Segment items

Create a segment item

1. In the Navigation pane, highlight the Payroll/Human Resources > Setup > Segment Items folder.
2. Click . The New Segment Item window opens.

   

3. In the Segment field, select the segment that the segment item belongs to.

4. Enter an Item Code for the segment item.

   Note

   Together, the segment and item code must be unique. You can reuse an item code on a different segment.

5. Enter a Description of the segment item. This description is used on reports and listings. Use the description to indicate what to expect in source, rate, and result amounts.

   Example

   "Hourly Pay" might imply a source amount of hours, an hourly pay rate, and the resulting dollars.

6. Enter a Short Description of the segment item. The short descriptions of all segment items in a PRCode are combined to create a description for the PRCode. Descriptions are always separated by comma + space; blank short descriptions are skipped.

7. In the Run Types field, select the run types the segment item contributes to. The run type determines which check lines are created from employee automatics when payroll is processed. If you enter multiple run types, separate them with commas.

   Note

   The Ctrl and Shift selection features are available in the Find dialog box so you can select multiple run types. If you use this method to enter run types, ActivityHD automatically separates your selections with commas.

8. In the Groups field, select the check line groups to assign the segment item to. If you enter multiple groups, separate them with commas.

   Note

   The Ctrl and Shift features are available in the Find dialog box so you can select multiple groups. If you use this method to enter groups, ActivityHD automatically separates your selections with commas.

9. The Employee/Employer drop-down list is enabled if the segment associated with this segment item is a deduction or tax segment. From the drop-down list, select the party responsible for the deduction or tax. Your options are:
   • <blank>
   • Employee. The deduction or tax is the employee's responsibility. The check line is subtracted from the check and a credit account is required to offset the bank account.
   • Employer. The deduction or tax is the employer's responsibility. (We're using the term "deduction" loosely here since these are not deductions in the strictest sense.) Employer check lines do not affect the check; both a debit and a credit are required.

   This setting does not apply to pay segments because pay items are always added to the check and post to a debit account. It does not apply to statistics segments because statistics items never affect the check; they either post a debit to a statistical ledger or do nothing.

10. Some groups, such as the built-in IncomeTax group, are qualified by a tax entity. In the Tax Entity field, select the tax entity to use to help define the total. If tax entities are assigned to more than one segment item in a PRCode, the tax entity on the rightmost segment wins.

    While historically tax entities were only assigned to tax-type PRCodes, a tax entity can be assigned to any PRCode; thus, they can contribute to groups which are qualified by tax entity.

    If this is a Type:Pay segment item and you only pay employees in a single state, select the tax entity to use for the segment item so that all subsequent pay PRCodes automatically inherit the tax entity. This renders it unnecessary to set up a PayState segment if you are a single-state employer.

11. Select the Check Stub Item to assign this segment item to.

12. If the accrual debits for this segment item are in the same proportion as a group of pay lines, the segment item "follows pay". If the segment item follows pay, select the check line group it follows in the Follows Pay Group field. Any check line with a debit can be allocated against other pay lines. The Follows Pay Group field is disabled if the segment item represents employee taxes or employee deductions since these cannot follow pay.

    Example

    You can split employer Social Security expenses to GL departments in the same ratio as pay.

    To do so, assign a group named "Wages" to the pay PRCodes that are the source of the follows pay. On the employer Social Security item, enter "Wages" as the follows pay group. Enter the Social Security expense account with wildcards in the GL department. If you distribute pay lines in the Wages group to three different departments, the employer portion of Social Security will be distributed to the same departments in the same proportions.

