CenterPoint Accounting - Red Wing Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll Data Transfer

Document #: 3050 Product: CenterPoint® Payroll

This document will guide you through transferring and verifying your Red Wing Payroll company to a CenterPoint Payroll company. Each company needs to be transferred individually.

We recommend following these five steps to accurately transfer your data from Red Wing Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll

Step A: Create a Database

Step B: Verify Account Category Assignments and Assign Vendors

Step C: Transfer Data from Windows Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll

Step D: Print Reports to Verify Data Transferred Accurately

Step E: Verify Setup

Step F: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Prerequisite

  • Red Wing Payroll and CenterPoint Payroll must be installed on the same computer or Red Wing Payroll must be accessible from the computer with CenterPoint Payroll installed.
  • All open Red Wing Payroll check runs must be completed; incomplete check runs will not be transferred to CenterPoint Payroll.
  • All unpaid payroll liabilities should be paid; unpaid payroll liabilities will not be transferred to CenterPoint Payroll.

  • If you use Direct Deposit in Red Wing Payroll, only the main account transfers. Direct deposits setup as savings or other deductions will not transfer. To get a list of direct deposit accounts, go to PR > Setup > Employees, click the List button, click the Report button, change the Employee Status to Active, select the Report Type of Direct Deposit, and print your report.

Once the data transfers, open CenterPoint Payroll , select SetupEmployees and edit employees that had a Savings or Other deduction listed on the report you printed from Red Wing Payroll. Click on the Deductions tab and make the deduction inactive or zero out the rate. Click on the Direct Deposit tab and add the savings direct deposit to the direct deposit information on the line below the checking account that did transfer.

  • If you use tips, before you transfer your Red Wing Payroll data with tips, you must change the Tips Earning Code in Red Wing Payroll. Select Payroll > Setup > Earnings, select your Tips Earning Code, change the Method to Tips, and the Pay Type to Taxable pay.

  • If you will also be using CenterPoint for your accounting, that program must be transferred to CenterPoint prior to transferring Red Wing Payroll.

Step A: Create a CenterPoint Database (payroll only customers)

To migrate Red Wing Payroll data into CenterPoint Payroll, a CenterPoint Payroll database must be created for each company you plan to transfer. The CenterPoint Payroll database cannot contain any existing Employee Information prior to the data transfer.

IMPORTANT: If you have already created the database or are using CenterPoint for your accounting, do not create a new database. Instead skip directly to Step B: Account Maintenance.

If you will be using CenterPoint Payroll only (no accounting), the New Database Wizard guides you through the process of setting up your database in CenterPoint Payroll. You can temporarily stop the wizard at any time by using the Finish Later button at the bottom of the screen. The process can be resumed at a later time without losing information you have already entered.

  1. Select File > New > New Database Wizard, and then click Next on the Welcome screen.
  2. On the Set Up Database Options screen, select Setup a New Database, and then click Next.
  3. On the Enter Database File Name screen, enter a Name for the database. Use a name that easily identifies the company. Click Next.
  4. On the Chart of Accounts screen, click Next. A payroll specific Chart of Accounts will be added to your database.
  5. On the Start Date screen, enter the oldest date of history to be transferred from your Red Wing Payroll data. Any Red Wing Payroll data dated prior to the Start Date will not transfer to CenterPoint Payroll. For example, if you want 2015, 2013 and 2012 data to transfer, enter 01/01/2012 in the Start Date field.
  1. On the Use Account Numbers screen select Yes or No. If Yes is selected, the wizard will add a six-digit account number to each of the general ledger accounts. Otherwise accounts will be identified by name. Click Next.
  2. The Account Maintenance screen displays a list of accounts that will be added by the wizard. Accounts can be added, modified, or deleted after completing the New Database Wizard in Setup > Accounts > Accounts. Click Next.
  3. If you have other databases that require a similar setup, at the Do you want to save the setup for future use message, choose Yes to save the setup for future use. Otherwise, select No. If you choose Yes, the screen to build the database displays the default locations for the new database. Click Next.
  1. On the Building the Database screen, click Build New Database.
  2. On the Build New Database screen, click Build Data. A message will display when the process is successful, click OK.
  3. On the Your Database Setup Process is Complete screen, click Next.
  4. On the Update Modules screen, click OK. A message will display when the updates are successful, click OK.
  5. On the Install Modules screen, click OK. A message will display when the configuration is successful, click OK.
  6. The New Database Wizard is complete and you are now in the database that Red Wing Payroll will be transferred into.
  7. On the Payroll Setup Wizard Usage screen, select No.

