Initializing & Modifying Payroll

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February 13, 2025

Stephanie Schmucker

Payroll Initialization – Posting Periods

• Posting Periods
• To initialize payroll the payroll date’s month must be open.
• To post a payroll the payroll date’s month must be open and current.
• Previous month can be left open if needed for reconciliation.

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Payroll Initialization – Getting Started

Payroll/Payroll Processing  

• The Payroll Processing is the first program to be run in the payroll processing sequence. It initializes all active status employee records for the pay groups and pay dates specified in the program.

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Initialize New Payroll

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Payroll Initialization – Getting Started

Initialize New Payroll

• Payroll Description – Date and description.
• Could be just the date: 2/14/25
• Or add a description when needed: 2/14/25 Special Pay – Johnson, A.

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• Pay Plan –choose from drop down of Biweekly, Semi-monthly, Monthly.
• References this setting on Compensations.
• Used to determine which tax tables to reference.

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• Pay Cycle – Option references Pay Cycle on Payroll Items and tells payroll which to use.
• First Pay of month
• Second Pay of a two pay month
• Second Pay of a three pay month
• Third Pay of the month

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Payroll Initialization – Getting Started

Initialize New Payroll continued:

• Start Date – first day of pay period
• Stop Date – last day of pay period
• Pay Date – date of payroll

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• Suppress Voluntary Deductions – Voluntary checkbox on Payroll Item Configuration.
• Ignore Direct Deposit – will pay all employees in payroll by check.
• Special Pay – does not allow Pay Groups, no employees pulled into payroll. Does not pull Future data!

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• Select Pay Groups by Date Range- can have multiple pay periods in one payroll.
• Save and Recall can be used to save Pay Groups for each payroll. *shown in next slide.
• A Severe error will be given if the ‘Add Date Range’ does not have dates.

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• Initialize Payroll-starts the collection of Data from Compensations and Future Payroll.

Payroll Initialization – Getting Started

Initialize New Payroll –Save and Recall Option

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Payroll Initialization – Payroll Status

Payroll will begin collecting data and show the progress spinner

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Once the pay group has processed there should be a green indicator button next to the pay group in the status field. This indicates the pay group processed successfully.

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If a red indicator button is in the Status field this indicates that this pay group failed during processing.

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Select the Error Report to view the errors produced during this payroll.

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If no errors or warnings generate during Initialization, no Error Report will be shown.

Payroll Initialization – Payroll Error Report

Messages found on Payroll Error Report:

https://mcoecn.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/uspsrdoc/pages/2491234/Payroll+Processing#PayrollProcessing-WarningandErrorMessages

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Info – messages about the payroll. Example, “Last pay on contract”

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Warnings – allow you to process a payroll, but it is recommended that you check out these messages and verify no changes are needed.

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Errors – must be fixed to process a payroll and move on.

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Payroll Initialization – Modifying Payroll

When to Modify Payroll:

• Errors are corrected and Warnings are verified/changes made.
• Payroll Error Report will be updated.
• If all errors and warnings are cleared no Payroll Error Report will be shown after modifying.
• If a change is made to a Position or Compensation record.
• This change will not be reflected in the 'In Progress' payroll.  Modify Payroll, select Pay Group the employee is in and click on 'Update Payroll'.   
• Modify Payroll takes the Pay groups you select and deletes them from the Payroll and then re-initializes them, any additions or modifications you made in Current will be wiped out. 
• Selected pay groups will be re-initialized when payroll is updated.

Payroll Initialization – Modifying Payroll

When to NOT Modify Payroll:

• Modifying the Payroll takes the Pay groups you select and deletes them from the Payroll and then re-initializes them.  Any thing entered initially in Future would be saved and reloaded during the Modify Process.
• If you have made a lot of new additions to Current, you may want to decide if Modifying is the best way. Example would be timesheet only employees not initially entered in Future.
• Updates to individuals can also be made by deleting an employee out of Current and adding them back in individually.

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Payroll Initialization – Modifying Payroll

When Modifying is NOT needed:

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• Changes made to Payroll Items will be reflected without Modifying Payroll, just rerun the Payroll Report, Pay Item Detail or Pay item Summary Reports to see updates.  

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• Changes made to Payroll Accounts will be reflected without Modifying Payroll, just rerun the Payroll Report, Budget Dist Report or Pay Acct Dist Report to see updates.  

