Creating quick entries involves defining settings that are located in the columns of the Quick Entry sub-tab. You can click within a column or press the Tab key to highlight a setting and then define it.
The Pay Run Management and Data Entry versions of the Quick Entry sub-tab both have the same settings, except the Data Entry version also includes a Pay Run setting (because in Data Entry you can create entries for different pay runs). See The Quick Entry Sub-Tab (Data Entry).
While there are some settings that are always mandatory for an entry, such as Employee Name and Code, the settings used depend on the type of pay entry. For example, to return $50 in gym fees deducted from an employee's last pay check by mistake you would record a quick entry with the appropriate deduction code and a -50 amount. The Hrs, Rate, Job Assignment, and Work Location columns aren’t used.
Moreover, some columns of the Quick Entry sub-tab don’t contain settings and are informational only. For example, the Saved By column displays who last saved changes to each entry in the list.
For the Pay Run Management version of the Quick Entry sub-tab, see the following topics:
You can adjust which settings are displayed in the Quick Entry sub-tab, depending on the type of work you want to perform. You can do this either by loading one of the preconfigured favorites or by creating your own favorite.
The settings are listed below in the default order in which they appear in the Quick Entry sub-tab:
Edit Set
You can select an option in the Edit Set drop-down list to assign an edit set to the entry. Edit sets are used to help you record groups of related quick entries. They allow you to validate your totals against a preset amount and for a preset group of employees. See Edit Sets.
Employee Name
You can enter all or part of a name in the Employee Name field to search for an employee to whom you want to assign the entry.
When you select an employee, the application automatically populates the following settings:
- Employee No.
- Job Assignment
- Work Location
- Legal Entity
The Job Assignment, Work Location, and Legal Entity fields are populated based on the employee's primary work assignment, but you can select one of the employee's other work assignment, if applicable.
If you want to add an entry for an employee who was assigned a terminated status in a pay run prior to the pay run that you have currently loaded, you must first manually add them to the pay run. Otherwise, the employee isn’t returned in search results when you create an entry. See Include Terminated Status Employees in Pay Runs.
Employee No.
You can enter an employee number in the Employee No. field to search for an employee to whom you want to assign the entry.
When you select an employee, the application automatically populates the following settings:
- Employee Name
- Job Assignment
- Work Location
- Legal Entity
The Job Assignment, Work Location, and Legal Entity fields are populated based on the employee's primary work assignment, but you can select one of the employee's other work assignment, if applicable.
If you want to add an entry for an employee who was assigned a terminated status in a pay run prior to the pay run that you have currently loaded, you must first manually add them to the pay run. Otherwise, the employee isn’t returned in search results when you create an entry. See Include Terminated Status Employees in Pay Runs.
Replace
You can select the Replace checkbox if you want the entry that you are creating to replace an existing entry in the employee's details. For example, currently payroll lists an employee's bonus earning as $400 but it should be $500. To replace the existing $400 amount with the $500 amount you specify in the quick entry, select the Replace checkbox.
The application bases what is replaced by the quick entry on the code selected in the Code drop-down list of the quick entry. For example, if you select an earnings code, any earnings with that earning code during the pay period are overridden by the amount specified in the quick entry. Similarly, any deductions are replaced if you select a deduction code.
If the Replace checkbox is selected and the employee doesn’t have a matching code to be replaced by the quick entry, the application doesn’t apply the quick entry amount. For example, if you record a bonus earning with the Replace checkbox selected and the employee doesn’t have any earnings with that bonus earnings code during the pay period, Dayforce doesn’t add the earning and disregards the quick entry.
Clear the Replace checkbox and the quick entry details are added to or subtracted from any existing details with a matching code. If employees don’t have a matching code, Dayforce adds it with the corresponding value.
If you create an entry with the Replace checkbox selected for a deduction that has arrears enabled, Dayforce replaces the entire collection amount, including any arrears recovery attempt. However, the scheduled amount remains due.
For example, a user has a deduction where:
- The application deducts a $10 scheduled amount from every pay.
- The deduction has an arrears multiplier of 1 defined.
- The employee has an existing arrears balance of $100 for this deduction.
If you create a deduction entry for $5 with the Replace checkbox selected, Dayforce does the following:
- The $5 goes towards the regular scheduled amount.
- Because only $5 goes toward the scheduled amount, $5 of the $10 scheduled amount for this pay is still owing. As a result, Dayforce adds $5 to the existing arrears balance, bringing it to $105.
