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Payroll Item

Payroll Item

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Jan 14, 2025 by Andrea Boehm

  

Payroll Items

The Payroll Item module of The Core Menu is used to add, modify or delete Payroll Items for an employee. These may include tax Payroll Items, association dues, health insurance premiums, retirement Payroll Items as well as others.


Before Payroll Items can be added for an employee, the Payroll Item type must be setup first by going to the Core/Payroll Item Configuration program. Please refer to the Payroll Item Configuration chapter of this manual for details on setting up Payroll Items.


Search/View Payroll Item

The Payroll Item Grid allows the user to search for existing payroll items for an employee. You can either enter in the Number or a few characters in any of the grid headings and all occurrences of that search will show up and then you can choose the item(s) you are wanting to view or edit.  Example - First Name  is one of my grid options. If I type in %San (% is use as a wildcard) in the First name field, all occurrences of anyone with  San in the first name will appear. You can then click on the next to the Payroll Item record you are searching for to view the data associated with the payroll item or click on the to edit the record or to delete the record.

To filter payroll items, click on the drop down box and all the Payroll Items will appear.   Select the payroll item you are wanting to filter by:

The fields pertaining to the selected Payroll item will be displayed in the grid:

Advanced Query

The is a more elaborate search where the user selects the property field to search on, the operation to search by, and enters what they are searching for.  For more detail information on Advanced Query option, please click on the Advanced Query documentation link to find the How to Steps Advance Query .

Mass Change

For more detail information on the Mass Change option, please click on the Mass Change documentation link to find the How to Steps: Mass Change

There are two Mass Change procedures under Load Definition:

  • Change Rate (SSDT)
  • Clear Federal Tax COVID 19 Fields (SSDT)

Change Rate (SSDT)

The 'Change Rate (SSDT)' can be used to update rate changes, for example, City, OSDI or Annuity amounts, using the 'Payroll Item' selection.  First select which Payroll Item Code you want to change, then select Mass Change:

Clear Federal Tax COVID 19 Fields (SSDT)

The 'Clear Federal Tax COVID 19 Fields (SSDT), can be used to clear COVID 19 previous year amounts.  Use the 'Federal Tax Item': 

How refunds affect Max Amounts

If a refund of deduction is processed through payroll the max remaining will be updated. If it is processed through Processing/Refund of Deduction the max amount remaining on the payroll item does not get updated.

Highlight Viewer

To use the 'Highlight Viewer', select the row in the grid to view.  The 'Highlight Viewer' on the right-hand side will appear:

**NOTE** The historical totals now displayed on the Payroll Item highlight viewer and detail viewer may not be accurate for periods of time where Classic did not track the totals. For instance, the FYTD gross is generally not tracked in Classic for all deduction types. If it wasn't tracked in Classic, the import cannot know what these amounts are, so the totals will not be accurate until the time period in question does not include time periods in Classic that were not tracked**


Archive and Include Archived Payroll Items in grid

Payroll Items can no longer be deleted but just archived.  Payroll Items that have error adjustments added and current *TD amounts, can be archived with no warning given.

To archive Payroll Item's, click on edit, check and Save.  To Un-archive an employee's Payroll Item, click on edit, uncheck

To include archived employees in the grid, click on .

If a user unarchives an archive Payroll Item for an employee and the Payroll Item Configuration is Archived and clicks on SAVE, you will get a popup window with a Warning.  The Payroll Item for that employee is now unarchived:

This window should appear anytime you are making changes to an item that is NOT archived, but the Payroll Item Configuration IS archived.

You will never get this Warning message, when the Payroll Item configuration is NOT archived.

Unarchiving Payroll Items Configuration

If unarchiving a Payroll Item Configuration and it was a current Payroll Item being used, it must be unarchived for each employee in Payroll Items.  Unarchiving the Payroll Item Configuration DOES NOT unarchive the Payroll Item for each employee.  Use Mass Change in Payroll Items to unarchive the item.