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• Any time you are unsure if you need to Modify the Payroll or not, run a Payroll Report first to see if the desired change took effect, and if it did, then you do not need to Modify Payroll.

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Payroll Initialization – Delete Payroll

Delete Payroll

• Will delete the payroll but will move exceptions entered in Payroll Payments-Future, or modified in Payroll Payments-Current, back to Future so they will not be lost.
• This will only apply to entries added to employee’s that already exist in payroll. New employees added to current (not added in Future), will not be saved.
• Example, John Smith had a timesheet entered in Future for extra bus time as a Misc payment on Position #1. The payroll was initialized and more time was added to his Position #1 in Current for additional time turned in, or the original entry was updated. The payroll was then deleted, those entries will be saved.

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Payroll Initialization – Delete Payroll

Delete Payroll

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• The pay amounts created by the system during initialization from the Compensations (stretch pay) will NOT be saved to future pay amounts if the Payroll is deleted.  When the payroll is re-initialized, these will be recreated.
• If you add new pay amounts to Current, these will be saved to future (when keeping exceptions). 
• If an entry originally created in Future Pay is modified, this is still considered an exception and the changes made will be saved when deleting. 
• To summarize- pay amounts that originated from a user action (future pay entry or adding additional pay amounts in Current) will be saved, but any changes to pay amounts that the system generated from Compensations (by payroll initialization) will be lost. 

Payroll Initialization – Delete Payroll & Exceptions

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Delete Payroll and Exceptions *rarely used!

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• Will delete the payroll and all exceptions entered in Payroll Payments.

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• Use caution as there is no way to reverse this action!

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Payroll Initialization – When to…?

• Modify Full Payroll – use when payroll just got initialized and errors are stopping the progress of the payroll. Check Payroll Error Report to find errors and correct. Modify Full Payroll to clear errors.

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• Modify Pay Group – use when multiple errors are in one or limited pay groups. Or, if a change has been made that affects everyone in one pay group, example updated calendar. Items added to Current since initializing will be deleted, so keep that in mind.

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• Delete individuals in Payments-Current and add back in - only one person in the payroll is affected by a Compensation update/change.
• Go to Payroll/Payroll Payments-Current, find employee, delete their payment line.
• Use Create button to add back in. This will add the employee back in while recalculating any changes made on the Compensation.
• If the employee had an amount entered in Future that will need to be added to Current because it will be returned to Future grid. Remove from Future grid or this will appear next payroll.

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• Delete Payroll - Error on Pay Plan, Pay Cycle, Pay Periods. These are not able to be modified.

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• Delete Payroll and Exceptions – rarely used. Will delete all exceptions changes made in Current.

Payroll Initialization – Did you know?

• Pay Date and Payroll Description can be modified after Initializing Payroll, but before final posting.
• Modify payroll and update date, then Update Payroll without selecting Pay Groups.

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• Pay Groups can be Added after Initializing.
• Use the Add Pay Group Option.
• Can use the same pay period or different set of dates.

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• Pay Amount Summary Report can help with balancing issues!
• Run specific Pay Group and double check each employee.
• Look specifically at each pay type.

Payroll Initialization – Post Error Report

• Post Error Report - Error rapport that is generated during the posting process.
• Open up Post Error Report to view errors.
• Correct Errors and Click Post again.

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Payroll Initialization – Un-post Payroll

• Un-Post Payroll is an option but there is a short time frame to use this.

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Payroll Initialization – Un-post Payroll

• When can this be used?
• ACH File has NOT been sent to the bank, or you know you can call it back.
• Pending Payroll Submission File has not been posted in USAS.
• Updates have not been made to Payroll Items or Accounts for the next payroll.
• Once any Outstanding Payables are processed, this includes the ACH HSA Submission File, the un-post option is no longer available.

Payroll Initialization – Un-post Payroll

• Facts-
• Un-posting a Payroll will take the system back to the moment right before posting.
• Make corrections and run reports to balance amounts again before posting.
• This will remove any employee payroll checks created, do NOT print the original check file, a new file will be created once posted again.
• If Email Notices of Direct Deposit have been scheduled, you will need to delete the scheduled job in Utilities/Job Scheduler. Reschedule the new emails once the payroll is posted.
• A new USAS Posting File will be created.

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Initializing & Modifying Payroll

• Final Questions?

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• USPS 419-267-2808

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• Email mail_staff_fis@nwoca.org