Between Heaven & Hell 2/BetweenHeavenHell.cdr/500/405/acct.arc/PC-PR.DOC

Text File | 1986-06-06 | 24KB | 514 lines

                          PC-PR MANUAL - Version 1.3


PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

       PC-PR is a payroll writing and payroll summary program for small and
medium size businesses.  The program runs on a IBM PC or compatible computer
with one disk drive and 128k memory.

       PC-PR is a user supported program.  Your are encouraged to give
copies to anyone who might use it.  Since the federal tax tables are
included in the program, you will need an updated version of the program
each year.  The cost for the updated program is $35.  The program as
distributed, includes the 1986 federal tax tables.  To receive a copy of the
program with 1987 tax tables send $35 to:

              Jerry Medlin
              310 S. Jefferson St.
              Napa, Ca.  94559

       The updated program will be available in December 1986.  Your payment
will entitle you to a telephone number for limited telephone assistance
should you require it.  You may pay the annual $35 fee at any time if you
wish assistance before December 1986.

       The system consist of two files.

       PC-PR.COM - The compiled program written in Turbo Pascal.

       PC-PR.DOC - This documentation in ASCII form.

       In addition, the program W2.COM will be provided to registered users
for printing employee W-2 forms at then end of the year.

       To run the payroll program, simply type "PC-PR".  If you want to
specify a drive and path for your data just add the drive and path
description after the program name.  i.e. type "PC-PR B:PR\" to use the
directory TEST on the B drive for data files.  If you just want the root
directory on B: drive you would type PC-PR B:

       A menu is then displayed for operator selection:

              Enter or Change Employee Data
              Enter or Change Payroll Checks
              Print Employee Listing
              Print Payroll Check Listing
              Print Payroll Ledger
              Zero Employee Balances
              Enter or Change Employer Data
              Export Employee Data
              End Processing

       Use the arrow keys to highlight your selection then press return.

       PC-PR is fast because it works with data in random access memory, but
the capacity is limited by available memory.  Available memory is shared by
the data.  With more employees on file, fewer payroll checks can be
entered.  PC-PR allows a maximum of 500 employees and 1000 payroll checks
per accounting period with 512k of memory.  With 128k the capacity is
reduced to about 200 employees and 200 checks.







      Each time the menu is displayed, the number of payroll checks that can
be added with the available memory is printed at the bottom of the screen.
The number of employees that can be added is obtained by dividing this
number by 2, since each employee takes up twice as much memory as a payroll
check entry.

       Since a power interruption will result in loosing all the data
currently entered into the program, you should occasionally save your data
back to the disk.  This is done by selecting End Processing from the menu.
The current data will be saved to the disk then you will be asked "Do you
want to end ?".  Just answer with an "N" and you may resume processing.


THE PROCESSING CYCLE

       Payroll checks may be written on any cycle from daily to annually.
After each batch of payroll checks, you should print the Payroll Check
Listing report and the Payroll Ledger report.  This will provide a printed
"audit trail".  Although the program will work just fine without printing
these reports, you will not have any printed record of where all those
numbers on the employee's W-2 came from.

       Each time the program is run, all employee data is loaded into
memory.  You will then be asked: "Do you want to start a new payroll period?
(Y/N)".  Usually, you will answer Y to this question and a new payroll
period will be started.  If you ended the previous payroll without printing
any reports you should answer with a "N", and all payroll checks written
since the last "Y" answer will be loaded into memory.  You can then continue
writing checks to be added to the previous batch of checks.

       Payroll Checks are usually printed as the payroll data is entered,
but you have the option of entering the data and then printing the checks
one at a time.  When all of the payroll checks for the current payroll have
been entered, you may begin printing reports.  Reports may be printed in any
order and as often as desired.  If you discover an error in any of the
reports you may correct the problem and reprint the report.  At any time you
can stop processing by choosing the End Processing selection from the menu.


ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYER DATA

      Before you can do anything with PC-PR you need to enter a screen of
employer information.  This employer information is unique to each payroll
application and need only be entered once and changed whenever any of the
relevant data changes.  This is done by selecting ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYER
DATA from the main menu.  When the program is first run, most of the data is
blank.  By using the up and down arrows, you can select each field to be
changed then by pressing "C" you may change the information in that field.

       Space is provided for the employer name (2 lines), employer address
(2 lines) and employer federal and state identification numbers.  The first
line of the employer name will be printed on all reports.  The remaining
name and address information is used only for printing W-2's at the end of
the year.

