Shareware Grab Bag/Shareware Grab Bag.iso/005/pcpr.arc/PC-PR.DOC

Text File | 1987-07-30 | 30KB | 673 lines

                          PC-PR MANUAL
                          Version 1.4


PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

     PC-PR is a payroll writing program for small and medium
size businesses.  The program runs on a IBM PC or compatible
computer with one disk drive and 128k memory.

     PC-PR is a user supported program.  Your are encouraged to
give copies to anyone who might use it.  Since the federal tax
tables are included in the program, you will need an updated
version of the program each year.  The cost for the updated
program is $35.  The program as distributed, includes the 1987
federal tax tables.  To receive a copy of the program with 1988
tax tables send $35 to:

          Jerry Medlin
          310 S. Jefferson St.
          Napa, Ca.  94559

     The updated program and a program to print W-2's will be
available in December 1987.  Your payment will entitle you to
a telephone number for limited telephone assistance should you
require it.

     To run the payroll program, simply type "PC-PR".  If you
want to specify a drive and path for your data just add the
drive and path description after the program name.  i.e. type
"PC-PR C:PAYROLL\" to use a directory named PAYROLL on the C
drive for data files.  If you just want the root directory on B:
drive you would type PC-PR B:

     You will be asked to enter a date.  This date will be used
to date all of the payroll checks written.

     A menu is then displayed for operator selection:

          Enter or Change Employee Data
          Enter or Change Payroll Checks
          Print Employee Listing
          Print Payroll Check Listing
          Print Payroll Ledger
          Zero Employee Balances
          Enter or Change Employer Data
          Export Employee Data
          End Processing

     Use the arrow keys to highlight your selection then press
return.

     PC-PR is fast because it works with data in random access
memory, but the capacity is limited by available memory.
Available memory is shared by the data.  With more employees on
file, fewer payroll checks can be entered.  PC-PR allows a
maximum of 500 employees and 1000 payroll checks per accounting
period with 512k of memory.  With 128k the capacity is reduced
to about 200 employees and 200 checks.

     Each time the menu is displayed, the number of payroll
checks that can be added with the available memory is printed at
the bottom of the screen.  The number of employees that can be
added is obtained by dividing this number by 2, as each employee
takes up twice as much memory as a payroll check entry.

     Since a power interruption will result in loosing all the
data currently entered into the program, you should occasionally
save your data back to the disk.  This is done by selecting End
Processing from the menu.  The current data will be saved to the
disk then you will be asked "Do you want to end ?".  Just answer
with an "N" and you may resume processing.


THE PROCESSING CYCLE

     Payroll checks may be written on any cycle from daily to
annually.  After each batch of payroll checks, you should print
the Payroll Check Listing report and the Payroll Ledger report.
This will provide a printed "audit trail".  Although the program
will work just fine without printing these reports, you will not
have any printed record of where you got all those numbers on
the employee's W-2.

     Each time the program is run, all employee data is loaded
into memory.  You will then be asked: "Do you want to start a
new payroll period? (Y/N)".  Usually, you will answer Y to this
question and a new payroll period will be started.  If you ended
the previous payroll without printing any reports you should
answer with a "N", and all payroll checks written since the last
"Y" answer will be loaded into memory.  You can then continue
writing checks to be added to the previous batch of checks.

     Payroll Checks are usually printed as the payroll data is
entered, but you have the option of entering the data and then
printing the checks one at a time.  When all of the payroll
checks for the current payroll have been entered, you may begin
printing reports.  Reports may be printed in any order and as
often as desired.  If you discover an error in any of the
reports you may correct the problem and reprint the report.  At
any time you can stop processing by choosing the End Processing
selection from the menu.  Data will automatically be saved.


ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYER DATA

      Before you can do anything with PC-PR you need to enter a
screen of employer information.  This employer information need
only be entered once and then changed whenever any of the
relevant data changes.  This is done by selecting ENTER OR
CHANGE EMPLOYER DATA from the main menu.  When the program is
first run, most of the data is blank.  By using the up and down
arrows, you can select each field to be changed then by pressing
"C" you may change the information in that field.

