Deduction/Tax Adjustments

Most school districts have recently completed the first payroll of the new school year.  Often times with that first payroll of the year, there are errors due to calculating new employees, new contracts, and/or deduction changes.  If the corrections can wait until the next payroll, utilize the Deduction/Tax Adjustments option to correct any deduction or tax discrepancies in the next check cycle.

The Deduction/Tax Adjustments option is used to make a one-time adjustment to an employee’s tax or deduction for the pay period in which the batch is included.  To correct a mistake for an employee’s deduction, enter a correcting adjustment into a Deduction/Tax Adjustment batch and include the batch when calculating the next payroll.  Deduction/tax adjustments can be used to increase or decrease the amount calculated for a deduction or tax, issue a refund for an amount calculated for a deduction or tax, or replace and use a different amount than what is normally calculated for an employee’s deduction or tax.

For detailed instructions on entering deduction/tax adjustments and to view sample adjustments, refer to the Deduction/Tax Adjustments topic in the Help File, or click here to request the recording of the most recent Deduction/Tax Adjustments webinar.

Newsletter Survey

On the topic of deduction/tax adjustments:  Have you entered deduction/tax adjustments in Payroll in the past?  If so, how often do you enter and process deduction/tax adjustments with a payroll?  Do you anticipate needing to enter deduction/tax adjustments to make corrections in your next payroll?

Click the Survey Question link to participate in the survey.

Please be sure to submit your response.  We look forward to your participation in all our surveys.

Previous Survey Results

The Newsletter Survey questions for the June 2024 issue related to the Annual Report and GASB 34 Reports.  The survey questions and responses are shown below.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our survey!

Employees with No Retirement Gross Report

Did you know there is a report available that will show if there are employees who do not have any retirement gross calculated during a Payroll check cycle?  The Employees with No Retirement Gross report is available to print during the check cycle in Payroll to help determine if there are employees who do not have any retirement gross.  Generating and reviewing the Employees with No Retirement Gross report during each Payroll check cycle will help ensure that only the applicable employees (if any) are not having retirement calculated, which will help prevent payroll corrections from needing to be made in the future.

The Employees with No Retirement Gross report is accessed from the Pre-Check Reports option under the Check Cycle menu in Payroll.  When printing the report, there are three report selections available, including Unposted – No Last Paid Date, Unposted – All Employees, and Posted – All Employees.

Below is an example of the Employees with No Retirement Gross report printed for all employees in an unposted Payroll check cycle batch.  In the example, there were two employees in the payroll calculation batch who do not have a retirement gross, and thus do not have any retirement calculated.

Upcoming EOCY Changes and Training

With the end of calendar year approaching, it will soon be time to issue and file W2s, 1095s, and 1099s.  There are a few changes for 2024 that will affect your end of calendar year process.  The changes include:

• W2 forms – a new Box 12 II has been added for Medicaid Waiver Payments Excluded From Gross Income
• W2 forms – the option to use preprinted forms to print W2s is no longer available (due to last year’s change requiring those with 10 or more forms to file electronically); when printing W2s this year, either plain paper or blank forms (those with perforations and backer information only) must be used
• 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC forms – the option to use preprinted forms to print 1099s is no longer available (due to last year’s change requiring those with 10 or more forms to file electronically); when printing 1099s this year, either plain paper or blank forms (those with perforations and backer information only) must be used

The changes noted above, along with the full instructions for completing the end of calendar year process in Accounts Payable and Payroll, will be covered in our upcoming end of calendar year training.  All the training dates for the upcoming End of Calendar Workshops and Webinars for 2024 are listed on the Training Calendar on our website.  Click here to access the Training Calendar and register for a training today.

Support Corner - Amy Feit, Director of Customer Support

Sharing Customized Financial Reports

Efficiently utilizing data is crucial, especially when it involves the hours spent entering it into the School Accounting System (SAS).  Within General Ledger, you have access to the Flexible Financial Report Setup—an innovative feature that lets you craft a wide range of financial reports.  Whether you need comprehensive cash flow analyses or reports summarizing on a particular reference piece of your account numbers, this tool is designed to meet your diverse reporting needs.

Customization is an excellent feature of our financial reports.  You may have discussed with peers from other districts about reports that could also enhance the financial oversight in your district.  Our support team has successfully enabled many districts to adopt reports from their neighbors.  The great news is that these reports are not only customizable but also easily shareable through export and import options.

Moreover, our knowledge base offers a selection of pre-designed financial report templates, available for download.  These templates provide a quick start to using and customizing reports in your system.  Explore these resources by clicking here.

Should you envision a specific type of financial report that is not currently available in SAS, do not hesitate to contact our customer support team.  We are here to assist you in creating a report that perfectly fits your district’s needs.  Together, we can make your financial reporting as effective as possible.  Contact Customer Support in one of the following ways:

• Submit a Support Request: Through the School Accounting System
• Call 800.756.0035 ext. 2
• Email support@su-inc.com

Options to Help with State Reporting

The School Accounting System includes many options and reports to help make state reporting easier for your school district.  Besides the options for annual reports, budget reports, GASB 34 reports, retirement reports, unemployment reports, new hire reports, and workers compensation reports, there are several additional options and reports available in the School Accounting System designed to assist with other various reporting requirements for your state.  See the list below of the additional options available for your state.

Idaho:
• Idaho Financial Transparency Data Collection Report – creates a file to upload to the state each quarter; for more information, click here to watch the tutorial.
• Idaho Staff Data Reporting – creates the Staff Demographics & Employment file for use with the Idaho System for Education Excellence; click here to request the webinar recording.

