Help Toolbar   (select a button to browse other online help sections)

Home  Index  Tutorials  Resources  Search  Tabs & Menus  Button Bar  Table & Data Display

Calculations (Employer Tab)View the next screen based on the program's menu orderView the previous screen based on the program's menu order

The following screen is optional - This screen should only be used if you want to calculate multiple payrolls! If you have only one company payroll, then you should use the Payroll tab's Payroll Processing - Calculations screen. The following step should only be used if you have multiple payrolls and you wish to calculate them all in one step.

This screen allows you to calculate multiple payrolls at the same time. It differs from the Calculations screen found under the Payroll tab (which allows you to calculate only the current payroll at any one time). You can calculate a payroll as many times as you need before you close it. When working with multiple payrolls, the recommended approach is to choose the Calculate button on this screen, and then calculate a payroll, then to use the Generate Report button for each payroll to review the results. These steps can be repeated until the payroll register displays the expected results.

Step-by-Step tutorial icon View step-by-step tutorial   Video tutorial icon View video tutorial

Common Buttons

Visit the Button Descriptions help page to view detailed descriptions of each button that appears on your screen (whether in the Button Bar at the top of the table, or in the table itself). Note: If a button is unavailable (i.e. its text appears in Gray), either the command is not applicable to the current screen, or its function has already been applied (e.g. you clicked the New button for an item that can only be added one time).

Sample command buttons

Context-Specific Buttons (that are unique to this screen, or that require additional instruction)

Backup - This button allows you to create a backup file that contains your complete company database. This includes the payroll, company information, employee information and all the necessary data required to restore you to the last saved program state.

Help page icon for divisions View the Admin - Tools help page to learn more about this feature
Tutorial icon for divisions View a step-by-step tutorial on this feature

Calculate - This button allows you to initiate the payroll calculation process for each payroll that has its Calculate option set Yes. Choosing the button displays a status indicator as each pay-sequence is processed.

Close - This button allows you to finalize the pay sequence by closing the pay. Clicking the button displays a pop-up message notifying you that closing the pay will prevent you from making any further adjustments to this pay. Choose Yes to proceed or No to cancel the close request.

Backup Procedure Required: Before closing a pay, a backup file must be created! This step is required in the event that the "close pay" procedure encounters an unexpected error. The backup procedure will create a file that will allow you to restore the pay to its current state if required. View the Admin - Tools help page for more information on this procedure.

Note: Pay sequences must be closed before you can print cheques or process EFT transactions. This restriction ensures that there are no discrepancies between the values stored in the permanent payroll history file and any disbursements used for the employees' pay. The close process also generates the information necessary to create a Journal Entry report for the payroll.

Restore - This button allows you to reload or restore a payroll database file to the last current state.

Help page icon for Admin - Tools View the Admin - Tools help page to learn more about this feature
Tutorial icon for the restore procedure View a step-by-step tutorial on this feature


The following section of this help page describes the various columns that can appear in the main table on this screen. If you see a column description below that does not appear on your screen, you can add the column to your view by using the Customize option under the Views button (located at the left side of the screen just above the table). Refer to the Customize View help page for more help on this feature.


Backup Saved

This cell indicates if the payroll has been backed up (i.e. the Backup button has been clicked. Although the cell automatically changes to read "Yes" when the Backup button is pressed, you may also edit this cell manually to set the two available options: Yes (the payroll has been backed up) or No (the payroll has not yet been backed up).

The manual option is included for accounts where the payroll database is very large, where the backup takes a longer time to run. In such cases, you could backup your payroll, mark the payroll as "backed up", and then be free to review your payroll as needed knowing that it has been backed up (even though the Calculations button may switch to Red during your review). As long as you do not make any data-related changes, your payroll reports will always represent current data.

Calculate

Use this cell to specify if the payroll is to be included in the calculation when the Calculate button is clicked. Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the payroll will be included in calculations) or No (the payroll will be not included in calculations).

Description

Use this cell to enter a description of the pay sequence. This is an optional field used for administrative purposes only and does not appear on any reports. For example you can enter "This run corrects a missed employee payment", or any other pertinent text.

Enabled

Use this cell to specify if the payroll is available for use. Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the payroll is enabled) or No (the payroll is disabled). The most common reason for disabling a payroll would be if it is no longer being used. If you wanted to exclude it from calculations for a temporary period of time, you would disable the Calculate column instead.

End Date

Use this cell to specify the closing date of the current payroll run. Note: Each time you add a new pay sequence, this date advances automatically based on your previous Normal pay run - you can change it as needed.

eNETEmployerPayrollId

This number represents the unique ID that has been assigned to your payroll account. It is for Canpay's internal use only.

Generate Report

Generate Report - This button allows you to create an Interim Payroll Register report so that you can review the current pay run for accuracy, prior to finalizing the run. When you click the button, the program calculates the current pay and the results are then presented in a PDF file. Depending on your browser settings, any of the following may occur; 1) the PDF file may open in a window for you to view, 2) the file may be sent to your Downloads folder where you can access it for viewing, 3) you may be presented with a window that will prompt you where to save the file.

The Payroll Register report provides a complete description of all calculations performed for each employee, including: Employee Name and Address, Current and Year-to-Date values for Gross Wages, Deductions, Benefits, Current Net Pay, Insurable Earnings, Transfers to bank accounts and Accumulators. The payroll register is assigned a sequential run number - stored reports should be filed according to this run number. This run number automatically increases by one each time the payroll is calculated and cleared. The run number will revert back to 1 for the first payroll of the new year. The last page of the report provides the accumulated totals for the current payroll, including Earnings, Hours, Deductions, Benefits, Net Payroll Value, and other statistical information.