Step B: Verify Account Category Assignments and Assign Vendors

Each Payroll Liability account (for example, Federal Withholding, Garnishments, Child Support, etc.) must have the correct account category assigned to it and have a vendor assigned to it. Prior to beginning this step, we recommend you perform a backup of the database. Select File > Backup Database, select the database you are planning on transferring data into, and then click Backup.

  1. Select Setup > Names > Names to create a vendor that you will be paying liabilities to. Click New to add a new vendor. Repeat this step for each vendor needed.
  2. Select Setup > Accounts > Accounts. Select the Account Type of Liabilities (by clicking the + sign next to Liabilities) and select the Account Category of Payroll Liabilities (by clicking the + sign next to Payroll Liabilities) from the Account List tab. View the available Liability accounts. If you need to create additional accounts to accommodate your setup, click New, and then complete the Accounts Setup screen. 
  3. Select the first payroll liability account and click Edit.
  4. On the General tab verify that the Account Category is Payroll Liabilities.
  1. Select the Detail tab and in the Vendor Liability is Paid To box, click the Lookup icon and select the Vendor you pay this liability to (if the Vendor is not in the list, click New, enter the Vendor information, click Save, and then click OK). For the system-supplied accounts, vendors are already assigned to the account, but can be changed. For example, the Federal Taxes Payable account is assigned the Internal Revenue Service vendor and the State Unemployment account is assigned the State Department of Revenue vendor.
  2. Click Save.
  3. Repeat steps 3-6 for each Payroll Liability account in the account list. Click Close.

Step C: Transfer Data from Windows Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll

The Red Wing Payroll Data Transfer moves a copy of the Red Wing Payroll setup and history into the CenterPoint Payroll database.

  1. While in the database that you want to migrate the Red Wing payroll data into, select File > New > Data Transfers > Red Wing Payroll.
  2. If Red Wing Payroll is installed on this machine also, the Red Wing Payroll Location (Path) will default to the correct location. If the location of the Red Wing Payroll is different than the displayed path, enter the correction location for the Red Wing Payroll sys folder using the button. Click Next.
  1. Select the Red Wing Payroll company you want to transfer into CenterPoint Payroll. Click Next.
  1. Select the way that the Red Wing Payroll company information should be transferred into CenterPoint Payroll:
  • For CenterPoint Payroll only users transferring from Red Wing Payroll not integrated with AgCHEK- Usually, a newly created database will want to use the employer and company that was created when the new database was created, so in the Employer and Company columns you would select the employer and company automatically created when you created the database.

  • For CenterPoint Payroll only users transferring from Red Wing Payroll integrated with AgCHEK - There will be no company to select when transferring from Red Wing Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll, the employer is created during the transfer process, so you see <New> under Employer and Company.

  • For CenterPoint Accounting and CenterPoint Payroll users - For an existing database, you may want to create a new employer and select the existing company, so you would select New under the Employer column, and in the Company column, you would select the company you see listed under the Company column and not the <New Company>.
  1. Click Next.
  2. In the Red Wing Payroll Accounts screen, specify the CenterPoint accounts that should be used for common transactions that will transfer from Red Wing Payroll. The first six Red Wing Accounts displayed in the above example are considered default accounts. If you enter the CenterPoint Account to use for these defaults and want the transfer to use those accounts for all similar data (for example, all accounts considered to be a Federal Tax Liability), select the Only Use Default Accounts check box. If you want to specify the CenterPoint Account to use for all Red Wing Accounts, use the scroll-bar to see all of the other accounts found in your Red Wing Payroll data and select corresponding CenterPoint Accounts.
IMPORTANT: For Red Wing Payroll customers integrated with AgCHEK, you must make sure that you select the new payroll liability accounts or create them.

If an appropriate “CenterPoint Account” cannot be selected to match the “Red Wing Account,” you may specify an Account Type and Category that will then be used to create an account in CenterPoint with the same name as the Red Wing Account during the transfer process.

Note: if the account is a payroll liability, a vendor will also be created using the name of the Red Wing Account and automatically associated with the created account in CenterPoint Payroll.

To assign an account, under the CenterPoint Account column, for each Red Wing Account, enter or select the CenterPoint account. For example, in the Payroll Labor Expense row, select a similar CenterPoint account (Salary & Wages Expense).

