Payroll Configuration

Payroll Configuration within NetSuite for Government

Create and Assign Hour Codes

Hour codes should be used for either timesheet entry or for accruals, ex. vacation or sick leave. They are used to track and typically pay or accrue hours of a certain type.

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Pay and Hour Code Setup > Hour Codes.

   Note:

   This list can be updated and customized by clicking Customize View.
2. Click the New Hour Codes button to create a new code or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing hour codes.
3. Complete the Primary Information:
   • Type is Hourly Pay or Accrual, ex. sick leave or vacation.
   • Calculation Rule is a Flat Rate, ex. $10, the Employee's Hourly Rate, or a Custom Rule, ex. 1.5x Premium.
   • Priority is a number which orders how this code should calculate during the calculate payroll process.
   • Effective Begin Date and Effective End Date indicates the range when this code is active.
4. Select the Pay Frequency for this hour code.

   Note:

   Pay Frequency Indicates when this Hour Code should run, ex. every pay period or specific pay periods, such as the first pay period only, second pay period, or skip the third pay period. This can also specify which pay periods to run or skip, such as specify a pay period to skip when running a supplemental run and this hour code should not run.
5. Define which Pay Buckets this Hour Code should add to or subtract from.

   Note:

   These are all types of wages and pay that need to be tracked. Click the drop-down to see the available choices. Click the green arrow to add or the red “x” to remove selections, as needed.
   • Pay Bucket (+)

     Indicates the Pay Bucket(s) that the dollars of this pay code should add to, ex. Gross Pay and Federal Taxable Wages.

   • Pay Bucket (-)

     Indicates the Pay Bucket(s) that the dollars of this pay code should subtract from, ex. Federal Taxable Wages.

6. Define which Hour Buckets this Hour Code should add to or subtract from. These are individual hour buckets that have a specific use case and need to be tracked uniquely.
   • Hour Bucket (+)

     Indicates the Hour Bucket(s) that the hours of this hour code should add to, ex. Overtime and Regular Hours.

   • Hour Bucket (-)

     Indicates the Hour Bucket(s) that the hours of this hour code should subtract from, ex. Sick Balance or Vacation Balance.

7. Complete the Accounting section:
   • Indicate the Expense or Liability appropriate for this code.

     Note:

     Typically, hour codes have an expense but no liability. These are not mandatory fields, either the expense or liability is set, depending on the hour code or pay code.
   • If the hour code needs to override the employee's default fund allocation, that can be set at the code level for Fund, Department, Grant, Project, or Class (program), ex. Grant or FEMA funding that uses a specific hour code eliminates the need to manually override it at the timesheet level.
8. Click Save.

   Note:

   These hour codes are used on the timesheet. If changes are made to the hour code, the payroll must be recalculated for these changes to take effect.

Create and Assign Pay Codes

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Pay and Hour Code Setup > Pay Codes.
2. Click the New Pay Codes button to create a new code or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing pay codes.
3. Set the Type to display the correct category on the paystub:
   • Additional Pay codes add to the paycheck and are not associated with hours or timesheets, ex. Bilingual Pay.
   • Pre-Tax Deductions are codes such as the employee paid benefit which will reduce taxable wages, ex. Dental Insurance Deduction or Retirement Employee Deduction.
   • Employer Paid Benefit is the matching piece of benefits paid by the employer, ex. Dental Benefit.
   • Post-Tax Deductions are deductions that are paid after taxes, ex. Life Insurance.Tax, ex. Social Security.
4. Provide a Name and a Paystub Display Name.
5. Set the Amount Type as a dollar ($) or percentage (%).
6. If a limit can be reached, set the Limit (amount) and the Limit Type, ex.fiscal year to date, inception to date, month to date or calendar year to date.
7. Select the Calculation Rule, which is the method used to configure this code, ex. Flat Amount or Percentage.
8. Enter the Priority, a number which orders how this code should calculate during the calculate payroll process.
9. Enter the Effective Begin Date and Effective End Date which indicates the range when this code is active.
10. Select the Pay Frequency for this code.
11. Define which Pay Buckets this Pay Code should add to or subtract from.
    • Pay Bucket (+)

      Indicates the Pay Bucket(s) that the dollars of this pay code should add to, ex. Gross pay and federal taxable wages.

    • Pay Bucket (-)

      Indicates the Pay Bucket(s) that the dollars of this pay code should subtract from, ex. Dental benefit is a pre-tax deduction and will reduce taxable wages.

