How do I run a payroll period?
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Contents
Summary
Every Company runs their Payroll differently. You may have some employees who are paid Weekly, some paid Monthly and some paid Four Weekly. Platinum Payroll will allow you to combine different Pay Frequencies or run them separately within the same system. It is advisable that you run each frequency separately i.e. run the payroll for the Weekly paid employees then go back in to run the Payroll for the Monthly paid employees, but this is not compulsory.
Entering the Correct Period and Pay date
To run a payroll period, follow the instructions below:
- Go to "Payroll" -> "Run Payroll Period"
- This will bring up a "Payroll Selection" Screen. Select the Payroll frequency you wish to run, by selecting "Yes" next to the appropriate frequency.
- Once you have selected the frequency, you need to specify the period you are running the payroll for and the date you are paying the employee/employees.The Period End date should be the last day of the period you are paying the employees for.
- Weekly paid employees: To fall in line with Statutory Pay and Tax Credit date parameters it is advised the date you enter is the Saturday at the end of the week you are paying for.
 | E.G. if you are paying employees for time worked from Monday 7th April to Friday 11th April it is advised you enter Saturday 12th April as the Period End date (Sunday 6th April would have provided the first day in the 7 day period). |
- At this point you will need to enter the date by typing it in or click the <down> arrow key to the right of the box to select a date from a drop down menu. The system will take the day after this to be the start date for the next pay period of this frequency.
- Next enter the Pay Date is the date you are actually going to pay the employees. This date must fall within the tax period you are working in.
| E.G. Week 1 runs from 6th April - 12th April, if your pay date for weekly employees falls within this date range then you should be in weekly payroll period 1. The payroll system will not allow you to enter a date which falls outside of the permitted pay period. |
- Then Click [OK] to start entering your payroll information. All employees due to be paid this period are listed down the screen.
Entry Screens
You have the choice of two screens to enter your Payroll information i.e. Hours worked, Pre/Post Tax Adjustments, SSP, Holiday Pay etc.
- Standard Entry Screen
- Detailed Entry Screen
Using the Standard Entry Screen
This screen allows you to move freely around it, using the arrow keys on your keyboard or clicking on the fields with the mouse.
All employees due to be paid during the Period are listed on screen. The order in which they are listed is defined in the Payroll Parameters. You may change the order from this screen by pressing <Alt+F2> to Re-Sort Data although the changes will be lost as soon as you exit the Run Payroll Screen. To change the order temporarily or permanently see in "Payroll Parameters/Maintenance" -> "Payroll Parameters" -> "Period Total Sort Order" for further details.
The headings across the top of the screen will be made up of the Pay Rates and Period Adjustments, as set up in the "Payroll Parameters/Maintenance" -> "Payroll Parameters" -> "Company parameters" -> "Payment Defaults" and "Payroll Parameters/Maintenance" -> "Payroll Parameters" -> "Period Adjustments"
For each employee, these fields will pick up the default values e.g. Standard Hours Worked, Standard Pay Rate and any Period Adjustments which have been set up to be added/deducted each period - see Employee Amendments.
Using the Detailed Entry Screen
From the Standard Screen, pressing <F5> to Edit/View Run Totals. This will pop up a detailed entry screen.
- At the top of the screen is the Employee's Code & Name and the Period.
- The middle of the screen is for entering the basic period details i.e. Hours Worked and Additions/Deductions.
- The bottom half of the screen is for information only. This displays the current period totals:
Gross Pay, Nett Pay, Employee's and Employer's NI contributions & rebates (if applicable) and Tax.
It will also display any Pension Contributions, SSP, SMP/SAP/SPP and Holiday Pay if entered for this employee. If the employee contributes to the Holiday Credit Scheme, the amount they are contributing this period is displayed alongside ‘Hol. Credit’ and the amount they have available to draw on is displayed in the brackets. It is a more detailed screen so that you can see a summary of the payroll period totals for the chosen employee as you are entering information.
Then you will need to enter basic payroll details For the each employee:
- Enter the number of hours worked
- If they are paid an hourly rate enter/amend the number of hours worked at the Standard Rate,
- If they are paid a salary enter/amend the number of hours worked. This is not compulsory for salaried employees, although you may wish to keep a record of the number of hours the employee has worked (this can also appear on the employee's payslip). This will not affect the amount the employee will be paid i.e. their basic salary.
- Enter/Amend the number of hours worked at any other Rates e.g. Time 1/2, Double Time.
- Enter/Amend any additions/deductions under the relevant Period Adjustments e.g. Commission due.
- If the employee is drawing any of their Holiday Credit, enter the amount in the ‘Hol. Credit’ Adjustment field. This automatically deducts the value entered from the employee's savings.
 | PLEASE NOTE : Special Period Adjustments/Attachments e.g. Tax Credits, Student Loans and CSA Deductions, will not be displayed. You need to create/amend these using the appropriate options e.g. Tax Credits, Attachments. |
- Once you have filled in the basic details for the first employee you may also need to enter extra additions/deductions e.g. Sick Pay, Holiday Pay, Tax Credits, Attachments e.t.c.
- When you have entered the information for the first employee, tap <F1> to move on to the next employee. When you look at the Employee Name at the top of the screen you will see you are now on the next employee. <F1>/<FS+F1> scrolls forwards/backwards through the list of employees, in the order they appear on the Standard Entry Screen.
- Once you have finished entering all the information for each employee for this period, you need to produce the End of Period Reports i.e. Payroll Analysis, Payslips e.t.c., refer to the See also section below for How I Run Reports at the End of a Payroll Period?
Once you are happy you have produced all the reports you require, you will be in a position to close the period. refer to the See also section below for How do I Close a Payroll Period?
See also
