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TakeHome Pay Calculation
Copyright 1989-91 All Rights Reserved
Version 3.63
Programmed by R. G. Farnam
TakeHome Software Products
P. O. Box 333
Barker, TX 77413-0333
CompuServe 71350,1375
Tax ID Furnished On Request
To Businesses or Government Agencies
Tax Tables Installed For
Use During 1992
Effective 3/1/92
INTRODUCTION
TakeHome was created as a way determine a quick "what-if"
scenario when changing withholding exemptions. I wanted to know
what the tax withheld and the amount of take-home pay would be if I
were to make a change with my employer for withholding tax
purposes. Along these lines, it has developed into a tool for
individuals and businesses alike.
INDIVIDUALS
TakeHome can be used to create several "what-if" situations.
After you have entered your current payroll information taken from
your pay-stub, you can determine how much federal (and optionally
state and local) tax would be withheld from your paycheck. You
will be able to list up to 15 ranges on each listing (i.e. from
single or married with 0-15 exemptions, 16-31, etc.). With this
information, you can fine-tune your withholding allowances to meet
your tax liability without giving the government an interest free
loan of your tax money. There are benefit plans (401-K and Section
125) that will reduce your tax liability at the end of each year.
TakeHome will show you the effect of these plans on your monthly
income if you participate in them.
Getting a pay raise? TakeHome lets you see just how much
take-home pay you will get before you receive your first check!
Finally, you will be able to check up on your employer to make sure
that the proper amount of withholding is being taken out of your
paycheck each pay period.
SMALL BUSINESSES
TakeHome takes the headache out of going thru the tax tables
at payroll time. The program produces a customized pay-stub for
you to attach to the checks you give to your employees. If you are
operating with a manual payroll system, keeping a ledger account on
each employee for W-2 purposes, you can produce more than one copy
of the pay stub, either posting directly yourself (if you keep your
own books) or giving it to your bookkeeper to post. TakeHome
should help you breeze through your payroll duties.
LARGE CORPORATIONS
Even though your payroll may be computerized, there are many
occasions (performance awards, vacation pay, bonuses, employees
terminating before the end of the pay period, etc.) when payments
will be made to employees between your normal payroll processing.
You can compute the employees' taxes and create pay-stubs for such
occassions by using TakeHome. Have you ever been plagued with
requests from employees wanting to know what effect various
exemptions would have upon their take-home pay? TakeHome is a
payroll department's dream solution. You can strategically locate
copies of TakeHome on computers throughout the company so that
employees can do their own "dirty work" and figure it out for
themselves! TakeHome is currently in use by several Fortune 500
companies and has been a beneficial relief to their Payroll
Departments.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
ShareWare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
System Requirements
Files Included
Installing TakeHome
Program Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Starting TakeHome . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Enter Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Gross Pay
Federal Exemption Status
State Exemption Status
Local Status
State Income Tax
Section 125 Deductions
401-K Deductions
Other Deductions
Change Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Wipe Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
PayCalc Command . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Salaried Employee . . . . . . . . . 8
Hourly Employee . . . . . . . . . . 9
Dependent Command . . . . . . . . . . . 10
401-K Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Tables Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
MakeStub Command . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Help Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Register Command . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Shell Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Quit Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
SHAREWARE
TakeHome is being distributed under the SHAREWARE
distribution method. You can try it before you buy it! You are
granted a limited license to use TakeHome for a two week period.
If after two weeks you are still using TakeHome or have future
plans for the occassional use of TakeHome, you are expected to pay
for it. Many hours of programming and de-bugging have gone into
the program. To register, simply choose the register option within
the TakeHome program. You will be asked questions for the
completion of the form and the completed form will be printed out
on your printer. (You can optionally print out the ORDER.FRM file)
Since TakeHome is marketed as ShareWare, only your conscience can
be your guide. "There ain't such a thing as a `free' lunch
anymore!"
WHAT DO YOU GET BY REGISTERING?
1. You will receive your own serialized copy of the latest
version of TakeHome which by-passes ShareWare notices and
has features not available in the ShareWare version.
2. You will receive a printed manual for the program's use.
3. You will be notified of future up-grades of TakeHome.
4. You will have the option (for a slight additional fee) of
having your TakeHome program customized for the automatic
computation of any state and/or local payroll taxes in
your locality (limited to the 50 United States).
5. The registered version of the program will save a run-
time configuration file, as well as, individual data that
has been entered. It will also append an output file
which can be incorporated into a Lotus 123 program to
accumulate data.
6. Site-licenses are available at a reduced cost for putting
TakeHome on PC's throughout your company.