13. The Debit Account (Accrual) field is enabled for employer deduction and tax items, for pay items, and for statistic items. Select the GL account to post the item to.
14. The Credit Account (Liability) field is enabled for deduction and tax items. Select the payroll liability account to use for the cash posting from pay checks.
15. The Liability Date field is enabled for deduction and tax items. Enter the date to post the GL liability entry. Your options are:
    • <blank>. Inherit the top-level item's value (typically "Check Date").
    • Check Date. Accrue the liability as of the check date.
    • Work Date. Accrue the liability as of the check line's work date.
16. The Create Accrual Debit? field is enabled for statistic items. From the drop-down list, select "Yes" to create a GL debit posting; otherwise, select "No".
17. The Position field is enabled for pay items. If the PRCodes containing this segment item pay a specific position, select the position.
18. The AP Control field is visible if you have the PR to AP interface installed and enabled for deduction and tax segment items. Select the default AP control to use for posting check lines with this segment item to AP.
19. In the Amount Scale fields, enter the number of decimal places for the Source, Rate, and Result amounts. Acceptable values are 0-4. All entries of these amounts are automatically rounded to the number of decimal places you specify. Check calculations automatically round to this scale. The scale of a PRCode amount comes from the rightmost item of the PRCode that has a non-blank scale. By default, the scale of the built-in pay, deduction, tax, and statistic items is 2, which effectively makes 2 the default for all PRCodes. Change the scale of the built-in items or set the scale of the dependent items if you need to override that value. Changing this value changes the scale of all historical check lines.
20. Select the Calculations tab.

    

21. In the Parameter Declarations table, declare any parameters you need for the calculation. To do so, do the following for each parameter you need to declare:
    1. In the Name column, enter a name for the parameter. The name must be unique among all parameters for the segment item. The name must begin with a letter and contain only alphanumeric characters.
    2. Enter a Description of the parameter.
    3. From the Data Type drop-down list, select the type of values to accept for the parameter. Your options are:
       • Date
       • Number
       • String
       • True/False
    4. The Scale column is enabled if you selected "Number" in the Data Type column. Enter the number of decimal places to allow in the parameter value.
    5. From the Date Source drop-down list, select the type of date which affects the parameter values. Your options are:
       • Check
       • Work

    Example

    An hourly pay rate might be effective as of a particular work date while a Medicare withholding rate would be based on the check date.

22. The Available Parameters table shows the parameters defined on this segment item as well as other segment items higher up in the segment item hierarchy. Select the row in the Available Parameters table for which you need to input a parameter value.

    Note

    Obsolete segment item parameters appear in this table only if a value is assigned.

23. To enter a value for the selected parameter, do the following:
    1. In the Values table in the Effective Date column, enter the date that the parameter value takes effect.
    2. In the Value column, enter the value of the parameter as of the effective date.
    3. In the Description column, enter a description that explains the value entered.

    Note

    Parameter values defined on the employee override the values on the segment item.

24. Repeat steps 22-23 for each parameter you need to input a value for.

25. In the Source Expression, Rate Expression, and Result Expression text boxes, enter the calculation expressions that produce the source amount, rate, and result amount, respectively, for a check line that contains this segment item.

    Note

    The expression fields have special editor features to simplify the process of composing expressions. Among the editor features are:

    • Expression syntax highlighting
    • Matching parenthesis detection
    • Undo and redo
    • Bookmarks navigation
    • Line numbering in the margin
    • Unsaved lines indication
    • Search/case sensitive search

    Tip

    ActivityHD provides a language file that can improve your experience when editing source, rate, and result expressions. AccountingwarePRCode.xml can be loaded as an additional Notepad++ language, providing syntactical highlighting for various elements of segment item expressions such as keywords, literals, and parenthesis matching. In addition, the language file modifies the colors for comments, numbers, keywords, and delimiters. A readme.txt file with instructions is included in the folder with the xml file.

    You can find AccountingwarePRCode.xml in your distribution files at "...\Extras\Payroll\NotepadPP\AccountinwarePRCode.xml".

    Calculation expressions can only refer to parameters declared on this segment item or on segment items higher up the hierarchy. Each parameter can have values assigned on this segment item, on a descendant segment item, or on the employee.

    If the source expression is left blank, the source amount must be entered manually during check processing. If the rate expression is left blank but the result expression refers to it, the rate must be entered manually during check processing.

    In addition to other parameters and functions available in calculation expressions, the result expression can use the keywords "Source" and "Rate" to refer to the corresponding values.

26. Save the new payroll segment item.