Note: If you need to create a new account, right-click in the CenterPoint Account column, select New Account, enter the account information, and then click Save (see the section labeled Important below for more information about creating Liability accounts).
  1. If you have only one workers' compensation rate for each Red Wing Payroll state, simply click Next on the Other Migration Settings screen. If you have more than one workers' compensation rate, select Use Multiple Workers' Compensation Rates box, and then click Next.
  1. In the Check Run History screen, specify how much history should be transferred to CenterPoint Payroll.
  • If you would prefer to not transfer the check run history, deselect the Transfer Check Run History check box and click Next.
  • If you want the pay runs from Red Wing Payroll to transfer, select Transfer Check Run History.
Note: Check runs are transferred as “Total Only” (Start-up Pay) pay runs that cannot be voided, edited, or posted in CenterPoint Payroll. However, the check runs can be deleted.
  • In the Starting From box, enter the oldest payroll date you want transferred from Red Wing Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll.
  • Click Next.
  1. A summary of your data transfer selections will display. If the selections are correct, click Transfer Data to begin the process. If you would like to change a selection, click Back until you find the selection to change and then click Next until the summary of your transfer selections displays again, and then click Transfer Data. When the data transfer is started, the Data Transfer screen will display.
  1. When the data transfer is complete, you will receive the Data Transferred Successfully message. If the data transfer is not successful, you will be prompted and the transfer will stop.

Step D: Print Reports to Verify Data Transferred Accurately

When your Red Wing Payroll to CenterPoint Payroll data transfer is complete, reports from your CenterPoint Payroll program need to be compared to the corresponding reports in the Red Wing Payroll program to verify the accuracy of your transferred information. Print the following reports for comparison. Use current year for all reports.

Note: If you find that any reports are not matching, please call Red Wing Technical Support (do not begin using CenterPoint Payroll for new transactions until you have spoken with a technician).
Balance to Check Red Wing Payroll Report CenterPoint Payroll Report
Current Year Balances (total hours, gross earnings, taxes, and deductions)

Payroll > Reports > Pay Data > Payroll Register

* Select Pay Runs for this year & Summary Report

Reports > Reports > Payroll Data Reports > Payroll Register > Payroll Register (Summary) Report

* Select All employees & This Year in the Pay Date Range.

Federal Taxes Payroll > Reports > Employer Tax Report > W-2 Summary Reports > Reports > Payroll Tax Data Reports > Federal Tax Reports > Federal Tax Withheld by Employee

Step E: Verify Setup

There are a few pieces of Red Wing Payroll information that should be verified after its transferred to CenterPoint Payroll. This list is not a comprehensive list, but covers the typical items to review.

Setup Preferences

  1. Select File>Preferences. You should look through all of them, but some that we recommend are:
    • Accounts > Account Settings to set your database account mask (the way you want your account numbers to display).
    • General > Base Settings to set the default database to open.
    • General > Online Update Settings to set automatic updates.
    • Payroll > Printing – Checks to set payroll check printing settings.
    • Payroll> Printing – Advices to set the direct deposit advice printing settings (if applicable).

Review the Chart of Accounts

  1. Select Setup > Accounts > Accounts to review your chart of accounts.
  • Account abbreviations, numbers, and names can be edited.
  • Liability accounts are normally transferred as Payroll Liabilities. Payroll liabilities create invoices during the pay run, which can be paid under Processes > Pay Invoices Due. If you do not want to create invoices, then in the Category box, select the “Other Current Liabilities” category instead.
Note: If you also use CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture or use Cash Basis , you will have to use “payroll liabilities” accounts.
  • Verify the Payroll Liability accounts are tied to the correct vendor. The vendor assigned is under the Detail tab.
  • Unknown accounts transfer over as “Added by Migration”. If you want to use these accounts, you can edit them to change the names, etc. They can be deactivated if you do not want to use them.
  • If you were using profit centers as part of the account number, those do not transfer. Profit centers are handled differently in CenterPoint.
  • Select Assets > Cash and edit the checking account used for payroll.

