CenterPoint Payroll - Perception Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll Data Transfer

Document #: 3086 Product: CenterPoint Payroll

This will guide you through converting and verifying your Perception Payroll database to a CenterPoint Payroll database. Each Perception Payroll database needs to be converted individually.

We recommend following these five steps to accurately transfer your data from Perception Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll:

Step A: Reverse Employee Advance Balances in Perception Payroll

Step B: Transfer data from Perception Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll

Step C: Enter Employee Advance Balances in CenterPoint Payroll

Step D: Print Reports to Verify Data Transferred Accurately

Step E: Verify Setup

Step F: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Step A: Reverse Employee Advance Balances in Perception Payroll

In CenterPoint Payroll, advances do not require having an individual account receivable for each employee. One Payroll Advance asset account will rack all employee advances and manage the individual employee balance and activity at the same time.

If you have any current employee advance balances at the time of the data transfer,they need to be reversed in Perception Payroll and reentered in CenterPoint Payroll after the data transfer. Follow the steps below to reverse employee advance balances:

To find Employee Advance Balances in Perception Payroll:

  1. Start Perception Payroll.
  2. Select Reports > Monthly Reports > AR/AP tab.
  3. Select the company.
  4. Select the Receivable Aging Report.
  5. Preview and print the report. The list will provide employee advance balances.

Enter a Payroll Batch:

  1. Select Transactions > Payroll Records.
  2. Click New Payroll.
  3. Select the Company.
  4. The current date can be used for all date parameters if your data is current.
  5. Click OK to create an open payroll.
  6. Select an employee with an advance balance.
  7. Click Add to add the addition.
  8. Select the payroll addition Advance.
  9. Enter the balance in the amount followed by a minus sign.
  10. Click OK. Repeat Steps 1-9 for each employee with an advance.
  11. Close the payroll.
  12. Select a bank account. If you have a bank account other than your normal checking account such as petty cash, you can select it to keep this cash activity out of the checking account. You will want to use the same bank account to enter the advance balances back into CenterPoint.
  13. Choose to not print checks and click OK.
  14. Select Transactions > Batch Transactions.
  15. Post the payroll.
  16. Continue with Step B - Transfer Data from Perception Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll.

Step B - Transfer Data from Perception Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll

The Perception Payroll data transfer converts the Perception Payroll setup and history into the CenterPoint Payroll database. The Perception Accounting data needs to be transferred to CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture prior to transferring the payroll data. The CenterPoint database needs to be open before beginning the payroll data transfer. Close all databases in Perception before beginning the data transfer.

  1. Select File > New > Data Transfers > Perception Payroll.
  2. Select the Perception data source you wish to transfer to the CenterPoint Payroll database. Click OK.

  1. Click Continue.
  • You will be prompted to create a backup of the current CenterPoint database prior to beginning the data transfer.
  • Following the backup procedure, the data transfer screen displays the progression of the data transfer. This process may take a little time. You will not need to make any selections during the process.
  1. A message displays when the data transfer is complete. Click OK.

If an error occurs during the data transfer, the process will attempt to indicate the problem. Return to Perception to make the necessary modifications and begin the data transfer again.

Step C: Enter Employee Advance Balances in CenterPoint Payroll

If you reversed Perception Payroll employee advance balances in Step A, follow the steps below to enter the employee advance balances in CenterPoint Payroll.

Create a Payroll Advance Account:

  1. Start CenterPoint Payroll.
  2. Select Setup > Accounts > Accounts.
  3. Expand Assets.
  4. Select the Payroll Advance account category.
  5. Click New.
  6. Enter Payroll Advances in the Name box.
  7. Click Save.

Assign Advance Account

The Advance earning will need to have the new Payroll Advance account assigned to the earning.

  1. Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers. Select the employer.
  2. Click Edit and then select the Earnings tab.
  1. On the left side of the screen, select the Advance earning.
  2. On the right side of the screen, In the Expense Account box, select the Payroll Advance asset account . A warning will indicate this is not the account type expected. Select Yes to use this account anyway.
  3. Click Save.

