ANTHISTLE SYSTEMS & PROGRAMMING LTD. 563 Patricia Drive, Oakville, Ontario, CANADA L6K 1M4 Telephone 905-845-7959 PAYROLL USA - SHAREWARE TRIAL RELEASE V5.01 30TH. JAN. 1995 =========================================================== NEW IN THIS RELEASE =================== New Employee Pick List ---------------------- Not all of the changes are visible to the user, but they should result in faster running. The most noticeable change is the employee pick list which is now an alternative to the traditional find employee methods. I have also added another group find method based on your choice of Status and Pay Method. That new pick list was much more difficult to program than I expected when I said I would do it, I had to rewrite all the internal index handling and employee file I/O to do it properly so it responds to multiple pay frequencies, and gets updated instantly when an employee is updated. However, the pay off is that it is re-usable in some of the reports. To use the new pick list, from the Add or Update Employee Menu select "F2 Update Individual Employee (List)". To get out of it simply press Esc. The traditional search methods are "F3 Update Groups of Employees (Search)" (moved down one) which will lead you to another menu which has the new search item "F8 Your CHOICE Status/Pay Method". Adding New Employees -------------------- When adding new employees you can now stop after only 2 screens instead of having to go through every screen with annoying pop ups between them. You can also get out easier if you get into the Add Employee choice by mistake, SSN = 000-00-0000 and nothing in the Employee Number and you are gone, no questions asked. I have also put a list of existing employee numbers on screen to help in choosing a new number for a new employee. Vacation/Sick Accruals ---------------------- When adding or updating employees a new pop up window offers advice on percentage to use for Vacation & Sick Accruals. You will note that the more weeks there are off the higher the percentage (as you would expect) but some percentages have fractions for more accuracy as the more time taken off the less time remains to accrue the cost of the time off. Example: the percentage for 2 weeks is 200/50, but 3 weeks is 300/49, and 4 weeks is 400/48 (which are not exactly 1.5 or 2 times the percentage for 2 weeks). However, if you wish to stick to your regular percentages (or zero if not using the accruals feature) that will be fine with the program. ** NEW ** Hours Entry Report ---------------------------- This new report will list the hours you entered for the next pay period so you can check against time cards to ensure they are correctly entered and nobody was missed. It is produced in alphabetical order. With overtime and shift differentials I had to allow for the possibility that there are 23 possible columns of hours that could be entered, though not everybody will use them all. If there are too many columns to fit on the width of one page it will continue the extra columns on the next page. There are totals on each page and grand totals on the last page. Note that if you have more than one pay frequency (pays per year, such as 52, 26, 12, etc.) on one file only those pay frequencies you have selected as being active for this session will be included on the report. Those included are listed at the bottom of the grand totals (last page). I have put this report on the Update Employees Menu as it is most likely to be used at the conclusion of each hours entry session. You can run it as often as needed. On large files it takes a moment or two to do its work, so don't assume nothing is happening once you have selected the menu choice. Pay Cycle --------- Lots of internal changes in the pay cycle. The most apparent is the selection of who gets paid. Previously all active were paid even if they had no hours (I had expected users to change the status from active to laid off if they had no hours, but many of you apparently do not do so). Active with no hours previously resulted in zero or (if there were voluntary deductions) negative pay. Now I check every employee who is active to make sure there is something to pay for before he/she is processed in the pay cycle. This will cut down on the size of the Status Report, the only people on it will now be the ones who actually got paid. Also, on the Status Report, it sometimes splits an entry at the bottom of the page and continues the same entry on the next page so I have adjusted the print routine to try not to start an entry unless there is sufficient space left on the page to finish it (and skip to a new page immediately if insufficient space). Also, the screen which asks for current and next pay dates will now suggest a next pay date based on current pay date and the highest active pay frequency being processed. You can change it if you wish. Checks and Pay Slips --------------------- Check and pay slip printing has been re-written. You can now spool anything, check, pay slip, or check register, to disk. If printing you can skip the line up routine. HOWEVER, FOR THE FIRST FEW TIMES YOU PRINT with the new routine I suggest you do not skip the line up in case it is different to what you have been used to. For those who print laser checks I have added the option of printing an extra stub on the throw away portion of the sheet. I am also printing Branch, & Department Codes above the employee's name as this might help in distribution of checks and payslips. There is also an option to print Phone Number with the Branch & Department Codes. Check Reconciliation --------------------- Check Reconciliation has been added at no extra cost. Count it as a bonus, a thank you for continuing to use PAYROLL USA. In January and February of 1995 PAYROLL USA will check to see if you have tried this new feature. If it finds no *.BRC (bank) files on the program directory it will assume you have never tried it so it will switch it on automatically. The only other action you need take is the first time you print pay cheques it will ask for a file name for the bank file, name it whatever is meaningful for you, presumably a short form of your bank's name (8 characters or less), such as BANKAMER or FIRSTATE etc. Further instructions, including how to turn it off if you do not wish to use it are in the file CR_INSTR.TXT which can be read on screen or printed with (from the main menu): F3 PRINT AND/OR RECONCILE CHECKS, PRINT PAY SLIPS, then F3 Bank Reconciliation of Pay Checks, then F6 PROGRAM INFORMATION / INSTRUCTIONS There isn't much else you can do in Check Reconciliation on this first trip there until you actually get some checks on file. So escape then come back later after printing some checks, or maybe after they come back from the bank and you want to reconcile them. If you are using it and you print a batch of checks more than once (example: checks printed, error