12. Complete the Accounting section:
    • Indicate the Posting Account or Liability appropriate for this code.
    • If the pay code needs to override the employee's default fund allocation, that can be set at the code level for Fund, Department, Grant, Project, or Class (program).
    • Vendor can be added if this code needs to go through the payroll to AP module to pay vendors.
13. If this pay code needs to be calculated along with the employee’s overtime and included in the premium overtime rate, check the “Include in Add Pay Rate” box, and enter the number of Payouts Per Year that additional pay is calculated, ex. Bilingual Pay. If paid every pay period, enter 26 for a bi-weekly cycle.
14. Scroll down to the Employees Assigned subtab to see which employees have been assigned to this pay code.

Create Hour Buckets

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Pay and Hour Code Setup > Hour Bucket.
2. View the current list of hour buckets.

   Note:

   Buckets with the NS4G prefix are pre-configured and should not be updated, edited, deleted, or changed in any way.
3. Click the New Hour Bucket button.
4. Provide a Name for the new Hour Bucket.
5. Provide a Payroll ID, ex. Agency_abbreviation_hrs.
6. Repeat the Payroll ID for the Script ID.
7. Add a Description for reference. Click Save.

Create Pay Buckets

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Pay and Hour Code Setup > Pay Bucket.
2. View the current list of pay buckets.

   Note:

   Buckets with the NS4G prefix are pre-configured and should not be updated, edited, deleted, or changed in any way.
3. Click the New Pay Bucket button.
4. Provide a Name for the new Pay Bucket.
5. Provide a Payroll ID, ex. Agency_abbreviation_pay.
6. Repeat the Payroll ID for the Script ID.
7. Add a Description for reference. Click Save.

Create Pay Cycles

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Pay and Hour Code Setup > Pay Cycle > New.
2. Add the Name, Cycle Type, and Abbreviation. Click Save.

Create Pay Periods

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Payroll Processing > Pay Period.
2. Click the New Pay Period button to create a new pay period or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing pay periods.
3. Enter the Primary Information:
   • Name is autogenerated and used to identify the Pay Period- 2 digit year, pay cycle abbreviation, pay period number, and pay period dates.
   • Pay Cycle identifies which employees will be paid using this pay period, ex. Biweekly Cycle for General Employees.
   • Begin Date and End Date indicate the range for the pay period.
   • Payment Date is also referred to as the check date or the date that the direct deposit is posted. It can be different from the Posting Date.
   • Posting Date is very specific to when it will be posted for the general ledger.
   • Posting Period should match up with the posting date.
4. Note the Inactive checkbox, if needed in the future.
5. Enter the Secondary Information:
   • Year is the calendar year.
   • Periods Per Year indicates how many there are based on the cycle, ex. Biweekly = 26, Monthly = 12, Semi-monthly = 24.
   • Pay Period Number represents the order in which it is paid throughout the year.
   • Sequence is the order in which the period occurs in the month, ex. Biweekly has a sequence number 1 and 2. Two times per year there will be a 3rd pay period in the month.
   • Type indicates if the period is Regular, Retro (retroactive pay used to correct an error made previously), or Supplemental.
   • Memo is optional and will display on the paystub.
6. View the Payroll Batch section.

   Note:

   The Payroll Batch and Pay Period Status will generate automatically. These correlate with the employee calculations for this pay period.

   The “Make Available to Timesheets” checkbox will default in checked. This makes the pay period available to be associated with time entry. If the pay period should not be used for time entry, then the box should be unchecked.

Benefits Setup

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Benefits Setup > Benefit plan.
2. Click the New Benefit Plan button to create a new benefit plan or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing benefit plans.
3. Enter the Primary Information:
   • Name identifies the type of plan, who is covered and the year of enrollment.
   • Benefit Pay Codes that are associated with this plan will be assigned to the employee automatically when this plan is assigned, ex. Medical Employee Plus Family Benefit and Medical Employee Plus Family Deduction. Search using keywords or use the drop-down list to select. Click to add or remove selections, then click Done.
   • Select a Safe Harbor Code if this plan is eligible. This will also be used for the Affordable Care Act tracking when the ACA is generated.
   • Enter the Effective Begin Date and Effective End Dates for this plan. The end date can be open-ended (12/31/2099) until another one is created.
4. Click Save.

Position and Salary Setup

Job table

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Position and Salary Setup to set up job tables and positions.