Illinois:
• Illinois Employment Information System – creates the files for the Employment/Position report, the Salary report, and the End of Employment report to submit to the state.
• Illinois Schedule P Report – creates the file to upload for employee state income tax amounts each quarter.

Iowa:
• Iowa BEDS Report – creates a file to import data for the Fall BEDS report submitted to the state; click here to request the webinar recording.
• Iowa Public Employment Relations Board Report – creates a file for the voter eligibility list to submit to the state; for more information, click here to watch the tutorial.
• Iowa State Education Association Report – creates a file for bargaining unit employees to submit to union representatives when requested.

Kansas:
• Kansas GASB 68 Report – generates information for reconciling GASB 68 with the retirement office; for more information, click here to watch the tutorial.

Missouri:
• Missouri GASB 68 Report – generates information for reconciling GASB 68 with the retirement office; for more information, click here to watch a tutorial.
• Missouri SDAC – generates a report to utilize when completing the quarterly “Expense” worksheet of the “MO-RMS template_empl data.xls” file for districts participating in the School District Administrative Claiming program; the Distribution Report by Employee is also available to complete the “Salary” worksheet for the file.
• MOSIS – creates files for use with preparing the Educator Core and Educator School portions of the Missouri Student Information System submitted to the state as part of the October cycle; click here to request the webinar recording.

Nebraska:
• Nebraska SPEDFRS – creates a file to upload for Supplementary Report of Staff Salaries within the Nebraska Special Education Financial Reporting System.
• Nebraska Staff Reporting – creates the Staff Demographics and Staff Position Assignments files for the Nebraska Student and Staff Records System; click here to request the webinar recording.

North Dakota:
• North Dakota Employee Compensation Report – creates a file to upload to the state for the Employee Compensation Report.
• North Dakota ESSA Report – creates a file to upload to the state for ESSA reporting at the end of the fiscal year.

South Dakota:
• South Dakota Medicaid Reporting – process to assist completing the quarterly report for districts participating in the South Dakota Medicaid Administrative Claiming Program.

Wyoming:
• Wyoming Staff Member Collection Report – creates the Employment, Assignment, Experience, and Education files to submit to the state for the WDE602 Fall Staffing Collection and the WDE652 Spring Staffing Collection; click here to request the webinar recording.

Training Snippets

Each quarter the Training Snippets tutorial covers topics for new options or changes included in recent updates, along with a quick tip for an option or shortcut.  The Training Snippets tutorial for September 2024 includes the following topics:  state-specific miscellaneous items; updated report sorting for the Package Comparison reports and the Employee Negotiation Rates Wage Report in Negotiations; new Employee Leave Liability Report; new Iowa State Education Association Report; new Nebraska SPEDFRS option; and lastly, a reminder of a resource available in the School Accounting System.  Click here (or on the image below) to watch the 4-minute tutorial.  To review all the changes and enhancements included in recent updates, click here to view the release notes.

Trivia Challenge

It is time for another Software Unlimited, Inc. Trivia Challenge.  In each newsletter, we will test your knowledge by asking a question on various topics ranging from options in the School Accounting System to information about the company of Software Unlimited, Inc.  If you are up to the challenge, try to answer the question and you may be eligible to win a USB flash drive.

Q.  In how many states are there school districts using Software Unlimited, Inc.’s School Accounting System?  Click to answer

A winner will be selected at random from the list of correct respondents.  Don’t forget to read the Trivia Challenge article in the next newsletter to see the winner and correct answer.  Good luck!

In last quarter’s newsletter, the Trivia Challenge asked, Where do I enter the new fiscal year end so the correct year defaults in when creating batches in Payroll?  The answer is the Current Fiscal Year End field in the Payroll System File (accessed under the Maintenance menu in Payroll).  Congratulations to Kris Smith from South Winneshiek Community School District for being selected at random from the list of correct respondents and winning a USB flash drive.

Closures

Software Unlimited, Inc. will be closed on:

November 28 and November 29 for Thanksgiving

Staff Spotlight – Juliane Ingalls

Juliane recently celebrated her 8th anniversary working for Software Unlimited, Inc., as a trainer.  She enjoys getting to know new and existing customers through the many forms of training offered by Software Unlimited, Inc.  In her free time, you can find her spending as much time as she can with her husband, Colin, and 3-year-old, Beckham.  They enjoy spending time at the lake in the summer, as well as going to the zoo and Washington Pavilion with friends and family.  Their next exciting adventure begins in December by adding another little one to their family.

Customer Showcase

Each quarter we are excited to feature one of our customers who was selected randomly to be highlighted in our Customer Showcase.  The customer being showcased this quarter is Sara Schlattmann who is the Business Manager at Big Horn County School District #3 in Greybull, Wyoming.  We had these questions for her:

How long have you been using the School Accounting System?
• I have been using the software since 2016.
What module do you spend most of your time working in?
• Payroll.
What is your favorite feature in the School Accounting System?
• I like the import options, specifically importing cash receipts, and I also like the Copy Requisition option.  Both are big time savers for me.
What are three words you would use to describe the School Accounting System?
• Organized, simple, and efficient.
What is your favorite part of working at your organization?
• The people I work with.  We have great staff and community.  I graduated from here so I am a lifer as you would say.
What are your hobbies?
• I am the high school head volleyball coach so that takes up some time.  I also like to run, and then mostly spend the rest of my time supporting my kids and their activities.
If you could meet or interview one person (dead or alive), who would it be, and why?
• My grandma.  I would love to sit down with her now that I’ve grown up and my kids have grown up to talk about life.
What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is new to using the School Accounting System?
• Don’t be afraid to call support!