7. See the UPDATE.HST file for other registered benefits.
DISCLAIMER
TakeHome is being provided "AS-IS" with no product warranty,
either expressed or implied; including, but not limited to the
implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular
purpose. TakeHome is guaranteed by the author that the original
program is free of any known "virus" and/or "trojan horse" source
code; however, since tampering by third parties is always a
possibility with any public access software, in no event will the
author be responsible for any damages which may occur with the use
of this program. The source code for TakeHome is not and will not
be released to the public for program integrity reasons as stated
above. TakeHome has been tested on IBM (including the PS2 series),
Compaq, AT&T, and IBM Compatibles. Some video cards may not work
properly with TakeHome and the program should be aborted if this
occurs.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -4-
GETTING STARTED
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
1. DOS Version 2.1 or higher
2. A minimum of 256K free memory to devote to TakeHome
(Registered version should have 384K)
3. Floppy disk drive (hard disk allows faster access)
4. Color (CGA, EGA, VGA) or Monochrome Monitor
5. ANSI Driver should be active in your CONFIG.SYS file.
(If the ANSI.SYS or equivalent is not present in your
computers environment, the title screen of TakeHome will
appear as so much garbage. If you do not have ANSI,
remove the file TAKE2.000 from your disk or directory.
You will receive a `File Not Found' error message, but
TakeHome will function normally after that.)
FILES INCLUDED WITH TakeHome:
FILE NAME SIZE DESCRIPTION
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TAKEHOME.EXE 186,356 Main Program File
PAYCALCA.EXE 69,924 Main Program Support File
TAKE2.000 1,236 Title Screen
INSTALL.BAT 2,294 Hard Disk installation
TAKEHOME.DOC (text) This Document File you are reading
ORDER.FRM (text) Optional order form to fill out
UPDATE.HST (text) A history of program updates
COMISION.DOC (text) Commission and Spreadsheet docs
UPDATE.45 (text) Version 4.5 enhancements
FILES CREATED BY TakeHome
PAY.BAT Created during hard disk installation
TAKEHOME.??? Temporary work file created and deleted
during the programs "CHANGE COMMAND"
INSTALLING TAKEHOME
TakeHome will run from either a floppy diskette or from a
hard drive. The use of a hard drive will speed up TakeHome's disk
access and will make the program run faster. The program comes
with a hard disk installation file (HARD.BAT) which will do the
following for you:
* Create a subdirectory called PAYROLL
* Copy the program files into this subdirectory
* Copy PAY.BAT into your root directory for starting TakeHome
from any directory on your disk
Optionally, TakeHome can be copied onto your hard disk in the
directory of your choice. The program only needs the TAKEHOME.EXE,
PAYCALCA.EXE, and TAKE2.000 in the same directory (DO NOT RENAME
PAYCALCA.EXE) for the proper execution of TakeHome.
That's all there is to it! You are now ready to run TakeHome
with either the command PAY, if you used the hard disk installation
or TakeHome if you copied the program to your hard disk or are
running the program from your floppy diskette.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -5-
PROGRAM OPERATION
TakeHome was designed to be user friendly. Most users don't
care to read a long documentation file. If you are one of these
types of individuals, go ahead and start the program! TakeHome is
menu driven and there are many "help" screens along the way. When
all else fails, you can always read the manual! Data entry other
than Yes or No will present a maximum character input in the upper
right hand corner of your screen. If you have not pressed the
Enter key by the time the counter reaches 0, then TakeHome will
stop taking input and place what you have entered on the screen.
STARTING TAKEHOME
Start TakeHome from the DOS prompt by either typing in PAY,
if you used the hard disk installation, or TakeHome from the floppy
disk or directory that the program files are located in. After the
title screen, an opening screen will give you some ShareWare
information on TakeHome, press any key to continue. You will first
be asked if you are running the program with a color or monochrome
screen; select "C" for color or "M" for monochrome. This will take
you to TakeHome's main menu. Options on the main menu are produced
"Lotus" style at the top of the screen. Simply use your arrow
direction keys to select the option of your choice. (NOTE: Some
of the options will not function until payroll information has been
entered into the program under the "Enter" option.) Currently,
options cannot be selected by pressing the first letter of the
option desired. I hope to be able to incorporate letter selection
in future upgrades.
ENTER COMMAND
ENTER brings you to the pay information screen.
GROSS PAY is the first question asked by the program.
TakeHome will not compute the gross pay for an
individual (with the exception of a monthly salaried
employee who only works for part of the month). You
may enter any value up to $999,999.99 as the gross pay
that you are working with.