- The application doesn’t deduct any amount for the arrears multiplier.
As another example, if you create a replacement entry of $0, Dayforce doesn’t deduct any regular or arrears amount. However, Dayforce adds $10 to the existing arrears balance for the scheduled deduction that wasn’t collected, bringing the arrears balance to $110.
Code
You can enter a value in the Code setting to filter the list of available codes. This defines the type of entry that is being recorded. For example, to record additional earnings, enter the appropriate earning code, or to record a deduction that was missed on the last pay check, enter the code for that deduction. If you are unsure of what codes can be applied to employees, contact your system administrator.
In the Code setting, the application displays all of the earning, deduction and tax codes used by your organization that are applicable to the country where the employee works. For example, if your organization operates in both the US and Canada, and you have loaded a US pay run, the application displays all US codes, and no Canadian codes.
While Dayforce displays all codes for a country, not all codes might be applicable to all employees. If a code isn’t applicable to the employee, the application doesn’t process the item. When you save the entry, the application displays a warning message in the Problems panel to indicate that the entry couldn’t be processed.
The application only displays garnishment codes if there are any active garnishments currently applied to the selected employee. Garnishment codes include the name and, in brackets, the case number:
See Garnishment Entries in the Payroll Feature.
Hrs.
You can enter the number of hours associated with the entry in the Hrs. field, if necessary. A value in the Hrs. field is required if you selected an earnings code that has hours associated with it. For example, if you are recording that the employee worked another eight hours of regular earnings, you'd enter the appropriate earnings code in the Code field and then 8 in the Hrs. field.
The application disables this field if you entered a deduction or tax code in the Code field, because there is no need to associate a number of hours with a deduction or tax item.
For earnings with hours and rate specified, the application calculates the amount and populates the Amount field automatically.
The rounding value for the Hrs. field is up to two decimal places.
Rate
You can enter the hourly dollar rate associated with the entry in the Rate field, if necessary. Alternatively, you can enter one of the following rate codes to insert pay rates that are stored in the employee's HR record:
- Enter A or a, and the application inserts the value from the Alternate Rate field in the employee's record in People.
- Enter B or b, and the application inserts the value from the Base Rate field in the employee's record in People.
- Enter J or j, and the application inserts the value from the Rate field of the employee's primary job (the job with the Primary checkbox selected).
- Enter O or o, and the application inserts the value from the Average OT Rate field in the employee's record in People.
- Enter V or v, and the application inserts the value from the Vacation Rate field in the employee's record in People.
The application displays a legend of these options when you hover the cursor over the field:
A value in the Rate field is required if you specified an earnings code that has an hourly pay rate associated with it. Continuing the example of recording that an employee worked another eight hours, you'd type the employee's hourly pay rate.
The application disables this field if you typed a deduction or tax code in the Code field as there is no need to associate a number of hours with a deduction or tax item.
For earnings with hours and rate specified, the application calculates the amount and populates the Amount field automatically.
The rounding value for the Rate field is up to 5 decimal places.
Amount
You can enter a dollar amount in the Amount, if necessary. For earnings with hours and rate specified, the application calculates the amount and populates the Amount field automatically. You can override this value by typing a new amount in the field, in which case the application adjusts the Hrs. value to match.
The amount can be either positive or negative depending on whether you want to add an earning, deduction, or tax amount, or subtract it; for example, to refund the $30 gym fee deduction mistakenly taken from an employee's pay, enter -30 as the amount. Conversely, if the $30 gym fee wasn’t included but should be deducted from the employee's pay, enter 30 as the amount.
The application caps negative amounts at the year-to-date totals recording against the same code so that you cannot subtract more than what has occurred year-to-date. For example, an employee has been mistakenly paid $50 in gym fees a month for the first two months of the year. Because the employee never received a gym membership, the funds need to be returned by subtracting from the deduction code representing the gym membership through a quick entry. In this case, because the employee has paid $100 so far this year, the application caps the quick entry subtracting from this amount at -100. Even if you record a quick entry for more than that, for example -200, the application only returns 100 in deductions to the employee.
The rounding value for the Amount field is based on the number of decimal places that you define in the Payroll Decimal Rounding Precision client property in the Payroll section of the Properties tab in System Admin > Client Properties.