     Space is provided for the employer name (2 lines), employer
address (2 lines) and employer federal and state identification
numbers.  The first line of the employer name will be printed on
all reports.  The remaining name and address information is used
only for printing W-2's at the end of the year.

     The number of paydays per year is necessary to calculate
federal income tax to be withheld and must be a number between 1
and 52.  Weekly payroll would be 52 paydays per year,
semimonthly payroll would be 24 paydays per year, biweekly
payroll would be 26 paydays per year and monthly payroll would
be 12 paydays per year.

     Next you must fill in the information for payroll
deductions.  There are 6 deductions possible with PC-PR.  The
first deduction will always be federal income tax withholding
(FWH).  The remaining five deductions must be named by the user.
You may also set a limit for each deduction and the percentage
to be withheld.  For instance social security tax (FICA) for
1987 is limited to 7.15% of the first $43800 of income.  Anyone
who earns more than $43800 will not have social security tax
deducted after they reach $43800.

     A zero value for the limit and percentage means that this
deduction must be input by the user.  Such is the case with some
state income taxes and for any miscellaneous deductions.

     A negative value for deduction percent will tell the
program to calculate the tax as a percentage of federal
withholding.  So, if your state income tax is 10 percent of
federal income tax, you should enter 10.00- for the deduction
percent for that deduction.

     A value of 99.99 for the deduction percent will tell the
program to use the California state income tax withholding
tables.

     Next, you may input information for calculating up to 6
payroll tax amounts.  This information is used to print at the
bottom of the payroll ledger report a summary of payroll taxes
due for the quarter.  It is especially useful for calculating
employer paid payroll taxes like federal unemployment insurance
(FUI), which is based on payroll paid up to a certain amount for
each employee.

     Since PC-PR requires a printer capable of printing at least
96 characters across a page, you must let the program know what
printer codes are required to set your printer to 10 and 12
characters per inch (cpi).  If your printer is already set up to
print at least 96 characters or you use switches to set the
printer width then you can leave this part blank.  Otherwise,
enter in Hexadecimal the code or codes required to change your
printer to 10 cpi and 12 cpi.  Your printer manual should
contain this information.

     If your printer does not allow 12 characters per inch,
enter the code for compressed printing.  For instance, if you
have an older model Epson printer you would enter the following:

               10 cpi         12
               12 cpi         0F

     The following is an example of a completed employer data
screen for the state of California for the 1987 tax year and
using a Prowriter or C-Itoh 8510 printer.  Your data will vary
depending on state law and the type of printer you are using.

     Employer Data
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Name 1      JOHN HENRY'S DRILLING       Printer Control Codes
Name 2      & EXCAVATING INC.
Address 1   333 OAT HILL ROAD
Address 2   CALISTOGA, CA.  94598       10 Cpi    1B4E
Federal ID  94-2678232                  12 Cpi    1B45
State ID    250-7432-4
Paydays per year    26

Deduction    Limit     Percent     P/R Tax      Limit    Percent

 FWH          None      Table
 FICA        43800       7.15       FICA        43800      7.15
 SDI         21900       1.20       SUI          7000      2.30
 SWH             0      99.99       ETT          7000      0.10
 Insur           0       0.00       FUI          7000      0.80
 Other           0       0.00       SDI         21900      1.20
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 Use the up and down arrows to move the pointer
 then <C> to change or <Esc> to exit.


ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYEE DATA

     Employee information is entered and changed using this
selection from the menu.  The following information is entered
for each employee:

     Employee name - Up to 25 characters are available.

     Street Address - Up to 25 characters for the street
     address.

     City, State & Zip - Up to 25 characters for the city, state
     & zip code.

