important
For live payroll processing only
With the remote payroll feature, you can send payroll schedules, unprinted checks, payroll check stubs, and W-2 information to NetClient CS and Employee Self-Service portals.
The Remote Payroll feature is available to firmslicensed for:
Accounting CS Payroll.
NetFirm CS.
NetClient CS.
note
You'll need to pay a monthly to use the remote payroll feature. For details, contact your CS Sales representative
Remote payroll is 1 way for your clients to enter their accounting and payroll information. Accounting CS Client Access is another. To find out more, read our help topic: Differences between Accounting CS Client Access and remote payroll.
Set remote payroll options for the client (Firm)
To set up remote payroll entry clients, you'll need to make or change some settings on the
Payroll Information
tab.Select
Setup
, thenClients
.Select the
Payroll Information
tab.If your client will use remote payroll for the majority of their payroll schedules, to save setup time:
Select
Import
in the Default Time Entry Method sectionSelect
Remote payroll entry
from theSource
field.
Select the ellipsis button in the Payroll Schedules section.
Add or edit the specific payroll schedule.
note
All clients should have at least 1 payroll schedule set up, but for remote payroll entry clients, this is particularly important. Only clients with a valid payroll schedule will display in the Manage NetClient CS screen, which is used to upload payroll information to the portal.
In the Time Entry Method section, select
Import
.Select
Remote Payroll Entry
from the dropdown list.note
This step is essential to let the application know that this is a remote payroll entry client. If you select this method and the client has a valid pay schedule selected, this client will display in the ManageNetClient CSscreen when it is time to process remote payroll.
For remote check printing clients only:
In the Default Check Output section of the
Payroll Information
tab, selectRemote check printing
Mark the
Payroll checks
andSend toFileCabinet CS
checkboxes, if necessary.
Set up remote payroll for the employee (Firm)
Each employee should have at least 1 payroll schedule selected. Only employees with valid payroll schedules are included when the remote payroll information is uploaded to the client's portal.
Select
Setup
, thenEmployees
.Select the
Main
tab.In thePayroll Schedulessection, select the payroll schedule.
If you do any of the following, it will prevent you from including an employee in a remote payroll timesheet:
Setup the employee after the time sheet was uploaded in Manage NetClient CS.
Enteran employee's hire date to be after the payroll check date.
Enteran inactive date (if applicable) that is dated before the next payroll check date.
Choosea different payroll schedule in employee setup than was uploaded in Manage NetClient CS.
Only 1 timesheet can be on the client's portal at a time. If your client has multiple payroll schedules that use remote time entry, only the most recently uploaded timesheet will be available.
The remote Payroll schedule won't appear in the Manage NetClient screen until it it's assigned to the employees.
Upload client and employee information to the portal (Firm)
In this step, you specify which information to send to the portal.
Select
Actions
, thenManage NetClient CS
.note
The screen shows clients that meet the following criteria:
The client has one or more valid payroll schedules set up with the
Import
time entry method andRemote payroll entry
as the source.A payroll schedule using the
Import — Remote payroll entry
time entry and source is set up on at least one of the client's employees.
Mark thecheckboxesfor the client payroll information that you want to upload.
You can select
+
next to a client to show individual employee information records.Enter any payroll notes you want to send with the payroll information in the Notes to client column.
When the payroll information is selected for upload, select
Upload
to send the information to the portal.You can view the status of the payroll in the Status column. Status messages are defined in the following section.
note
Only 1 payroll schedule at a time can be on the client's portal. If your client has multiple payroll schedules that use remote time entry, upload the timesheet that needs to be completed first. When the client enters the time and completes the payroll, that timesheet must be imported back to into Accounting CS, at which time the next timesheet becomes available for upload. If you upload a timesheet to the portal and then immediately upload a 2nd timesheet, the 1st timesheet will be overwritten.
Change a NetClient CS user's access to remote payroll (Firm)
To complete the setup process, update the permissions on the client portal to enable one or more of the client's staff to complete payroll time entry.
