Currently, in order to email cheque stubs, they must be "2 - Computed" status. This creates a few problems:
1. If there is a mistake, the record must be voided, copied, pasted, modified, and recomputed. This is many steps, just to make a correction.
2. Our company uploads several direct deposit files per payroll (divided by executive, salaried, and hourly employees). In order to create separate direct deposit files each group must be "Final Computed", then the cheques emailed, then the direct deposit file created, then the process repeated for each group. If there is a problem with a cheque in the first group, this is really problematic. Direct deposit files must be reversed, and then all cheques belonging to the other two groups must be voided, then the change can be made to the cheque, the first direct deposit file recreated, then all the second group must be recreated, then computed, then the second direct deposit file recreated, and finally the process can be repeated for the third group.
This could all be avoided if cheque stubs could be sent when they are "trial computed". This would require a few modifications (eg. cheque numbers assigned during trial compute), but this would ultimately allow for much more flexible payroll processing.
by: Ryan B. | over a year ago | Payroll
Comments
You don't need to retract the entire batch if there is a situation with one or some checks within the batch. If the amount needs to be changed, you can notify your bank to retract a specific check. In Sage, you can make the adjustments to an individual payroll check within a batch - work with your consultant or a higher level tech support to assist you with this. Different processes and options are available to correct depending on the unique situation.
@Sherry DA, your solution depends on the bank. Our bank is not that flexible, and this solution risks a) putting more funds on hold than necessary, and b) double paying an employee. This may not be true for all banks, but it is true for ours. It would be far better to be able to correct everything before uploading to the bank. It's nice to review the direct deposit report(s) and triple check what is about to be uploaded.
Additionally, your solution doesn't address multiple direct deposit files. Our company needs to create several direct deposit files per payroll. If you have only one direct deposit file per payroll, you may not understand that you cannot select which of the final computed cheques become a part of a direct deposit file (all of the final computed cheques go into the direct deposit file being created). If you wish to create multiple direct deposit files for one payroll, you must selectively "Final Compute" the group of cheques and create a direct deposit file, then selectively "Final Compute" another group and create a second direct deposit file, and repeat the process as many times necessary until each group has a direct deposit file. This solution works if there are no problems with any of the cheques.
If all the stubs have been sent out, then all the records are Final Computed. If a cheque on the first direct deposit file is problematic, you can void/copy/paste in Sage and make the correction, but then this must also be done for all cheques in the entire batch (so you can also create a new corrected direct deposit file). Again, some banks may make it easier to correct cheques, but at the very least, your solution would result in incorrect direct deposit reports.
Even if you don't have a problem with multiple direct deposit files, sending trial computed stubs would leave a period of time for employees to review their stubs before everything is finalized. Correcting a stub wouldn't even require the payroll record to be voided (it could just be trial computed again, and sent to the employee for another review).
I also think from a software development perspective, this would only require:
- Slightly different report criteria in the 5-2-4 Screen
- Possible modification of the email script
- Assigning cheque numbers at a slightly different time.