FEDERAL DEPENDENT STATUS is the next screen. Your
dependent status needs to be put into code form made up
of 3 characters. The first character is either S for
single (or married but withhold at the higher single
rate) or M for married. The second two must contain your
number of exemptions that you are claiming. These can
range from 0 to 99; both digits must be used. Therefore,
if you are claiming single with no exemptions, you would
enter S00 as the status code. Married with 3 exemptions
would be entered as M03.
STATE DEPENDENT STATUS (registered versions only) will be
asked next. The code is entered like the Federal
dependent status code above. This portion works on
"customized" registered versions only since there are no
state tax tables built into TakeHome's ShareWare version.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -6-
SECTION 125 DEDUCTIONS are certain pre-tax benefit plans
that the employee does not pay FICA or Federal/State
taxes for contributions to these plans. Examples include
group health insurance, dependent care, medical payments
not covered by insurance, etc. Your company must have a
fully Qualified plan before deductions can be entered as
Section 125 deductions. If your company does not
participate in such plans or you do not have any Section
125 deduction, press the enter key to continue,
otherwise, enter your total Section 125 deductions here.
401-K DEDUCTIONS are pre-tax savings plans that some
companies offer to their employees. 401-K deductions do
not have Federal/State taxes, but they are fully FICA
taxable. Again, your company must have a fully Qualified
plan before an amount can be entered here. If your
company does not have such a plan or you do not
participate in the 401-K plan, press enter to continue.
If you do have this deduction, enter it here.
OTHER DEDUCTIONS are entered next. Press "Y" if you want
to record other deductions (i.e. Credit Union, Donations,
other health or savings deductions not covered under the
Section 125 or 401-K plans, Union Dues, etc) Press "N"
if you are finished and have no other deductions.
Assuming you pressed "Y", an other deductions screen
appears. You may list up to a total of 9 other
deductions. The first item you will enter is the name of
the deduction, followed by the dollar amount entry. You
may continue putting in the other deductions until you
have reached the maximum (9) entries or you can quit the
other deductions screen by pressing Enter at the
deduction name prompt
Any deduction entered as a negative amount (for
example, -10.59) adds the deduction amount to the
paycheck instead of subtracting it - AFTER taxes.
This is useful in case you are refunding a deduction that
was previously overcollected.
After all the payroll information has been entered, you will be
returned to the main menu screen of TakeHome. The information
entered displays on the right hand side of your screen. The bottom
status line changes from "No Data Input" to show you which tax
table is currently being used to calculate your taxes, your Federal
status code for the tax calculation, and your State status code
(customized version only).
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -7-
CHANGE COMMAND
This command takes the place of the "enter" command after
payroll data has been entered. From this command, you are
taken to a screen showing your gross pay input, Federal
exemption code, State exemption code (registered versions) or
state tax calculated, Section 125 deduction, 401-K deduction
or total other deductions. Using the arrow keys or the first
letter on the line, select the entry you want to change and
a change screen appears for that entry only so that you do
not have to re-enter all of the data. You may optionally
select the change all to re-enter all data. When you are
satisified with your changes, select the keep these values to
return to the main menu.
WIPE COMMAND
The wipe command clears all data that was input with the
enter command. If you want to enter a new set of data, use
the wipe command first. This will reset all values to zero
and return the "enter" command prompt.
PAYCALC COMMAND
The paycalc command allows you to compute what a monthly
salaried employee should be paid when they work a partial
month. Additional (new with version 3.5), TakeHome now
calculates the gross pay for an hourly employee.
After you have selected the paycalc command, three options
are displayed. Select one of these options by using the
arrow key and pressing Enter or by pressing the first letter
on each command line.
SALARIED PAY FOR A PARTIAL MONTH
GROSS PAY needs the full monthly salaried rate entered
into it. After this amount has been entered you will be
shown the calculation of the employee's daily rate of
pay.
WORKDAYS IN MONTH needs to then be determined. A set of
calendars (last month, this month, and next month) pops
up to assist in your determination of the number of
normal workdays. In order for these calendars to be the
correct ones, you need to make sure that the date set in
your computer is the current date. Paid holidays, sick
leave, vacation time-off, etc. are counted as workdays in
this computation, but weekends are not counted. There are
normally between 20 and 23 workdays per month which is
all that TakeHome will correctly compute the amount on.
DAYS ACTUALLY WORKED prompts for the number of workdays
in the month. The calendars remain visible until this
entry has been made. Days entered should be in half day
increments; therefore, if the employee worked until noon
one day, the decimal .5 should be added to the total
number of whole days worked.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -8-
TakeHome then calculates the employees gross pay for the
month. The calculation used by TakeHome is based on 260
possible working days in any year (this includes any
holidays as work days and takes into consideration
whether the employee was paid for the holiday or not).
