The payroll tax formula itself is entered into the Formula field of either the Sage-Maintained Payroll Formulas or User-Maintained Payroll Formulas windows.
Note: Payroll formulas should only be created or modified in User-Maintained Payroll Formulas window. Payroll formulas in Sage-Maintained Payroll Formulas are maintained by the Sage 50 Simple Payroll. You will not have access to these formulas until you subscribe to a Sage Business Care plan.
About the Payroll Formula Field
Tip: For examples of how to set up formulas and tables, open the sample company Bellwether Garden Supply. From the File menu, select Payroll Formulas, then User-Maintained. Select a tax that resembles what you are trying to set up and note the formula and (if applicable) the table in the example. These formulas and tables are only examples; you should verify their accuracy by checking the latest calculation rules from the IRS (www.irs.gov) or your state or local tax authority, or by making sure the values entered match company policies (for examples regarding 401K, vacation, etc.).
If you type past the end of the field, a new line is started automatically. If you want a new line to start at any location, press CTRL+J. Note that on the right side of the Formula field, a scroll bar appears, which can be used to view all parts of even very long formulas. Formulas can be up to 2,000 characters in length, long enough for the most complicated cases we have encountered.
The formula is entered in the form of one or more equations, in a manner similar to that used in spreadsheet calculations. For a single equation, a variable is put at the beginning of the equation, followed by an equal sign (=), followed by an expression. During a calculation, the expression is evaluated and the result is stored in the variable. If there are multiple equations, they are separated from each other by a semicolon (;). Equations do not have to begin on separate lines, but they are easier to read if you type them that way. You are free to use either upper or lower case letters, since the computer ignores case. (Our examples all use upper case.) Also, you are free to use spaces as you wish to make the equations easier to read, since the computer ignores all spaces.
In addition to equations, a formula can have one or more explanatory comments. A comment is entered by typing in a quotation mark (“), followed by the desired text, which can be up to 2,000 characters, followed by another quotation mark (”). During a calculation, anything that appears between quotation marks is ignored by the computer. (In Sage-maintained formulas, there are notes that explain how to set up employee records to work with formulas.)