Wage Schedules

Use Wage Schedules to determine your employees' pay rates, pay periods, and overtime setup.

HINT-- Goldenseal payroll software uses Wage Schedules to calculate payroll for each employee.

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Entering Wage Schedules

To enter a Wage Schedule, follow these steps:

Choose Payroll Setup from the Costs menu, then choose Wage Schedules from the submenu.
Click the New button, or click on an existing item and click the Edit button.
Enter details for the wage schedule.

Data Fields

Enter the following information for each Wage Schedule:

Name-- Type in a brief name for this wage schedule. This is the text that will appear in clairvoyant fields.
Description-- Type in any comments you'd like to make about this item.
Wage Type-- Choose the type of payroll.
Use Variable Rate-- If this checkbox is turned off, all work that is done with this wage schedule will be computed at the standard wage rate that you enter in the next field. If the checkbox is turned on, a different rate will be used for each employee, based on the amount entered into the Employee Account.
Rate-- Enter the wage paid to employees per unit of time.
Pay Period-- Use the pop-up menu to choose the length of a pay period.
Payday-- Use the pop-up menu to choose the payday.
Use Employee Benefit Package-- If each employee gets a different benefit package, turn this option on. If all employees getting this wage receive the same benefit package, turn the option off, and enter the benefit package that will be used.
Use Employee Tax Package-- If each employee uses a different tax package, turn this option on. If all employees getting this wage use the same tax package, turn the option off, and enter the tax package that will be used.
Use Employee Vacation Package-- If each employee gets a different vacation package, turn this option on. If all employees getting this wage receive the same vacation package, turn the option off, and enter the vacation package that will be used.
Overtime-- Select overtime rates from the pop-up menus for each type of overtime work.
Base Period-- Enter a seed date for calculating pay periods and paydays. It should be the first day of any pay period. The seed date can be in any year.
Pay Periods-- Goldenseal will display a list of pay periods and paydays for this year.

Wage Types

You can pay your employees in different ways.

Hourly-- Choose Hourly if the employee is paid based on the hours worked. Enter the hourly wage into the Rate field.
Salary-- Choose Salary if the employee is paid a fixed dollar amount per pay period, regardless of hours worked. Enter the salary in the Rate field, and enter the time period on which this salary is based.
Irregular Draw-- For employees who are paid irregular amounts.
Owner Hourly-- For owners who are paid based on the hours they work.
Owner Salary-- For owners who are paid a fixed dollar amount per pay period, regardless of hours worked.
Owner Draw-- For owners who are paid irregular amounts.
Hourly Equity-- For unpaid "sweat equity" work on an hourly basis.
Salary Equity-- For unpaid "sweat equity" work on a salary basis.
Bonus-- Choose Bonus for lump sum distributions.

Overtime

There are four different overtime rates:

for hours in excess of the overtime cutoff in one day
for hours in excess of the cutoff in one week
for Saturday work
for Sunday work

Enter the multiplier that is used for each type of overtime work.

Straight Time-- Overtime work is paid the same as regular work.
Time & a Half-- Overtime work is paid 1.5 times as much as regular work.
Double Time-- Overtime work is paid 2 times as much as regular work.
Another Multiplier-- Some other multiplier is used for overtime work. When you select this option, an additional field will appear where you can enter the multiplier that is used.
Dollar Increase-- Overtime is paid by adding a fixed dollar amount, rather than using a multiplier. When you select this option, an additional field will appear where you can enter the additional amount that is added to wages.
Also enter the number of hours at which overtime starts, on a daily basis and a weekly basis.

Variable Rates

Goldenseal gives you two ways to handle the wage rate amount in each wage schedule-- you can use a variable rate (different for each employee), or a fixed rate (the same for everyone).

To use a variable rate, turn on the Use Variable Rate checkbox. Each employee will receive a different wage rate. Enter the wage rate amount into the Wage Amount field in the Employee accounts.

HINT-- Turn the checkbox on if you pay employees with the same pay periods and overtime rates, but use different wage rates.

To use a fixed rate, turn the checkbox off, and enter the wage rate amount into the Rate field. Goldenseal will pay all employees that use this wage schedule at exactly the same rate.

HINT-- Turn the checkbox off if you have standard wage schedules that are the same for all employees.

Using Wage Schedules

Assign wage schedules to each employee in the Employee Account. You can also assign a different wage schedule for any work in a Labor Hours record.