       The number of paydays per year is necessary to calculate federal
income tax to be withheld and must be a number between 1 and 52.  Weekly
payroll would be 52 paydays per year, semimonthly payroll would be 24
paydays per year, biweekly payroll (every 2 weeks) would be 26 paydays per
year and monthly payroll would be 12 paydays per year.






       Next you must fill in the information for payroll deductions.  There
are 6 deductions possible with PC-PR.  The first deduction will always be
federal income tax withholding (FWH).  The remaining five deductions must be
named by the user.  You may also set a limit for each deduction and the
percentage to be withheld.  For instance social security tax (FICA) for 1986
is limited to 7.15% of the first $42000 of income.  Anyone who earns more
than $42000 will not have social security tax deducted after they reach
$42000.

       A zero value for the limit and percentage means that this deduction
must be input by the user.  Such is the case with state income tax which is
not a fixed percentage of income and for any miscellaneous deductions.

       Next, you may input information for calculating up to 6 payroll tax
amounts.  This information is used to print at the bottom of the payroll
ledger report a summary of payroll taxes due for the quarter.  It is
especially useful for calculating employer paid payroll taxes like state
unemployment insurance (SUI), which is based on payroll paid up to a certain
amount for each employee.

       Since PC-PR requires a printer capable of printing at least 132
characters across a page, you must let the program know what printer codes
are required to set your printer to 10, 12 and 17 characters per inch
(cpi).  If your printer is already set up to print 132 characters or you use
switches to set the printer width then you can leave this part blank.  Enter
the ASCII code or codes required to change your printer to 10 cpi, 12 cpi
and 17 cpi.  If your printer does not allow 12 characters per inch, enter
the data for 17 cpi per inch for both 12 and 17 cpi.  For instance, if you
have an older model Epson printer you would enter the following:

                       10 cpi          18
                       12 cpi          15
                       17 cpi          15


       The following is an example of a completed employer data screen for
the state of California for the 1986 tax year and using a Prowriter
printer.  Your data will vary depending on state law and the type of printer
you are using.

                          Employer Data
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Name 1                     JOHN HENRY'S DRILLING      Printer Control Codes
Name 2                     & EXCAVATING INC.
Address 1                  333 OAT HILL ROAD          10 Cpi     2778
Address 2                  CALISTOGA, CA.  94598      12 Cpi     2769
Federal ID                 94-2678232                 17 Cpi     2781
State ID                   250-7432-4
Paydays per year           26

 Deduction     Limit      Percent        P/R Tax       Limit     Percent

  FWH           None        Table
  FICA          42000        7.15         FICA          42000       7.15
  SDI           21900        0.90         SUI            7000       2.30
  SWH               0        0.00         ETT            7000       0.10
  Insur             0        0.00         FUI            7000       0.80
  Other             0        0.00         SDI           21900       0.90
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Use the up and down arrows to move the pointer
 then <C> to change or <Esc> to exit.





ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYEE DATA

       Employee information is entered and changed using this selection
from the menu.  The following information is entered for each employee:

       Employee name - Up to 25 characters are available.

       Street Address - Up to 25 characters for the street address.

       City, State & Zip - Up to 25 characters for the city, state & zip
       code.

       Sort by - A ten character code that will be used to sort employees
       in alphabetical order.  Employees are sorted each time you leave the
       ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYEE DATA section.  In most cases you will want
       to enter the employee last name, followed by as much of the first
       name as will fit in the remaining characters.  For instance, if the
       employees name is Jerry Medlin, the employee code would be
       MEDLINJERR.  When a new employee name is entered, the program will
       make a pretty good guess and enter a sort code for you.  If you want
       to change it just press the escape key and you can type the sort
       code.

       Social Security - Enter the employee social security number without
       spaces or dashes.  Dashes will be added later when the social
       security number is printed on reports.

       Status - Marital status can be either M for married or S for single.

       Allow - The number of allowance claimed by the employee.  Enter a
       number from 0 to 9 or the letter E if the employee is exempt from
       federal tax.  Entering an S for allowance will tell the program to
       input federal tax from the keyboard instead of calculating it.

       Rate - The employees hourly wage rate.  If you wish, you can enter
       the pay rate for a whole pay period then enter the hours as 1 when
       entering payroll check data.

       Dept - Enter a department number between 0 and 9.  This number will
       be used to summarize payroll by department at the end of the Payroll
       Check Listing.

       Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the previous
field.  Pressing the Escape key at the first entry takes you to the command
mode.  The command mode allows you to scroll up and down through the
employee names, delete employees and change employee information.  Pressing
the Escape key from command mode takes you back to the menu.

       If you don't know the employee's address or social security number,
you can leave that information blank for now and fill it in later using the
<C> Change option.

