ASCENDER - First Payroll of the School Year (July Start LEAs)

Click here to generate a PDF of this guide.

Created: 10/16/2023
Reviewed:
Revised:

CAUTION: Before July payroll, review the applicable End-of-Year Payroll Verification steps. Be sure that accruals will zero out for contracts ending in June and July.

Do not begin this process until the Finance EOY Process is 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.

Print HRS2250 - Deduction Register by Employee for future reference.
Print HRS2400 - Bank Account Listing to verify that all employee bank information is correct.
Print HRS1000 - Roster of Personnel and save it for the auditors.
Update termination dates and reasons on the Personnel > Maintenance > Employment Info page for all employees who are no longer with the LEA.
Verify that the budget is moved to Finance.

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.

Before You Begin

Before you begin:

Terms:

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 • Contract begin and end dates (First day of school to last day of school? Use same dates for all subs) • FICA Eligibility • No TRS • Retirees
❏	Retirees - Run a user-created report to verify the following information: • Retiree Employment Type Code • TRS member positions • Contract begin (09-01) and end dates (First day of school to last day of school? If same dates are used for all subs, it is easy to change from year to year). Optional: If FTE fluctuates during the year, retirees should be reported on a month to month basis to TRS. • FICA Eligibility • No TRS • Retirees
❏	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.

First Payroll of the School Year Process (July Start LEAs)

Reminder: The steps in this guide need to be addressed again in August for all employees with August contracts. Reference the First Payroll of the School Year (September Start LEAs) guide.

Verify finance options.

Verify finance options

Finance > Tables > District Finance Options

Verify that the School Year field contains the new school year.
Verify payroll frequency.
Verify payroll frequency

In Payroll, verify that you are in the next year frequency that is associated with your current year frequency. If not:
- Click Change.
- Select Next Year.
- Click Apply.
Prepare NYR payroll for move to CYR.
Prepare NYR payroll for move to CYR

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 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.
- Retrieve the employee.
- In the Pay Status field, select 2 Inactive.
- Click Save.
Copy NYR tables to CYR.
Copy NYR tables to CYR

Log on to the next year payroll frequency.

Payroll > Next Year > Copy NYR Tables to CYR

Copy all of the necessary tables for employees with July contracts. 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.
Click Select All Tables to select all of the tables.

OR

Select ❏ next to the table(s) you want to include.

Select ❏ again to unselect a table.
❏ 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.
Copy active staff to the CYR.

Copy active staff to the CYR

Log on to the next year payroll frequency.

Payroll > Next Year > Copy NYR Staff to CYR

Copy active employees with July contracts to the current year. 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.
Change to the current year frequency.
Change to the current year frequency

In Payroll, change to the current year frequency that is associated with your next year frequency (i.e., F = 6).
- Click Change.
- Select Current Year.
- Select a pay frequency.
- Click Apply.
The following steps should be performed in the current year frequency unless otherwise noted.
Update District HR options.

Update District HR options

Payroll > Tables > District HR Options

Update the Payroll Clearing Fund/Year field. It should be set to 163/X or 863/X.

Reminder: The first pay date of the school year should be a September pay date, even for July start LEAs.

CAUTION: No payrolls should be processed prior to the First Pay Date of the School Year.

❏ Click Save.
Enter school year pay dates.

Enter school year pay dates

Payroll > Tables > Pay Dates

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).
Complete the accrual calendar.
Complete the accrual calendar

Log on to the current year pay frequency.

Payroll > Tables > Accrual Calendars > Accrual Calendar

If applicable, complete the accrual calendar for employees with July contracts. This may be necessary if you accrue any employees working longer than 10 months, for example, you have an 11-month employee.

❏ 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.
- Continue adding pay dates and days worked for the remainder of the school year. The dates must equal the dates in your pay dates table. All pay dates should be entered even if zero days are accrued for that month. This information is LEA-specific.
Complete fund to grant information.

Complete fund to grant information

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.
Generate the Account Code Comparison report.
Generate the Account Code Comparison report

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. Review for employees with July contracts.
- Review the report and correct all of the errors.
- Verify that all employee master distribution records have matching accounts in Finance.
If there are account codes on the report that do not exist in Finance, perform one of the following steps:
- If there are accounts that have a 3 for July and August start employees, perform a mass update of HR distributions. You can either mass update records by fund/year using the Payroll > Utilities > Mass Change Payroll Account Codes > Mask Crosswalk page OR mass update all records by using the Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Employee tab. Employees who are paid out of federal funds may need their distributions reviewed and changed for a different fund year, if necessary. For example, federal funds may still be available for the previous year.
- If there are other accounts that need to be added, add them on the Finance > Maintenance > Create Chart of Accounts page.
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.
Generate the Employee Payroll Listing report.

