Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/busi/pcprwi90.zip/PC-PR.DOC

Text File | 1990-02-27 | 28KB | 666 lines

                       PC-PR MANUAL - Version 1.4


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 1990 federal tax tables.  To
receive a copy of the program with 1991 tax tables send $35 to:

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

       The updated program will be available in December 1990.  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 1990.

    This version also contains 1988-90 Wisconsin Tax Tables added
    by: Julian E. Jetzer - 6400 Hawthorn Road - Sheboygan, WI 53083


       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 PR 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 you got all those numbers on the employee's W-2.

       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.
Data will automatically be saved.

















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 need only be
entered once and then 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 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 1990 is limited to 7.65% of the first $50400
of income.  Anyone who earns more than $50400 will not have social
security tax deducted after they reach $50400.

       A zero value for the limit and percentage means that this
deduction must be input by the user.  Such is the case with some state
income taxes and for any miscellaneous deductions.

       A negative value for deduction percent will tell the program
to calculate the tax as a percentage of federal withholding.  So, if
your state income tax is 10 percent of federal income tax, you should
enter 10.00- for the deduction percent for that deduction.

       A value of 99.99 for the deduction percent will tell the
program to use the Wisconsin state income tax withholding tables.

       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 federal unemployment insurance (FUI), 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 1987 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          50400        7.65         FICA          50400       7.65
  SDI           21900        1.20         SUI            7000       2.30
  SWH               0       99.99         ETT            7000       0.10
  Insur             0        0.00         FUI            7000       0.62
  Other             0        0.00         SDI           21900       1.20
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 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.  When an employee no longer works
       for you, you can enter an "X" for department and the employee
       will be omitted from payroll and employee listings but
       retained for W2 purposes.

       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
employee's 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.















PROGRAM LIMITATIONS

       Anyone who has examined the 1986 tax simplification act knows
that Congress has a strange concept of "simple".  But, I have tried to
write a simple payroll writing program that complies with the
multitude of laws regarding payroll.  As a result, the program works
for most payroll situations, but not all.

       The program is not recommended for many payroll applications
that require FICA wages to be different from taxable wages.  This
includes companies that deduct for pension and deferred compensation
plans, supplemental unemployment compensation plans and students
working for private schools.

       The program will handle tips declared by employees, but the
tax summaries at the end of the Payroll Journal will always include
the tips, which may not be correct in some situations.

       If you have different payroll periods for different employees
the program won't work for you.

       In addition, the following situations will require amounts to
be manually entered or changed before the check is printed:

       State Income Tax Withholding - Many state legislatures have
       created withholding schemes that are even more complicated
       than the federal system.  With the exception of those states
       that use a fixed percentage or a percentage of federal taxes,
       and the state of California, I am unable to support state
       withholding.  Most users have found that it doesn't slow them
       down too much to manually enter state withholding.  If you
       wish to purchase the program source code (see last page) a
       reasonably good programmer should be able to program your
       state's tax calculation.

       Family employees - If you are a sole proprietorship and you
       pay family members you must manually change the FICA deduction
       to zero.  Remember that the tax due calculations at the end of
       the Payroll Journal will include the family employee, so that
       amount must be subtracted before calculation the tax due.

       Earned Income Credit - I have never known an employee to claim
       this credit.  If you have one, you must manually calculate the
       amount and enter it in the federal withholding field.

       Additional withholding amount - If an employee wants an
       additional amount added to his or her federal withholding, you
       must enter it manually.


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.

       The Wisconsin withholding tables are already built into the
program.  Wisconsin withholding taxes will be calculated if the
deduction percentage for state withholding is entered 99.99.  Go to
the employer data selection and change the deduction percentage for
state withholding to 99.99.  (Press C for change then 9999)

       PC-PR is written in Turbo Pascal and the source code is
available for $125.


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.