Enter a Pay Run for Advance Balances:

  1. Select Processes > Payroll > Pay Employees.
  2. Click New.
  1. Select the Company.
  2. Select the Bank Account. Use the same bank account used in the Perception Payroll that reversed the employee advance balances.
  3. Use the same date used in the Perception Payroll that reversed the employee advance balances.
  4. Select the employees with payroll advance balances.
  5. Select the Pay tab. Select an employee in the list.
  6. Enter the advance balance in the Advance Earnings amount.
  7. Continue with each employee that has an advance balance.
  8. Click Save. Click the Process tab.
  9. Select to Assign Numbers Manually.
  10. Click Process and enter a check number. This can be numbers or characters to represent the balance entries.
  11. Click Post to post the batch.
  12. All employee balances will be stored in the Payroll Advance account. You can view the individual balance for each employee by selecting Setup > Accounts > Accounts. Click the Balances tab. Expand Assets. Expand Payroll Advances to view the individual employee balances.
  13. The advance transaction activity can be viewed in Reports > Reports > Transaction Reports > General Ledger > General Ledger Account Activity. Click Preview and then click the Filters fly-out tab on the left side of the Preview screen to filter the account category Payroll Advance.

Assign the Advance Repayment Account:

The deduction for advance repayment will need to have the new Payroll Advance account assigned to the deduction.

  1. Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers. Select the employer and then click Edit.
  2. Select the Deductions & Benefits tab.
  1. On the left side of the screen, select the Advance Repayment deduction.
  2. On the right side of the screen, in the Liability Account box, select the Payroll Advance asset account. A warning will indicate the account selected is not the expected type. Select Yes to use this account anyway.
  3. Click Save.

Step D: Print Reports to Verify Data Transferred Accurately

Perception Payroll Report CenterPoint Payroll Report

Reports > Payroll > General Payroll Reports > Employee Year-To-Date Payroll report. Select the last payroll of the year.

Reports > Reports > Payroll Data Reports > Payroll Register > Payroll Register (Summary) report. Use "This Year" in the date range. Total gross wage, net wage, and total employee deductions can be compared between Year-to-Date column in the Perception Payroll report to the totals for employees in the CenterPoint Payroll report.

Reports > Payroll > General Payroll Reports > Contribution Summary by Employee Consolidated View. Filter for the year in pay dates.

Reports > Reports > Payroll Data Reports > Payroll Register > Payroll Register (Summary) report. Use "This Year" in the date range. Total employer contributions f r each employee in the Perception Payroll repot can be compared to employer taxes and employer benefits for each employee in the CenterPoint Payroll report.

Reports > Payroll > Federal and State Tax Forms > W-2 Form

Reports > Reports > Federal and State Payroll Forms and Reports > Federal Forms > W-2 Form. Print the W-3 in both programs to verify the information is the same. If you find a discrepancy, run the individual W-2 forms and compare.

Step E: Verify Setup

Select Employee State

  • Select Setup > Employees > Detail > Payroll tab to assign/verify the employee’s default tax state for state withholding and the state unemployment state.
  • During the data transfer, the tax state and SUTA state are determined from the taxes applied to the employee. The transfer applies the state withholding as the tax state and the state unemployment as the SUTA state. If you have employees that work in multiple states, a different tax state can be selected in the time entry.

Earnings

All earnings should be examined to verify correct tax and deduction assignments.

  • Select Setup > Payroll Details > Earnings.
  • Select an earnings in the list.
  • Click the Taxes tab to verify the tax assignments. Most earnings should be marked as Taxes Calculated on Earnings.

Advance Earnings

  • If you have an "advance" earning, in Setup > Earnings, click the Taxes tab, and select the Exclude from Earning check box for all taxes.
  • Click the Deductions & Benefits tab to verify the deduction assignment. If you have an “advance” earning, all deductions should be Excluded from Earnings.
  • To exclude the deductions/benefits, on the left side of the screen under Deductions & Benefits, select the deduction/benefit(s) and then move them to the right side of the screen under Exclude Deductions / Benefits by using the right arrow.

Deduction and Benefit Schedules

Setup > Payroll Details > Deduction & Benefit Schedules manage when you want the deduction (employee’s share) or benefit (employer’s share) calculated in the pay runs. The transfer assigned the schedule “Monthly Pay Periods 1,2,3,4, & 5” to each deduction and benefit. The result is the deduction or benefit is calculated each pay period unless a special pay period is selected when creating a pay run in the Pay Employees screen.