Generate the Employee Payroll Listing report

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. Review for employees with July contracts. Verify that all current employees are listed.

Verify that distribution information has been updated for July contracts before the employees start their pay in the new fiscal year.
Correct necessary payroll errors.

Correct necessary payroll errors

Payroll > Utilities > Pre-Edit Payroll Data

If applicable, correct necessary payroll errors for employees with July contracts.

❏ 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.
Address leave.
Address leave

Payroll > Utilities > Mass Update > Leave

If applicable, update the employee master leave record balances for employees with July contracts.
❏ 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:

Under Pay Status, select Active.

In the Pay Type field, select E Exclude Substitute.

Under Method, select Zero Leave Values for Employees.

Under Leave Earned and Leave Used, select all leave types to be set to zero for the new school year. Be sure to process both options at the same time to prevent inaccurate balances.

Do not select End Balance unless you want to set the balance to zero for that leave type. If this field is not selected, the 2022-2023 ending balances are rolled to the beginning balance fields for the 2023-2024 school year.

Click Execute.

Review and print the report.

1b. You may have leave codes for which you want to zero the end-of-year balance. For example, Jury Duty, School Business, etc.

Under Pay Status, select Active.

In the Pay Type field, select E Exclude Substitute.

Under Method, select Zero Leave Values for Employees.

Select Leave Earned, Leave Used, and End Balance for all leave types you want to zero out completely and not carry forward ending balances.

Click Execute.

Review and print the report.

If the report is accurate, click Process to complete the changes.

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.

Under Pay Status, select Active.

In the Pay Type field, select E Exclude Substitute.

Under Method, select Add Leave Code to Employees.

In the New Code field, select the leave code.

Do not add balances.

Click Execute.

Review and print the report. The report only displays the employees who will have the leave code added.

Repeat this step for each leave type to be added before it is 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.

Under Pay Status, select Active.

In the Pay Type field, select E Exclude Substitute.

Under Method, select Increment Leave Earned to Employees.

Select Leave Earned for the applicable leave types (as defined in your local policy).

In the Increment field, enter the number of days to increment.

Click Execute.

Review and print the report. The report includes a list of those employees who have reached a maximum of any leave type.

If the report is accurate, click Continue.

The second report displays the newly incremented leave earned and the new ending balances. Click Process.

Click OK.

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.
(If applicable) Verify the accrual expense table.

(If applicable) Verify the accrual expense table

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) for employees with July contracts.

Be sure to include all funds with payroll expenses. Also, add new fund codes if necessary.
Generate the School YTD report.

Generate the School YTD report

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. This report should have been reviewed during the Finance EOY Process but be sure to verify the information is accurate at this time.

❏ 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.
Generate the School YTD Accrual Payroll Account Distribution Report.

Generate the School YTD Accrual Payroll Account Distribution Report

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. This report should have been reviewed during the Finance EOY Process but be sure to verify the information is accurate at this time.

Verify the accrual amounts balance with the amounts on the HRS3050 - School Year to Date Report.
Generate the Contract Balance Variance Report.

Generate the Contract Balance Variance 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. This report should have been reviewed during the Finance EOY Process but be sure to verify the information is accurate at this time.

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
Generate the Employee Verification report.

Generate the Employee Verification report

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. Review for employees with July contracts.

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.
(If necessary) Mass update employee experience.
(If necessary) Mass update employee experience

Personnel > Utilities > Mass Update > Employee

If necessary, increment the years of total professional and non-professional experience, and the years of district professional and non-professional experience for employees with July contracts.

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.
This process must be completed prior to the PEIMS fall submission.

The Prof Experience Yrs and Non-Prof Experience Yrs should be incremented in separate instances.
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:
Generate the Employee Salary Information report.

Generate the Employee Salary Information report

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. Review for employees with July contracts.

Print the report for employee verification. If needed, print an Addendum from the Payroll > Utilities > Payroll Simulation.
Calculate a sample payroll.

Calculate a sample payroll

Payroll > Payroll Processing > Run Payroll

Calculate a sample payroll to identify any errors that need to be corrected prior to processing the first payroll. Review for employees with July contracts.