Payroll Entitlements
Entitlements do not affect your books in any way, they are intended strictly for keeping track of time. When you are processing a paycheque for an employee, you can review, edit, and release time on the Entitlements tab. Because entitlement time calculations are based on days, the numbers in the paycheque window represent days, not hours.
Entitlements are defined in company-wide settings, can be individually edited in employee records, and are calculated when you process a paycheque.
Default entitlement settings
These options control the default settings for entitlements. To change them, open the Setup menu in the Home window, select Settings, Payroll, and then Entitlements.
The Number of Hours in the Work Day. This number tells Sage 50 Accounting how long an employee's work day is and is used to convert entitlement hours earned to Days Earned in the paycheque window.
Name. The name of the entitlement.
Track Using % Hours Worked. This number determines the percentage of hours worked that are accrued for an entitlement.
Maximum Days. The maximum number of days that an employee can accumulate for an entitlement.
Clear Days at Year-end. Controls whether employees can carry entitlement days over into the next fiscal year.
Entitlements in employee records
Employee entitlement options are the same as the company-wide settings, except that they control the entitlements for one employee. To change an employee's entitlements, open the employee record and click the Entitlements tab.
There is an additional column in the employee records:
Net Days Accrued. This column shows you how many days an employee is currently entitled to. Unlike the other fields on this tab, Net Days Accrued cannot be edited.
Note: There must be a value in the Hours Per Period column for any entitlement-earning incomes on the employee's Income tab (for example, Regular), in order for entitlements to be calculated for you.
Entitlements in the paycheque window
The Entitlements tab in the paycheque window shows you the days earned for the current period. It also allows you to release days for the current pay period.
If you are processing a payroll cheque run, you can view the entitlement details for an employee by viewing the Entitlements tab in the employee's Cheque Details.
Hours Worked This Period. The number of hours the employee worked in the current pay period.
Sage 50 Accounting uses the Hours Per Period number from the Income column of the employee record for this number. You can edit this number on the on the paycheque's Entitlements tab and it will affect the calculations. Changes to the Hours column on the paycheque's Income tab, however, do not affect entitlement calculations.
Days Earned. The number of entitlement days the employee has earned in the current pay period. This number is calculated from the Hours Worked This Period and the Track Using % Hours Worked and The Number of Hours in the Work Day values from the Entitlements tab in the employee record.
Days Taken. The number of entitlement days the employee has taken in the current pay period. If you record an amount in this column, this change will be reflected in the Net Days Accrued on the employee's record.
An explanation of entitlement
calculations
When an entitlement is calculated, the Hours worked This Pay Period (in the paycheque window) is multiplied by Track Using % Hours Worked to determine the number of hours earned for the entitlement. The earned hours are then divided by the number of hours in the employee's work day to determine the number of Days Earned for the pay period.
For example, you have created an entitlement called Special Days and entered the following values in Beck Bristow's employee record:
| Setting | Location | Value |
|---|---|---|
| The Number of Hours in the Work Day | Employee record - Entitlements tab | 8 |
| Track Using % Hours Worked | Employee record - Entitlements tab | 10.00 |
| Hours Per Period | Employee record - Income tab | 100 |
10% of the 100 hours worked in the period earns Beck 10 hours Special Days entitlement. Dividing this number by the number of hours in Beck's work day results in 1.2 Days Earned on the Entitlements tab in the paycheque window. If these days are not released, they will be added to Beck's Net Days Accrued.