroll for a New Year: 1. Make the folder for the New Year. 2. Bring the Client(s) data into the new year folder. 3. Change to the New Year. CCIS Payroll stays in the current year until you tell it to go to another year. CCIS Payroll performs the following actions to prepare for a new year: Zeroes all employee accumulators. Zeroes all liability accumulators Page 153

162 Optionally deletes all terminated employees - those whose Status in the Employee Master File is Terminated. Optionally zeroes or resets accumulated sick, vacation and Comp hours. Within the context of CCIS Payroll, a New Year is any year that is different from the current year. While most of the time a New Year is the current year + 1, it can just as easily be 2 years ahead, or a year behind. If the need should arise, for example a new Client hasn t filed the prior year s W-2 s, you can move him back. To prepare for a new tax year: 1. Make two (2) backup copies of your client data. We strongly recommend that you also copy all the program files to ensure that the data can be read. Put the disks in a safe place. 2. From the Main Menu, choose Maintenance New Year or select File Pay Year, then the Create a New Year. 3. The Move Clients forward to a New Pay Year window opens. CCIS Payroll guesses that you want to move forward and shows you the new year in the Select a Year area. Change this if necessary. 4. Choose to move either All Clients or One Client only in the Clients to move forward area. CCIS Payroll always replaces data files in the New Year with those from the old. If a Client has already been brought forward, the New Year's data will be over-written with the old data. 5. Set the options for Vacation Accrual, Sick Time Accrual, and Comp Time Accrual, in the New Year Options. 6. Set the checkboxes for the warning messages. 7. Select the OK button. Changing between tax years You are able to change between tax years whenever you want to. 1. From the Main Menu, choose File Pay Year 2008 Page 154

163 2. Select the year to which you want to change from the Available Years list. 3. Select the Change to [year] button. Deleting tax years This section describes the only recommended way to remove unwanted years. Please do not delete any data outside of CCIS Payroll, by using Explorer or DOS DELTREE for example. CCIS Payroll uses special controls for security and control purposes. These required controls are automatically updated as needed. Deleting files using DOS or other file managers will not change these controls and you will experience system errors that may be hard to recover from. To delete a Pay Year: 1. From the Main Menu, choose File Pay Year 2. Select the year, or choose the Down arrow on the Available Years box. 3. Click the Delete [year] button. 4. Confirm your selection Page 155

164 Chapter 30 - Tax tables How CCIS Payroll stores tax tables CCIS Payroll annualizes all earnings and uses the exact calculation or percentage method to arrive at Federal, State, and New York City withholding amounts. All the information that pertains to a given taxation authority is contained in a system file called TAXTABLE.DTA. This file is stored in the current year s folder. This file contains information telling CCIS Payroll which rates to use, what formulas to apply, how much money is exempt, etc. In some cases, it also holds minimum wages, disability insurance rates and limits. SUTA rates and limits are found in the Payroll States tab of the Client Master file. FUTA rates and limits are in the Firm file. A tax table consists of two parts, General Information that holds such things as formula numbers, dependent exemptions etc., and up to three Tax Rate Tables, one for Married, another for Single, and a third for Head of House taxpayers. This is the General Information window. The General Information window is divided into five sections: Deductions - Items that are deducted from income before computing taxes. Depending on the law, they can contain such things as a percentage of Gross Pay, some or all of the Federal Income Tax, and other deductions enacted by your state. Exemptions - More items that are excluded from the tax calculations. Exemptions differ from Deductions, generally, in that they are tied somehow to marital status and the number of claimed dependents. Credits - Amounts that are deducted from the computed tax. This area is labeled Medicare in the Federal Tax Table Page 156