Employee Error Adjustment and Employer Error Adjustment

Employee Error Adjustment

Employee Error Adjustments can be made by using the Error Adjustment option under Payroll Item or by using the Core >Payroll Item>Error Adjustment option.  Click here for more detail information regarding the Core>Payroll Item>Error Adjustment option

Employer Error Adjustments can be made by using the Employer Error Adjustment option under the Payroll Item or by using the Core>Payroll Item Employer Error Adjustment option.   Click here for more detail information regarding the Core >Payroll Item>Employer Error Adjustment option

Only unpaid error adjustments will show in the Error Adjustment grids that are on the Payroll Items screen

To add an Employee Error Adjustment click on

The Error Adjustments field is used to make corrections for over or under withholding of the Payroll Item in previous payrolls. A negative amount in this field will give money back to the employee the next time the employee is paid or a refund is processed. A positive amount in this field will withhold/refund the employee amount in addition to withholding the regular Payroll Item amount the next time the employee is paid, unless the Rate field is 0.00. Then only the Error Adjustment will be processed.

On the Payroll Item record under Error Adjustment click on to add an Error Adjustment:

Enter in the following data:

  • Amount - enter in the amount of the error adjustment- Required field
  • Date - (Optional) If the Date field is left blank then the Error Adjustment will be processed on the next processed payroll. If the Error Adjustment is to be processed on a specific payroll, then the Date field must be a date within the payroll processing period (date range from Beginning Date of a payroll to Ending Date of a payroll) for the payroll you wish to have the Error Adjustment applied.
  • Description - Enter the description of the Error Adjustment
  • Click on

This entry will then be added under the Payroll Item Error Adjustment field on the Payroll Item screen as well as the Core>Payroll Item>Error Adjustment screen:

Payroll Item Screen


Core>Payroll Item>Error Adjustment Screen

The Paid box will only be checked after the error adjustment has processed through a payroll (not modifiable)

The Date Paid box will be populated when the error adjustment has been processed through a payroll (not modifiable)

Any Error Adjustments paid will be available for viewing under the Core>Payroll Item>Error Adjustment option.

The Total and Applicable Gross *TD fields will not be updated on any effected Payroll Items. Use Core>Adjustments to update these fields. The error adjustment will only update the Amount Withheld *TD fields when processed through a pay or through Payroll Item Refund.

Employer Error Adjustment

To add an Employer Error Adjustment, click on

The Employer Error Adjustments field is used to make corrections for over or under withholding of the Payroll Item in previous payrolls. This field is used for corrections to the board portion of the Payroll Item. A negative amount in this field will give money back to the employer the next time the employee is paid. A positive amount in this field will withhold/refund the employer amount in addition to withholding the regular Employer Amount the next time the employee is paid, unless the Employer Rate field is 0.00. Then only the Employer Error Adjustment will be processed.

On the Payroll Item record under Employer Error Adjustment click onto add an Employer Error Adjustment:

  • Amount - enter in the amount of the Employer Error Adjustment- Required field
  • Enter a Date (Optional) If the Date field is left blank then the Employer Error Adjustment will be processed on the next processed payroll. If the Employer Error Adjustment is to be processed on a specific payroll, then the Date field must be a date within the payroll processing period (date range from Beginning Date of a payroll to Ending Date of a payroll) for the payroll you wish to have the Employer Error Adjustment applied.
  • Enter a Description of the Employer Error Adjustment
  • Click on 

This entry will then be added under the Payroll Item Employer Error Adjustment field on the Payroll Item screen as well as the Core>Payroll Item>Employer Error Adjustment screen:


Payroll Item Screen


Core>Payroll Item>Employer Adjustment Screen

The Paid box will only be checked after the error adjustment has processed through a payroll (not modifiable)

The Date Paid box will be populated when the error adjustment has been processed through a payroll (not modifiable)

Any Employer Error Adjustments paid will be available for viewing under the Core>Payroll Item>Employer Error Adjustment option.

The Total and Applicable Gross *TD fields will not be updated on any effected Payroll Items. Use Core>Adjustments to update these fields. The error adjustment will only update the Amount Withheld *TD fields when processed through a pay or through Payroll Item Refund.

Audit Report option after creating/editing a Payroll Item

After creating and saving a Payroll Items record, or to see any changes that were made to a Payroll Items record, there is an option to run an Audit Report directly

from the Payroll Items record.

