The Payroll Module with Toufic
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This guide covers the end-to-end process of managing payroll in Prestartr, from initial rule configuration to the final export of timesheet data.
We'll begin by setting up the foundational components, including defining your Payroll Categories and building custom Payroll Rules and Conditional Rules that automatically calculate pay rates, overtime, and allowances.
Once the rules are configured, we'll shift our focus to the Timesheet dashboard, where you'll learn how to review calculated timesheets, make manual adjustments, and manage the approval workflow by updating their statuses.
The guide will conclude with exporting the approved timesheet data into a report, ready for your external payroll system.
Add and Edit Payroll Categories
Before getting started with payroll in Prestartr, let’s set up some fundamental areas first. Navigate to the payroll module and click on the Rules submenu option. This will display the Payroll Rule Setting dashboard. This is where we can see the current payroll rules as well as where we can create and edit our payroll categories. Prestartr comes with the most common payroll categories prebuilt - but let’s cover how to see what they are first.
To view the current payroll categories, click the button in the upper right labeled “Payroll Categories”.
The pop-out menu will display all of the current categories - this is where you may need to update or add new options based on your accounting software packages.
To add a new category, click the plus in the upper right hand corner.
To edit, just click on the category you wish to change, and update the text or code.
Click the save icon to confirm your additions or edits to the Payroll categories
Explore Default Payroll Rules
While we are in the Rules section, let’s explore what the default Payroll rules are in Prestartr. There are nine different types of payroll rules available, but only five that come set up in all new tenants of Prestartr. The default rules are the following:
- Default Hourly
- Default Leave
- Default Public Holiday
- Default Shift
- Default Weekly
These rules cover the most general uses in Prestartr - let’s take a look at how the rules are defined and how we can add new rules. Let’s edit one of the current default rules.
Click the edit icon to the right of the Default Hourly ruleset.
This ruleset has Priorities and Max values - these are your order of operations and hard limits.
At priority 1, we have the base hourly setting, with a max value of 7.6.
That means as the number 1 priority, when a user enters a timesheet, the first 7.6 hrs are classified at the base hourly rate. Priority 2 has a max value of 2. That means that after the firs 7.6 hrs, the next 2 hours will be at 1.5x Overtime. The 3rd priority is for 2x Overtime, which only occurs after 9.6 hrs of timesheet labour being recorded.
If we look at a different rule, like the Default Public Holiday rule, the primary difference is the is only an Hours field, no priority, no max values - just how many hours is this public holiday worth.
Other rules, like the Default Shift rule are similar to the hourly rule, but rather than having priorities and maximum values, they have start and end times - and spaces to select which days the rule applies.
Contrast that with the Weekly rule, which has priorities and max values - but doesn’t consider the days of the week.
The other default ruleset, the Default Leave rule, is more in-depth, providing areas to select leave types, days that it applies, as well as start/end times and minimum and maximum values.
Add a New Payroll Rule
To add a new rule, click the button in the upper right corner, ‘New Payroll Rule’.
This pop-out menu is where you can give your rule a name, select from the nine types available, as well as set with employee type it applies to. You can also determine if it is enabled or disabled.
Let’s create a Job Site Allowance type rule. Fill out your basic details for now and click the save icon to add it to your Payroll Rules dashboard.
Click the edit button to the right of the rule you’ve just added to navigate to the specific setup menu for the payroll rule.
When adding a new rule, it starts out blank. Let’s add some settings to it. In the upper right corner is a button labeled ‘Add Rule Setting’ - click this to add a blank settings area.
The Main settings area is where you can update the initial details selected when first setting up the new rule - but most importantly this is where you can select the specific jobs that this allowance will apply.
Depending on the rule type selected, you may have different fields - the Job Site Allowance rule type has the following fields: Payroll Category/Rate, Rate Per Hour, and Days. It also included a checkbox toggle for including Lunch.
The Payroll category/rate drop-down is where you select the rate that this job site allowance uses, like Base Hourly or 1.5x Overtime. The Rate Per Hour section is where you determine how much of the allowance is gained per hour of labour of the selected payroll category.
The day selection does exactly what it says on the tin - select the days that this specific setting will apply.
If this allowance accrues, when during a lunch break, check the box. Otherwise leave it blank.
You can continue to add new settings if there are additional allowances, or click the Save Payroll Rule button in the upper right corner.
After adding a new Payroll rule, let’s look at Conditional Rules.
In the Payroll module, look for the submenu titled Conditionals.
Add a New Conditional Rule
The main difference between a normal payroll rule and a conditional rule is that a conditional rule is always against a job, and can only add a value based allowance. Conditional rules have three types of calculations, Normal, Quantity, and Duration.
A Normal conditional rule will add an allowance that is equal to the amount set in the rule, when a timesheet of a matching payroll category is created on the related job.
When calculating by quantity, it will multiply the amount by a quantity selected by the user of the timesheet recorded.
Calculation by duration will multiply the amount by the duration of the user timesheet.
When calculating the allowance by duration you can choose to include or exclude the lunch break.
Let’s take a look at the main dashboard of Payroll, where we will view and edit timesheets.
View & Edit Timesheet Calculations
In the Payroll module, click the submenu item for Timesheet.
This will navigate to the Timesheet dashboard.
On the timesheet dashboard you can see the current week and a vertical list of users.
This will show all timesheet entries that users have recorded. You can view this list by calendar or by project.
Left clicking a timesheet entry on the dashboard will select it - enabling you to update the selection to different statuses in the upper right corner of the dashboard.
A timesheet can be updated to Approved, Rejected, or Sent. You can select individual timesheets, entire days, or an entire user row of entries - in the upper right above the totals are options to deselect or select all entries as well.
Each row is a different user, showing their timesheets day by day. On the right hand side is a total calculation for the week, with a breakdown of all Ordinary hours, Overtime, Leave, and ‘Other’ labour records, as well as a subtotal of these options.
Right clicking a timesheet entry on the dashboard will display two context menu options:
- View Calculations
- Adjust Timesheet Record
The View Calculations menu is a breakdown of why that timesheet entry on the dashboard reflects the numbers displayed - the forms when have been entered, the payroll rules applied, as well as a breakdown of the hours by shift and payroll categories. A final summary of calculation provided at the bottom.
This is where you can delete a timesheet entry from the Payroll module. To delete a timesheet entry, from the view calculations menu, right click the Form that created the timesheet entry.
You will be provided with a Delete timesheet prompt here.
To edit or adjust a timesheet instead, navigate to the Adjust Timesheet Record menu.
From this menu you will see the Start/Stop options for the timesheets, as well as options to add or remove a Lunch or Smoko break from the timesheet, as well as allocate the timesheet to a different job. Click the save button in the upper right to confirm your changes.
After editing a timesheet, it is suggested to refresh the webpage before changing any statuses.
Export Timesheets to a Report
From the Timesheet dashboard you can export timesheet records as a report.
In the upper right corner is the Export icon. Click this to open the export menu.
From here you can select Export as Report, and select the specific dates to export.
We have added and edited payroll categories, explored the default payroll rules, edited and added a new payroll rule, as well as interacted with the timesheet dashboard. We have explored how to view and edit timesheets as well as update their statuses and export them to a report.