Down To Earth - FAQ

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 Payroll

Answers you're looking for regarding your Hourly and Salaried employee time sheet entry, Government  Reporting and Submissions, Federal and State Tax amount options,   Employee loans, plus Check formats -- All within the Payroll application FAQs.

Or visit other Down To Earth Application FAQ links:

Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable

General Ledger
Inventory
Purchase Order

Sales Order Entry
Water Management

Can I mix both Salaried and Hourly transaction for entry or need to keep them separate?

You can, your choice - but keep reading for helpful tips...  

• You can generate salaried transactions automatically then add hourly transactions. 
• If you start entering hourly time sheet entries, you no longer have the option to generate salaried transactions automatically.  You must enter them manually.   
  
• Even if they have different pay periods.  All the necessary information is found within the employee master that considers all the possible options.  

How do I find out if there are any W2 form changes for this year?

Any government form change programs are automatically provided to our supported customers. 

But both the IRS and SSA provide a wealth of information for each reporting year. You can find sample forms, information re electronic submissions of W2 data and their AccuWage verification software.  Down To Earth v7 provides this optional electronic submission file according to the SSA specification.  Visit:

SSA Electronic submissions 

For helpful links and BSO registration information.

If I decide to submit my SSA online, where do I start?

You must register your User ID with the SSA, Business Services Online (BSO) as the first step.  Once you are registered with the SSA, you must create a precisely formatted file with multiple records for each employee.

DTE v7 includes a separate executable program to create the necessary records in a standard ascii format.  Once the file is created, it is very easy to load it into the government provided software, AccuWage for verification, then submit. 

How do I add more to an employee's federal withholding?

Whole dollar amounts can easily be added within  the Employee master, Pay/Tax Tab.

Select "Employee" from the Maintenance menu column of the Payroll application. Go to the Pay/Tax Tab, and enter up to $9,999 in the FWT addtl field (whole dollar amounts only).  This amount is added to the amount automatically calculated from the Federal Tax Table, each pay period. 

The company CEO has exact Federal and State tax amounts for his last check of the year.  How can I force DTE to use these amounts?

Manual tax values are easy entered when you choose "Pre-Calculated" for the check Type within Time sheet entry (second field).   Prepaid and Precalculated Types display an additional window that prompts for all tax withholdings -- Federal and State. 

Prepaid Type of entry does not produce a physical check within the payroll run. However, Precalculated allows manual entry of all federal and state tax withholdings in lieu of the standard tax table calculations AND still prints a payroll check along with the other employees. 

How do I set up a payroll deduction for an employee to take a  "loan" using his 401K as collateral?   

The first step is to define a Deduction code as Declining (rather than the standard ascending).  A Declining type deduction code allows Down To Earth to calculate the amount that must still be deducted from an employee's wages. 

The loan amount is entered as the "Balance" of that deduction code within the Pay/Ded Codes Tab of the Employee master.  When the loan balance drops to zero, deductions are no longer considered for this deduction code.

NOTE:  When the Calendar year end process clears Ascending deduction code balances, the Declining deduction code balances remain as they were.

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Does Down To Earth print checks that include the MICR coding, lines, and signature image?

Yes.  That option is available but has some very specific printer and paper requirements.  MICR code and line printing requires a laser printer that has capabilities of understanding Printer Control Language (PCL) commands.

Within DTE, General Ledger, Bank account maintenance controls the account numbers, format parameters, codes, and signature image information.

Be sure to contact DTE Technical support for complete details and instructions to insure bank pre-approval.   

What different styles of check formats does DTE offer as options?

There are four check & stub styles available plus direct deposit.  In addition to the MICR coded laser check discussed above, there are two types of pre-printed laser check plus continuous form formats offered.  They include

• a stub over, middle check, and blank bottom (NEBS 9027)
• check on top with two stubs under (NEBS 9039)
• standard 10 characters per inch, continuous form, impact printer format using the standard NEBS 9024 form.

To go with any of the above check formats, there is also the option to have part of all the payroll check qualify for direct deposit.  Direct deposit check uses the same check format for a direct deposit "information" (void) check. 

Refer to the Payroll User's Reference manual for more information. 
Additional assistance is also available from our Technical Support department.