Distributions (Payroll Tab)

This screen allows you work with Distribution codes - codes that are used by the program to translate allocated hours and amounts that correspond to a General Ledger (GL) entry. Many businesses prefer to use distributions to "break down" hours by department (distributions are often referred to as "departments").

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Default Distribution - All payrolls must be assigned a default distribution at the very least, so that the program can generate the Journal Entry report. If any account areas are left blank, eNETEmployer will use the default distribution for the GL account number. In this case, you can input all of the normal General Ledger accounts in the default distribution table (row), and any exceptions to these can be entered separately.

When you set up an employee in the eNETEmployer, you may assign them a default distribution code. Each new payroll is assigned an initial code entitled "Default", but you may rename it as needed so that the employee's work time can be allocated accordingly.

However, if you need to split the employee's hours between several departments, you must override the default distribution code. For example, if Joe worked 80 hours and you needed to split his time evenly between the Sales and Marketing departments respectively, you would create two distribution codes entitled "Sales" and "Marketing", then you would assign 40 hours to each. eNETEmployer will then split the employee wage costs and all benefit costs proportionately between the two.

Distributions can be assigned at multiple levels:

All companies have a default distribution.
Employees may be assigned a distribution.
Each payroll item (e.g. Earnings, Deductions, Federal Tax, CPP) can also have an assigned distribution with each item containing a series of "accounts". These accounts include a department number and an account number.

When using multiple distributions, processing is carried out in the following order:

If the payroll item has a distribution, the amount will be dispersed to the distributions account for that item.
If the payroll item does not have a distribution, the amount will be dispersed to the employee's distributions account for that item.
If the employee does not have a distribution, the amount will be dispersed to the company's default distribution account for that item.

Note: The one exception to the above is that if a distribution does not have an account entered, the amount will always be applied to the company's default distribution.

Single-code entry for multiple distributions - If your payroll has mutiple distributions with each item sharing the same numbering system, you do not have to enter the same account number across all of the distributions. Rather, you can enter all of your account numbers into the default distribution only, and include the <code> (i.e. the word "code" surrounded by angled brackets) before or after each account number. eNETEmployer will then substitute the appropriate distribution code in place of the <code> placeholder.

View a step-by-step tutorial on this feature

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).

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.

Audit

This button allows you to view a list of changes that have been made to the current item. Choosing the button opens the Audit History window where item changes are shown in colored text. Note: Audit History is a developing feature and subject to updates as new functionality is added.

Default

Select this radio button to designate this distribution as the default. If any account areas are left blank, eNETEmployer will use the corresponding Default Distribution for the GL account number. In this case, you can input all of the normal General Ledger accounts in the Default Distribution Table (row) and any exceptions to these can be entered separately.

Name

Use this cell to enter the name of the distribution. The name shown here will appear on various screen and reports throughout the program.

Enable

Use this cell to specify whether the distribution is active in the current payroll. Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the item is active in the payroll) or No (the item in not active in the payroll).

Expense Acct

Use this cell to specify the account to which the selected item's expense will be allocated.

Expense Description

Use this cell to enter a description for the Expense account (e.g. Sales Wages, Company CPP Expense, etc.).

Expense Dept.

Use this cell to specify the department to which the selected item's expense will be allocated.

Item

This uneditable column displays items (e.g. Earnings, Deductions, Benefits , Accumulators, etc.) that are being used in the current payroll. Each of these items require a corresponding General Ledger account designation. Though most of these accounts must have both a credit entry (liability) and the debit entry (expense) assigned, certain items require only one entry (e.g. Earnings). For earnings, you would debit the area where the employee worked and the resulting off-setting credit would be considered "Net Pay". In this case, eNETEmployer would disable the Expense or Liability options.

Each account is broken in two segments. The first segment is the Department and the Account Number.

Liability Account

Use this cell to specify the account to which the selected item's credit/liability will be charged.

Liability Description

Use this cell to enter a description for the credit/liability account (e.g. Pension Payable, Accrued Vacation Pay, etc.).

Liability Dept

Use this cell to specify the department to which the selected item's credit/liability will be charged.

See Also

Creating Payroll Distributions