This method averages out over the period of a year and
should be made applicable even if it is February with
only 28 days or July with 31 days.
OTHER DOLLAR AMOUNTS paid in addition to this amount can
be entered. This should be an entry, if any, of the
total overtime, vacation for days not taken, severance
pay or any other types of pay you want to enter.
TakeHome then asks if you want to go directly to the data
entry screens or return to the Main menu. If you have
not previously entered the payroll data into the
program, TakeHome gives you the total amount computed
along with any additional pay that you have entered. This
amount should be entered as your gross pay on the data
entry screen. If you previously entered the payroll
data, TakeHome then returns you to the main screen of the
program, automatically plugging in the new calculated
value as the gross pay and recomputes the FICA, Federal
and State (customized version) taxes to be displayed.
HOURLY PAY CALCULATION
HOURLY RATE is the starting point for data entry under
this option. After you have entered the hourly rate, a
popup menu will accept the hours worked. You can select
the hours entry using either the arrow key and pressing
Enter, or you can press the number or letter of the
option that you want to change. Note that the hourly
rate can also be changed with the [R] option.
1 - STRAIGHT TIME HOURS. Enter the total hours worked at
the regular hourly rate.
2 - OVERTIME HOURS @ 1.5. Enter the total hours worked
at the overtime rate of time and one-half.
3 - OVERTIME HOURS @ 2. Enter the total hours worked at
the double time rate.
4 - OVERTIME HOURS @ 2.5. Enter the total hours worked
at double time and one-half.
R - HOURLY RATE CHANGE. Change your original input for
the hourly rate.
C - CALCULATE. When you are satisified that the hourly
rate and the number of hours at each level are correct,
select this option to do that actual calculation. The
applicable rates along with the dollar value at those
rates will display.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -9-
After the calculation has been made, you are given the
option to either change what was just entered or
continue with the program.
Next, you are given the option to enter any additional
pay that you want added to the gross pay. This would be
used for items such as vacation pay, commissions,
bonuses, etc. After this entry, if any, you may enter
the other payroll information that is input through the
Enter command or the total calculated value appears.
If other payroll information has been previously entered,
TakeHome "plugs" in the calculated amount and recomputes
the associated taxes and deductions.
DEPENDENT COMMAND
The dependent command was the original concept behind the
TakeHome program. This command can only be accessed after
data has been entered into the program. This section of the
program creates a "what if" situation. For example, what if
I claimed Married and 3 exemptions instead of Married and 2
exemptions? How much would be taken out of my paycheck for
Federal and State (customized) and Local (customized)
withholding taxes? With this command, you can easily find
out!
FEDERAL MARITAL STATUS of "S" for single or "M" for married
is entered at the first prompt. Any other characters will
cause an input error and TakeHome will ask you to re-enter
the marital status.
STATE MARITAL STATUS (customized versions only) will be
prompted. You may use the same status that you used for the
Federal marital status, or you can change to the other one
(i.e. if you are claiming married as your Federal status for
the comparison, and you want more State tax to be withheld
than the state married tables will calculate, then you could
claim single for comparison purposes).
STARTING POINT for the comparison of exemption ranges may be
from 0 to 99. Simply enter the number you want the
comparison to start at. Negative numbers are not valid.
ENDING POINT for the comparison. This can be any number from
1 to 15 above the starting point up to the number 99. A
limit of 15 is imposed by TakeHome since the screen will fill
with your tax information, but would scroll off if a larger
number were selected. If you need a larger comparison, just
run the comparison again. Again, negative numbers will not
be accepted on this line.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -10-
The TakeHome screen then clears and presents you with
the information requested. For each exemption claimed, you
are given the amount of Federal Withholding Tax, the State
Withholding Tax (customized versions) and your net takehome
pay for each exemption. NOTE: The take-home pay will only
be accurate if you included all of your payroll deductions in
the first data entry panel. State tax calculations will be
fixed at your set amount if you do not have a customized
version.
If you received `**' next to the withholding exemptions,
this is an indicator that a copy of your W-4 form will be
mailed by your employer to the I.R.S. You have exceeded
the current limit on employer reporting to the I.R.S. Your
employer will still accept the number of allowances you have
claimed, but you may be hearing from `Uncle Sam' to prove
that you are entitled to that many exemptions.
PRINT COMPARISON is the next prompted. If you want the
comparison data shown on your screen to be sent to your
printer, reply by pressing the "Y" key (make sure your
printer is turned on). Otherwise press the "N" key.