   Note:

   If positions need to roll up under one individual job code, go to Job Table.

   If positions do not need to be tracked at an individual level or roll up underneath a job code, start creating positions - the job table is not needed, go to Position.

2. Click the New Job Table button to create a new job table or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing job tables.
3. Enter the Name and Job Code.
4. Select the Subsidiary.
5. Note the Inactive checkbox, if needed in the future.
6. Click Save.

Position

1. Go to Position and Salary Setup > Position.
2. Click the New Position button to create a new position or click the view/edit links to view or make changes to existing positions.
3. Enter the Position Information:
   • Position Number, ex. ACC001
   • Position Name, ex. Accountant I
   • Subsidiary, ex. Parent Company
   • Salary Schedule, ex. A/175
   • Annual Hours, ex. 2080
   • Periods per Year, ex. Bi-weekly = 26
   • Begin Date - when the position begins
   • End Date - when the position ends. If unknown, use the open-ended date (12/31/2099)
4. Enter Regulatory Reporting information:
   • EEO4 category
   • Workers Comp Code
5. Enter Budget information:
   • Default Position FTE
   • Approved FTEs
6. Enter Job Information.

   Note:

   If the Job Table has been set up, select a job and the Job Code defaults in.
7. Enter the Default Fund Allocation, including Fund, Department, Percentage.

   Note:

   If the position is split funded, click the Add button to add a second fund. Total must equal 100%.
8. Click Save.

Salary Schedule

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Position and Salary Setup > Salary Schedule.
2. Click the New Salary Schedule button to create a new salary schedule or click the view/edit links to view or make changes to existing salary schedules.
3. Enter required information:
   • Name, ex. B/121 = Salary Schedule / Range
   • Salary Schedule, ex. B
   • Range/Grade, ex. 121
   • Subsidiary, ex. Parent Company
4. Enter Salary Step Line:
   • Name is not required and will default in based on other fields completed.
   • Step = 01, Amount = 50,000, Time Base = Annual, Step Eff Date = 1/1/2023.
5. Click the Add button to add the next Salary Step Line; repeat as needed.
6. Click Save.

   Add new step lines

7. Click the Edit button and enter the information for the new step line below the last step or click the New Salary Step Line button and complete the required information.
8. Click Save.

Create Time-Off Plans

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Leave Tracking Setup > Time-Off Plan.
2. Click the New Time-off Plan button.
3. Enter the Name and Subsidiary.
4. If applicable, check Allow a Negative Balance.
5. If using a Prorate Accrual Calculation rule, assign the Prorate Hour Bucket.
6. Go to the Plan Details subtab and setup the time-off plan/tier for each service range:
   • Hour Code (Accrual)
   • Service Range Begin and End (Months)
   • Hours Earned
   • If applicable – Hour Bucket for Limit, Limit, Limit Type, Maximum Carry Over
7. Verify the Hour Codes used are configured as expected, ex. Accrual Type and Calculation Rule.

Payroll and HR Preferences

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Other Setup > Payroll and HR Preferences.
2. Click the General subtab for Calculation Precision.
   • Enter the number of decimals the system uses to calculate, ex. employee position and pay hourly rate.
3. Click the Checks subtab and enter items related to the payroll check:
   • Credit Account
   • Debit Account
   • Check Form - used to indicate how the checks should print, ex. NS4G - Payroll Check
   • Fund - used for postings
   • Check PDF/HTML Template - layout for the employee's standard paystub , ex. NS4G Payroll US Voucher Check/HTML Template
4. Click the Direct Deposit subtab:
   • Credit Account determines which account will be credited when the direct deposit is generated, ex. Cash – Payroll.
   • EFT File Folder ID is the internal ID of the file cabinet folder where EFT files are stored. The EFT File will be created when a payroll is committed containing an employee with an employee direct deposit.
5. Click the Taxes subtab. The Flat Federal Tax Rate is a single value and needs to be set before starting implementation.
6. Click the Fund Allocation subtab. The Fund Allocation Method is the allocation of funds distributed for an employee, ex. Default Allocation by Primary Position.

   Note:

   This uses the employee's position and pay fund allocation to determine which fund and department to use for expenses, including benefit expenses, and use this fund throughout this system.
7. Click Save.

