Labor Hours

Use Labor Hours records to enter employee hours.

HINT-- The Goldenseal accounting software uses Labor Hours to create payroll, for time billing, and to track job costs. They are also useful time tracking records that account for all the time spent by you and your employees.

WORKING WITH LABOR HOURS
When to Use | Creating Labor Hours

WEBSITE INFO LINKS
Payroll Software | Payroll Accounting Software | Time Billing Software | Time Tracking Software

When to Use Labor Hours

Use Labor Hours to enter time spent by anyone in your company. Enter any of the following:

Regular employee hours spent on any task.
Hours spent by salaried employees.
Hours spent by partners, owners or family members, even if the time is unpaid.

HINT-- It is particularly important to enter all hours if you are doing time-and-materials billing, or if you want to get accurate job cost information.

You can also use Labor Hours for miscellaneous wages, vacation time and comp time.

Creating Labor Hours

To enter Labor Hours, follow these steps:

Choose Labor Hours from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter details for the labor that was done.

QUICK SETUP HINT-- You only need to enter Employee, Time Spent and Brief Description. For payroll, enter a Wage Schedule. To do time and materials billing, enter a T&M Billing Rate. For job costs, enter Job Cost Rate, Job and Category.

Data Fields

Enter the following information for each Labor Hours record:

Employee-- Enter the employee who worked these hours.
Time Spent-- Enter the number of hours or other time units that this employee worked on this item.
Days Worked-- Enter the number of days that this record covers.
HINT-- Goldenseal uses the Days Worked amount to calculate overtime, and any taxes that are a fixed cost per day worked.
Brief Description-- Enter a brief description of the work done in this record.
Wage Schedule-- This employee's usual Wage Schedule is entered automatically. You may change it.
Details-- Enter the overtime conditions for this work, or whether this item is a bonus, miscellaneous wages, holiday pay, paid vacation or sick time, or comp time.
Total Wages-- The amount to be paid to the employee for this work is calculated automatically.

Date-- Today's date is entered automatically. Change it if the work was done some other day.
Record Number-- A record number is entered automatically.
Job Class-- Choose the type of job where this work was done.
Job-- Choose the job where work was done.
Applies To-- If this work was done for an allowance, bid, change order, or work order, indicate it here.
Transaction-- Enter the specific allowance, bid, change order, or work order.
Comments-- Enter any comments you have about this work.

More Info

Click the More Info to enter additional details for the labor hours record:

Job Cost & Billing Amounts
T&M Billing Rate-- This employee's usual rate for time and materials billing is entered automatically. You may change it.
T&M Amount-- The total amount that will be billed for time and materials work is calculated automatically.
HINT-- If the project is not time-and-materials, the T&M number will not be used.
Job Cost Rate-- Choose the billing rate that will be used for job costing. The usual rate for this employee is entered automatically.
Job Cost Amount-- The total labor cost that will be charged to job costing is calculated automatically.

Job Cost Details
Category-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter the cost category that describes the work that was done.
Subcategory-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter the optional subcategory that describes the work that was done.
Location-- Use the clairvoyant field to enter a location at which the work is being done.

Work Done-- Type in a brief description of the work covered in this record.

Details Field

Use the Details field to describe any special conditions that apply to these labor hours. The details field controls overtime and other special conditions.

Five of the details choices cover the way overtime is handled in regular pay items:

Standard-- Basic pay. The usual overtime rate from the Wage Schedule is used if the time in this record is more than the daily or weekly cutoff amounts.
No Overtime-- These hours are paid at straight time, even if they include more than the daily or weekly cutoff amounts.
Overtime Rate-- These hours will be paid at the basic overtime rate from the Wage Schedule.
Saturday Rate-- These hours will be paid at the Saturday overtime rate from the wage schedule.
Sunday Rate-- These hours will be paid at the Sunday overtime rate from the wage schedule.