ANOTHER COMPARISON is the next prompt. If you would like to
enter another set of ranges for your exemption comparison,
press the "Y" key. Pressing the "N" key returns you to Pay-
Calc's main menu.
401-K COMMAND
401-K is another "what if" situation. Many companies now
offer 401-K plans, which are meant to be retirement savings
plans, to their employees. If your company offers such a
plan, this comparison will show you the tax savings from each
pay check that you would receive if you were to put your
savings into the 401-K plan instead of a regular savings
account. This command only works if payroll data has been
entered previously into the program.
There are no other entries for this comparison. You will
be shown the payroll tax savings for each whole percent from
1 to 16 that you would benefit from if you participated in
your employer's 401-K plan.
TABLES COMMAND
The tables command is used to change the tax tables that
TakeHome uses to compute your payroll taxes. You should
select your pay period from the tables for TakeHome to
accurately calculate your payroll taxes.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -11-
MONTHLY - If your taxes are calculated 12 times a year. This
is TakeHome's default mode. Some companies pay twice a
month, but the taxes are only calculated once a month with
the first check of the month being considered an advance.
SEMI-MONTHLY - If you are paid twice a month and your taxes
are calculated with each check.
BI-WEEKLY - If you are paid 26 times a year, receiving your
paycheck every two weeks.
WEEKLY - If you are paid 52 time a year, so that you receive
your check every week.
DAILY/MISC - If you are paid in a category that does not fall
in one of the above.
LUMP-SUM DISTRIBUTION - If you make a payment to an employee
over and above their normal payperiod, this method should be
chosen. This processes the Federal tax at a flat 20 percent
of the gross pay.
MAKESTUB COMMAND
The Makestub command allows you to print a customized pay-
stub on your printer. Values used on the stub will default
to TakeHome's calculations, but may be over-ridden if it is
necessary.
[A] Use this option to enter the employee's name that you
want printed on the stub.
[B] Enters the employee's social security number on the
stub. Enter the full nine digits of the number without any
hyphens (TakeHome places them on the stub for you).
[C] The period ending should be entered in the manner of
either xx-xx-xx or xx/xx/xx for the month, day and year.
[D] This option overrides the FICA tax on the stub. If an
employee has reached the FICA tax limit for the year,
this option should be set to zero so no additional tax is
collected.
[E] This option overrides the Federal income tax being
withheld on the pay-stub.
[F] This option overridea the State income tax being
withheld on the pay-stub.
[G] This option overrides any local tax that TakeHome has
calculated.
[H] This option inserts your company name on the pay-stub.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -12-
[P] This option actually prints the stub(s). You may select
as many copies of the stub up to 99 as you have a need for.
Enter 0 copies if you decide you are not ready to print yet.
[X] Exits the Print menu and returns to TakeHome's main
menu.
HELP COMMAND
Help displays a brief set of instructions to use as a
quick reference for the main menu commands. Try looking at
this help facility before coming back to the doc file.
REGISTER COMMAND
By selecting the Register command, you can enter
TakeHomes' Registration program. This will allow you to have
a customized program made for you. Just follow the prompts
and answer the questions. The program will then print it out
on your printer and also print it to a disk file (if you want
to make changes, you can edit it with an ASCII processor).
SHELL COMMAND
The Shell command can be used to keep TakeHome in your
computers memory while you access another program, provided
you have enough memory to run the other program. You may
need to look up some information to enter into TakeHome, but
don't want to lose the information you have already entered.
This is an example for the use of the Shell command.
Shell will return you to the DOS prompt. To go back to
TakeHome, type EXIT at the DOS prompt and TakeHome's main
menu appears with your information intact.
QUIT COMMAND
The saddest of all commands! When you are finished with
TakeHome, select the Quit command. You are given the total
amount of time that TakeHome has been running on your PC.
TakeHome Payroll Program Page -13-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TakeHome was programmed using QuickBASIC Version 3.0.
Many thanks to Dave Evers for his Window Tools routines which are
used extensively throughout this program.
The following are Registered Trademarks used in this documentation:
IBM - International Business Machines Corporation
Compaq - The Compaq Corporation
AT&T - American Telephone and Telegraph
Lotus - Lotus Development Corporation
QuickBASIC - Microsoft Corporation
Fortune 500 - Fortune Magazine
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The author of TakeHome has been working in the Payroll area for the
past thirteen plus years. He is currently a member of the American
Payroll Association. Any correspondence should be directed to:
(713) 588-3535
R. Gene Farnam
P. O. Box 333
Barker, TX 77413-0333
