US Payroll - Using the Payroll Processing Screen

Overview

CMiC has enhanced the Payroll Processing screen (standard Treeview path: US Payroll > Processing > Payroll Processing) to improve its overall performance and design. Now when payroll processing is initiated, the process will run uninterrupted until the entire process is completed. Once completed, a log will be produced that displays a list of processed employee records and any exceptions that may have occurred. If exceptions exist on any of the employee records, they can be reviewed and corrected, and payroll processing can be performed again on the updated employee records. This significantly improves productivity, as only those records that contained exceptions are reprocessed and the payroll process does not have to be restarted for the entire set of employee records.

The Payroll Processing screen is available in both the US Payroll module and the International Payroll module. For more detailed information on the fields in this screen, please refer to US Payroll - Processing, Checks and Postings.

Process

This section runs through some examples of completing the payroll process. It includes steps for handling failures, reviewing exceptions, and re-processing payroll. It also provides details about the processing status messages.

Status Messages

Pgm: PYPAYPRO – Payroll Processing; standard Treeview path: US Payroll > Processing > Payroll Processing

After clicking the [Process Payroll] button on the Payroll Processing screen, a message will be issued at the top of the screen to indicate whether the process completed successfully.

• Success (Green): If processing is completed successfully, a message in green will be issued, similar to the one shown below. The message indicates the total number of employees processed and the time spent processing.

  
  

  Payroll Processing screen with successful green processing message

• Warning (Yellow): If processing is completed unsuccessfully, then a message in yellow will be issued, indicating the number of exceptions that occurred, the number of employees processed successfully, and the time spent processing. Details about the exceptions can be reviewed and corrected by using the [Review Exceptions] button, and exceptions can be reprocessed (after corrections) using the [Reprocess Exceptions Only] button.

  

  Payroll Processing screen with unsuccessful yellow processing message

• Error (Red): If an unhandled exception occurs, then a message in red will be issued, indicating the nature of the error that occurred during processing. There will be no options to review the details. In this case, as processing never started and was aborted, reprocessing exceptions is not an option. The cause of the aborted processing issue must be corrected, and the payroll process must be restarted using the [Process Payroll] button.

  

  Payroll Processing screen with failed red processing message

Processing Payroll with Exceptions

Step 1: Process the Payroll

Complete the fields in the Payroll Processing screen and click on [Process Payroll].

Step 2: If Processing Fails, Resolve Issue and Reprocess

Payroll Processing screen with failed red processing message

If payroll processing fails, an error message will be issued, indicating the nature of the error that occurred during processing. For example, in the screenshot above, FUTA rates are missing and are not on file for the company.

Payroll Processing screen with status of previous processing

After resolving the issue, the Payroll Processing screen will display an opening message that indicates the status of the last payroll processing. In the screenshot above, the previous processing did not initiate and completed with zero employees in exception.

Click on the [Process Payroll] button to reprocess the payroll.

NOTE: Since there are no employee records completed in exceptions, users must click on the [Process Payroll] button, as clicking [Reprocessing Exceptions Only] button in this situation will generate an error message.

After reprocessing, if processing completes successfully, a status message will be issued to indicate that processing was completed successfully and will include the total number of processed employees and the total processing time elapsed.

If exceptions are encountered, these issues need to be reviewed, as shown in the next step.

Step 3: Review Any Exceptions

Payroll Processing Exceptions screen launched from [Review Exceptions] button

If any exceptions occur, click on the [Review Exceptions] button to display the processing log. Review the processing log to examine and correct the exceptions. For convenience, the log contains horizontal and vertical scroll bars to help scroll through the records in the viewing area. Records can also be grouped by column, and a search field is also available. The [Reset] button and [Export] button can be used to reset searches or export records.

The log will display generated errors/warnings in the Exception Message column. For example, if the worker compensation rate was missing, the exception message would be “WC Calculation Rate” and affected employees would be flagged under the same exception message. Flagging employee records this way allows users to efficiently filter how many employees are affected by a certain type of exception. The processing will record exceptions along with the overall status message.

Once exceptions have been corrected, the Payroll Processing screen will display an opening message which indicates the status of the last payroll processing completed. Now users have the option of reprocessing exceptions only, as shown in the next step.

Step 4: Reprocess Exceptions Only

Payroll Processing screen with status of previous processing

Once exceptions have been reviewed and corrected, users have the flexibility to reprocess the exceptions only. A progress indicator will be displayed to signal that processing is in progress. It will provide feedback about the duration and progress of the process, including how many employee records have been processed and how much time has elapsed. A status message will be issued to indicate that processing was completed successfully and will include the total number of processed employees and the total processing time elapsed.