Set Up an Employee
Warning! You should run the Payroll Setup Wizard and create all of the necessary employee and employer pay rates and deductions before setting up employees. How do I get started with the Payroll Setup Wizard?
From the Maintain menu, select Employees/Sales Reps.
In the header area of the window (the area just below the toolbar), enter a new Employee ID. This must be an ID unique to this employee. It is NOT case-sensitive.
If you leave the ID field blank, Sage 50 will create an ID based on the Name you enter (provided this option is set in Maintain Global Options).
General information includes the address of the employee, the social security number, and type (if any). Tell me more about the General tab.
Employee customizable fields allow you a way to keep track of specific information about your employees.
Why Customizable Fields?
You use custom fields to set up fields that aren't available on the Maintain Employees window. For example, you can add a custom field for the employee's education level.
Setting up custom fields is a two-step process:
1. Enter the field label (Education) on the General tab of Employee Defaults.
2. When you set up an employee (Maintain Employees), on the bottom of the General tab, enter the actual education level of the employee (such as College degree).
Additional information includes details such as hire date and gender.
Pay information includes the employee's hourly or salary rates (based on default settings), the frequency with which the employee is paid, and the general ledger accounts that their earnings should be applied to. Information entered here will automatically be entered whenever you pay the employee.
Withholding information includes the employee's federal, state, and local (if any) filing statuses, as well as any special withholdings or 401k contributions. Here, you can also specify whether or not the employee has a retirement plan or is a statutory employee.
Note: You must subscribe to one of the Sage Business Care plans for withholdings to be calculated and automatically entered on paychecks within Sage 50.
Most employees should use the default or standard information set up in Payroll Settings. You only need to adjust this information for employees with special circumstances for vacation or sick time. Just uncheck the This employee uses the company default settings box and enter the unique information.
Note: You must subscribe to one of the Sage Business Care plans for vacation and sick time to be calculated within Sage 50.
Use this tab to make special modifications to the employee's deductions. For instance, if an employee has a flat percentage withheld for federal income tax rather than an amount based on the formula. Also, any individual amounts that the employee might pay for health or dental coverage are entered here.
Deductions found here are created on the Employee tab of Employee Defaults. You must first create a deduction there before you will see it here.
Note: You must subscribe to one of the Sage Business Care plans for deductions to be calculated and automatically entered on paychecks within Sage 50.
The Employer tab displays deductions and amounts that the employer is required to pay for this employee. These deductions include the employer portion of Social Security, Federal Unemployment Tax, and any employer 401K contributions.
Note: You must subscribe to one of the Sage Business Care plans for withholdings to be calculated and automatically entered on paychecks within Sage 50.
Tip: At a minimum, you should complete the fields listed below. Completing all of these fields will ensure that you can process a payroll for this employee and print a check with all required information and correct deductions.
Employee ID |
Employee Name |
Type: Employee or Sales Rep |
General Tab |
Address |
Social Security # |
Pay Info Tab |
Pay Method |
Pay Frequency |
Hours per Pay Period |
Pay Rates |
Withholding Tab |
All Fields |
Vacation/Sick Time |
All fields (or use defaults) |
Employee Tab |
All fields |
Employer Tab |
All fields |
When you're finished, select the Save button.
What do you want to do next?
- Read the employee setup overview
- Enter employee 401(k) contribution rates
- Set up employee pay levels and other employee defaults
- Enter pay information for a salaried employee
- Set up common payroll deductions
- Pay employees
- Perform other payroll tasks
- Set up a sales representative
- Read the payroll setup overview