Created: 05/31/2018
Reviewed: 06/06/2023
Revised: 06/06/2023
CAUTION: Do not begin this process until the End-of-Year Payroll Verification, August Accruals process, and the Finance EOY Process are complete.
The purpose of this document is to guide you through the necessary steps to process the first payroll of the school year.
In addition to the above processes, the following steps should be completed prior to continuing with this process.
This document assumes you are familiar with the basic features of the ASCENDER Business system and have reviewed the ASCENDER Business Overview guide.
Some of the images and/or examples provided in this document are for informational purposes only and may not completely represent your LEA’s process.
Terms:
Term | Description |
---|---|
CYR payroll frequency | Current year payroll frequency |
LEA (Local Education Agency) | Refers to the educational entity (e.g., charter, district, etc.). |
Non-standard employee | An employee who receives their first paycheck in July or August should have the TRS Year selected on the Payroll > Maintenance > Staff Job/Pay Data > Job Info tab. |
NYR payroll frequency | Next year payroll frequency |
Verify important payroll items:
Payroll Verification Items
❏ | Verify that service records were created and/or updated with leave. |
---|---|
❏ | Verify that the distribution codes reflect the correct fiscal year. |
❏ | Verify that the appropriate distribution codes have a federal fund to grant code. (240 may not have a grant code) |
❏ | Verify that the Original Employment Date or Latest Re-Employ Date fields are populated. |
❏ | Verify if there are any changes to the Employment Type, Retiree Employment Type and/or Sub Type fields. |
❏ | Verify all retirees for applicable surcharges. |
❏ | Verify that the contract begin and end dates are within the applicable school year. |
❏ | Verify the number of days employed. |
❏ | Verify the % of day assigned (Did employees change from part-time/full-time?) |
❏ | Verify the number of months in the contract. |
❏ | Verify the number of payments and the number of remaining payments. |
❏ | Verify the TRS eligibility from the View Employee Information in the TRS RE Portal. |
❏ | Verify the employees who are coded Non-TRS eligible (should only be seasonal, subs, retirees, etc.) |
❏ | Verify unemployment. Per the TASB May 2017 newsletter, superintendent wages are now subject to unemployment. Student workers are the only exempt exceptions. |
❏ | Verify the employees who are coded with Y for FICA (only subs, seasonal, not students). |
❏ | Verify salaries, distribution codes, and whether Expense 373 is selected for all applicable employees. |
❏ | Verify the State Min Days field on the Payroll > Maintenance > Staff Job/Pay Data > Job Info tab for all employees including support staff. Select the number of days closest to their # of Days Employed. |
❏ | Verify that payoff dates for active employees reflect June, July, or August. |
❏ | Verify new deductions. Deductions can either be manually entered or imported. |
❏ | Verify next year payroll to budget. |
❏ | Verify employee status; active or inactive. If the employee is inactive, the Termination Date must be populated. Verify that an ED90 has been submitted for non-returning employees. |
❏ | Verify salaries and stat min by either running a user-created report or the Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6400 - Salary Verification Report with Pay Type 1 selected. |
❏ | Subs - Run a user-created report to verify the following information:
• TRS Member Positions
|
❏ | Retirees - Run a user-created report to verify the following information:
• Retiree Employment Type Code
|
❏ | Use the August TRS Reporting Process guide to address TRS reporting. |
❏ | If applicable and not addressed in the August TRS Reporting Process, address August adjustment days. |
Finance > Tables > District Finance Options
Verify that the School Year field contains the new school year.
In Payroll, verify that you are in the next year frequency that is associated with your current year frequency. If not:
Use the User Created Reports (or another preferred payroll report) to verify that all employee data is correct prior to moving the next year payroll to the current year.
Employees being moved must have an active Pay Status. Generate the Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6150 - Employee Payroll Listing to verify the pay status of employees. Print and/or save this report.
Inactivate those employees who do not need to be moved such as employees whose contract days begin in July and/or August (11- and 12-month contracts) or “filler” employees who are used only for budget purposes (i.e., vacancies).
Use the Payroll > Maintenance > Staff Job/Pay Data > Pay Info tab to inactivate an employee.
Log on to the next year payroll frequency.
Payroll > Next Year > Copy NYR Tables to CYR
Copy all of the necessary tables. If you copied any tables prior to this step, be sure to exclude those tables at this time to avoid overwriting any necessary data such as previously made manual changes.
