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Accruable benefits

Troubleshooting tips for accruable benefits

Accruable benefits not accruing for an employee

If the activation date (in the Accruable Benefits tab of the Setup > Employees screen) is after the payroll check's period-end date, the accruable benefit will not accrue on that check.

The application won't let me enter a prior-year date as the activation date for an employee's accruable benefit item

If the balance reset method set for an accruable benefit item is
Per Year
 or
Anniversary
, the employee's activation date for that benefit item must be in the current year or a future year.

Accruable benefits not showing up in the Accruable Benefits section during payroll check entry

Only the benefit items that accrue hours on a per-check or per-hours basis (Per hours worked, Per hourly increment, or Per paycheck accrual methods) will display as hours accrued in the Accruable Benefits section. This enables you to see and possibly override the number of hours an employee accrues on the check.

Only the accruable benefit hours used display in the Accruable Benefits section during payroll check entry

By design, the Accruable Benefits section displays only the hours accrued (for those items that accrue hours on a per-check or per-hours basis).

Accruable benefit balances in the Employees screen is different than the employee's payroll check stub

If the Accruable Benefits report is correct and agrees with the accruable balances shown in the Setup > Employees screen, but the check stub displays a different amount, the check layout associated with the bank account from which the payroll checks are paid may be using the incorrect period.
  1. To determine which check layout is being used for payroll checks, go to
    Setup
    ,
    Bank Accounts
    , then the
    Layouts
     tab.
  2. Select
    File
    ,
    Layout Designer
    , and open the check layout.
  3. Select the Select the variable for the available accruable benefit hours, which will be something like [Payroll.Check.AccruableBenefits.AvailableHours].
  4. In the Design Tools pane, verify that the period that is associated with it is correct.

I set up an accruable benefit to “Delay accrued hours availability”, but the payroll check stub displays the available hours for that accrued benefit before the eligibility period begins.

Although the employee can’t use the accrued benefit hours (because of the availability delay), the check stub is accurately reporting the benefit hours that the employee has accrued.

The Accruable Benefits report is missing the benefit year and shows the incorrect number of benefit hours for the employee

This can occur when the balance reset
Method
 field is set to
Never
 in the Accruable Benefits screen. Because the benefit item is set up to never reset, there is no actual benefit year. The “benefit year" is, essentially, the entire career of the employee. Using the Never balance reset method, Accounting CS tracks the number of hours accrued by the employee, and the number of hours the employee has used, since their hire date.
If you want to use a true benefit year and see how much the employee has accrued and used over the course of a calendar year, you will need to change the balance reset method to
Per year
 and set the date to
January 1
.

Correct an accrual that was entered incorrectly on a payroll check

If the accrual amount was entered during payroll check entry with the wrong amount or entered in the wrong column, there are a few different methods to use to correct the accrual.
  • For time-based accrual methods (Anniversary, Per month, Per quarter, Per calendar year):
    • Enter an adjustment in the Accruable Benefit tab of the Employees screen.
  • For check-based accrual methods (Per hour worked, Per hourly increment, or Per paycheck accrual) use one of the following solutions:
    • Enter an adjustment in the Accruable Benefit tab of the Employees screen.
    • Enter a 0 wage check that corrects the error.
Example
: If you entered 8 hours PTO in the Regular column instead of the PTO column, you can correct this error by entering a new payroll check with a negative number of hours ( -8.00) in the Regular column and 8.00 in the PTO column.

A pay period includes dates in 2 different years. How are the employee’s balances affected if I choose to apply benefit hours to the new benefit year vs. the prior benefit year?

If a pay period spans multiple benefit years, you can choose to apply used benefit hours to either the new benefit year or the prior benefit year. This setting is found in the Balance Reset section of the Accruable Benefits screen.
The choice you make here can make a big difference in the employee’s accruable benefit item balance for the new year.
Example
: Javier is an employee who is set up with a Paid Time off (PTO) accruable benefit item. Javier received a biweekly paycheck (dated 1/11/2019). The payroll period was 12/23/18 through 1/05/2019.
  • PTO hours used by Javier on his payroll check: 40 hours
  • Prior year accrued PTO balance: 40 hours
  • Current year accrued PTO balance: 2 hours
  • Reset method: Per year
  • Carryover maximum: 20 hours
If you select
Apply benefit hours used to the new benefit year
, Javier’s available PTO balance for the new year is negative 18 hours.
  • 20 PTO hours are carried forward to the new year (+20)
  • 2 PTO hours are accrued in the new year (+2)
  • 40 PTO hours are used in the new year (-40)
  • Balance for the new year after the 1/11/19 payroll check is -18 hours.
If you select
Apply benefit hours used to the prior benefit year
, Javier’s available PTO balance for the new year is 2 hours.
  • 40 PTO hours are available in the prior year (+40)
  • 2 PTO hours are accrued in the new year (+2)
  • 40 PTO hours are used in the prior year (-40)
  • Balance for the new year, after the 1/11 payroll check is 2 hours.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Accounting CS
  • Subject: Payroll checks
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