165 Taxes - This area tells CCIS Payroll how many tax tables there are, how many entries are in each table, and taxable pay that is exempt from withholding. If your state computes withholdings using a flat rate, the rate is kept here also. Disability - Used to set the rates and limits for States that withhold amounts to pay employees in the case of disability. Can be called SDI, TDI and DI, too. This area is labeled FICA in the Federal Tax Table. The Federal Government, and any state that has a tax that is not a flat rate tax, specifies a computer formula for determining the withholding for a given taxable pay. Computer formulas fall into two broad categories, a wage bracket method that specifies a base tax and incremental percentage, and a stepwise method that specifies the tax rate for specified increments of taxable earnings. There may be up to three tables, one for each filing status. CCIS Payroll knows how many tables there are from the entry in Taxes: Number of Tables. It knows how many entries to expect in each table from the value in Taxes: Entries per Table. This is a Tax Rate Table window. The window has four columns: Over, Not Over, Base Tax, and Rate%. These correspond closely with labels used by the IRS and any state that uses a Wage Bracket method. The other type of tax table is an incremental table wherein a specific amount of tax is computed for each dollar earned using tax rates that may vary over specific steps, the total tax being the sum of each level. Tax table updating overview CAUTION - ACCURATE TAX TABLES ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE PROPER OPERATION OF CCIS PAYROLL. YOU THE USER ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROPER FUNCTIONING OF THIS SOFTWARE, AND ASSUME ANY AND ALL LIABILITIES OF WHATEVER KIND SHOULD YOU ELECT TO MAKE ANY CHANGES WHATEVER TO THESE TABLES. CHANGING THE TAX TABLES MEANS THAT YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND ACCEPT THIS RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY. The tax table update service is provided with your CCIS Payroll Annual Support Plan (ASP) for an annual fee. For more information about an Annual Support Plan for CCIS Payroll, contact the Marketing Department at We recommend that you be very methodical in going about changing the tables. Here is the recommended procedure: 2008 Page 157

166 1. Set up a Test Client for the state that you need to change. The client should have one employee for each wage bracket or tax level and marital status. 2. Print out the Tax Tables. 3. Gather the information you require. For Federal, you'll need Circular E. You need a similar formula for your state. Some call them Computer Formulas. The formula is easy to recognize. 4. Carefully compare each figure and mark any required changes in red on the printed copy of the tax table. 5. Make sure that you will be left alone and undisturbed. 6. Change the tax tables. NEVER CHANGE A FORMULA NUMBER WITHOUT BEING TOLD TO BY ONE OF OUR SUPPORT PERSONNEL. FORMULA NUMBERS DIRECT THE LOGIC FLOW WITHIN THE PROGRAM. CHANGING THEM WILL PRODUCE DIFFERENT AND PROBABLY INCORRECT RESULTS. Only rarely will a state change its METHOD of determining withholdings. If you see a change in the examples given in your tax guides from one guide to the next, it is possible that a change in method has occurred and you should contact CCIS Software Support ( ). ZERO (0) is a valid formula number. 7. Print the new table and check it carefully against the information in the circulars. 8. Using Time Entry, pay enough employees to cover every possible tax rate. If the circular provides any examples, use them too. 9. Calculate the taxes by hand using the instructions in the circular. Compare the manual calculations with the computed ones. They should agree within a penny or so. Any greater deviation indicates something is wrong. Do NOT expect the results here to agree with published withholding tables. These tables typically cover a range of taxable incomes and are therefore less accurate. Also, CCIS Payroll computes withholding amounts to the penny for the Federal and most states while all tables round to the nearest dollar. 10. If the answers are wrong, return to the beginning, check and repeat everything. Principles of wage bracket method recording This section describes how to update a wage-bracket table. As of May, 2008, CCIS Payroll uses wage bracket tables for: Federal, AR, CA, CO, DE, DC, GA, HI, ID, KS, LA, ME, MN, MS, MT, NE, NJ, NM, NY, NYC, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, RI, VT, VA, WV, and WI. States may revise their methods at any time. This is a Tax Rate Table showing a wage bracket table Page 158