Workers' Compensation

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Other Setup > Workers’ Compensation Rate Table.
2. Click the New Workers’ Compensation Rate Table button to create a new rate table or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing rate tables.
3. Enter the information required:
   • Name
   • Workers’ Comp Class Code
   • Description
   • Rate is a percentage, not a decimal, ex. 4.97 (%)

     Note:

     The percentage will be turned into a decimal during the actual calculation.
   • Effective Begin Date and Effective End Date
4. Click Save.

Bargaining Units

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Other Setup > Bargaining Unit.
2. Click the New Bargaining Unit button to create a new bargaining unit or click the View/Edit links to view or make changes to existing bargaining units and add the information required.
   • Name is required.
   • Code Abbreviation is preferred by some organizations and can be added optionally.
3. Click Save.

   Note:

   The system automatically assigns an ID.

Create a New Employee Template

1. Go to Payroll and HR > Lists > Employees or type Employees in Global Search, then scroll down to Payroll and HR > Lists > Employees.
2. Click the New Template button.
3. Enter the default information:
   • Employee ID Template identifies which employees this template should be used for, ex. Public Works.
   • Select the Entity, ex. Parent Company.
   • Department is required and should apply to all. Type in or use the drop-down to select.
   • Location, Bargaining Unit, Class, Calendar, and Pay Cycle are optional - use only if there's a default for all.
4. Click the Human Resources subtab and enter the desired information.
   • Type refers to the employment, ex. Regular Employee or Contractor.
   • Longevity Date should only be used if it applies to all.
   • Electronic Consent can be selected individually by the form, ex. 1095-C, Paystub, or W2 Tax Forms.
5. Click the Taxes subtab and enter the information.
   • Federal & State sublist
     • Federal Tax Pay Code, ex. Federal Tax Deduction
     • Federal Filing Status
     • State Tax, if applicable
     • State (for Social Security and Medicare)State Filing Status
   • Social Security & Medicare sublist.
     • Social Security Benefits, ex. Social Security Benefit
     • Social Security Tax Deductions, ex. Social Security Tax Deduction
     • Medicare Benefits, ex. Medicare Benefit
     • Medicare Deductions, ex. Medicare Tax Deduction.
6. Click Save.

   Edit Template

7. Go back to the Employees list.
8. Locate the Template and click the ID of the template.

   Note:

   Employees have a numeric ID but the template has a name, so it appears at the end of the list.
9. Click the Edit button.
10. Make changes to the New Employee Template.
11. Click Save.

Calculation Rules

OT: Premium Rate Multiplier

This rule is intended for any hour code that is entered on the timecard and should be paid at the Premium Rate of pay multiplied by the number found on the amount field.

Premium Rate calculation = Add Pay Rate + Special Comp Rate + Employee Base Rate (Position and Pay Rate)

The Special Comp Rate Calculation = Special Comp Wages for OT (Period to Date) Pay Bucket / Regular Hours (Period to Date) Bucket. This assumes that the special comp rate of pay will use the Pay period dates to calculate instead of an FLSA/OT cycle.

Examples include Call Back, Off Duty Court Time, OT hours worked outside of their normal schedule (required by CA), Off Duty Training, Off Duty K-9, Comp Time Used/Paid, and Holiday Worked.

OT: Premium Rate Week 1, Week2 x Amount Multiplier

This rule is intended for any hour code that is entered on the timecard and should be paid at Premium Rate of pay multiplied by the number found on the amount field.

Premium Rate calculation = Add Pay Rate + Special Comp Rate + Employee Base Rate (Position and Pay Rate)

The Special Comp Rate Calculation = Special Comp Wages for OT (Period to Date) Pay Bucket / Regular Hours (Period to Date) Bucket. This assumes that the special comp rate of pay will use the Pay period dates to calculate instead of an FLSA/OT cycle. The comp rate is calculated separately for each week in this cycle.

Examples include Call Back, Off Duty Court Time, OT hours worked outside of their normal schedule (required by CA), Off Duty Training, Off Duty K-9, Comp Time Used/Paid, and Holiday Worked.

Imputed Income / Group Term Life Benefit Calculation

Users can apply the calculation rule of Group Term Life Insurance Imputed Income to a pay code.

1. From the applicable Pay Code record, add Group Term Life Insurance Imputed Income to the Calculation Rule
2. Assign the Pay Code to the employee.
3. Enter the Coverage Amount on the amount field.
4. Set the Amount Type to the dollar symbol, $.

   Note:

   The Calculation Rule finds the employee’s age as of the last day of the tax year using the employee Date of Birth to assign the correct rate. Then, it uses the employee’s coverage amount and the employee’s annual salary from their primary position and pay record to calculate the benefit amount.