OR
❏ Click for the School Calendar. The School Calendars list is displayed. Select all of the necessary calendars.
❏ Click OK. All of the selected calendar codes are displayed in the School Calendar field.
❏ Click Execute. Only the selected tables are processed. As the reports are generated, click Process for each table. Review the reports.
A message is displayed with the table names and the number of rows that were copied. Click OK.
Review the process report to verify that all applicable calendars were copied to the current year payroll frequency. It is recommended that you log on to Personnel to verify this information. If the calendars were not copied over correctly, you may have to individually copy the calendars.
Note: When copying the school calendar table from next year to the current year, the calendar code, description, and days are copied. If a calendar code exists in the next year and current year, the next year data replaces the entire calendar contents for the current year for the specified calendar code.
Log on to the next year payroll frequency.
Payroll > Next Year > Copy NYR Staff to CYR
If changes were made to employee deductions or you did not move deductions for 11- and 12-month employees, you can copy those deductions at this time.
All insurance selections and rate changes can be made in the current year by using the Payroll > Utilities > Employee Benefits Interface > Import Annual File page as referenced in step 29 of this document.
❏ Select the Pay Status applicable to your LEA as 11- and 12-month employees may be inactive at this time depending on the LEA.
❏ Under Options, select Only process employee deductions.
❏ Select Preview Changes.
❏ Use one or more of the following options to select specific employees:
❏ Click Execute. A preview report is displayed. Review the employee list and click Process. A message is displayed indicating that the process was successful.
Log on to the next year payroll frequency.
Payroll > Next Year > Copy NYR Staff to CYR
If the 11- and 12-month employees were reactivated to interface to Budget, they must be set to inactive at this time. You can select specific employees to copy using the following parameters: Contract Months, Contract Begin Date, Payoff Date, Extract ID, or Employee Number.
In addition, consider the employee deductions. For example, if you have not updated the new insurance selections and premiums in the next year payroll, then do not copy any deductions to the current year payroll. Also, if you entered all new employees as electing insurance so that employer-paid amounts were generated to budget, then you would not want these “estimated” deductions brought to current year payroll. All insurance selections and rate changes can be made in the current year payroll frequency.
❏ Select Preview Changes.
❏ Click Execute. Review the list and click Process.
In Payroll, change to the current year frequency that is associated with your next year frequency (i.e., F = 6).
The following steps should be performed in the current year frequency unless otherwise noted.
Payroll > Tables > District HR Options
Verify that the following fields are updated. These fields may already be updated.
CAUTION: No payrolls should be processed prior to the First Pay Date of the School Year.
❏ Under First Pay Date of School Year, update the first pay date of the new school year for each payroll frequency. The date(s) must match the first payroll date(s) indicated on the pay dates table.
❏ In the Payroll 4, 5, 6 fields, enter the first pay date for each of the three pay frequency fields in the MM-DD-YYYY format. Once the pay date is entered, it should not be changed until the next school year. The entered date should represent a payroll that will actually be processed, supplemental or regular. If a date is entered and no payroll is actually posted using that date, the system will have difficulty identifying when the new school year began. This could affect how data is handled in the new school year.
Additional first pay date notes
Fiscal Year versus School Year
This pay date is used to determine:
Notes:
If the LEA does not use one of the pay frequencies, access to that field is not allowed. If a user does not have security access to a pay frequency, access to that field is not allowed.
When the first pay date of the school year is changed, if any message displayed includes information about contacting your regional consultant, there are processed pay dates where amounts need to be moved from one school year to another. If these amounts are not moved, it can adversely affect school YTD historical amounts, TRS historical amounts, and reporting, workers’ compensation historical amounts and reporting, and payroll accrual calculations.
❏ Click Save.
Enter pay dates for the new year and click Save.
These dates must equal the pay dates in your accrual calendar(s) except for the accrual calculation run date (August 31).
Log on to the current year pay frequency.
Payroll > Tables > Accrual Calendars > Accrual Calendar
August year-end LEAs - Complete this step if it is not already completed.
❏ Enter the new pay dates and accrual days for all applicable accrual codes. The total number of days should equal the number of days employed for that group of employees.
Note: For a standard 187-day calendar in a monthly pay frequency, there should be 13 entries including the date for the August Accrual process and the 12 pay dates including the months that may have zero workdays.
Log on to the current year payroll frequency.