167 The rules for completing a wage bracket method table are: The first entry in the Over column is zero. The amount in the Over column in row 2 and on is EXACTLY equal to the value in the Not Over column of the preceding row. For example: Over Not Over 0 6,350 6,350 41,900 Note that the amount of $6,350 in the Not Over column of row 1 and the amount of $6,350 in the Over column are exactly equal. If these values are not equal, there is a hole in the table. If an employee s wages happen to fall into this hole, CCIS Payroll can t find the proper rate and applies the maximum rate in the table. The last entry in the Not Over column must be 999,999. The Base Tax contains the aggregate withholding to the previous row. Most authorities print it immediately to the right of the Not Over amount. The Rate% column contains the rate as a percentage. Principles of incremental table method recording This section describes how to update an incremental table. As of May, 2008 CCIS Payroll uses an Incremental Table for: AL, IA, KY, MO, MP (Saipan) and SC. States may revise their methods at any time. The example below is a Tax Rate Table showing an incremental table The rules for completing an incremental table screen are: 1. The Over column contains the taxable earnings increments. 2. The last entry in the Over column must be 999, The applicable tax rate is in the Rate% column. 4. The Not Over and Tax columns are zero Page 159

168 How to change the Federal tax tables The Federal tax tables contain the Federal tax rates, the Federal Minimum Wage, the maximum percentage of minimum wage that can be taken from reported tips, the exempt part of Dependent Care Benefits, FICA and Medicare rates and limits, and the Backup Withholding rate. To change the Federal Tax Tables: 1. Select Home to get to the Main Menu. 2. Choose Maintenance Tax Tables. 3. Select FED in the Jurisdiction box and press the Tab key. 4. Change the Effective field to reflect the effective date of the table. 5. Change the other values in the General Section as follows: Section of Table Field name Field Value Deductions Percent Enter the maximum dollars of the minimum wage that can be made up by reported tips. Deductions Married Amount Enter the Federal Minimum Wage in cents. Exemptions Dependent Amount Enter the amount from the Annually row in the table called Percentage Method - Amount for One Withholding Allowance, in the section called Income Tax Withholding and Advance Earned Income Credit (EIC) Payment Methods in Circular E. Exemptions Married Amount Enter the exempt part of Dependent Care benefits. Taxes Entries per Table Enter the number of lines, including the line beginning with "Not over...", in Table 7-ANNUAL Payroll Period in the section called Tables for Percentage Method of Withholding in Circular E. Taxes Flat Tax Rate% Enter the Backup Withholding rate Page 160

169 6. Next, change the withholding rate tables. 7. Select the Single Rates button. 8. Enter the rates from Table 7-ANNUAL Payroll Period, part (a) SINGLE person, in the section called Tables for Percentage Method of Withholding in Circular E. Remember to include the "Not over..." line. 9. Check your entries and select OK when done. 10. Select the Married Rates button. 11. Enter the rates from Table 7-ANNUAL Payroll Period, part (b) MARRIED person, in the section called Tables for Percentage Method of Withholding in Circular E. Remember to include the "Not over..." line. 12. Check your entries and select OK when done. 13. Last, enter the Advance EIC payment table. These are kept in a rate table that is similar in structure to those for Married and Single. Press the Head of House button. 14. Enter the rates from Table 7-ANNUAL Payroll Period, part (a) SINGLE or MARRIED Without Spouse Filing Certificate, in the section called Tables for Percentage Method of Advance EIC Payments in Circular E. The last line of this table contains a reduction percent. Enter TEN TIMES the table value. CCIS Payroll creates Table 7(b) automatically. 15. Check your entries and select OK when done. 16. Select Save to write the changes to the disk. How to change FICA and Medicare Here s how to change FICA and Medicare: 1. Choose Maintenance Tax Tables. 2. Open FED in the Jurisdiction box and choose the Tab key. 3. Navigate to and change the values. 4. Select the Save button to save them. How to print the tax tables Follow these instructions to print a tax table: 1. Choose Maintenance Tax Tables from the Main Menu. 2. Select a jurisdiction and select the Tab key. 3. Select the Print button. Recording the FUTA rate and limit CCIS Payroll keeps the FUTA rate and earnings limit in the Firm file. To change these values: 1. Choose Utility Firm from the Main Menu Page 161