Differential Calculation Rule

Users can apply the calculation rule of Differential to a pay code. This rule computes by multiplying the value in the default amount field by the total hours assigned to the Primary Hour Bucket at the time this code is executed.

1. From the applicable Pay Code record, add the Differential Calculation Rule.
2. Set the flat amount rate in the Default Amount field.
3. Set the Amount Type to $.
4. Set the Primary Hour Bucket.

   Example:

   Joe has 10 hours in the Shift Differential Hour Bucket.

   The Default Amount is $4.00.

   The Pay Code would calculate as 10 hours x $4 = $40.00.

Salary Adjustment Calculation Rule

Users can apply the calculation rule of Salary Adjustment to a pay code. This rule computes the employee’s per-period Salary Adjustment by dividing the employee’s annual salary by the number of pay periods in the current year, and subsequently subtracting the amount designated in the current period’s Salary Adjustment Wages Pay Bucket.

Fund Allocation

Payroll Posting Map and Payroll Fund Allocations

Payroll Posting Map

The Payroll Posting Map is enabled to override payroll general ledger postings.

Postings Logic Hierarchy:

Employee Default Fund Allocation > Pay Code and Hour Code > Payroll Posting Map > Timesheets.

During the Payroll GL Transaction creation, each individual transaction will evaluate the payroll posting map records in order of priority. If the transaction meets the selection criteria for a payroll posting map record, the Fields to Update criteria overrides the designated fields with the changes defined. When a transaction meets the selection criteria of a payroll posting map record, it will be overwritten and stop looking through the payroll posting mappings.

Payroll Posting Default Hierarchy for Expenses

• Employee Default Fund Allocation
  • Pay Code and/or Hour Code Funding
    • Payroll Posting Map
      • Timesheet (manual fund allocation entries)

Employee Fund Allocation

The Expense Account field has been added to the Employee Fund Allocation record as a required field and will act as the default expense account unless overwritten. The Expense on the hour code and the Posting Account on the pay code will override the Employee Fund Allocation expense account when defined.

The Expense Account field was added to the Default Fund Allocation record associated with the position and can be sourced to populate the Employee’s Fund Allocation record.

Posting Report

Users can extract the posting report in various formats including PDF, Excel, and CSV.

1. Navigate to Payroll and HR > Payroll Processing > Payroll Batch.
2. Click ID for the Payroll Batch.
3. If the payroll batch has a status of committed or completed, the Posting Report button is available.
4. Click Posting Report. The page navigates to the Payroll Posting Report criteria page.
5. Select the desired Pay Period, Report, and File Type from the respective drop-down fields. Click Run to generate report.

Payroll Posting Map

Payroll Posting Map is a feature that provides the ability to override payroll posting logic.

1. Navigate tothe Payroll Posting Map page using Global Search.
2. Click New Payroll Posting Map.
3. Enter a unique name and specify a priority level. The records will be processed in order of priority, with the lowest number being processed first. It is recommended to assign a priority number in the thousands for easy addition of future records within the existing range.
4. In the Criteria section of the record, enter selection criteria the system should search for and evaluate. If no criteria are set for a given field, then the system will ignore this field as a selection criterion and will accept any value or null value for that field.

   The criteria of Grant, Project, Project Task, and Program can be set as either blank or with a defined value concurrently if applicable.

   If a record meets the conditions of the selection criteria, then the data in the Fields to Update is applied. Enter the fields that should be updated given the selection criteria. The Grant, Project, Project Task and Program field can either be set with a defined value or erase but both options cannot be set concurrently.

5. Click Save to complete the Payroll Posting Map.

Balancing Payroll GL Transactions

Over/Under Payroll Fund, Department and Account

During the Commit Process a new Payroll GL Transaction record is created to record the General Ledger impact of the payroll. There are often rounding errors that occur during the generation of this record due to split employee fund allocations. To create a Payroll GL Transaction, the debit and credit side must match to the penny. When rounding occurs the debits and credit may be off. If the debits and credits do not balance, the system will automatically determine the difference and apply the differing amount to the balancing debit/credit and post to the Over/Under Payroll Fund, Department and Account set in the Payroll and HR Preferences. The user should review this amount each pay period and validate the difference and the transaction before posting.

The Over/Under Payroll Fund, Department and Account is configured on the Payroll and HR Preferences page under the Fund Allocation tab.