1) A common mistake is to go into POST / VOID HANDWRITTEN CHECKS before printing the computed checks. If you do that and then print checks, both the computed as well as the manual ("handwritten") checks will be printed. Had you followed the menu, your computed checks would already be printed and posted; the checks you typed would not have printed.
2) When COMPUTE is run, the CURRENT fields in the employee master file are updated, but so are
the Quarter To Date, Year To Date and MISC fields. So, if anything is wrong, you must undo this
computation before doing another. Otherwise, the next COMPUTE will also update
these fields, thus duplicating this payroll. Worse, the first update was wrong!
Undo the wrong COMPUTE by selecting UTILITIES - RESET PAYROLL DATA, fix whatever was wrong and then
COMPUTE again.
Note what happens when you COMPUTE; all the payroll data files are backed up. So everything you did
up to the COMPUTE step has been saved. RESET restores this backup. Even if you have already
printed the checks, it is not too late to fix an error. Shred the bad check run, RESET, fix
whatever is wrong and then resume with COMPUTE.
CAVEAT: Your Accounts Payable check history is not altered by RESET, so if you
have already printed and posted checks, you should go to AP and remove the bad checks there via FILE
MAINTENANCE - CASH ACTIVITY. Delete (or zero the amounts of) these paychecks. They will be put back by the next POST
in Payroll. If you fail to do this, either the amounts will double or there will be two sets of
checks when there should have been only one set.
3) Just start the REPORTING - QUARTERLY TAX REPORTS and examine the screen. Look first at
9. ADJ. OF FICAThis should be a small amount because it is "fractions". If it isn't a small amount, either your checks did not post or you forgot to RESET (so your employee files contain a duplicated payroll). Look next at
14. TOTAL QTR DEPOSITSwhich, obviously, should be the sum of what you have paid so far this quarter. If that is wrong, either you forgot to run the depositary check or you posted it twice. Finally, look at
LIABILITYper period (across the bottom). Confirm that you have the checks in the correct month and that the QUARTER is about the same as the line 14 above. (You're expected to deposit what you owe...) When you're satisfied that the information is correct, just hit <ESCape> to return to the Payroll menu; no need to print now.
4) Since tax laws change and programs must evolve to reflect these changes, you might need to know how to
enter a record for, say, a 401K plan. The <F10> function key is your friend! Please
remember that help is "context sensitive", so it matters where your cursor is when you use it.
While we're on the subject of Miscellaneous records, you can't change any of the first three
lines. If you need to change one of these, you must DELETE the record and then ADD it back.