View the timesheet upload status in the Manage NetClient CS screen (Firm)
The status of the current payroll is displayed in the Manage NetClient CS screen. Status messagesinclude:
Pending Upload:
At this time nothing has been pushed. This is the status that displays before a new timesheet is uploaded.Uploaded — Queued:
The timesheet has been pushed, but the client hasn’t yet received the information on their portlets.Uploaded — Unchanged:
The timesheet has been pushed up to the portal. At this time, the client hasn’t changed anything.Uploaded — Changed:
The client has entered time but hasn’t yet completed it.Pending Download:
The client has completed and approved the time. It is ready to import from the Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen.
Set up the client portal (Firm)
In your internet browser, goto www.netlinksolution.com.
Select the
Admin
tab.note
You will see this tab only if you have Administrator rights on your NetStaff CS Portal.
Select
Users
under NetClient CS.In the NetClient CS Users pane, select
Add
if this is a new portal.Highlight the client's sign in name.
In the Permissions section, select
Enable
for($) Remote Payroll & Check Printing (ACS)
.note
Enable
is not available until at least 1 payroll schedule has been uploaded from Accounting CS.In the Remote Payroll & Check Printing Permissions window, mark thecheckboxesfor each client that this login should access
Mark the
Remote Check Printing
and/orRemote data entry
checkboxes as needed for each client.You canmark the Payroll Administratorcheckboxto designate thisNetClientuser as the Payroll Administrator.
note
OtherNetClientUsers with permissions to this client may enter payroll, but only the Payroll Administrator is able to select the Payroll Complete button and submit the payroll information to the firm.
Select
Enter
to save the changes.
Enter time (Client or Employee)
With Remote payroll, there are 2 possible processes for entering and completing payroll timesheets on the NetClient Portal.
Client enters payroll andcompletes the payroll
. In this process, the client performs this step when the payroll schedule information is uploaded. In the Enter Time screen, the client can enter time and any necessary notes prior to completing the time entry.The employee enters payroll
. In this process,you'll need mark theEnable employee time entry
checkbox in the Payroll Schedules window for clients using Employee Self-Service. The employees can then enter their hours via My Time Entry within Employee Self-Service and then selectComplete
. The timesheet is sent to the supervisor or manager at the client’s office, who will review and approve the time. The supervisor/manager can edit time sheets in their NetClient CS portal and can selectApprove Time
to approve them.
The payroll information is not exported to Accounting CS until the client's payroll processor completes time entry.
Complete time entry (Client)
In either time entry process,
the client must complete the payroll
by selecting theComplete Payroll
button.This sendsthe timesheets to Accounting CS, where they’ll be imported on the Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen.When payroll entry is complete, the application sendsa confirmation email to the staff members assigned to the roles specified in the Remote Payroll Time Entry Options window. If no staff roles have been assigned there, or if those staff members have no email addresses entered, the confirmation email is sent to the designated NetFirm CS Portal Administrator.
note
Email Notifications selections are available in the Remote Payroll Time Entry Options window once emails are entered for the Client and Staff setup; along with a designation of Primary, Backup, or Reviewer in the Main tab of the Setup > Clients screen.
Go to
Setup
, thenClients
.Select the
Payroll Information
tab.Select the ellipsisbutton for Payroll Schedules.
Update the Payroll schedule.
Addnew employees via the NetClient CS portal (Client)
The client's appointed processor can add employees or edit existing employee information from the NetClient CS portal.
The processor can add new employees in the Employees pane. However, only the following informationcan be added orchanged via NetClient CS. All other employee information must be added or changed within Accounting CS.
On the
Main
tab:EIN/SSN.
Employee name: First, Middle, Last, Suffix.
Employee street address, City, State, ZIP, County, Country.
School District, Municipality (if necessary for the city, state, ZIP, and county).
Email.
Phone.
Work Location (locations can be added for new employees but can't be changed for existing employees via NetClient CS).
On the
Personal
tab:Date of birth.
Marital status.
Date of hire —you can add Hire date for new employees but you can't update it for existing employees via NetClient CS.
Last raise date.
Gender.
Race.
Inactive date.
On the
Payroll Taxes
tab:Filing status.
Total allowances.
Additional or Fixed amount or percentage.
Nonresident alien.
Federal tax exempt.
New hire FICA credit.
State Additional or Fixed amount or percentage.
Nonresident exemption certificate.
State tax exempt.
The new and updated employee information appears in the Remote Payroll Entry Import window when a payroll batch is processed in the Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen in Accounting CS.
