SELECTING TIMESHEET BATCHES FOR MERGING

Individually named timesheet batches, once they have passed the Edit, must be merged together into a single timesheet file (referred to as the Merged Timesheet file) in order to produce checks and/or invoices. Payroll is processed on the Merged Timesheet file, not on individual batches. Even if all of your timecards are in a single named batch, it must be converted into a Merged Timesheet file before you can produce either checks or invoices!

It is possible to have individually named batches in existence that should NOT be a part of the current payroll, but reserved for a future payroll. These batches should be ignored during the current merge selection. During a “Begin Cycle” the Merged Timesheet file is deleted, but the individual, named batches will remain intact. Individual batches will not disappear. Each either gets merged at some point, or manually selected for deletion.

If you plan to print checks according to the order of entry of timesheets, then you must carefully plan the merging of your batches. If you do NOT plan to print checks according to the order of timesheet entry, you may select batches for merging in any order you please since the timecards will be re-sorted during the Print Check option.

Key numbers and Batch names:

While the timecards are in an individually named batch, they are numbered sequentially in ten’s (key numbers 10, 20, 30, etc). Every batch has it’s own Key 10, for example. Once merged, however, the key numbers get reassigned. The first named batch that is merged will start with Key 10. The second batch merged will pick up where the first batch left off, and so on.

If a timecard in a named batch was marked for deletion, then during the merge it gets removed, and the timecard behind it moves up a key number. For example, if there were 4 timecards in the named batch (Keys 10,20,30,40), and if Key 20 was deleted in the named batch, then the Merged file will have Keys 10, 20, 30. Named batch Key 30 becomes Merged batch key 20.

The system will generate a report that lists the original named batches and their key numbers, along with the re-assigned beginning and ending key numbers in the merged file. You may print a Timesheets in Process report for a list of the newly numbers timesheets.

Once an individually named batch has been merged, it will disappear off of the list of batches, and the ID (name) is free to be used again.

To begin, on the “PayBill Library Master” menu, click [Timesheets].

The screen will display:

Click [Select Batches].

The screen will display:

Company Number:

Defaults to company 01. If you wish to merge timesheets for a different company, key the desired company number.

To continue, click [OK].

To NOT proceed, click [Exit]. You will be returned to the “PayBill Library Master” menu.

If you chose to proceed, the screen will display:

The system will display the name of every batch, the batch description, number of timesheets in the batch, and the status of the batch. You cannot select a batch for merging unless a P displays in the Edit Status column.

The Finished column will display YES if the last person who ended out of the batch indicated that it is complete and ready for merging. The system will NOT restrict you from merging a batch based on responses displayed in the FINISHED column. It is simply a communication tool for use between staff who are keying timesheets into batches, and the staff person in charge of the merge.

Position To Batch Beginning With:

Since the system displays batches in order alphabetically, then numerically, and because the screen can display only up to 10 batches, the batch you need to merge may not display on this screen. Use the [PageDn] and [PageUp] keys to locate the batch to be merged, or key up to three characters of the batch ID and click [OK] to locate the desired batch. To “position to” again, <TAB> to this field and key the desired batch ID.

To display the last 10 batches in the entire list, key 999 in this field and click [OK].

Position To Description Beginning With:

You may also locate a batch by keying up to 15 characters of the batch description to which you wish to position. Click [OK].

To “position to” again, <TAB> to this field and key the desired batch ID.

To display the last 10 batches, key 999 in this field and click [OK].

Select Batches For Merging:

It is possible to have batches in existence that should NOT be a part of the current payroll, but reserved for a future payroll. These batches should be ignored during the current merge selection. During a “Begin Cycle” the Merged Timesheet file is deleted, but the individual named batches will remain intact. Individual batches will not disappear. Each either gets merged at some point, or manually selected for deletion.

Even though the screen can display up to 10 batches, you may only select up to 9 batches to be merged at a time. If you need to print checks in particular order, then you should have keyed the timecards into the batch using that order. Furthermore, if there is more than 1 batch to be merged, you must number your batches very carefully. For example, if you want the checks from Batch 6 to print first, key 1 to the left of batch 6. Number each batch accordingly.

If you print checks in hold code order or alphabetically, the order in which the batches are merged does not matter since the system will re-sort the timecards during the Print Check option.

Enter a sequence number (1-9) to the left of each batch to be merged.

To merge the selected batches into one, single batch (referred to as the Merged Timesheet file) for payroll processing, click [OK]. You will be returned to the “PayBill Library Master” menu.

To NOT merge any batches for processing payroll and try again, click [Close]. You will be returned to the company number screen.

To NOT merge any batches for processing payroll, and return to the “PayBill Library Master” menu, click [Exit].