       At times you may want to find an employee without scrolling through
the entire employee list.  The <G> Go to Employee selection from the command
mode allows you to do this.  Just enter the employees name or even the
beginning of the name and the program will take you immediately to that
employee.

       The acceptable commands at any point are printed at the bottom of the
screen.







ENTER OR CHANGE PAYROLL CHECKS

       Payroll checks are printed on a common check form.  The checks should
be ordered pre printed with your company name.  The following is a list of
suppliers, their toll free order number and their catalog number for the pre
printed check forms you will need:

NEW ENGLAND BUSINESS SERVICES (NEBS)            800-225-9550    Form 9022
CHECKS TO GO                                    800-854-2750    Form 188-01
                                                800-552-8817    In Calif.
FORMS SERVICE INC.                              800-553-5125    Form 3020
                                                312-671-2821    In Illinois
MOORE BUSINESS FORMS                             800-323-6230    Form M17566


       The ENTER OR CHANGE PAYROLL CHECKS selection allows you to enter or
change payroll checks.  Payroll checks are normally printed as the payroll
information is entered.  This normally causes no delay with most printers
and results in a shorter overall time for doing a payroll.  If you prefer,
you can skip printing the checks as they are entered and print them one at a
time using the <P> Print command.

       Before any payroll checks can be entered you must have your employer
information entered into the program as explained in the previous section.
The following information must be entered to calculate a payroll check:

       Employee Name - No, you don't have to type in the employees name.
       Just use the up and down arrows on the number pad to search for the
       employee you want to pay.  When you find the right employee just
       press the return or enter key.  There is no need to memorize
       employee numbers.  Payroll checks are entered by name only.

       Check Number - Up to 4 characters for the check number.  Alphabetic
       characters are allowed.  Pressing the return or plus <+> key enters
       a number equal to the previous check number plus one.

       Total Hours - The total hours worked by this employee for the pay
       period.  This will be multiplied by the rate entered for the
       employee to determine regular pay.  The total hours should include
       any overtime hours to be entered below.

       O.T. Hours - Overtime hours worked for the pay period.  This number
       will be multiplied by one half the rate entered for the employee to
       determine the overtime excess pay.

       Other Income - Enter the dollar amount of any other income to be
       paid during this pay period.  You could use this entry for entering
       total pay for salaried employees.

       Non Taxable - If you want to add a non taxable payment to the check
       such as an auto allowance or reimbursement for supplies paid for by
       the employee, you can enter it here.  Be sure the amount you are
       entering is, in fact, non taxable.  The amount will simply be added
       to the net check with no deductions taken.

       The program will then calculate the payroll deductions that are
supposed to be calculated and prompt you to enter the deductions which are
not calculated.  You will then be presented with four choices:

 <Return> or <+>  Print this check          <C> Change this check
 <X> Skip Printing                          <Esc> Cancel this check






       Normally you will press the return or plus key and the check will be
printed.  If you made an error in one of the steps above, or if you want to
change one of the deduction amounts you should select <C> and you will be
given an opportunity to change any of the check information and then
returned to the above four choices.  Should you not want to print the check
at this time you can press the X key.  The <X> Skip Printing choice is
usually used when you want to enter a manually written check into the
payroll.  Pressing the Escape key will cancel the check just entered.

       Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the previous
field.  Pressing the Escape key at first entry position (Name) takes you to
the command mode.

       The command mode allows you to scroll up and down through the
entries, delete entries, change entries, and print any checks you left
unprinted.  From the command mode you may press the <T> Total key to print
the total all of the payroll checks written so far.

       Pressing the Escape key from command mode takes you back to the
menu.  All the available commands are printed at the bottom of the screen
and may be chosen by a single keystroke.


PRINTING REPORTS

       When you first enter the PC-PR program you will be asked to enter a
report date.  This date will be used on all reports.  If you want to change
the report date you must end processing and start over, otherwise the same
report date is used on all reports and checks printed during a payroll
session.


PRINT EMPLOYEE LISTING

       This is a listing of all current information for each employee.  You
may use this sheet as a payroll input sheet for the next pay period and to
check addresses and social security numbers for accuracy.


PRINT PAYROLL CHECK LISTING

       This report list all of the payroll checks written for the payroll
period.  At the end of the payroll check listing the total of all checks is
printed followed by a breakdown of payroll by department.  This report
should be printed and retained after each payroll for a permanent record.


PRINT PAYROLL LEDGER

       The payroll ledger is an important "audit trail" for the PC-PR
program.  It lists each employee with his or her payroll balance at the
beginning of the payroll period.  Then each payroll check for the employee
is then printed followed by the quarter to date and year to date balances
for the employee at then end of the payroll period.

