Payroll Settings Tab

Use the field and options to set up the payroll settings.

Direct Deposit

Field Description
Minimum Accounts

Select the minimum number of bank accounts that an employee can set up or edit in ESS.

Maximum Accounts

Select the maximum number of bank accounts that an employee can set up or edit in ESS.

HSA Account Setup Use these options to require, not require (make optional), or not allow employees to enter HSA direct deposit information when they enroll in an HSA during life events or benefits enrollment. The options are:
  • Required: Select this option to require employees to enter direct deposit information for HSA enrollment during life events or benefits enrollment. The employee must have a direct deposit account with a Usage value of HSA on the Direct Deposit tab/screen. The account must be active and the method must be set to Percent. If the employee does not provide direct deposit information for the HSA enrollment, Costpoint will display an error message upon confirmation.
  • Optional: Select this option to allow an employee to confirm the HSA enrollment during life events or benefits enrollment even without direct deposit information. The employee can enter the HSA direct deposit information at a later time when the bank information is available. If the employee does not provide direct deposit information for the HSA enrollment, Costpoint will display a warning message upon confirmation.
  • Do not allow: Select this option to not allow the setup of direct deposit information for HSAs. Costpoint will not display an error or warning message upon confirmation of HSA enrollment in life events or benefits enrollment.

Allow employees to opt into or out of receiving advices by mail

Select this checkbox to allow employees to specify whether or not they would like to receive direct deposit advices by mail. Selecting this box will enable and display the Please mail my direct deposit advices checkbox on the ESS Payroll Checks screen. That setting allows employees to override the Mail Direct Deposit checkbox on the Manage Employee Bank Information screen. Do not select this checkbox if you do not want to give employees this option.

If you do not want to give employees the choice of having their direct deposit advices mailed, please clear this checkbox.

Withholding Setup

Field Description
Allow withholding state changes

Select this checkbox to allow employees to change their withholding state options in ESS.

Allow 'Exempt' withholding status on federal W-4

Select this checkbox to allow employees under the taxable entity to select an Exempt status on their electronic federal W-4 form.

Allow SSN changes on federal W-4

Select this checkbox to allow employees under the taxable entity to change their social security number on their electronic federal W-4 form.

Paystubs

Use this group box to select the settings that determine which Regular, Bonus, and/or Severance Pay paystubs are viewable in the Electronic Paystub screen in ESS.

Note: You can set options for each of the three paystub types to enable or disable the viewing of past, current, and/or future paystubs (that is, where the check date is before, the same as, or later than the system date). For example, if you select the Exclude paystubs with future date option in the Regular Paystubs drop-down list, employees can view only past and current paystubs; they cannot view paystubs dated later than the system date.
Field Description
Months of Pay History

Enter the number of months of pay history that can be retrieved by the employee in the Electronic Paystub screen in ESS.

Regular Paystubs

From the drop-down list, select which regular-type paystubs are viewable in ESS. Valid options are:

  • Exclude all: Select this option to hide all regular-type paystubs in ESS.
  • Exclude paystubs with future date: Select this option to hide all future regular-type paystubs in ESS. Past and current paystubs are viewable.
  • Exclude current and future paystubs: Select this option to hide all current and future regular-type paystubs in ESS. Past paystubs are viewable.
  • Show all: Select this option to make all current and future regular-type paystubs viewable in ESS.
Bonus Paystubs

From the drop-down list, select which Bonus-type paystubs are viewable in ESS. Valid options are:

  • Exclude all: Select this option to hide all bonus-type paystubs in ESS.
  • Exclude paystubs with future date: Select this option to hide all future bonus-type paystubs in ESS. Past and current paystubs are viewable.
  • Exclude current and future paystubs: Select this option to hide all current and future bonus-type paystubs in ESS. Past paystubs are viewable.
  • Show all: Select this option to make all current and future bonus-type paystubs viewable in ESS.
Paystubs with Severance

From the drop-down list, select which paystubs that include a severance pay type are viewable in ESS. Valid options are:

  • Exclude all: Select this option to hide all paystubs that include a severance pay type in ESS.
  • Exclude paystubs with future date: Select this option to hide all future paystubs that include a severance pay type  in ESS. Past and current paystubs are viewable.
  • Exclude current and future paystubs: Select this option to hide all current and future paystubs that include a severance pay type in ESS. Past paystubs are viewable.
  • Show all: Select this option to make all current and future paystubs that include a severance pay type viewable in ESS.

If you select any option other than Show all, at least one severance pay type row must exist in the Severance Pay Types group box.

W-2

Field Description
Minimum W-2 Year

Enter the oldest year to display in the Electronic W-2 module in ESS. f you leave this field blank, employees can see all W-2 years that exist in the Edit W-2 table.

Maximum W-2 Year

Enter the most recent year to display in the Electronic W-2 module in ESS.

Allow Employees to download and email W-2s in the official W-2 format

Select this box to allow employees to download or email their copies of Form W-2 (B, C, 2, Instructions).

Include W-2c data in ESS W-2 screen

Select this checkbox to display corrected data on the ESS W-2 screen.

If the Allow Employee to download and email W-2s in official W-2 format checkbox is also selected, and there is an existing W-2c record, then a W-2c will be downloaded and/or emailed with the employee's W-2 in official IRS format.

Display and print only the last 4 digits of SSN

Select this checkbox if only the last four digits of the employee's social security number (SSN) should be displayed and printed in the ESS W-2s screen. If this checkbox is selected, even the PDF generated in the official W-2 format will only include the last 4 digits of the employee's SSN.