21st Century Accounting Help - Payroll

Employee Adjustments

Use the Payroll/Employee Adjustments window to correct Payroll processing errors that cannot be corrected any other way.

The system posts data entered in the Payroll/Employee Adjustments window to the current open pay period.

First, Avoid Mistakes — If Not, Use Void/Checks

You can avoid most Payroll errors by carefully reviewing the Payroll Register (print only unposted activity) before you print and approve paychecks (for Calculate Payroll) or post your entries (for After the Fact Payroll). You can catch errors before they are posted and enter the correct Payroll data in Calculate Payroll or After the Fact Payroll.

For posted errors, the best way to correct Payroll processing is to void checks with the Bank Accounts/Void/Checks command and reissue or re-enter the paycheck or correct the error on the next Payroll.

Adjustment Example

If, for some reason, you do not want to reissue the paycheck or correct the error on your next Payroll, you can enter adjustments in this window. If a paycheck amount was correct, but you made a mistake in general ledger account distribution, for example, you can use the Employee Adjustments window to correct the general ledger and the employee's records.

Understanding Payroll Posting

To make adjustments correctly, you need to understand how the system posts amounts to the general ledger. Refer to the section in the Help "Payroll Data Flow" (in the Double-Entry Accounting Flow Help "book") to learn how payroll data entry affects the general ledger. You also need to understand how the system maintains the employee data that you see reflected in the Earnings Report. Become familiar with the Earnings Report so you'll know that your adjustments have the correct effect on employee pay detail. Print the Earnings Report immediately after you make an adjustment to verify the employee's records. Also print Taxes Activity if you adjust pay factors that are included in a tax's "Earnings Include" list to verify that each tax reflects the correct amounts.

For adjustments that affect the general ledger, you must enter both the debit and the credit side of a transaction, and the total of debits and credits must equal zero. The system posts amounts to the general ledger when you approve each entry. These general ledger account adjustments are reflected on the Earnings Report in the employee's pay period, quarter-to-date, and year-to-date amounts and appear as journal entries (with an entry number of EA plus the sequence number) in the General Ledger Activity report.

Adjustments that don't affect general ledger accounts are reflected in the employee's pay period, QTD, and YTD amounts on the Earnings Report.

All adjustments you make in this window are shown on the Employee Adjustments report, which you can print by pay period ID for all or selected employees and for all or a range of adjustment numbers. You can use the Employee Adjustments window to adjust amounts that are also reported on the following reports: Payroll Register, Paychecks (YTD amounts on paycheck stub), Remittance Checks, Earnings Report, Taxes Activity, Quarterly Wage Statement, 941 Report, W‑2s, Deductions Summary, Noncash Benefits Summary, and Income Summary.

Whenever you make employee adjustments that affect the 941 (such as an adjustment to wages or 941 taxes), the system updates 941 records.