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Contents of the Manage Pay Periods Screen

Use the fields and options to configure the Manage Pay Periods Screen.

Field Description
Pay Cycle

Enter a code to uniquely identify the pay cycle. Costpoint supports weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, and monthly pay frequencies. Each of these four types can also be subdivided into multiple pay cycles. For example, you can have several payrolls that are processed separately for employees who are paid weekly. This scenario could be set up as WK1, WK2, WK3, and so on, all being assigned to a weekly pay frequency. In the same system you could have BWK1, BWK2, and so on, assigned to bi-weekly pay frequencies. You can establish an unlimited number of pay cycles.

You must assign each active employee to one of these pay cycles in the Manage Employee Taxes screen.

Description

Enter a descriptive name for the pay cycle.

Frequency

Use this drop-down list to specify the frequency type of the pay cycle. This is used to determine the type of withholding calculations that are used. Valid types are: 

  • Semi-Monthly: Pay cycle period ending on the 15th and the end of the month
  • Weekly: One week in pay cycle period (7 days)
  • Bi-Weekly: Two weeks in the pay cycle period (14 days)
  • Monthly: Pay cycle ending at the end of the month
Open Pay Period The Open Pay Period field display the start and end dates for the open pay period. In Form view, the following fields are unlabeled and separated by a To label:
  • Open Pay Period Start Date: This field displays the start date of the pay cycle's open pay period. If you manually change the open pay period in the Pay Periods table, this value will be updated. If there is no open pay period, this field will be blank.
  • Open Pay Period End Date: This field displays the end date of the pay cycle's open pay period. If you manually change the open pay period in the Pay Periods table, this value will be updated. If there is no open pay period, this field will be blank.
Enable multi-state tax functionality

Select this checkbox to enable the Multi-State Taxes subtask of the Manage Employee Taxes screen. The multi-state functionality allows you to properly calculate withholding taxes for employees who work in multiple states during a single pay period.

Benefit Deduction Method Use this drop-down box to specify when benefit deduction or contribution premiums for employees in this pay cycle will be processed by payroll. Costpoint's Update Employee Package Deductions application will use this setting to ensure the premium start and end dates will result in the deduction/contribution being processed at the correct time. The deduction/contribution amount will be prorated if applicable. The options are as follows:
  • Calculate based on the pay period end date: Select this option if employees will pay for the benefits they have as of the pay period end date.
  • Calculate based on the pay period start date: Select this option if employees will pay for the benefits they have as of the pay period start date.
  • Calculate based on the check date: Select this option if employees will pay for the benefits they have as of the check date.
  • Prorate (Deduct before the pay period): Select this option if employees will pay for the benefits before the pay period in which the employee is covered. This will prorate the premium if there are two different coverages within the same pay period.
  • Prorate (Deduct after the pay period): Select this option if employees will pay for the benefits after the pay period in which the employee is covered. This will prorate the premium if there are two different coverages within the same pay period.
Note: You can view this drop-down list if your company has a Costpoint Benefits license.
Warning: For Costpoint Benefits users, a warning will display when you run the Compute Payroll process for an open pay period with the following Deduction/Contribution timing settings, without running the Update Employee Package Deductions process:
  • Pay per day and prorate. Deduct before the pay period
  • Pay per day and prorate. Deduct after the pay period
FSA/HSA Deduction Method

Use this drop-down box to specify how FSA/HSA premiums will be calculated for employees in this pay cycle. Costpoint's Update Employee Package Deductions application will use this setting to ensure the FSA/HSA deductions will be calculated correctly based on the selected date and the amount previously deducted for that year:

  • Calculate based on the pay period end date: Select this option if you want to calculate the FSA/HSA premium based on the YTD previously deducted based on the open pay period end date.
  • Calculate based on the check date: Select this option if you want to calculate the FSA/HSA premium based on the YTD previously deducted based on current check date.
Note: You can view this drop-down list if your company has a Costpoint Benefits license.