Personnel > Tables > Salaries > Fund to Grant
Verify that the appropriate federal grant funds (200-300) have a two-digit TRS grant code. If you use child nutrition worksheets during the TRS RP20 extract, then 240 and 242 should not have fund to grant codes.
This generates salaries for the TRS 3 and TRS 489 reports.
In order for a fund to be displayed on this page, the fund must exist in an account code on the Finance Chart of Accounts. Codes are LEA specific.
Log on to the current year pay frequency.
Payroll > Tables > Tax/Deductions > TRS Rates
Verify the TRS rates.
CAUTION: Be sure to retrieve the 2024 school year data prior to updating this tab.
IMPORTANT: Be sure to visit the TRS website: https://www.trs.texas.gov/Pages/re_contribution_rates.aspx to obtain the updated rates for the next school year, and then return to this table to update the new rates.
To create a new TRS rates record:
Log on to the current year pay frequency.
Payroll > Tables > Tax/Deductions > Unemployment
Verify that you are in the correct calendar year. If not, in the Calendar Year field, enter 2024 and click Retrieve.
Note: Unemployment rates are based on the calendar year and not the fiscal year.
Payroll > Tables > Tax/Deductions > Workers’ Compensation
Verify that the workers' compensation rates are accurate for the new school year. If not, update the rates.
For example, if the Workers' Compensation letter provides a rate of .001792, move the decimal two places to the right and enter that number in the Net Rate field.
Codes and rates are LEA-specific.
Note: The number of months in the contract should correlate with the number of workers' compensation payments. For example, if the employee has a 10-month contract, then the employee will have ten workers' compensation payments for the year.
Use the User Created Reports to verify the number of Workers' Compensation remaining payments.
If the report displays an incorrect number of remaining payments, use the Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Employee tab to reset the number of remaining payments.
Log on to the current year pay frequency.
Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Salary Calculation
❏ In the Pay Type field, select 1 Contracted employee.
❏ Under Type of Calculation, select State Minimum Only to recalculate the state minimum salary for the new school year.
❏ In the Salary Concept field, select A Use annual salary table.
❏ Click Execute.
Note: For Districts of Innovation, the statutory minimum days should reflect 187 days. The statutory minimum days should not be less than 187 (e.g., 177, 182, etc.). You can use the Mass Update utility to change the number of days to 187 and calculate the state min salary. Then, use the Mass Update utility to replace the accurate number of days.
For Districts of Innovation or LEAs with a non-standard workweek (4 days), contact your regional ESC consultant for additional assistance.
If applicable, update the Personnel > Tables > Salaries > Substitute tab.
Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6000 - Account Code Comparison
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
If there are account codes on the report that do not exist in Finance, perform one of the following steps:
After all of the account codes are added, generate the Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6000 - Account Code Comparison report again. If all account codes exist, a blank report should be generated.
Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6150 - Employee Payroll Listing or a User Created Report
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
Verify that all current employees are listed.
Payroll > Utilities > Pre-Edit Payroll Data
❏ Under Pay Status, select Active.
❏ In the Pay Type field, select E Exclude Substitute.
❏ In the Pay Date field, select the first available pay date. (LEA's first pay date.)
❏ Click Execute. Review the report.
❏ Click OK. Repeat the process until all of the necessary errors are corrected.
Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Leave
Update the employee master leave record balances.
❏ In the current year payroll frequency, generate the Payroll > Reports > Leave Information Reports > HRS7350 - Leave Status Report for active employees and exclude substitutes. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
❏ Use the Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Leave tab to update employee master leave record balances. This is a three-step process.
Leave type codes are LEA-specific.
1a. This step clears the Leave Used and Leave Earned fields and rolls the ending balances to the following year beginning balances:
1b. You may have leave codes for which you want to zero the end-of-year balance. For example, Jury Duty, School Business, etc.
2. This step automatically adds leave types to active employees who do not have the leave type assigned on their leave balance record. This step must be completed before leave is mass incremented in step 3.
3. This step increments leave earned to employees:
Note: If you have a maximum balance designated on the leave type table, this step will not allow the leave balance to exceed the maximum number set on the leave type table.
For new employees, leave balances must be individually updated from their service record information on the Payroll > Maintenance > Staff Job/Pay Data > Leave Balance tab.