Four of the details choices are for miscellaneous payroll, other than hours worked:

Bonus-- A one-time bonus. Goldenseal will add this amount to the regular pay amount.
Commission-- A one-time sales commission. Use this option for commissions that don't have a Sales transaction or other income transaction as a source.
Misc. Wages-- Any miscellaneous wages that can't be handled by a regular Labor Hours record.
Tips-- Any tips that will be included with regular payroll.
HINT-- For all these choices you can type in a pay amount, rather than the hours. Goldenseal will add these items to the regular pay amount, and use them to compute any withholding and employer taxes. To add miscellaneous pay that doesn't get withholding, enter miscellaneous pay into a Payroll Record.

Four of the details choices handle pay that employees receive for vacations, sick time and holidays:

Paid Holiday-- The employee is taking these hours off for a paid holiday.
Use Sick Time-- Paid time that the employee is deducting from their reserve of sick time.
Use Vacation Time-- Paid vacation time that the employee is taking now.
Use Other Paid Time Off-- Other paid time off that the employee is taking now.

Two of the details choices handle comp time (deferred wages):

Add Comp Time-- Time that the employee works, but is not paid for now. Goldenseal adds it to the employee's reserve of comp time.
Use Comp Time-- Pay that the employee receives now, deducted from the reserve of comp time.

Wage Amount Calculation

Goldenseal calculates the wage amount automatically, based on the entered hours worked, the employee's wage rate and the overtime details.

Goldenseal also computes overtime automatically for any hours greater than the daily overtime cutoff amount times the number of days worked.
HINT-- Each Labor Hours entry considers only its own hours when computing overtime. The Write Payrolls command will compute additional overtime amounts if the total for the entire pay period exceeds the weekly cutoff.

Applies To Field

Use the Applies To field to assign labor to an allowance or change order, so this work will be included in the billing amount for them. You can also assign labor to a bid or work order.
You can also use the Hours Reduction option to subtract these hours from the employee's pay. Use it if you entered too many hours in a previous labor hours record that has been closed and can't be changed.
HINT-- To change a labor hours record that has not been closed, simply adjust the amount in the Time Spent field.

Labor Hours Status

New labor hours start out with the Entered status.
When you pay the employee for these hours, the status will change to Paid.
When the hours are included in a Time & Materials Bill, the status will change to T&M Billed.
When the hours are included in a Time & Materials Bill, and you receive payment, the status will change to Billed & Paid.
If you are entering past labor hours that will only be used for job costing, change the status to Job Cost Only.
If you are pre-entering future labor hours for budget purposes, change the status to Planned.
To cancel an labor hours record, change its status to Void.

Category Breakdowns

Enter Category into the Breakdown field to itemize equipment work by cost category.

The Category breakdown shows you a breakdown table where you can type the exact work done by this employee.

Fill in the following columns for each row in the table:

Date-- Enter the date work was done.
Category-- Enter the Cost Category for the work.
Subcategory-- If the job account uses a category system with subcategories, enter a cost subcategory.
Work Done-- Type in a brief description of the work done.
Hours-- Enter the number of hours spent on this item.
Wages-- Goldenseal calculates the total cost for this line items (unit cost x hours).
Location-- Enter a Location for the item.

Goldenseal calculates the total equipment time, the billing amount and the job cost amount from the table.

Item Breakdowns

Enter Item into the Breakdown field to include specific Cost Items or Assemblies in Labor Hours work.

The Item breakdown shows you a breakdown table where you can type the exact work done by this employee.

Fill in the following columns for each row in the table:

Date-- Enter the date work was done.
Area-- Enter the job cost area for the work.
Category-- Enter the Cost Category for the work.
Subcategory-- If the job account uses a category system with subcategories, enter a cost subcategory.
Work Done-- Type in a brief description of the work done.
Number Done-- Enter the number of units or work that were done by this employee.
Size-- Goldenseal fills in the size of one unit of this item.
Hours-- Enter the number of hours spent on this item.
Unit Cost-- Goldenseal enters the hourly cost of equipment time.
Wages-- Goldenseal calculates the total cost for this line items (unit cost x hours).
Location-- Enter a Location for the item.

Goldenseal calculates the total labor hours, the billing amount and the job cost amount from the table.

Multiple Wage Rates

If you pay an employee more than one wage rate during a pay period, follow these steps:

Create a labor hours record for the first wage rate.
Enter the desired wage schedule into the Wage Schedule field.
Enter the hours worked at that rate.
Enter job cost information for the work.
Repeat steps 1 to 4 for the work done at each additional rate.