User must be in VIEW mode in order to see the Audit Report button. On the Payroll Items record–Click on the  button.

Click on the  button.

Enter a Start Date and Stop Date and click on button.

Create a Payroll Item


Info Message will appear if the Payroll Item is already created for this employee. Will take you to Edit mode:


  1. From the Core Menu select Payroll Items

  2. Click on Create

  3. Select Employee and the Payroll Item to add by clicking on the  arrow

    1. A label will appear stating Position selection is only required if setting up payroll item withholding by position

  4. The Position option is used for Payroll Items by Positions.  The user DOES NOT have to select a position if the payroll item is for all positions, but can select a Position to apply the Payroll Items if needed. *Note–If setting Position number for retirement "All" retirement Payroll Items related to Position must be setup with Position Number defined.  

 Example- Employee has a position 1 that has full retirement employer pickup on pickup. Employee also has 2 other positions that do not have employer pickup. The district will need to create a 400/450 payroll item specifying Position 1 and also create a 690/691 Position 1 Payroll Item record. They will then need to create a 400/450 no position defined as well as a 590/591 payroll item no position defined for retirement for all other positions.


  1.  

Federal Income Tax

For the new Calculation of Federal Tax, please click Here for a printable document.

For a Tax-Exempt employee, make the Rate Type=Percent and the Rate=0.00.

Field Definitions

Type is Federal Tax. This field is non-modifiable.

 Rate Type:

  • Fixed (Amount)-Not a valid Option.
  • Percent (Tax percentage to be withheld)-When the Percent option is chosen the Rate field must contain the percentage to be withheld for Federal.
  • Tax Tables (Calculated by IRS tax tables)-When the Tax Tables option is chosen the Federal withholding will be based on the current Tax Table setup and the Rate field will be left blank.
  • Cumulative Wage The amount of Federal income tax to withhold from an employee's wages can be determined on the basis of cumulative wages. The purpose of this withholding method is to even out the tax burden on certain types of payments to employees.  This may be beneficial to regular employees who also receive periodic supplemental payments during the year, causing more federal tax than necessary to be withheld during the payrolls that include the supplemental payments. 

The Pay Cycle will always be 'Every pay of the month (even third pay).

Additional federal tax withholding can be entered in the Additional With Holding field. The amount entered should be a dollar amount, not a percentage. (Federal Exemptions will be ignored if 'Supplemental Tax Options' are selected during FUTURE or CURRENT)

Federal Payroll Item's cannot be Archived, user will get an Error

What is the employee's Marital Status?

  • Single
  • Married

The Number Of Exemptions claimed for Federal Tax is entered in this field.  This field is only used for W4 prior to 2020. This field should not need to be cleared if using the new W4

Should the Pension plan box on the W-2 be checked?

  • A - Automatically check the pension plan box per W2PROC calculations (This field is looking at payroll Item 400 or 450, if an employee has had retirement withheld within that year, it will automatically check the box on their W2 Retirement Plan.   It is not looking at the Position Retirement code)
  • Y - Yes, check the pension plan box
  • N - No, never check the pension plan box

New W-4 As Of 2020

If the employee is using an old W4 (prior to 2020), marital status and # of exemptions will be used to calculate the employee Federal withholding amount. They must also have the box unchecked for the value of the USE NEW W4.

The new W4 must be used when hiring a new employee with a start date of 1/1/2020 or later.

If the employee is using the new W4 as of 01/01/2020, the 'Use New W4' box MUST be Checked.

Filing Status is required only if the employee has a new W4 form as of 01/01/2020:

  • Single/Married filing Separately
  • Married Filing Jointly/Qualified Widow
  • Head of Household

2 Like Jobs - Check box if using new W-4 AND Step 2c has a check mark.  If not using new W-4 OR Step 2c on new W-4 is NOT checked, do not check this box. 

Annual Dependent Amount field should only contain an amount (W4 line 3 value) if the employee has a new W4 as of 01/01/2020.  This is an annual Dependent amount when claiming dependents.

Annual Other Income field should only contain an amount (W4 line 4a value) if the employee has a new W4 as of 01/01/2020.  This is an annual Other Income Amount when adding in any other income the employee wants to include. 