     Sort by - A ten character code that will be used to sort
     employees in alphabetical order.  Employees are sorted each
     time you leave the ENTER OR CHANGE EMPLOYEE DATA section.
     In most cases you will want to enter the employee last
     name, followed by as much of the first name as will fit in
     the remaining characters.  For instance, if the employees
     name is Jerry Medlin, the employee code would be
     MEDLINJERR.  When a new employee name is entered, the
     program will make a pretty good guess and enter a sort code
     for you.  If you want to change it just press the escape
     key and you can type the sort code.

     Social Security - Enter the employee social security number
     without spaces or dashes.  Dashes will be added later when
     the social security number is printed on reports.

     Status - Marital status can be either M for married or S
     for single.

     Allow - The number of allowance claimed by the employee.
     Enter a number from 0 to 9 or the letter E if the employee
     is exempt from federal tax.  Entering an S for allowance
     will tell the program to input federal tax from the
     keyboard instead of calculating it.

     Rate - The employees hourly wage rate.  If you wish, you
     can enter the pay rate for a whole pay period then enter
     the hours as 1 when entering payroll check data.

     Dept - Enter a department number between 0 and 9.  This
     number will be used to summarize payroll by department at
     the end of the Payroll Check Listing.  When an employee no
     longer works for you, you can enter an "X" for department
     and the employee will be omitted from payroll and employee
     listings but retained for W2 purposes.

     Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the
previous field.  Pressing the Escape key at the first entry
takes you to the command mode.  The command mode allows you to
scroll up and down through the employee names, delete employees
and change employee information.  Pressing the Escape key from
command mode takes you back to the menu.

     If you don't know the employee's address or social security
number, you can leave that information blank for now and fill it
in later using the <C> Change option.

     The <E> Enter New Balances command allows you to enter new
quarter and year to date balances for an employee.  Be careful!
The principal purpose of this selection is to allow you to enter
opening balances when you first begin using PC-PR.  I will also
allow you to enter incorrect balances!

     At times you may want to find an employee without scrolling
through the entire employee list.  The <G> Go to Employee
selection from the command mode allows you to do this.  Just
enter the employee's name or even the beginning of the name and
the program will take you immediately to that employee.

     The acceptable commands at any point are printed at the
bottom of the screen.

ENTER OR CHANGE PAYROLL CHECKS

      Payroll checks are printed on a common check form with the
check stub on the bottom of the check.  The checks should be
ordered pre printed with your company name and account number.
The following is a partial list of suppliers, their toll free
order number and their catalog number for the pre printed check
forms you will need:

NEW ENGLAND BUSINESS SVS (NEBS)   800-225-9550   Form 9022
CHECKS TO GO                      800-854-2750   Form 188-01
                                  800-552-8817   In Calif.
FORMS SERVICE INC.                800-553-5125   Form 3020
                                  312-671-2821   In Illinois
MOORE BUSINESS FORMS              800-323-6230   Form M17566


     With the PRCONFIG program provided to registered users you
can elect to print on a top stub check such as the NEBS form
number 9020.  There is no way for you to change the layout of
checks.

     The ENTER OR CHANGE PAYROLL CHECKS selection allows you to
enter or change payroll checks.  Payroll checks are normally
printed as the payroll information is entered.  This normally
causes no delay with most printers and results in a shorter
overall time for doing a payroll.  If you prefer, you can skip
printing the checks as they are entered and print them one at a
time using the <P> Print command.

     Before any payroll checks can be entered you must have your
employer information entered into the program as explained in
the previous section.  The following information must be entered
to calculate a payroll check:

     Date - The date entered at the beginning of the processing
     period is automatically entered for each payroll check.
     The only way to change the date is to go back to the date
     entry at the beginning of the program and enter a new date.

     Employee Name - No, you don't have to type in the employees
     name. Just use the up and down arrows on the number pad to
     search for the employee you want to pay.  When you find the
     right employee just press the return or enter key.  There
     is no need to memorize employee numbers.  Payroll checks
     are entered by name only.