Job Assignment
The Job Assignment setting defines the job assignment where the pay entry occurred. By default, the application populates the Job Assignment setting with the job assignment that is defined in the employee's primary work assignment. However, you can replace the value with a job assignment from the employee's secondary work assignment, if needed. If you update the Job Assignment setting, the Work Location and Legal Entity settings update to the values for that job assignment.
Work Location
The Work Location setting defines the work location where the pay entry occurred. By default, the application populates the Work Location setting with the location that is defined in the employee's primary work assignment. However, you can replace the value with a location from the employee's secondary work assignment, if needed.
It is important that an appropriate location is linked with each item. If you are recording earnings, the location you select impacts the taxes the employee could pay as taxes are determined, at least in part, by the employee's work address.
Any changes to taxes associated with an employee's secondary work assignments must be entered as adjustments or manual check entries because Dayforce will only calculate and apply tax changes associated with the employee's primary work assignment.
If you update the Work Location setting, the Job Assignment and Legal Entity settings update to the values for that job assignment.
Legal Entity
The Legal Entity setting is a read-only setting that displays the legal entity for the job assignment and location that is currently selected. This setting updates depending on which job assignment and location you select.
Labor %
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin: The Labor % field is only used when you create an earning entry for an employee who has labor distribution defined in their work assignment.
For employees that work different job assignments or within different locations, you can use the Labor % setting to define whether the items you record are split according to the employee’s labor distribution that is defined in People.
Employees that can work multiple job assignments or in multiple locations often have a labor distribution defined; users with access can define how to distribute the employee’s payroll costs among the employee's different job assignments or locations by recording values in the Labor % field in the Work > Work Assignments screen of People. For example, for an employee that works evenly among two work assignments, administrators can specify 50% in each work assignment.
This allows the application to split the payroll costs of that employee evenly between the two work assignments when exporting to the organization’s general ledger using the Payroll GL Export interface.
When you first add a new pay entry to the list, the Labor % field displays the No option, and the field isn’t editable. When you select an earning code for an employee who has more than one work assignment, and a labor distribution configured for their work assignments, the application updates the Labor % setting to display the Yes option. Selecting yes uses the labor distribution (that is, allocation) that is defined for the employee in People.
If you click this setting to switch it to No, then the labor distribution defined in People is overridden for the entry. In this case, the earning entry is distributed entirely to the job assignment and work location that is specified in the item.
When a Quick Entry import has a blank Labor %, the import validates the Labor % field from the People feature and toggles the field to Yes or No appropriately.
Before You Begin: In order to use this column, labor metrics must be configured in the Workforce Management module.
You can use the Labor Metrics column to assign one or more labor metric codes to an entry. When you add labor metrics to an entry and calculate payroll, the application displays the ledger codes for the relevant labor metrics to the GL Preview tab of the employee slide-out panel.
The Labor Metrics column is only enabled for entries to which you have assigned an earning code, because labor metrics are only used with earning entries. When you've selected an earning code, and you click the Labor Metrics column, the application displays an icon that you can select to assign labor metrics:
When you click the icon in the Labor Metrics column, the application displays the Labor Metrics dialog box. In this dialog box, the application displays a separate drop-down list for each labor metric type configured for your organization. Labor metric types are used in Dayforce to group sets of similar labor metric codes. In this example, the organization has configured four labor metric types:
You can expand the drop-down list and select up to one labor metric code for each labor metric type. You can enter all or part of a labor metric code to automatically filter the list:
When you select a labor metric code for one or more labor metric types and click OK, the application adds them to the Labor Metrics column, where they are read-only. You can hover over the column to view a list of each labor metric listed by type:
You can edit labor metrics for an existing entry by reopening the labor metrics column, where you can click the X to remove labor metric codes.
Debit Arrears
Select the Debit Arrears checkbox in order to attempt to collect new amounts owing for deductions with arrears enabled. Leave the Debit Arrears checkbox cleared to attempt to pay off an employee's existing arrears for deductions with arrears enabled.
In order to use the Debit Arrears column, the entry must be for a deduction code that has the Allow Impromptu Arrears setting enabled in the Deductions tab of Payroll Setup > Earnings and Deductions. If a deduction doesn’t have the Allow Impromptu Arrears setting enabled in its deduction definitions, the Allow Arrears column is set to No, and is non-editable.