found, fixed and pay cycle re-run, checks re-printed) then you must use the Check Reconciliation to void the first batch of checks (ideally before you reprint them) else it will show too much outstanding against your bank and possibly result in error messages as the second check register is produced. Check Reconciliation allows for multiple Bank Accounts by having a separate check file for each bank. Instructions can be viewed or printed from the Check Reconciliation Menu. If you are handwriting checks and issuing pay slips no entry will be automatically made in the Check Reconciliation file. If you want to use the reconciliation you can enter them manually if you wish, or if you have a continuous block of manual check numbers allocated in the same sequence to the same people and for the same amounts as the pay slip check register then you can easily fool the program by running the check print and spooling the output to disk to be later deleted (saving paper). Those thrown away spooled checks will still be added to the Check Reconciliation file and if you give your first manual check number as the first computer check number for the run you have in effect got your manual checks into the reconciliation file without having to do it manually. Employee Summary Report ----------------------- The Employee Summary report (print out of 1st 3 basic information screens) has been revised so it now optionally also prints the comments screen. It has also been revised so that you can pick which employees, or groups of employees as in the Add/Update employee function rather than having to print them all. Employee Labels and Rotary Cards -------------------------------- The Employee Label printing has been vastly expanded to include most popular label sizes available for Laser printers (as well as the earlier laser and dot matrix choices). You can now also print dot matrix or laser rotary cards (for Rolodex's) with some information about the employee on them. In fact, even if you do not have a Rolodex or a laser printer you might still want to print out the laser 4" x 2 1/6" rotary card report on plain paper (it will print on a dot matrix too) as an employee name, address and phone number list (plus some extra information) printed 8 employees to a page in alphabetical order. You can pick which employees, or groups of employees as in the Add/Update employee function rather than having to print them all. Birthdays, Start, End, Review Dates - New Reports ------------------------------------------------- A **NEW** report (actually several new reports) has been added to print out your choice of sorted lists of employee birthdays (useful for cards and gifts), start dates (who has been here longest and gets the next gold watch), end (termination) dates, last and next review dates. Some reports are sorted by month, others by year and month. Choice F9 from the reports menu will lead to a more detailed menu. Menu Changes ------------ All these improvements have required some changes to the familiar Menu structure. I have tried to keep these minimal and logical to avoid confusion. Reports and Checks have been split and are each on menu's of their own, one for Reports and File Export, another for Checks and Pay Slips. The new Check Reconciliation is with the Checks. The Bank Transfer Deposit List has been moved from the Reports menu to the Check menu. Within reports I have grouped those that print dollars together, and those that print basic information together, with file export between them. All reports are now on one menu instead of a menu within a menu as existed previously. MICROSOFT WINDOWS VERS. 3.1 --------------------------- The following is a repeat of information included in last year's WHATSNEW.TXT - I repeated it for the benefit of those who may have purchased Windows since last year and had forgotten that they could start PAYROLL USA from the Windows desktop (if you wish, not essential, no advantages other than convenience if you normally work from Windows). PAYROLL USA is a DOS program, not a Windows program. However, Windows 3.1 can run DOS programs and you can have icons for them, include them in a group on the desktop, and start them by double clicking on the icon in the same way as a windows program. For Windows users we have included an icon file (PAYUSA.ICO ) and a PIF file (PAYUSA.PIF ). These two files should be copied to your \WINDOWS directory (this copy will be done for you by our install program if the C:\WINDOWS directory exists when install runs) Then, to put PAYUSA on your Windows desktop, start Windows and: 1. Double click on the Main program group so that group is active. Double click on PIF Editor. In the PIF Editor select file, open, PAYUSA.PIF then verify the directories we have set up are correct for your installation (they will be if our install program was used, but not necessarily so if you installed manually). Change if necessary. Command Line: C:\PAYPGMS\PAYUSA.EXE Working Directory: C:\PAYPGMS { instead of C: it could be D: or E: etc., whichever disk drive PAYROLL USA is installed on } Click OK when done. 2. Double click on the program group you want PAYROLL USA to be included in so that group is active (example, APPLICATIONS). 3. Click on the Windows Program Manager File (Menu Choice), then click on New, select Program Item (unless you prefer to start a new group in which case you can do that first here then repeat step 3 to add the item). 4. Complete the required information, Description: PAYROLL USA Command Line: PAYUSA.PIF Working Directory: { leave blank as Windows will get it from the PIF } 5. Select Change Icon. You will be told there is none and to select one from Program Manager, click OK then select Browse and towards the bottom of the list select PAYUSA.ICO, click OK, then a final OK and you are done. 6. If you accidentally get out before doing item 5 you will get the default MS-DOS icon (a monitor screen with MSDOS in it) but you can go back and fix it by re-selecting Program Manager, File, then Properties, then repeat step 5. (This also works if you selected the wrong icon by mistake the first time). See your Windows manual in the event you get mixed up here. Earlier versions of Windows may differ - it may be necessary to take the MS-DOS Prompt choice from the Main group and run C:\PAYPGMS\PAYUSA from the DOS prompt, typing EXIT to return to Windows when you are done, (in those earlier Windows versions). You will find your mouse or the keyboard both work with the PAYROLL USA menu items (the mouse is trapped in a vertical bar along the choices), and at those places where pressing any key is required to continue (a mouse click will also do). However, the mouse does not (at this point anyway) work on the data entry screens or on the prompts requiring Yes or No answers, for those you still need the keyboard. Christopher Anthistle, President, 30th. January, 1995