Help with pay templates in Reckon One

I have been trying to set up the Payroll Templates as it will streamline updating our employees pay rates etc however, I can't seem to work out how to create them. I did call but I don't know if the staff member understood what I was querying help with.

We fall under Hair and Beauty and there are 14 different pay stage options that we use. I would love some more detailed steps on how to generate this. Below are the pay rates for the Apprentices - Stage 1 but we then have 2nd Year, 3rd Years, 4th Years, Seniors and Casuals too.

I originally tried setting up the Payroll Template as Apprentice Stage 1 and then entering sub types of the completed, not completed and adult but it doesn't let me generate it like that. Do I need to generate a pay template for each level? Eg Apprentice Stage 1 - not completed and then different ones for each of the other sub categories? When I tried that, it wouldn't let me assign further codes like DT and PH but I may not have made it far enough in the wizard to add those options.

Apprentice - Not completed Year 12
Stage 1 - Normal =$14.06 T&1/3= $18.70 Double Time =$28.12 and PH Working =$35.15

Apprentice - Completed Year 12
Stage 1 - Normal =$15.46 T&1/3= $20.56 Double Time =$30.92 and PH Working =$38.65

Apprentice - Adult
Stage 1 - Normal =$22.50 T&1/3= $29.93 Double Time =$45.00 and PH Working =$56.25

With thanks!

Accepted answers

Rav

Hi @ShimaiM

Great to hear you're giving Pay Templates a go 🙂

Its been a little while since I played around with pay templates but here's an example I worked up, but I may need a little help from you on getting a better understanding of your specific levels/classifications.

In my example I created an overall Hair & Beauty Employment Agreement and within that I setup specific classifications for various apprentice levels.

I then setup a Hair & Beauty pay template which allows me to set the base rate for each classification from the employment agreement that we're using in this template.

The next screen which is the Pay Items screen then allows me to designate the earning and allowance items along with which classification they apply to. In my simple example, I've added 3 earning items and applied them to all 3 classification levels but this can be customised.

Finally, assign the employment agreement and which classification within that agreement the employee belongs to within their profile.

I'm not sure if that completely covers your specific requirements so please let me know if you have any questions and hopefully it gets you started.

We've got a detailed how-to video on setting up and using Pay Templates in Reckon One which I'll link to here as its a good place to start - Setting up Pay Templates in Reckon Payroll 🎥

All comments

Rav

Hi @ShimaiM

Great to hear you're giving Pay Templates a go 🙂

In my example I created an overall Hair & Beauty Employment Agreement and within that I setup specific classifications for various apprentice levels.

I then setup a Hair & Beauty pay template which allows me to set the base rate for each classification from the employment agreement that we're using in this template.

Finally, assign the employment agreement and which classification within that agreement the employee belongs to within their profile.

I'm not sure if that completely covers your specific requirements so please let me know if you have any questions and hopefully it gets you started.

We've got a detailed how-to video on setting up and using Pay Templates in Reckon One which I'll link to here as its a good place to start - Setting up Pay Templates in Reckon Payroll 🎥

ShimaiM

Hi Rav,

Thank- you for such a comprehensive answer! That does cover my original query and I have a follow up question.
Currently, I have to employees entered as the exact $ figure that is shown in the award. When I select the option of the 1.33 for the Time and a third, it shows a figure that is a few cents off what the award says. I am unsure how to fix that. As an example, the base pay rate is $16.87 and the award says T1/3 should be $22.44, however, using the rate multiplier it shows as $22.4371. Do you know if that matters?

For the future, if it was possible to enter the Time 1/3, double time etc coded payrates on the screen that asks the base payrates would make the Pay Template options far easier to use too. Being able to update these in one central location when the new yearly pay increases come out would be amazing but I am unsure if these flow through currently as I haven't had much success in playing around with the templates so far.

Rav

Glad to hear it helped 🙂

In regard to your query, Reckon One will use the exact calculation once the multiplier is applied to the rate. In this case 1.33% of $16.87 = $22.4371 (not $22.44) so Reckon One will use that when applied in a pay run and then round the total to the nearest cent.

To illustrate, I've created a time + 1/3 earning item for my pay template example and now that I'm creating a pay run with it applied to an employee you'll see it calculates using the proper calculation as its basis.

I can't really say whether or not that matters when it comes to what's listed on your award specifications as I'm probably not an authority to do so, but I'm going to assume that the $22.44 is just a case of rounding.

ShimaiM

Hi Rav,
Thanks for the reply and further information. I will follow up with our HR company for advice about the award rates and if using to the fourth decimal place is acceptable or if we should stick to two that is shown in the award.
For the future pay rate increases, when I change it in the Agreement Classifications in the Pay Template, will that flow through to each employee's card? Or will I still need to manually re-select their template to have the changes flow through?

Rav

When it comes to making changes to rates in a pay template, there are only a couple of things you need to do.

First, make any necessary changes to your pay rates and/or items within the pay template and secondly apply the updated pay template within the employee profile.

Doing so will automatically update the employee's pay items and rates using the latest update version of the pay template. You'll see a red alert indicator on an employee's profile to let you know there's an action item, simply click it and follow the message to apply the updated pay template to the employee.

Its super easy to do and I've put together a quick little screen recording below as an example (click on it for a larger view).

ShimaiM

Hi Rav,
Thanks for that little video also, that is great to know. I have sought advice from our HR company, our accountant and the Fair Work Commission, they have all said that it has to be as it is written in the award which is only to the 2nd decimal point. Eg it must read $22.44 and not $22.4371 as that is technically an underpayment.
All the other Awards that I have looked at only list their rates to the 2nd decimal point also, so others may not be aware of their underpayments (or possible overpayments) if they use the generated amounts to the 4th decimal. I realize that it is a very small difference but over the term of an employees' employment, it could add up.

If it is updated to generate to the second decimal point, we can use the option but as it stands we can't. Is that something that can be fixed in the background of the Reckon Payroll?

Rav

I can raise it with the team but I can't say for certain we'll be making any changes in this area in the near term unfortunately.

The calculation that Reckon One is performing is correct based on the input ie. 1.33% of $16.87 = $22.4371

One thing I will note though, is Reckon One will display and use the value of $22.44 in the pay run when the quantity value is 1 since it rounds to the nearest cent (see example below). It will still utilise 4 decimal place calculations though and round to the nearest cent.

ShimaiM

Yes, it is mathematically calculating it correctly and trialing at one hour does give the correct answer, but when you do 10 hours, it says the payment will be $224.3710 when the payment should be $224.40 according to the award. The problem is that the awards only specify to the 2nd decimal place and not the fourth like it is calculating it at.
Thanks for the reply again. We will stick with the manual pay cards for now. I appreciate all your help in looking into this too!