Periods

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Periods

Belina PayrollHR uses Payroll Periods for each period that is being paid.  Once a period has been completed and paid a period end procedure is run to take the payroll into the next period ready for processing.  These Payroll Periods are then allocated to Accounting Periods for accounting purposes.

tog_minus        Pay Periods

Belina Payroll HR uses 'Periods' in which to store the transactions, separately, for each period.   Before processing transactions in a payroll it is important to have the correct number of periods set up for the year.  This period information is used by the system to calculate the daily and hourly rates of pay for overtime, shorttime and leave valuations.

 

          SetupPeriods

How many payroll periods do you need?  Before setting up payroll periods consider how many periods are actually required.  The standard number of periods are:

 

Monthly payroll

12

4 week period payroll  

13

Bi - Monthly

24

Fortnightly

26

Weekly

52 (see comment below)

 

A weekly payroll may have a varying number of periods.  There may be a 51, 52 or 53 week year depending on the way in which the period end dates fall.  The organization may also choose not to process the periods during an annual shutdown which may reduce the total number of periods.  If the total number of periods differs from the standard number of periods, stated above, then change the number of periods under 'Payroll Maintenance '.  This will ensure that the FDS tax computes properly.

 

PERIOD TABLE

The period table should :

- be set up with the correct number of periods for the entire year

- have the correct period start and end dates for each period (with no gaps)

- have the correct hours and days per period

 

To set up the Payroll periods:

 

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     Click to play

 

 

Step 1       Go to the 'Setup', 'Periods', then 'Payroll Periods' menu options

Step 2        The system will have automatically created the number of payroll periods that you specified when creating the payroll.

 

          PayrollPeriods

Step 3        Modify the default information, a period at a time by highlighting the entry and pressing 'Enter' or selecting 'Change'.  The period information for all the periods can be done in one step by selecting 'Global Change', (see Step 4):

 

        PayrollPeriodChange

 

Financial Year:

Shows the financial year that the payroll period relates to.

Period:

The payroll period being changed

Bonus Period:

Bonus Periods are created when the period is initially setup (see Step 5)

Days Per Period:

Change the default number of days per period to the number of days that apply in your organization.  This is important since the number of days entered here is used in computing the daily rate of pay for someone earning a monthly salary.  An example of where this is necessary is with leave pay computations where a daily rate is required.

Hours Per Period:

Change the default number of hours per period to the number of hours that apply in your organization.  This is important since the number of hours per period is used in computing the hourly rate of pay for someone earning a monthly salary. An example of where this is necessary is with overtime computations where an hourly rate is required.

Weeks Per Period:

Shows, especially for Weekly payrolls how many payroll periods apply to the Accounting period in question.

Period Status:

Open/ Closed: When a period end is done the current period is 'Closed'.  The 'Open' periods are still available for current and future processing.

Start Date:

Enter the Start Date for the Payroll Period.  In the example screen, above, you can see that the cut-off date in the prior period was 22/5/2013.

End Date:

Enter the End Date for the Payroll Period.  In the example screen, above, you can see that the cut-off date in the prior period was 22/5/2013

Accounting Period:

The Accounting Period into which the Payroll Period belongs

Pay Date:

Enter the actual pay date for the period.

 

Step 4       To change the default Days and Hours for every period of a year in one step press 'Global Change'

 

        PeriodGlobalChange  

     


Enter the default number of Hours and Days per period for your organization.  These will then be applied in every period for the Year selected.  If there are employees working a different number of hours to the standard e.g. security guards and people working mornings only then the rules applicable to these people can be setup using the 'Industries' option.

 

Step 5        To create a 'Bonus Period' to process a separate Bonus Run:

 

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     Click to play

 

              PeriodBonusPeriod

 

Highlight the existing period that you would like the Bonus Period to come after.  Then Press 'Insert' to add the new period, place a tick against 'Bonus Period' then enter the Start Date, End Date, and Accounting Period.  It will then position the Bonus Period in the correct position in the Period Table and re-number the remaining periods as appropriate.  

 

Use this method if the bonus will be processed in this separate payroll run that excludes the Transaction Codes that would normally be processed in a period.

 

Step 6

If it is necessary to delete a Payroll Period highlight the period to be deleted, then click on 'Delete'.  If you are sure you want to delete the highlighted period click 'Yes'.  This removes the highlighted period from the list of periods.  There should not be a break in the numbering of the periods which remain.  This will mean that other existing periods will need to be re-numbered.

 

Step 7

Move to the first Payroll Period where data is to be processed. In a new payroll the system automatically places the User into the first period of the year being processed eg '2021/01' but the current period may be further into the year.  To move quickly to the first period where data is to be processed do a period end procedure and simply enter the period that you would like to be in, then continue with the period end process.  This will then automatically move the payroll into that period.  From this point onwards it is necessary to run the 'Period End' to move one period at a time to each subsequent period.

 

TAX YEAR

'The Tax year commences on 1 January and ends on 31 December of each year. The payroll follows the Payroll Period numbers from period 1 each year until the end of the year..  The first period of the year is January in a monthly payroll or the first working week of the year in a wages payroll.

 

Payroll Periods

Important : The Start and End Dates should be set up correctly.  Only set up the number of periods actually required to pay staff.

Period information is central to the proper functioning of the payroll.   If in doubt, contact Belina or your authorized dealer.

 

PERIOD NUMBERS FOLLOW THE TAX YEAR 1 JANUARY TO 31 DECEMBER

 

IT IS IMPORTANT TO PROCESS TRANSACTIONS INTO THE CORRECT PERIOD

tog_minus        Accounting Periods

Accounting periods are used to assist in making monthly payments on a weekly payroll and also help with the consolidation of weekly and monthly payrolls. In the case of weekly and fortnightly payrolls where there are 52 and 26 periods respectively but there is usually only 12 accounting periods, one for each month of the year.   Belina PayrollHR can allocate payroll periods to the respective accounting period for journal purposes.

 

To set up the Accounting periods:

Step 1

Go to the 'Setup', 'Periods', then 'Accounting Periods' menu options

 

SetupPeriods

 

 

Step 2

The system automatically creates 12 accounting periods, one for each month of the year.  The period start and end dates are the beginning and end dates of each month which can be modified, as necessary, to suit your specific accounting period cut-off dates.

 

Accounting Periods

ACCOUNTING PERIODS
There are normally 12 (twelve) accounting periods in a year, one for each calendar month of the year. The number of Payroll Periods varies according to payment frequency.
 
Weekly payrolls - 51, 52, 53 periods in a year depending on fall of payment dates
Four Weekly payrolls - 13 (52 periods/ 12)
Fortnightly payrolls - 26 (52 periods/ 2)
Monthly payrolls - 12

We are then left with having to allocate Pay Periods to the related Accounting Period.
 
MONTHLY PAYMENTS ON A WEEKLY PAYROLL
If Payroll Periods have been correctly allocated to Accounting Periods then if there is a monthly payment e.g. Medical Aid the cost can be equally divided amongst the number of weeks in that month. See FAQ topic 'Equal Monthly Payments'.
 
CONSOLIDATION
Consolidated Group reports for an Accounting Period can be printed combining information from Monthly and Weekly payrolls if the system can allocate the Payroll Periods to the relevant Accounting Period.