Earnings (Payroll Tab)

This screen allows you to work with the various Earning types (the records that control the wages or salary for each employee) that will be used for this payroll. Earnings are used to define the categories of wages and salary that will be reported for employees. Although the program allows for an unlimited number of earning types, you must carefully analyze your payroll requirements to determine what earnings your business requires. Each earning you define must adhere to the CRA's requirements for assessment of employee source deductions. Examples of common earning types include: Salary, Commissions, Bonus, Regular Hours, Over Time, Shift Premiums, etc.

Earning types must be defined in order to provide pay rates for regular time, overtime, and double time. Earning types also have to be defined for those amounts that are paid out as a result of Accumulator processing.

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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.

# (Number)

Use this cell to enter a number that will uniquely identify the earning. This number can be used to as a reference to this earning when sorting earnings on this screen and also for reporting purposes.

Alt. Name

Use this cell to enter an alternate name for the earning that can be useful when used in conjunction with the program's Language feature. The alternate name can be set to a different language so that employees' pay stubs will display their preferred language. Refer to the employee's Status Parameters screen to learn more about individual employee Language settings.

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.

Bonus Tax Calc

Use this cell to specify whether the earning should be calculated as a Bonus type. For example, when an employee works regular hours, earnings are paid on a regular pay period basis. However, if an employee requests a payout of banked hours they have worked, you would classify this as a bonus calculation. Another example would be if the employee was paid out in cash, as in the case of a termination. The bonus method may also be used for exception earnings, meaning those paid on an irregular basis. For example, one-time or holiday bonuses, sales commissions paid on an irregular basis, accrued vacation pay, etc.

Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the item will be calculated as a bonus type) or No (the item will not be calculated as a bonus type).

Bonus vs Regular - The CRA allows two different methods of calculating the tax to be deducted at source. The "bonus" method takes into account that the income is an unusual one-time payment that does not reflect your average income level for the year, and thus should be taxed less accordingly. It typically will not affect the employee's actual tax owing at the end of the year, rather only the deduction at source. It is the company's option whether to use the bonus method or the regular income method.

Calculate Method

Use this cell to specify the method that will be used when the earning is calculated. Editing the cell displays a menu where you can choose the various calculation methods that may be assigned.

Individually - The earning amount will be calculated for each individual employee based on the employee's Hourly Rate times the number of Hours they worked, as defined in the Earning Items screen for each individual employee.
By Fixed Amount - The earning will use a fixed amount calculation as defined in the Fixed Amount cell.
As Rate Of - Available for Hourly earning types only, the earning amount will be calculated based on two criteria: 1) the earning that is selected in the Rate of Earning's drop-down list and, 2) a multiplier value that you enter into the Rate field. For example, to calculate a regular earning as "double time". you would choose the Regular earning option from the Rate of Earning cell, and then you would enter a number "2" into the Rate field to specify that the regular earning should be multiplied by 2 times the regular earnings rate.

Clear on Close

Use this cell to specify if the earning amounts should be reset (cleared) after the current payroll run is closed. Editing the cell will display a checkbox where you can specify the two available options: Yes (the earning will be cleared) or No (the earning will not be cleared).

This is the default action when you create an earning and is typically used for Hourly employees since their work hours are subject to change every pay period. Conversely, you would usually deactivate this option for Salary employees since their salary amounts will remain the same for each successive pay period.

Enable

Use this cell to specify whether the earning 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).

Fixed Amount

Use this cell to specify the amount that will be used when the earning is to be calculated as a fixed amount (i.e. the By Fixed Amount option is chosen in the Calculate Method cell).

Name

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

Rate

Use this cell to specify the rate that will be used to calculate the earning if the As Rate of option is chosen in the Calculate Method cell. Note: Choosing an item from this list will also require that a corresponding earning be defined in the Rate of Earning cell.

Rate of Earning

Use this cell to specify the rate that will be used when the earning will be calculated based on a multiplier of another earning (i.e. the As Rate Of option is chosen in the Calculate Method cell). Editing the cell displays a menu where you can choose from a list of available earnings. Note: Choosing an item from this list will also require that a corresponding multiplier rate be entered in the Rate field.

Short Name

Use this cell to enter an abbreviated name for the earning. This short name will be used when space restrictions are limited for screen display or printing (e.g. the employee pay stub).

Short Alt. Name

Use this cell to enter the short version for the alternate earning name (shown in the Alt. Name column). The short name will be used when space restrictions are limited for displaying or printing.

Subject To

Use these options to specify the tax category or other item(s) to which the earning may be subject. This is necessary for earnings that affect employee statutory deduction calculations. Editing the cell displays a drop-down menu where you can choose various options that may be assigned via its corresponding checkbox. The menu also includes a search box at the top where you can type in a word(s) and have matching items displayed quickly in the list.

CPP/QPP - Indicates whether the earning will be subject to CPP and QPP tax calculations. Note: QPP will only be calculated if the employee to whom this earning is assigned works in Quebec (i.e. their assigned tax province is Quebec).
EI - Indicates whether the earning will be subject to Employment Insurance (EI) calculations.
EI Hours - Indicates whether Employment Insurance (EI) will be calculated on this earning, based on the number of EI insurable hours the employee has worked.
PPIP - Indicates whether the earning will be subject to Provincial Parental Insurance Plan (PPIP) calculations.
Prov. Health - Indicates whether the earning will be subject to Provincial Health calculations. Note: This option appears only if you have added one or more Provincial Health records in the Current Payroll - Prov. Health screen.
QTax - Indicates whether the earning will be subject to Quebec tax calculations. Qtax will only be calculated if the employee to whom this earning is assigned works in Quebec (i.e. their assigned tax province is Quebec).
Tax - Indicates whether the earning is subject to Federal and Provincial Income tax calculations.
WCB - Indicates whether Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) assessments will be calculated on this earning. Each province has specific requirements as to which earnings are subject to the WCB assessment. Generally, any amount that would appear in Box 14 of the T4 would be included. Some provinces require that a monthly report be prepared and submitted with each monthly payment.

T4 Box

Use this cell to specify the T4 or T4A box to which this earning will be assigned. Editing the cell displays a drop-down menu with the available options that include:

Exclude from T4 - Choose this option to exclude the earning from the T4 or T4A form.
<Various T4 and T4A Boxes> - Choose the desired option to include the earning and add it to the T4 or T4A form's corresponding box.

Type

Use this cell to specify the earning type. Editing the cell displays a menu where you can choose from a list of available types.

Salary - This type of earning is used to pay employees a set amount that does not change each pay period (e.g. salary, commissions, bonus).
Hourly - This type of earning is used when you require a single payment unit that must be multiplied by a value in order to calculate the final payment, (e.g. the Hourly Rate multiplied by the number of hours worked, or Miles Driven multiplied by the rate per mile).

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