     Check Number - Up to 4 characters for the check number.
     Alphabetic characters are allowed.  Pressing the return or
     plus <+> key enters a number equal to the previous check
     number plus one.

     Total Hours - The total hours worked by this employee for
     the pay period.  This will be multiplied by the rate
     entered for the employee to determine regular pay.  The
     total hours should include any overtime hours to be entered
     below.

     O.T. Hours - Overtime hours worked for the pay period.
     This number will be multiplied by one half the rate entered
     for the employee to determine the overtime excess pay.

     Other Income - Enter the dollar amount of any other income
     to be paid during this pay period.  You could use this
     entry for entering total pay for salaried employees.

     Non Taxable - If you want to add a non taxable payment to
     the check such as an auto allowance or reimbursement for
     supplies paid for by the employee, you can enter it here.
     Be sure the amount you are entering is, in fact, non
     taxable.  The amount will simply be added to the net check
     with no deductions taken.

     The program will then instantly calculate the payroll
deductions that are supposed to be calculated and prompt you to
enter the deductions which are not calculated.  You will then be
presented with four choices:


<Return> or <+>  Print this check       <C> Change this check
<X> Skip Printing                       <Esc> Cancel this check

     Normally you will press the return or plus key and the
check will be printed.  If you made an error in one of the steps
above, or if you want to change one of the deduction amounts you
should select <C> and you will be given an opportunity to change
any of the check information and then returned to the above four
choices.  Should you not want to print the check at this time
you can press the X key.  The <X> Skip Printing choice is
usually used when you want to enter a manually written check
into the payroll.  Pressing the Escape key will cancel the check
just entered.

     Pressing the Escape key during entry takes you back to the
previous field.  Pressing the Escape key at first entry position
(Name) takes you to the command mode.

     The command mode allows you to scroll up and down through
the entries, delete entries, change entries, and print any
checks you left unprinted.  From the command mode you may press
the <T> Total key to print the total all of the payroll checks
written so far.

     Pressing the Escape key from command mode takes you back to
the menu.  All the available commands are printed at the bottom
of the screen and may be chosen by a single keystroke.


PRINTING REPORTS

     When you first enter the PC-PR program you will be asked to
enter a report date.  This date will be used on all reports.  If
you want to change the report date you must end processing and
start over, otherwise the same report date is used on all
reports and checks printed during a payroll session.


PRINT EMPLOYEE LISTING

     This is a listing of all current information for each
employee.  You may use this sheet as a payroll input sheet for
the next pay period and to check addresses and social security
numbers for accuracy.


PRINT PAYROLL CHECK LISTING

     This report list all of the payroll checks written for the
payroll period.  At the end of the payroll check listing the
total of all checks is printed followed by a breakdown of
payroll by department.  This report should be printed and
retained after each payroll for a permanent record.


PRINT PAYROLL LEDGER

     The payroll ledger is an important "audit trail" for the
 PC-PR program.  It lists each employee with his or her payroll
balance at the beginning of the payroll period.  Then each
payroll check for the employee is then printed followed by the
quarter to date and year to date balances for the employee at
then end of the payroll period.


     Important!  If you don't print the Payroll Ledger Report
before starting a new payroll period, you will not have a
permanent record of how the payroll balances arrived at their
total for the year or quarter.  This means that you won't be
able to show the employee or the IRS where all those numbers on
the W2 form came from.  The Payroll Ledger should be printed
after each payroll.

     At the end of the Payroll Ledger report the quarterly
payroll tax liabilities are calculated and printed.  These
numbers have no effect on payroll, but are there to help you
fill out the various state and federal payroll tax forms. The
calculations are based on information you entered in the ENTER
OR CHANGE EMPLOYER INFORMATION section of the program.


EMPLOYEE HISTORY REPORT

     The program retains payroll checks from the last 14 payroll
periods on your data disk.  The employee history report allows
you to review those checks for any or all employees.  This
report is sometimes helpful in filling out state or local
reports that request the number of payroll periods worked.