  • If you have some deductions or benefits you do not want calculated each pay period, select Setup > Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefits. Select the deduction or benefit.
  • Click the General tab.
  • Assign the schedule you want under Employee Detail and/or Employer Detail.
  • New schedules of different pay period combinations can be added in Setup > Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefit Schedules.
  • The pay run determines which deductions and benefits are calculated based on the deduction/benefit frequency selected on the pay run. The deduction/benefit frequency is assigned to the deduction schedule in Setup >Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefit Schedules. Frequencies are created in Setup > Payroll Details > Deduction & Benefit Frequencies.

The schedule assignments can also be done in Setup > Payroll Details > Employers > Deductions and Benefits tab.

Deduction & Benefits

All Deductions should be examined to verify correct tax implications.

  • Select Setup > Payroll Details > Deduction and Benefits.
  • Select a deduction or benefit in the list.
  • On the General tab, verify the deduction Type.

W-2 Box Assignment

  • If the Contributor is Employee, under Employee Detail, assign the W-2 Box - Options for deductions that should be reported on a W-2 such as retirement plans, verify the Employee Method (Fixed Amount, Garnishment, Percent of Wages, etc.), verify the deduction schedule, and then enter/verify the rate. Click the Limits tab and Check the tax assignment of each deduction. Retirement deductions should be excluded from income tax. Cafeteria plan deductions should be excluded from all taxes.
  • If the Contributor is Employer, under Employer Detail, assign the W-2 Box - Options for deductions that should be reported on a W-2, verify the Employer Method (Fixed Amount, Match Employee Deduction, Percent of Employee Deduction, etc.), verify the deduction schedule, and then enter/verify the rate.
  • If the Contributor is Both, follow the instructions above for Contributor = Employee and Contributor = Employer.

Tax Assignment

  • Check the tax assignment of each deduction. Retirement deductions should be excluded from income tax. Cafeteria plan deductions should be excluded from all taxes.
  • Click the Taxes tab. Check the tax assignment of each benefit. Cafeteria benefits should be excluded from all taxes.

Employer Match of Employee Deduction

Each Perception employer contribution transfers as a separate benefit in Deductions & Benefits. Employer contributions that are a match to an employee deduction can be combined with the employee deduction. One item in the list can manage both the employee share (deduction) and the employer share (benefit). Examples are retirement plans and health insurance.

Select Setup > Payroll Details > Deduction & Benefits.

  • Verify the methods for the employer contribution and the employee deduction are the same, such as both are percent of gross or both are fixed amount.
  • Select the transferred employer contribution in the Setup > Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefits list.
  • Click the Combine button.
  • Select the employee deduction you are combining to in the list. Click OK.
  • Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers > Detail > Deduction & Benefit tab. Select the employee deduction.
  • Select the employer portion of the deduction / benefit. Assign the employer rate, the schedule and expense account for the employer.

Salary Rate

Setup > Payroll Details > Earnings stores the pay frequency of each earnings.

The Salary addition in Perception entered the rate as gross wage per pay period. The transfer assigns the pay frequency based on the number of pay periods in the Perception employee detail.

If you wish to use “Annual” pay frequency, select the salary earnings in Setup > Payroll Details > Earnings.

  • Change the pay frequency to Annual.
  • Select Setup > Employees > Detail > Earnings tab to enter the annual wage for each salary employee in the Rate box.

Overtime Earnings

Hourly manual OT and Hourly automatic OT additions migrated to CenterPoint as Hourly earnings type. To add Overtime earnings:

  1. Select Setup > Payroll Details > Earnings.
  • Click New to add Overtime Earnings.
  • Select the category Overtime.
  • In the Name box, enter Overtime Earnings.
  1. Add Overtime Earnings to the Employer.
  • Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers > Detail > Earnings.
  • Select Overtime Earnings in the lower left list of earnings.Overtime Earnings will be added to the list in the upper left.
  • Select Overtime Earnings in the upper left.
  • Assign the labor expense account for posting overtime wage.
  • Click Save.
  1. Add Overtime to the employees needing overtime earnings. This can be done to one employee at a time or through mass update.
  • To update one employee at a time, select Setup > Employees > Detail > Earnings. Select Overtime Earnings to add it to the employee list. Select Overtime Earnings in the list and assign the employee’s overtime rate in the Rate box.
  • To mass update all employees with the same overtime rate, select Setup > Payroll Details > Employee Mass Update. Select all employees who receive the same overtime rate. To select multiple items in a list hold down your CTRL key and click each employee until all are selected. Click the Mass Update button. Select Earnings in the Category. In the upper right select the Method Add Item to Employee if Missing. Select Overtime Earnings in the list. Assign the labor expense account and the rate. Click Update. A list is populated to advise you of the updates. After your review, select Accept or Reject.