Setup Company Information

  1. Select Setup > Companies and fill in the information on the General tab.

Setup Employer Information

  1. Select Setup > Payroll Details > Employers, select your employer, click Edit and fill in the information on the General tab.
  2. On the Taxes,Earning, and Deductions & Benefits tabs, verify the correct accounts are assigned.
Note: If any expense accounts are incorrect, they will also have to be corrected on the employees in SetupEmployees.
  1. Click on the Taxes tab:
  • Select the Federal tax on the left and enter the Federal Tax Id number on the right
  • Select the State Withholding tax on the left and enter the State Id # on the right. Repeat this process for each state withholding tax listed.
  • Select the State Unemployment tax(es) on the left, and enter the Rate. Repeat this process for each unemployment tax.
  • Select the Federal Unemployment Tax on the left, and enter the Rate. Make sure the current rate is .600.
  • Click Save

Verify Pre-Tax Deductions & Benefits

  1. Pretax deductions will transfer to CenterPoint but we recommend that you verify that the correct taxes to exclude from the deductions are selected. Select Setup > Payroll Details > Benefit and Deductions and edit the first pre-tax deduction (for example, a 401K contribution). Click on the Taxes tab and verify that the Exclude Deduction From Taxes column shows the correct taxes to exclude for this deduction. Repeat for each pre-tax deduction.
Note: You may want to print a list of deductions from Windows Payroll (Setup > Deductions > Detail Report with the Show Exempt Taxes selected) to use as reference.

 

Setup Employee Information

  1. Select SetupEmployees:
  • Select the Employment tab:
    • The Original Hire Date transfers as the migration date. You will need to update the date manually.
    • The Marital Status transfers as “Single”. If the employee is married that will have to be changed.

    • If you receive a message about having a unique abbreviation, it’s because the employee is also setup as a vendor or customer with the same abbreviation. You can edit the abbreviations under Setup>Names>Names.
    • Click Save.

 

Leave Setup

  • Leave does not migrate. Please call Red Wing Software Technical Support for help setting up leave.

Direct Deposit Setup

  • If you were using direct deposit in Red Wing Windows Payroll and some employees had additional checking or savings accounts, CenterPoint handles those differently. You need to do the following, select Setup > Employees:

    • Select the Deductions & Benefits tab and deactivate those deductions. Select the Direct Deposit tab and add those accounts in the Direct Deposit Information table.

    • On the Direct Deposit tab, if any deductions are direct deposited (e.g., an HSA), that information has to be filled in manually.
  • Select Setup > Accounts > Accounts> AssetsCash. On the Direct Deposit tab verify this information is filled in correctly. This same information is found in Red Wing Windows Payroll under System Manager>Setup>Bank Accounts under the checking account’s Direct Deposit tab.

Pay Run Verification

  1. If all your pay runs were not posted to your General Ledger before migrating, you can either:
  • Delete the “Totals” pay runs that didn’t get posted and re-enter them as regular pay runs so they can be posted.
  • Make journal entries to record them.
  1. You should run at least one pay run in Red Wing Windows Payroll and CenterPoint Payroll simultaneously to verify everything is calculating correctly.
  2. If you are using direct deposit in CenterPoint, create a direct deposit prenote file to send to the bank before doing a live pay run. To create the file select Processes>Direct Deposit> Create Direct Deposit Prenote.

Step F: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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

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

Q: Will my vacation/leave information transfer to CenterPoint Payroll?

A: Vacation/leave does not transfer from Red Wing Payroll. You will need to setup vacation/leave and enter beginning leave balances, after transferring to CenterPoint Payroll. We provide step-by-step instructions on how to do those processes in our Help . To easily access the Help , select Help > CenterPoint Help from the main menu of CenterPoint. In the Search bar, enter Setting Up Leave or Enter Beginning Leave Balances, click , and then select the document for detailed information.

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

A:The following table includes many of the common tasks and where they can be found in CenterPoint:

Red Wing Payroll Menu Location CenterPoint Payroll Menu Location
System Manager > Company Information

Setup > Payroll Details > Employers

Setup > Customization File > Preferences
Setup > Employees Setup > Employees > General tab
Setup > States & Taxes Setup > Payroll Details > Employers > Taxes tab
Setup > Direct Deposit Setup > Payroll Details > Employees > Direct Deposit tab, AND Setup > Payroll Details > Accounts > Direct Deposit tab
Setup > Earnings Setup > Payroll Details > Earnings
Setup > Deductions Setup > Payroll Details > Deductions & Benefits
Setup > Vacation/Leave Setup > Payroll Details > Leave
Setup > Payees Setup > Names > Names
Setup > Local Tax Groups Setup > Payroll Details > Local Taxes
Setup > Classes Setup > Payroll Details > Workers' Compensation Classes
Setup > Departments Setup > Payroll Details > Payroll Departments
Utilities > Employee Mass Update (& Interactive) Setup > Payroll Details > Employee Mass Update
Time Entry Process > Payroll > Time Sheets or Processes > Payroll > Work Group Time Sheets
Check Writing Processes > Payroll > Pay Employees
Processes > Print Liability Checks Processes > Purchases > Pay Invoices Due