ZERO EMPLOYEE BALANCES

     At the end of each quarter, before you print the first
payroll check for the new quarter, you should use this selection
to set all employee quarter to date balances to zero.  At the
end of the year you should set all employee year to date
balances to zero.  When you select this choice from the menu you
will be asked to enter a "Q" to zero quarter to date balances or
a "Y" to zero year to date balances.  Hitting any other key will
return you to the menu with no changes made.  It is up to the
user to remember to set quarter to date balances to zero at then
end of each quarter and to set year to date balances to zero at
then end of the year.


EXPORT EMPLOYEE DATA

     This selections allows you to print at least some of the
employee data to a file called PR.PRN.  This file can then be
read into many spreadsheet and database programs, allowing you
to use the employee data for other purposes.

     The file PR.PRN is created as soon as you select this
option from the menu.  You can view the file after you exit PC-
PR by typing TYPE PR.PRN.  You can also load the resulting data
into LOTUS 123 using the import/numbers option.

     The Export Employee Data option is provided only as a
convenience for those advanced users who need the data for other
purposes.


SAVE DATA AND END

     When processing is completed you must exit the program
using this selection.   If you just want to save the current
data to the disk without ending, you may answer "N" to the
question "Do you want to end processing?" and you will be
returned to the menu.


PROGRAM LIMITATIONS

     I have tried to write a simple payroll writing program that
complies with the multitude of laws regarding payroll.  As a
result, the program works for most payroll situations, but not
all.

     The program is not recommended for many payroll
applications that require FICA wages to be different from
taxable wages.  This includes companies that deduct for pension
and deferred compensation plans, supplemental unemployment
compensation plans and students working for private schools.

     The program will handle tips declared by employees, but the
tax summaries at the end of the Payroll Journal will always
include the tips, which may not be correct in some situations.

     If you have different payroll periods for different
employees the program won't work for you.

     In addition, the following situations will require amounts
to be manually entered or changed before the check is printed:

     State Income Tax Withholding - Many state legislatures have
created withholding schemes that are even more complicated than
the federal system.  With the exception of those states that use
a fixed percentage or a percentage of federal taxes, and the
state of California, I am unable to support state withholding.
Most users have found that it doesn't slow them down too much to
manually enter state withholding.  If you wish to purchase the
program source code (see last page) a reasonably good programmer
should be able to program your state's tax calculation.

     Family employees - If you are a sole proprietorship and you
pay family members you must manually change the FICA deduction
to zero.  Remember that the tax due calculations at the end of
the Payroll Journal will include the family employee, so that
amount must be subtracted before calculation the tax due.

       Earned Income Credit - I have never known an employee to
claim this credit.  If you have one, you must manually calculate
the amount and enter it in the federal withholding field and
keep a separate manual record of the amount.

       Additional withholding amount - If an employee wants an
additional amount added to his or her federal withholding, you
must enter it manually.


USING THE CONFIGURATION PROGRAM

     The configuration program (PRCONFIG.COM) is provided to all
registered users.  It allows you to change certain features of
PC-PR.  The PRCONFIG.COM program and the main program (PC-
PR.COM) should both be on the same disk drive when you configure
your copy of PC-PR.  Just run the program by typing PRCONFIG at
the Dos prompt.  Use the up and down arrows to move the pointer
and then press <C> to change an item.  You will be allowed to
change the following information:

     Display Colors - If you have a color adapter and monitor,
     you  can change the colors for screen borders, program
     prompts,  data, and background.  Allowable colors are from
     0 to 15  except for background color which can only be from
     0 to 7.   The display will be instantly updated as you
     enter the new  colors.

     Laser Printer? - You will also be able to change the way
     PC-PR  starts a new page.  Usually, PC-PR starts a new page
     by  counting lines until the page total equals 66 lines (or
     42 lines for checks).  If you enter a "Y" for the laser
     printer question, PC-PR will start  a new page by issuing a
     form feed command.  This would work just fine on most other
     printers too, but requires that you set the top of form
     before you start printing.