Update existingemployees information on the NetClient CS portal (Client)
You can update the following information on the Enter Time and Employees panes
Employee pay rate.
Employee address.
Phone number.
Work locations (If they exist in Accounting CS).
note
You can add locations and select a related department,unless the employee is limited to the options specified in the payroll schedule.
When the client updates employee information in NetClient CS, you will be prompted to update that information in the Employees screen when you download payroll information to Accounting CS.
note
If you change the address information, the application verifies that the address information is valid. (For example, the application will verify that the city exists in the selected state, that the ZIP Code is valid for the city, and so forth.) It is important to fill in all address fields with correct information because Accounting CS uses this information to determine the taxes. If the application finds that any of the information is not valid, it will revert the address to the previous valid address, and you will be prompted to correct the address information in the employee record.
Update information viaEmployee Self-Service in My W4 Information (Employee)
Employees can update the following information.
Name (first, last, middle initial, suffix).
Email address.
Federal W-4 information (such as: filing status, number of allowances, nonresident alien status, federal tax-exempt status, extra or fixed amount or percentage, and EIC status).
State W-4 information for each state (such as: filing status, number of allowances, andextra or fixed amount or percentage).
If the client uses Employee Self-Service exclusively, the updated employee’s information appears as a data sharing window when you select
Setup
, thenEmployees
in Accounting CS. If you want to cancel the employee updates,mark theReject
checkbox.If the client is using Remote Payroll as well as Employee Self-Service, you can select
Setup
, thenEmployees
to update the employee’s information in Accounting CS before timesheets are retrieved, or go to Actions, then Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen when the timesheets are imported.Enter batch payroll for remote payroll entry clients (Firm)
In Accounting CS, select
Actions
, thenEnter Payroll Checks
.In the Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen, select the client.
Choose the payroll schedule for which you want to create checks.
You can take the following actions on the
Updated Employees
tab, which shows any changes to employee records made by the client:Select
+
next to any employee to see details about the changes that were made and use the checkboxes to accept or reject any of the changes.If a pay rate is selected, the employee's current check and employee record will be updated. If unselected, the employee's current check will be updated and their employee record will remain unchanged.
AnyNotesentered by the client will appear on the
Notes
tab. The Notes tab only appears if the client entered notes.Select
Print
to print a report of the information from all tabs in the window.important
You can't print notes after you've selected
Continue
.
You can take the following actions on the
Added Employees
tab, which shows any employees added by the client.Select
+
next to an employee to see the details of their record.Use the checkboxes to accept or reject the new employee record.
Before you can accept any new employee records,you'll needto enter an Employee ID.
You can use the
Remote Entry Detail
tab to review details about the payroll data entered by the client.You can use the
Notes
tab to review any general or employee-specific notes entered by the client.Make any necessary changes to the payroll information for the employees on either the
Rapid
orDetail
tab,then selectEnter Batch
to create the payroll checks.
Add new employees to the current batch
When you add new employee IDs via the
Added Employees
tab, those employees are not included in the current batch payroll entry session. If necessary, you can use the following processbefore clicking the Enter Batch button
to include those new employees in the batch.Select
Actions,
thenEnter Batch Payroll Checks
.Select
Suspend Batch
.Select Setup, thenEmployees.
Make selections for the employee in the
Payroll Items
tab and save the information.Return to the Enter Batch Payroll Checks screen and select the payroll schedule.
Select
Yes
to refresh the suspended batch with the latest employee information.Clear the
DNP
checkbox for the employee, and enter their hours.Select
Enter Batch
.
Print payroll checks for remote payroll clients (Firm)
Select
File
, thePrint Checks
.Select the
Payroll Checks
tab.note
The
Payroll Checks
tab of the Print Checks screen shows payroll check information for all unprinted checks, including those for remote payroll entry.Mark thecheckboxfor the client orcheckboxesfor individual employees
Select
Print Selected
.Make your printing option selections, then select
OK
.note
If you have enabled remote check printing for the client, the checks go directly to the client's portal without showing the Print window.
Make surethe call checksprinted successfully, then select
OK
.note
If you selectedFileCabinetwhen setting up your remote payroll entry client, theFileCabinetwindow will appear.