Important: When you enable the Allow Impromptu Arrears checkbox for a deduction code, the system will attempt to collect the full outstanding balance from the next available net pay. This applies to deductions that have been zeroed-out, unelected, or end-dated in the past. Moreover, even when a check template is configured for “exclude deductions”, deductions with the Allow Impromptu Arrears checkbox selected still attempt to recover the full outstanding arrears balance. This is different from scheduled arrears-enabled deductions, which don’t try to recover arrears in check templates configured for “exclude deductions”.
Moreover, if you enabled the Debit Arrears by Default checkbox for the deduction code in Payroll Setup > Deduction Definitions, and you create an entry using the deduction code, the Debit Arrears column is set to Yes by default. However, you can set it to No. This allows organizations to always create entries for collecting unscheduled arrears.
When you select the Debit Arrears column for a deduction entry, the following occurs:
- The amount that you are able to deduct from the employee's pay via the deduction entry doesn’t decrease the employees existing arrears balance (which you can review in the employee profile). Conversely, if you clear the Debit Arrears checkbox, the amount that you are able to deduct from the employee's pay does decrease the employee's existing arrears balance (which is the default behavior).
- If funds aren’t available to deduct all or part of the amount of the check or quick entry, this outstanding amount is added to the employee's existing arrears balance. Conversely, if you clear the Debit Arrears checkbox, the amount that you are able to deduct is not added to the employee's existing arrears balance (which is the default behavior).
For example, an employee has a deduction with arrears enabled where:
- The application deducts $10 from every pay to cover the scheduled amount owing.
- The employee has an existing arrears balance of $100 for this deduction.
- You also want to deduct an additional $25 in new late fees in the current pay.
To deduct $25 in late fees, you can create a quick entry for $25 for which you can select the Debit Arrears checkbox. When you select this checkbox, and the employee has enough pay in the current run to cover both the $10 scheduled payment and the additional $25 late fee, then the existing arrears balance isn’t affected and remains at $100. This is because the additional $25 is intended to pay a new fee, and not the employee's existing arrears balance, and the $10 amount is intended to pay the scheduled amount owing.
Whereas, if you create a quick entry that has the Debit Arrears checkbox cleared, the $25 goes towards the employee's existing arrears, bringing the balance down to $75.
Continuing this example, if you select the Debit Arrears checkbox for the entry, and the employee doesn’t have enough pay in the current run to cover the $10 regular payment and the $25 late fee, the arrears balance moves up to $135 ($100 + $10 + $25).
Whereas if you clear the Debit Arrears checkbox for the entry in the same scenario, the arrears balance only increases to $110 ($100 + $10) and the $25 is ignored from the balance of the arrears.
This functionality is the same when you select the Replace checkbox for quick entries or check entries. Using the same example as above where the employee has $100 in existing arrears, consider that instead of adding a $25 quick entry in addition to the $10 regular payment, you replace the regular $10 payment with a $25 quick entry. If you create a $25 quick entry with the Replace checkbox and the Debit Arrears checkbox selected, the following occurs:
- The system subtracts the $10 that is due for this month from the $25 that you entered.
- The system applies the remaining $15 to new fees (for example, late charges); the arrears balance remains at $100. Whereas if you clear the Debit Arrears checkbox, the system applies the remaining $15 to the arrears balance, bringing it to $85.
Business Date
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin: The Business Date field is only enabled for earning entries for US pay groups that have a biweekly pay frequency.
If necessary, you can enter the date on which the earning occurred in the Business Date setting.
The Business Date setting is intended for organizations with earning statements that have been configured to include a weekly breakdown of an employee's earnings. The application used the date that you enter Business Date field to determine which week to place the earning when generating the employee's earning statement.
For statements viewed online, the application displays an additional page at the end of the statement with the weekly earning amounts broken out. For printed statements, the back office prints a separate row for each earning on each week.
Check Template
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
When you create a quick entry, you can use the Check Template drop-down list to define which check template the entry uses. All of the payments that employees receive from Dayforce are associated with a check template that defines what generated earnings, deductions, or taxes are applied. Contact your administrator if you are unsure of what check templates to assign to a quick entry.
By default, Normal is selected in the Check Template drop-down list for any new entries that you create. The Normal option is a preconfigured check template that applies apply any earnings, deductions, or taxes that have been set up for the employee.
The Off Cycle option is another preconfigured check template that you can select in the Check Template drop-down list. This check template is configured to exclude any deductions and generated earnings that are configured for the employee. However, it is configured to include all taxes. It is typically used for irregular payments made to employees, such as reimbursements for expenses.