Employer for Multiple Companies

An employer in CenterPoint can represent a combination of multiple CenterPoint companies. If your database has multiple companies that represent one employer with one EIN number, assign the companies to the employer.

  • Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers.
  • Click the Company tab.
  • Assign Companies processed by this Employer.
  • Click Save. The payroll activity for the assigned companies are combined in payroll reports and government reports.

Production Details on Earnings

Perception additions that were marked as “always the same” profit center or production center will need to be reassigned in CenterPoint.

Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employee Mass Update.

  • Select all employees.
  • Click the Mass Update button.
  • Select Earnings in the Category.
  • In the upper right select the Method Update Existing Records Only. This will only assign the detail if the employee is assigned to the earnings.
  • Select the Earnings account.
  • Fill in the production detail you wish to assign to all employees.
  • Click Update. You will be able to view the updates and select Accept or Reject.

Step F: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Will transferring my data to CenterPoint Payroll remove it from Perception Payroll?

A: No. The data transfer moves a copy of your data into CenterPoint Payroll so the original Perception Payroll data is untouched.

 

Q: Where in CenterPoint Payroll will I find the menus I use most often in Perception Payroll ?

A: The following tables include many of the common tasks and where they can be found in CenterPoint Payroll:

 

Perception Payroll Term or Menu Location CenterPoint Payroll Term or Menu Location

Lists

Setup

Payroll > Employees

Employees

Companies

Payroll Details > Employers > Detail tab

Payroll > Additions

Payroll Details > Earnings

Payroll > Deductions (employee non-tax)

Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefits

Payroll > Employer Contributions (employer non-tax)

Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefit

Payroll > Deductions (local tax)

Payroll Details > Local Taxes

Payroll > Deductions (employee tax)

Payroll Details > Employer > Detail > Taxes tab

Payroll > Employer Contribution (employer tax)

Payroll Details > Employer > Detail > Taxes tab

Transactions

Processes

Payroll Record

Payroll > Pay Employees

Payroll Record > Timesheet button

Payroll > Time Sheets

Reports

Reports > Reports

Payroll Reports > General Payroll Reports

Reports > Payroll Data Reports > Payroll Register reports

Payroll Reports > Federal and State Tax Forms

Reports > Federal and State Payroll Forms & Reports

Lists > Payroll > Report tab of Employees, Deductions, Employer Contributions, and Additions

Reports > Payroll Setup Lists

File

File

Payroll Tables

Payroll Administration > Taxes

The following tables list the new terms, features, and menus and description of each.Please refer to the CenterPoint Payroll Help for instructions on utilizing the new payroll features.

 

New Term Description

Leave

CenterPoint Leave tables can manage the accumulation and use of vacation, sick or other time off schedules. Each leave is built to match your company practice of calculating leave by using factors such as years of service, hire dates, maximum carryovers, etc. The employee’s leave status can be included on the employee payroll check stub.

Direct Deposit

CenterPoint Direct Deposit allows the employer to deposit net pay and/or savings deductions directly into the employee bank accounts. Direct deposit details need to be assigned to the employer and each employee wanting to use direct deposit. Direct Deposit is an additional payroll module. If you are interested in purchasing the module, please contact the sales department.

Time Clock Imports

CenterPoint Time Sheets allow an import from time clock or time entry programs. The import updates the payroll time sheet entries. The entries are then processed the same as time sheet entries entered through CenterPoint. If you are interested in purchasing the module, please contact the sales department.

Workers' Compensation Classes

If you are required to submit worker’s compensation reports, classes can be created and assigned to the employees or individual payroll entries to ease reporting requirements.

Pay Defaults

Pay Defaults represent specific jobs that typically use the same earnings, same rate, and other optional details each time the job is done. A Pay Default can be selected during a payroll time sheet entry which will fill in all defaults and speed the entry process.

Minimum Wage Information

Minimum Wage adjustments can be calculated after payroll entries if you have employees that classify for minimum wage.

Employee Mass Update

Payroll setup changes can be assigned to multiple employees at one time using a mass update feature. Examples might be adding a new deduction or benefit, changing rates on a deduction or benefit, adjusting earning rate increases, etc.