     Disk Drive and Path - Enter a drive and path designation
     for  PC-AP data.  If you want the program to read data from
     the B  drive just enter B:.

     Non Taxable Name - Normally this is just called "Non
     Taxable", but if you want to get more specific by calling
     it "Auto Allowance" or "Expense Reimb" you can do so.

     Payroll Periods to Save - The PC-PR program saves previous
     checks on your  data disk for later review with the
     Employee History Report option.   Normally the payroll
     checks for the previous 14 payroll periods are  saved.  You
     may modify this number to be anywhere from zero to 30
     payroll periods.  Remember, the more data you save, the
     more room you need on the data disk and the more time it
     will take to review an employee's history.

     Top or Bottom Stub Check - PC-PR normally prints on a check
     form with the stub on the bottom. (NEBS form number 9022 or
     equivalent).  You may choose to use a check form with the
     stub on the top. (NEBS form 9020 or equivalent).  Enter a
     "T" for top stub or a "B" for bottom stub.

     When you have finished making your changes, press the
escape key to exit the program.  You will then be asked if you
want to save the changes.  If you answer with a Y, both the
configuration program and PC-AP will be changed until you run
the configuration program again.


HELPFUL HINTS

     The program makes liberal use of the ten key pad for both
numbers and commands.  The Num Lock can be on all the time.

     When inputting information, the plus <+> key has the same
effect as the return or enter key.  Numerical information is
entered "calculator style".  The decimal point is placed
automatically.  The minus <-> key enters a negative number.
This makes using the numeric key pad even easier.

     The escape key is always used to go back to the previous
operation.  From anywhere in the program if you continue to
press the escape key you will eventually return to the opening
date question.

     The first 13 times you start a new payroll period more disk
space is required for historical files.  If you have a large
business and you are using floppy disks for data storage, you
could run out of disk space.  Check available disk space with
Dos's DIR command occasionally.

     If you void a payroll check before you start a new payroll
period, you may simply delete the check from the payroll checks
by pressing the delete key when the check is displayed on the
screen.

     If you void the check after a new payroll period has
started, you must enter the check as a negative payroll check so
that the amounts will be reversed from the employee's payroll
totals.  Negative numbers are entered by first entering the
amount then pressing the minus <-> sign.

     The California withholding tables are already built into
the program.  California withholding taxes will be calculated if
the deduction percentage for state withholding is entered 99.99.
Go to the employer data selection and change the deduction
percentage for state withholding to 99.99.

     PC-PR is written in Turbo Pascal and the source code is
available for $125.


SPECIAL WARNING:  Garbage In - Garbage Out.

     Although I have made every effort to eliminate the most
common operator errors, it is still possible to enter complete
nonsense into this program and get incorrect payroll from the
program.  Just because it is a computer doesn't make it
automatically correct.  Look at the checks and printouts and
make sure the numbers are reasonable.  If you enter an incorrect
check, be sure and void it.  It is your responsibility to see
that your employees and the government get correct information.


ADDING A LITTLE COLOR

     If you have a color monitor and wish to have colors other
than the normal black and white you may specify the colors when
you run the program.  Just include the decimal values for the
colors after the path description.  The numbers specify the
colors for border, data, prompts and background in that order.
For example, if you run the program by typing:  PC-PR C:PR\ 6 14
10 1 you will be telling the program to look for data on drive C
in the sub directory PR and use brown borders, yellow data,
light green prompts on a dark blue background.  Beware - the
program does not check to see if the colors are valid or
tasteful.  Once you decide what you want, put the command in a
batch file to avoid typing errors.  If you want colors, but
don't want to specify a path, you must still specify the drive
designation.  So to get the same colors while using drive B: you
would start the program by typing: B: 6 14 10 1.