Processing your payroll

BrightPay caters for the processing of payroll on a weekly, monthly, fortnightly, or 4-weekly basis. More than one pay frequency can be operated at any time within the same company. To start processing your payroll go to the ‘Payroll’ tab on the menu bar. Use the blue bars to select which pay period you wish to start the process.

Your employees will be listed in a summary view. To edit a particular employee's pay simply click on the employee's name. The employee's payslip will now be displayed on the screen.

If the employee is paid a basic gross, enter the amount in the field provided. An ‘Edit’ facility is available if you wish to enter an annual salary to calculate the equivalent periodic amount or wish to perform a net to gross calculation. A ‘delete’ option is also available within the Edit facility, should you wish to completely remove a pay item.

If an employee is hourly paid, the default rate entered in the employee record will be displayed. If this rate still applies, enter the number of hours required. To amend an hourly rate, click on the drop-down menu and select an option from the list. If an employee is daily paid, this amount will also be brought forward from the employee's record.

BrightPay will automatically apply the number of days in the period based on the employee’s calendar. For example, if an employee normally works a 5-day week and a day of unpaid leave is entered in their calendar, the daily rate will be applied to 4 days. Should you wish to turn this automatic facility off and manually enter the number of days, simply click the ‘Edit’ button and untick the box.

To add more pay items, click the ‘Add’ button and select whether you wish to add a monthly pay amount, a daily pay amount or another hourly rate. An option is also available to copy payments from a previous pay period. Click on ‘Add,’ followed by ‘Copy Payments From…’ and the relevant period number. To set up an addition, click on the ‘Add’ button within the ‘Additions & Deductions’ section.

You can select a preset addition from the list and enter the desired amount. Just repeat this process to add another addition. If you wish to add an addition that is not available in the preset list, simply choose ‘New Addition Type.’ Enter a description of your choice and the amount required. You will also need to set whether the addition is to be subject to tax deductions.

To set up a deduction, click on the ‘Add’ button within the ‘Additions & Deductions’ section. Select a pre-set option from the list or choose ‘New Deduction Type’ to set up a deduction of your own. Enter the description, any allowed tax deductions, and the amount. To add a further deduction, repeat this process.

Should you wish to edit any additions or deductions you have set up, simply click the ‘Edit’ button. Here you will find a facility to set an addition or deduction to repeat every pay period until you choose to manually remove it or to repeat up to and including a particular pay period in the future. If you wish to re-order any additions or deductions you have set up, an ‘Ordering’ function is also available here.

To add a note to an employee’s payslip, click on the Notes section within the payslip view, when payslips are finalised, this note will subsequently appear on the payslip. After completing an employee’s pay, either return to the summary view by clicking on the tab button to the left of the screen or simply select a name from the list to edit the next employee’s pay.