❏ Use the Payroll > Reports > Leave Information Reports > HRS7350 - Leave Status Report to verify the accuracy of the leave information. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
If necessary, use the Payroll > Maintenance > Staff Job/Pay Data > Leave Balance tab to make changes to individual employees who are working less than the full school year or less than 100% percent of the day.
Payroll > Payroll Processing > EOY Payroll Accruals > Post to Master
CAUTION: Before the first payroll of the school year is processed, you must post the master file created from the EOY Payroll Accrual process. Skip this step if you do not use this process for accruals.
The Post to Master tab automatically creates a School YTD Maintenance page for the new school year and updates the page with accrued pay, accrued benefits, and days earned for all employees that are included in the record.
❏ Select a data row to be posted. If more than one frequency is used, there may be multiple data rows displayed.
❏ Click Post.
❏ Click OK.
Payroll > Tables > Accrual Expense
Verify the accrual expense table and update the fund/fiscal year to reflect the fiscal year for the new school year (e.g., 199/X and 211/X).
Be sure to include all funds with payroll expenses. Also, add new fund codes if necessary.
Payroll > Reports > Year To Date Reports > HRS3050 - School Year to Date Report
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
❏ Verify that the accrual data is correctly posted for the 2024 school year.
❏ Use the Accrual Information Reports that were printed during the August Accrual Process to verify information. Accruals for employees who accrue monthly and who were included in the EOY payroll accrual process are displayed. Non-accrued employees are not displayed.
Payroll > Reports > Year To Date Reports > HRS3550 - School YTD Accrual Payroll Account Distr
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
Verify the accrual amounts balance with the amounts on the HRS3050 - School Year to Date Report.
Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS6050 - Contract Balance Variance Report
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
IMPORTANT: Verify the accuracy of payroll over the course of the school year. Based on your LEA's pay frequency, investigate the maximum acceptable differences and correct them if needed.
Use the following variance thresholds accordingly:
Pay Frequency | # of Pymts | Maximum Acceptable Difference |
---|---|---|
Monthly | 12 | .11 |
Semi-monthly | 24 | .23 |
Bi-weekly | 26 | .25 |
Personnel > Reports > Personnel Reports > HRS1100 - Employee Verification Report OR Payroll > Reports > Personnel Reports > HRS1100 - Employee Verification Report
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
Verify that the employee information (e.g., years of experience) is correct to start the new school year. If individual corrections are needed, use the Personnel > Maintenance > Employment Info tab to update the employee's record.
Personnel > Utilities > Mass Update > Employee
If your LEA has not already done so, increment the years of total professional and non-professional experience, and the years of district professional and non-professional experience.
Additionally, you can use this page to increment the prior years of teaching experience for those individuals in a teaching role. The Prior Teaching Experience is the total number of years that an individual has previously held a teaching position in one or more education institutions and is collected during the PEIMS Core Collection: Class Roster.
Total (Prof) Experience:
Total (Non-Prof) Experience:
Use the Personnel > Reports > Personnel Reports > HRS1100 - Employee Verification Report to verify the accuracy of the years of experience.
Prior Teaching Experience:
Payroll > Reports > User Created Reports
Verify that all pay type 1 and 2 employees have payoff dates that match the pay dates in the pay dates table. (June, July, and August as referenced in step 9.)
Payroll > Utilities > Employee Benefits Interface > Import Annual File
If available, import your LEAs file of employee deduction records file created by your third-party administrator.
Payroll > Reports > Payroll Information Reports > HRS1650 - Employee Salary Information
Complete the applicable report parameters and generate the report. Print and/or save this report and review it for accuracy.
Print the report for employee verification. If needed, print an Addendum from the Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Simulation.
Payroll > Payroll Processing > Run Payroll
Calculate a sample payroll to identify any errors that need to be corrected prior to processing the first payroll.
IMPORTANT:
Do not update and/or access Finance during the next step.
Payroll > Payroll Processing > EOY Payroll Accruals > Reversal for Non-Accrual
This process is used to reverse accruals for all employees who do not accrue monthly and were processed by EOY Payroll Accruals.
❏ Select a data row to create the reversal transactions to be posted to Finance.
❏ Click Create Reversals to create the reversal transactions. The EOY Accrual General Journal Transactions report is displayed. A message indicating that there are no rows to be processed for the reversal may be displayed.
❏ Click Interface Reversals to update Finance. If no errors were encountered during the process, a message is displayed indicating that the affected tables were successfully interfaced. Click OK.
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