Salaried Employees

If you have salaried employees, give them a wage schedule that has Salary as a wage type.

Enter hours for salaried employees, just as you do for hourly employees. It will increase the accuracy of your job costs if you keep track of their time and assign it to jobs.

When you run payroll, Goldenseal will adjust the wage rate so salaried employees get their usual salary amount.

Owner Time

There are two basic ways to pay owners- through payroll, or through equity payments.

If you enter labor hours for owners or pay them frequently, use the payroll approach. Otherwise use equity payments.

For payroll, follow these steps:

Create a wage schedule for the owner.
For wage type, use Owner Hourly for pay by hour, Owner Salary for regular payment, Owner Draw for irregular payments.
Create an Employee account for the owner.
In the Wage Schedule field, enter the wage schedule from step 1.
Give the owner the appropriate tax package and benefit package (may need to create separate ones).
Enter owner hours (it's useful for job costs, too).
Do Write Payroll.
If the wage schedule is set for an irregular owner draw, you can type in the payment amount.

For equity payments, follow these steps:

Enter each owner as an Owner (under Options- Other Lists).
Create an Equity Transfer (optional).
Create a bank check. Enter Owner as the Pay To type, and enter the owner in the Account field.
If you created an equity transfer, choose Equity Transfer in Transaction Paid popup, and enter it into the Reference field. Otherwise choose Pay on Account.

Bonus Pay

If you give a bonus and plan to withhold taxes from it, follow these steps:

Choose Labor Hours from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Bonus into the Details popup.
Enter the bonus amount into the Total Wages field.
Enter any other information about the bonus payment.

If you give a bonus and don't withhold taxes from it, enter it as a Payroll Record instead.

Miscellaneous Wages, Commissions & Tips

For any type of miscellaneous pay other than work hours, follow these steps:

Choose Labor Hours from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Misc. Pay, Commission or Tip into the Details popup.
Enter the amount into the Total Wages field.
Enter any other information about the pay.

To enter miscellaneous pay when you won't withhold taxes from it, use a Payroll Record instead.

Comp Time

If the employee is doing work that will not be paid now, enter Add To Comp Time into the Details field. The hours will be used for job costs and time-and-material billing, but they will not be included in payroll now. Instead Goldenseal adds the time to the comp time balance in the Employee account.

If prior comp time is being paid now, enter Use Comp Time into the Overtime field. The work will be paid now, but not job costed.

Vacation Pay and Sick Time

Goldenseal allows you to track three kinds of paid leave-- vacation time, sick time, and other paid days.

To provide paid vacations or sick time that will accrue based on work hours, follow these steps:

Create a Vacation Item for each type of paid leave that you provide as a benefit.
Create one or more Vacation Packages, and include the Vacation Items in each package.
In each Employee account, enter a package into the Vacation Package field.
Each time you write payroll, Goldenseal will automatically increase the current balance of each type of paid leave for the employee.

To make an adjustment to an employee's current vacation balance, follow these steps:

Choose Payroll Records from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Add Vacation or Reduce Vacation to change an employee's vacation balance.
Enter the amount of change into the Amount field.

When employees use paid holiday or sick time, follow these steps:

Choose Labor Hours from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Use Vacation Time, Use Sick Time or Use Other Time Off into the Details field.

HINT-- Use the Job field to assign the vacation cost to an overhead account, or to a specific job.

Holiday Pay

To provide paid holidays, follow these steps:

Create a Vacation Item for each paid holiday that you provide.
Create one or more Vacation Packages, and include the Vacation Items in each package.
In each Employee account, enter a package into the Vacation Package field.

To pay an employee for a paid holiday, follow these steps:

Choose Labor Hours from the Costs menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter Paid Holiday into the Details field.
Enter the amount of pay for the holiday.

HINT-- Use the Job field to assign the holiday cost to an overhead account, or to a specific job.

When you use the Write Payroll command, Goldenseal will check for paid holidays in the pay period. If there is holiday and if some employees do not already have a Labor Hours record for the holiday pay, Goldenseal will warn you, and give you the option to automatically create a Labor Hours record for the holiday pay.