As an example, an employee is assigned a generated earning where employers contribute to employees' 401(k) accounts 5% of their regular earnings. If you create a quick entry and select Off Cycle in the Check Template drop-down list, the application doesn’t calculate or apply the 5% generated earning to the quick entry.
Moreover, administrators can configure the Check Templates drop-down list to include additional check templates to meet the organization's needs. For example, they can create a check template excludes only certain deductions, earnings, and taxes.
FLSA Adjust Start Date
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin: While this setting is displayed for all pay groups, it is only applicable for US employees.
You can enter a date in this setting to and the application will calculate overtime adjustments in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Acts (FLSA). See FLSA Overtime Adjustments.
FLSA Adjust End Date
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin: While this setting is displayed for all pay groups, it is only applicable for US employees.
In addition to entering a date in the FLSA Start Date setting, you can enter a date in this setting to and the application will calculate overtime adjustments in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Acts (FLSA). See FLSA Overtime Adjustments.
Message
Enter any comments that you want associated with the item in the Message field, which has a 256-character limit.
Project
If necessary, you can record the quick entry against a specific project by providing values in the Project field.
If Dayforce is configured to track costs against specific general ledger accounts for different projects, the application can export any amounts you record to the corresponding ledger accounts of whatever projects you specify.
If the employee records time against a preconfigured project, begin typing the name of that project in this field and then select it from the list that the application displays. If there are no projects configured, Dayforce won’t save what you enter in this field.
(Applicable for US employees only) You can configure the application to withhold income tax based on the tax address of the project that earnings are recorded against. See Project Taxation for US Employees.
Docket
If necessary, you can record the quick entry against a specific docket by providing values in the Docket field.
If Dayforce is configured to track costs against specific general ledger accounts for different dockets, the application can export any amounts you record to the corresponding ledger accounts of whatever dockets you specify.
Ordered Amount Type
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin: This setting includes different options for US and Canadian employees.
You can use this setting to change how the application calculates the garnishment for a quick entry for the pay run. See Garnishment Entries in the Payroll Feature.
Percent
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
When creating a quick entry to replace a garnishment's details, you can enter a new percentage in the Percent field. See Garnishment Entries in the Payroll Feature.
Limit Amount
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Before You Begin:
(US Only) When creating a quick entry to replace a garnishment's details, you can enter a dollar amount in the Limit Amount field to override the limit amount for this garnishment for this pay run. See Garnishment Entries in the Payroll Feature.
Disposable Earning Amount
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
(US Only)
Pay Periods For Tax
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
(US Only)
This would be used for example when a bonus payment should be taxed at a frequency that is different from the frequency of the pay group. So instead of a $1,000 bonus taxed at a monthly frequency, it can be taxed over 12 months (for example, annual bonus).
The application applies the pay periods for tax only to normal and taxable benefit earning types.
If this checkbox is selected, Dayforce pays out the entire balance in the earning code selected. This only applies if the earning is linked to a balance.
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
Workers Comp Account
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
If you selected a workers' compensation deduction code, you must select an associated workers' compensation account from the Workers Comp Account drop-down list.
Workers Comp Code
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
If you selected a workers' compensation deduction code in the Code drop-down list, you must select an associated workers' compensation class code from the Workers Comp Code drop-down list.
PPN
Select a future or prior pay period number to record the individual quick entry against the appropriate period; this allows you to record entries against the pay period during which the pay was earned.
When earnings on an entry are recorded against a future or prior PPN, the US printed and online earning statements display the respective pay period start and end date for the earnings. Selecting a future or prior PPN doesn’t impact Canadian earning statements but it does impact where those earnings and hours are reported on ROEs.
For Canadian employees, the PPN column is enabled for all code types (earnings, deductions, taxes, and garnishments), and for US employees, the PPN column is enabled for earning codes and memo deductions only.
The PPN column allows you to select a PPN number from up to two years in the past.
Do Not Disburse to Payee
Note: If you are working with a ConnectedPay pay group, this column isn’t available.
For payroll codes that are related to a 3rd party payee, you can select this option to define that the specific amount of the entry shouldn’t be included in the amount disbursed to that 3rd party. This setting is typically used for adjustments that need to be entered for the employee but the respective 3rd party has already received payment.
Saved By
Displays which users created or last saved changes to each quick entry.
Saved At
Displays the date and time at which a quick entry was added or last saved.