Checking Balances - Each time the payroll register is created, you can check the balance by adding the current gross earnings to the previous register's year-to-date gross, which should be equal to the current year-to-date gross. This will confirm that your payroll is in order.


Lock

Lock - Click this button to prevent the current payroll from being calculated. This can be useful in cases where you have multiple users who access the payroll, but one user needs to make important changes without the payroll being affected by another active user (i.e. one who is logged in) who is also making changes. For example, you should avoid calculating the payroll while another user is adding new employees to the payroll. In such a case, you would choose the Lock button during the add-employee process, and then unlock the payroll once the employees are added.

Name

Use this cell to enter a name for the payroll in order to differentiate it from other payrolls on the screen.

Opened

This cell indicates if the payroll is open (active) and ready to be used in the current session. If you have multiple payrolls, only one can be open at any given time. You can open a closed payroll via the Employer tab's Payroll - Setup Payroll screen.

Pay Date

Use this cell to enter the actual date on which the employees receive their pay. If you are printing manual cheques, this would be the day that the cheques are distributed. If you are using the EFT feature, the date that you define here will be the day that the funds will be deposited into the employee bank accounts.

The Pay Date (also referred to as "Pay Day" or "Cheque Date"), is also used to determine when payroll liabilities are due, based on deposit schedules. This date also is used to determine when any assigned tax calculation formulas may be applied. Note: Each time you add a new pay sequence, this date advances automatically based on your previous Normal pay run - you can change it as needed.

Pay Type

Use this cell to specify the calculation method that will be used when the payroll is calculated. Pay types can be any of the following:

The "Special" Status - Additional, Extra and Reversal pay types will only calculate employees that have their Status set to "Special". This status can be set in the Payroll tab's Employee - Status Parameters screen. Employees who are marked as Special will be automatically set back to the Active status when the special pay run (or any other pay type) is closed.

Reversal Pay Adjustments - When you run a Reversal pay, the payroll calculation is reversed which generates a negative run result to offset the original run result. You then have an audit trail for reference.

Reversal pays take into account the following::

  • The affected employee's hours, earnings, deductions, and contributions are reversed for the period.
  • Year-to-date values for all related items are updated so that year-end reporting will be accurate (e.g. T4s, T4As, RL1s).
  • Earnings are updated so that ROEs will show the correct employer portion of CPP/QP, EI, and QPIP (where applicable).
  • Remittance amounts are adjusted.
  • Employee vacation accumulators are adjusted (for employees who are accruing vacation pay).
  • Province health tax and WCB premiums are adjusted where applicable.

Period

This cell displays the current pay period, which can be defined as the current time frame for which employees are being paid. For example, if your payroll is set to semi-monthly, this cell will begin incrementing from 1 through 24 throughout the year (24 pays per year). This cell is uneditable and is generated sequentially by the program after each successful pay run.

Additional and Extra Pay Types - In terms of pay periods, there is a notable difference between Additional and Extra pay types. An Additional pay has its values added to the previous Normal pay. An Extra is a pay is calculated in advance of the current Normal pay period and is therefore assigned an incremented Period from that of the current pay. Once the next Normal pay is run, it will be assigned the same Period as the Extra pay.

Rep Email

If you are employing the services of eNETEmployer Services to process your payroll, use this cell to enter the email address of your eNETEmployer Services payroll representative. This is useful in two ways; 1) The representative listed here may be contacted if you have any questions or concerns regarding your payroll, and 2) Each time you close a payroll, the eNETEmployer Services person listed here will be sent an email message notifying them of the action. This notification will let the representative know that the payroll is closed and ready for processing.

If you are not using eNETEmployer Services to process your payroll (e.g. you are performing these services in-house), you can either leave this cell blank or enter the email address of your own company's payroll representative.

Valid email addresses, such as john.smith@example.com are made up of the name, followed by the @ symbol, followed by a domain. The domain part is not case-sensitive, but the name portion may be, depending on the persons email server settings. Underscores and hyphens are permitted, but other special characters (e.g. #, $, !, quotes and spaces) are not.

Reports

Use this cell to specify if the payroll is to be included when generating various program reports. Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the payroll will be included in reports) or No (the payroll will not be included in reports).

Reversal Payroll

This cell displays a list of the previously closed pay runs so you can choose the run that is to be reversed. Reversal pays are best used in cases where the taxes must be corrected immediately (e.g. an employee has been overpayed). You could also use a Reversal pay feature if an employee has been underpayed, however an alternative would be to simply add the amount as an additional to their next pay if the employee agreed. Note: Reversal pays can only be run for pays in the current year.

Review

Review - Click the button in this column to display the Calculation Review report that provides a list of exceptions/warnings that were encountered during the payroll calculation.

Sequence

This cell displays payroll sequence number, a number that is sequentially assigned and increments for every pay calculation regardless of the calculation type. For example, if your payroll is set to semi-monthly, and you calculated only Normal pay types throughout the year (i.e. no other special pay types), the final sequence at year-end would be 24 (24 normal pays per year). Each time you run other pay type (e.g. Additional, Extra, Reversal, etc.), this number increments accordingly. This cell is uneditable and is generated by the program after each pay is closed. This number is for convenience only and can be used to track specific pay runs for historical or review purposes.

Start Date

Use this cell to specify the beginning date of the current payroll run. This date represents the start of the current period in which employees worked or earned wages. Note: Each time you add a new pay sequence, this date advances automatically based on your previous Normal pay run - you can change it as needed.

Status

This cell displays the current status of the pay calculation. It is uneditable and included for reference only. A pay sequence's status may be any of the following:

Unlock

Click the button in this column to unlock a previously locked payroll so that it can be modified or calculated. Payrolls may need to be unlocked in cases where multiple users have access the payroll, but where one user has locked the payroll for a period of time..