Add Pay Periods

Use the fields in this group box to quickly add as many pay periods as you want for a payroll year. Usually, you add one only payroll year at a time to avoid editing the Payroll Year field in the table window. The number of pay periods entered determines how many are added. Alternatively, you can enter each pay period individually in the table window.
Warning: Please remember that you must set up all pay periods in the payroll year for the correct computation of federal taxes.
Field Description
Payroll Year Enter the four-digit year for which pay periods will be added. This value is required if you use the Add Pay Periods button to generate new pay periods.
Number of Pay Periods Enter the number of pay periods to be added. All periods will be linked to the specified payroll year, so it's recommended you add one payroll year at-a-time. For example, if you would like to add an entire year of pay periods and the pay cycle is semi-monthly, you would enter 24 in this field. This value is required if you use the Add Pay Periods button to generate new pay periods.
First End Date

Enter, or click to select, the end date of the first pay period in the series of periods you want to add. The dates in each period will be used to select timesheets when payroll is computed. Only timesheets dated within the pay period will be selected for processing. If entries already exist in the table, this date must be the end date of the period following the last period in the table.

This value is required if you use the Add Pay Periods button to generate new pay periods.

Last End Date This non-editable field displays the end date of the last pay period that will be added when you click the Add Pay Periods button. This value will default based on the Number of Pay Periods, First End Date and Frequency. This value is provided to help you ensure the pay periods being added to the table are as expected.
Regular Hours Enter the standard number of regular (non-overtime) hours to be assigned to each pay period being added. This field is optional. If you leave this field blank, when the Add Pay Periods button is pressed and new pay periods are generated, the Regular Hours for each new pay period record will be blank and you'll need to manually enter the values in the Pay Periods table.
Check Date (Days following pay period end date)

If you would like to default the check dates when you click the Add Pay Periods button and new pay periods are added, enter the number of days after the pay period end dates on which the check dates will fall. For example, if your check dates are normally five days following the end of the pay period, enter 5 in this field. If the pay period end date is Sunday, 5/1/2022 and you specify that the check date is 5 days following the pay period end date, the check date would be Friday, 5/6/2022. You may also opt to override the calculated check date if it falls on a weekend day, so that the check date is set to the preceding Friday.

After adding pay periods, you may edit the check dates in the Pay Periods table.

If you leave this blank, no check date will default

Important:

To ensure the check is attributed to the correct year, the payroll year will be assigned based on the year of the check date and not the payroll year specified in the Add Pay Periods group box.

All pay periods in the open payroll year must have check dates.

Use prior Friday if check date falls on a weekend

If you are defaulting the check date when adding new pay periods, select this checkbox if you want to exclude weekends (Saturday and Sunday) when determining the check date.

Note: This checkbox is only visible if you enter a value in the Check Date (Days following pay period end date) field.

If you select this checkbox and the calculated check date falls on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday), the check date will be set to the Friday preceding the weekend. For example, if the pay period end date is Tuesday, 3/15/2022 and you specify that the check date is 4 days following the pay period end date, the calculated check date would be Saturday, 3/19/2022. If you select this checkbox, the calculated check date would instead be set to Friday 3/18/2022 since it is the Friday that precedes the weekend on which the calculated check date fell.

You may still edit the check dates in the Pay Periods table if you select this checkbox.

Add Pay Periods

Click this button to add pay periods based on the Payroll Year, Number of Pay Periods, and First End Date values that you entered. If you entered a value in the Regular Hours field, that value will default for each new row added. Also, if you specify that a check date should default based on a specific number of days following each pay period end date, the Check Date field will also be populated.

Examples Screen Setup Result
Example 1

Pay Period End Date: 06/30/2022

Days Following pay period end date: 4

Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend: The checkbox is selected.

Calculated Check Date: 6/30/2022 + 4 days = Monday, 7/4/2022

Check Date: Monday, 7/4/2022

Payroll Year: 2022

Example 2

Pay Period End Date: 06/30/2022

Days Following pay period end date: 3

Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend: The checkbox is selected.