       Important!  If you don't print the Payroll Ledger Report before
starting a new payroll period, you will not have a permanent record of how
the payroll balances arrived at their total for the year or quarter.  This
means that you won't be able to show the employee or the IRS where all those
numbers on the W2 form came from.  The Payroll Ledger should be printed
after each payroll.






       At the end of the Payroll Ledger report the quarterly payroll tax
liabilities are calculated and printed.  These numbers have no effect on
payroll, but are there to help you fill out the various state and federal
payroll tax forms. The calculations are based on information you entered in
the ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYER INFORMATION section of the program.


ZERO EMPLOYEE BALANCES
      At the end of each quarter, you should use this selection to set all
employee quarter to date balances to zero.  At the end of the year you can
set all employee year to date balances to zero.  When you select this choice
from the menu you will be asked to enter a "Q" to zero quarter to date
balances or a "Y" to zero year to date balances.  Hitting any other key will
return you to the menu with no changes made.  It is up to the user to
remember to set quarter to date balances to zero at then end of each quarter
and to set year to date balances to zero at then end of the year.


EXPORT EMPLOYEE DATA
       This selections allows you to print at least some of the employee
data to a file called PR.PRN.  This file can then be read into many
spreadsheet and database programs, allowing you to use the employee data for
other purposes.  The best way to understand this option is to try it.
       The file PR.PRN is created as soon as you selection this option from
the menu.  You can view the file after you exit PC-PR by typing TYPE
PR.PRN.  You can also load the resulting data into LOTUS 123 using the
import/numbers option.
       The Export Employee Data option is provided only as a convenience
for those advanced users who need the data for other purposes.


SAVE DATA AND END

     When processing is completed you must exit the program using this
selection.   If you just want to save the current data to the disk without
ending, you may answer "N" to the question "Do you want to end processing?"
and you will be returned to the menu.


HELPFUL HINTS

       The program makes liberal use of the ten key pad for both numbers
and commands.   The Num Lock can be on all the time.

       When inputting information, the plus <+> key has the same effect as
the return or enter key.  Numerical information is entered "calculator
style".  The decimal point is placed automatically.  The minus <-> key
enters a negative number.  This makes using the numeric key pad even easier.

       The escape key is always used to go back to the previous operation.
From anywhere in the program if you continue to press the escape key you
will eventually return to the main menu.

       If you void a payroll check before you start a new payroll period,
you may simply delete the check from the payroll checks by pressing the
delete key when the check is displayed on the screen.

       If you void the check after a new payroll period has started, you
must enter the check as a negative payroll check so that the amounts will be
reversed from the employee's payroll totals.  Negative numbers are entered
by first entering the amount then pressing the minus <-> sign.





       Special Note to California users:  The California withholding tables
are already built into the program.  California withholding taxes will be
calculated if the deduction percentage for state withholding is entered as a
negative number.  Go to the employer data selection and change the deduction
percentage for state withholding to a minus 1.  (Press C for change then
1.00 and the minus <-> sign.)

       PC-PR is written in Turbo Pascal and the source code is available
for $125.  A reasonably competent programmer should be able to change the
withholding tables annually and even program your own state withholding.


SPECIAL WARNING:  Garbage In - Garbage Out.

       Although I have made every effort to eliminate the most common
operator errors, it is still possible to enter complete nonsense into this
program and get incorrect payroll from the program.  Just because it is a
computer doesn't make it automatically correct.  Look at the checks and
printouts and make sure the numbers are reasonable.  If you enter an
incorrect check, be sure and void it.  It is your responsibility to see that
your employees and the government get correct information.


ADDING A LITTLE COLOR

       If you have a color monitor and wish to have colors other than the
normal black and white you may specify the colors when you run the program.
Just include the decimal values for the colors after the path description.
The numbers specify the colors for border, data, prompts and background in
that order.  For example, if you run the program by typing:  PC-PR C:PR\ 6
14 10 1 you will be telling the program to look for data on drive C in the
sub directory PR and use brown borders, yellow data, light green prompts on
a dark blue background.  Beware - the program does not check to see if the
colors are valid or tasteful.  Once you decide what you want, put the
command in a batch file to avoid typing errors.  If you want colors, but
don't want to specify a path, you must still specify the drive designation.
So to get the same colors while using drive B: you would start the program
by typing: B: 6 14 10 1.



       TO PRINT THIS MANUAL:
       1. Turn your printer on.
       2. Set the printer to the top of the page.
       3. Type: COPY PC-PR.DOC LPT1.