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Set up employees and payroll items

Adjust the beginning balance for accruable benefit items

For live payroll processing only
In some situations you may need to recalculate the beginning balance for an accruable benefit item. To do so, select
Setup
,
Accruable Benefits
, then select the accruable benefit item. Select the
Edit
 dropdown menu on the toolbar, then select
Recalculate Beginning Balances
. A confirmation window will display. Select
Yes
 to continue. If you hit
Enter
 on your keyboard, the window will close but nothing is recalculated.
important
Recalculating the beginning balance for an accruable benefit item could affect the beginning balances and available hours for all employees using this accruable benefit item.

Why reset a beginning balance?

In a situation in which you enter a payroll check that includes used and/or accrued accruable benefit hours, but those hours are applied to a prior benefit year. You may need to recalculate the beginning balance of the current benefit year to properly reflect those accruable benefit hours that were used or accrued on the check. The date on which a payroll check is entered versus when it was printed can affect how used and accrued benefit hours are applied. The following example describes such a situation.
Sharon is an employee who is set up with a Paid Time Off (PTO) accruable benefit item. Sharon received a weekly paycheck (dated January 4, 2019) in which she used and accrued some PTO hours. The period end date of the check was December 29, 2018, so the accrued and used accruable benefit hours on that check should be applied to the 2018 benefit year.
On January 1, 2019, Accounting CS automatically calculated the 2019 beginning balance for the PTO item. Sharon's check was printed on January 2, 2019. Because the check was unprinted when the beginning balance was calculated, the calculation didn’t include the accruable benefit hours used or accrued on Sharon's check.
Benefit accrual criteria
Sharon is set up with a Paid Time Off (PTO) accruable benefit with the following specifications.
  • Accrual method
    : Per paycheck
  • Allowance
    : 2.0000 hours per paycheck
  • Balance reset date
    : Jan. 1
  • Carryover Maximum
    : 25.0000 hours
  • Span multiple years
    : Apply hours to the prior benefit year
End of year (2018) PTO balance
On 12/29/2018, Sharon had 27 hours of Available PTO.
  • Beginning balance: 25.0000
  • Hours accrued: 102.0000
  • Hours used: 100.0000
  • Available: 27.0000
The payroll check is entered but not printed
On 12/29/2018, the employer entered the following payroll check for Sharon.
  • Check date: 1/4/2019
  • Period begin: 12/23/2018
  • Period end: 12/29/2018
  • PTO hours accrued: 2.0000
  • PTO hours used: 8.0000
PTO beginning balance (2019) calculation: Intention versus actual result
Intended calculation
: The period end date for the payroll check was 12/29/18. Had the check been printed on 12/29/2018, the employee's 2018 available PTO balance would have been 21 hours:
  • 27 hours available in 2018
  • Plus + 2 hours accrued if the check was printed on a system date before 1/1/2019.
  • Minus - 8 hours used if the check was printed on a system date before 1/1/2019.
  • Equals = 21 hours PTO balance
The remaining 21 hours would then transfer over to become the 2019 beginning PTO balance.
The actual calculation
: Unfortunately, the employer didn’t print this check until 1/2/2019. The application had automatically reset the balance for the PTO accruable benefit on 1/1/2019. The PTO calculations in Sharon's unprinted check were not yet considered "live" by the application, and without the accrued and used PTO hours from that payroll check accounted for, the application took the 27 hours that were still available for Sharon and carried over 25 hours (the carryover maximum) as the Sharon's 2019 PTO beginning balance.
  • 25 hours calculated by Accounting CS on 1/1/2019, the beginning balance for the new year.
  • Plus + 2 hours accrued when the check was printed on 1/2/2019.
  • Minus - 8 used when the check was printed on 1/2/2019.
  • Equals = 19 hours PTO balance (incorrect)
Recalculating the beginning balance for 2019
Sharon's payroll check, printed on 1/2/2019, used the beginning PTO balance of 25 instead of 21, causing her available hours to be off for 2019.
To correct this, you can:
  1. Select
    Setup
    , then
    Accruable Benefits
    .
  2. Select the accruable benefit item (in our example, you would select PTO).
  3. Select the
    Edit
     dropdown menu on the toolbar, then select
    Recalculate Beginning Balances
    .
This forces Accounting CS to recalculate the beginning balance for the PTO accruable benefit item and, in Sharon's case, the application will now include the PTO hours that were used and accrued on the January 4, 2019 payroll check in the calculation of the beginning balance.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Accounting CS
  • Subject: Payroll checks,Setup

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