Annual Deduction Amount field should only contain an amount (W4 line 4b value) if the employee has a new W4 as of 01/01/2020.  This is the annual deduction amount an employee wants to reduce their Federal withholding amount. 

Active Date Range

  • The Start Date is the pay date of the payroll for which the Payroll Item should start being deducted. More information on start dates can be found in the "Start and Stop Dates" 
  • The Stop Date needs to be prior to the pay date of the payroll for which the Payroll Item should stop being deducted. More information on stop dates can be found in the "Start and Stop Dates" 

Error Adjustments - The Total and Applicable Gross *TD fields will not be updated on any effected Payroll Items. Use Core>Adjustments to update these fields. The Error Adjustment will only update the Amount Withheld *TD fields when processed through a pay or through Payroll Item Refund.


MTD Historical Totals (imported totals may not be accurate)  

QTD Historical Totals (imported totals may not be accurate) 

FYTD Historical Totals (imported totals may not be accurate)  

YTD Historical Totals (imported totals may not be accurate) 


COVID-19 Amounts

Three kinds of COVID-19 leave types available:

  • Qualified Sick Leave Wages for employee (Self) up to $511 per day limit (Max $5,110.00)
  • Qualified Sick Leave Wages for Others up to $200 per day limit (Max $2,000.00)
  • Qualified Family Leave Wages for employee taking care of kids because school or daycare is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19. Up to 10 weeks paid leave, which is 2/3 of pay, (Max $10,000.00)

The COVID-19 amounts will show in Box 14.  If employee has Vehicle Lease entered, this amount will show plus any two Covid-19 amounts if entered.

  • Order of Box 14 Items:
    • Vehicle
    • COVID - SE
    • COVID - OT
    • COVID - EM
    • Fringe Benefits
    • Any Payroll Items selected
      • But ONLY TOP 3 will print on W2 From and W2 XML.  Submission file does NOT include Box 14 information

A Rule has been added to ensure that an amount over the max amount cannot be entered.  The Rule is set as Enabled.  If wanting to disable this rule and not get Errors when adding amounts in Federal COVID-19, go to System/Rules and click on 

Uncheck the  and click on  and Save. 


No Warnings messages will be created when adding amounts over the limits in Federal COVID-19 fields


If the rule is checked and district is adding amounts over the max amounts in Federal COVID-19 fields, once they try to Save the updates, Errors will appear:

 

If wanting to change the field names, this can be done using System/Custom Field Definitions

Mass Change to clear COVID-19 fields

If needing to clear the COVID-19 fields, a Mass Change procedure has been added in the Federal Load definitions:


Standard CF - User defined codes 


Audit Report option is available after creating/editing a Payroll Item Error Adjustment

Ohio State Income Tax

Setting Up State Tax Records for Non-Ohio Residents

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services requires reporting for employees even if they do not live in the state of Ohio.

Using the CORE/Payroll Items, add an Ohio State deduction record for all Non-Ohio residents.
In the Rate Type select Percent and 0 in the Rate field.
On the Employee screen, ODJFS Reportable needs to be checked.
In the Stop field, enter a date prior to when the deduction will start.
Set up a new Payroll Item in the Payroll Item Configuration program using a Deduction Type of State Tax.
Set up the applicable employees with the new Payroll Item code selected in the prior step using the CORE/Payroll Items option. You may need to obtain tax withholding tables from the appropriate state tax department in order to enter the correct tax percentage.

Field Definitions

Type is Ohio State Tax. This field is non-modifiable.

Rate Type:

  • Fixed (Amount)-Not a valid option
  • Percent (Tax percentage to be withheld)-When the Percent option is chosen the Rate field must contain the percentage to be withheld for Ohio tax.

  • Tax Tables (Calculated by IRS tax tables)-When the Tax Tables option is chosen the Ohio withholding will be based on the current Tax Table setup and the Rate field will be left blank. 

The Pay Cycle will always be 'Every pay of the month (even third pay'.

Additional State Ohio tax withholding can be entered in the Additional Withholding field. The amount entered should be a dollar amount, not a percentage.

Click on