Calculated Check Date: 6/30/2022 + 3 days = Sunday, 7/3/2022

Note: Since the Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend checkbox is selected and the check date does fall on a weekend, the Check Date is ultimately set to the preceding Friday, which is 7/1/2022.

Check Date: Friday, 7/1/2022

Payroll Year: 2022

Example 3

Pay Period End Date: 06/30/2022

Days Following pay period end date: 3

Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend: The checkbox is not selected.

RESULT:

Calculated Check Date: 6/30/2022 + 3 days = Sunday, 7/3/2022

Note: Since the Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend checkbox is not selected, the Check Date will be populated with 7/3/2022, which is a weekend day.

Check Date: Sunday, 7/3/2022

Payroll Year: 2022

Example 4

Pay Period End Date: 06/19/2022

Days Following pay period end date: 5

Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend: The checkbox is selected

Calculated Check Date: 6/19/2022 + 5 days = Friday, 6/24/2022

Note: The calculated check date does not fall on a weekend day so the application will use the calculated check date.

Check Date: Friday, 6/24/2022

Payroll Year: 2022

Example 5

Pay Period End Date: 12/29/2022

Days Following pay period end date: 5

Use prior Friday if check date falls on weekend: Y

Calculated Check Date: 12/29/2022 + 5 days = Tuesday, 1/3/2023

Note: The calculated check date does not fall on a weekend day so the calculated value will be used.

Check Date: Tuesday, 1/3/2023

Payroll Year: 2023

Important: To ensure the check is attributed to the correct year, the payroll year will be assigned based on the year of the check date and not the payroll year specified in the Add Pay Periods box.

All pay periods in the open payroll year must have check dates.

Pay Periods

This table displays the details for each pay period in a given pay cycle.
Warning: Please remember that you must set up all pay periods in the payroll year for the correct computation of federal taxes.
Field Description
Start Date

This editable field displays the start date that is calculated automatically from the previous row's End Date and the selected pay frequency. You can insert rows, but dates must not overlap (that is, the current row's Start Date cannot be earlier than the previous row's End Date). You cannot save a record with dates overlapping. The Costpoint format for a date field is MM/DD/YYYY.

End Date

This editable field displays the end date that is calculated automatically from the selected row's Start Date and the selected pay frequency. You can enter a date representing the last timesheet date of the pay period (which may or may not be the paycheck date) in this field, but the dates in this table must not overlap (that is, the current row's End Date cannot be later than the next row's Start Date). The Costpoint format for a date field is MM/DD/YYYY.

Check Date

Enter, or click to select, the check date that applies to the pay period. This is the date of the checks used to pay employees for work performed during the pay period. This date defaults onto the Print Paychecks screen and Print Payment Advices screen based on the pay cycle and open pay period.

If you supply a check date, the corresponding Payroll Year field will become disabled and populated with the year of the check date.

Open

Select this checkbox to indicate that the pay period is open. The open pay period will be processed when the Compute Payroll process is run for the pay cycle. Only one pay period can be open for a given pay cycle at a time. If you select this checkbox for a pay period, the application will automatically clear the checkbox for all other pay periods.

Payroll Year

Enter the payroll year for which this period is effective. If a check date was assigned to the pay period, this field will be disabled and populated with the check date year.

Regular Hours

This column reflects the number of regular (non-overtime) hours in each specific pay period. You can edit this column to the specific number of regular (non-overtime) hours in each pay period. This is a required field.

Employee Benefit Deductions Updated

This non-editable checkbox indicates whether or not the pay period was processed through Costpoint's Update Employee Package Deductions application in the Payroll module. This checkbox will only be selected if that application is run for all employees in the Pay Cycle and not just for a portion of the employees.

Note:

You can view this checkbox if your company has a Costpoint Benefits license.

If you are licensed for the Costpoint Benefits module, the Benefit Deduction Method is Calculate based on the pay period end date or Calculate based on the pay period start date, and you do not run the Update Employee Package Deductions application for the open pay period, you will receive the following warning message when you run Compute Payroll for that open pay period: "Update Employee Package Deductions has not been processed for this pay period."