In the realm of payroll management, accuracy is paramount. Ensuring that your employees are paid correctly and on time requires precision and efficiency. With the Fingercheck check calculator, managing payroll becomes a streamlined process.
Access the check calculator
Log in to your Fingercheck account as an Administrator.
In the left-hand menu, select the PAYROLL tab.
Select Check Calculator from the Quick Actions section.
Select an employee from the Employee Selection drop-down list.
Click Continue.
Check calculator
After selecting the employee, the check calculator requires careful attention and understanding of what each section means. We will begin breaking down each section.
Period dates, tax frequency, and special check type
Use the Period Begin and Period End dates to communicate to the employee when the wages being paid were earned.
The Tax Frequency feature enables you to adjust the frequency at which taxes are calculated. For instance, if you're processing a quarterly bonus payment, selecting the 'Quarterly' tax frequency would be beneficial. This selection ensures that tax calculations utilize tax tables specifically designed for quarterly payments rather than the standard weekly or biweekly calculations.
Another example of changing the tax frequency would be including a vacation check for 40 hours in an employee’s regular weekly pay. When you do this, you will want to update the tax frequency to biweekly.
This adjustment ultimately benefits the employee by providing more accurate tax calculations tailored to the unique nature of the payment frequency.
When you opt for a special check type, the system automatically applies the check features you selected during the creation of that special check type.
Toggle selections for managing payroll elements
Fingercheck offers a convenient toggle feature that allows you to easily control various aspects of calculating a check. This feature gives you the flexibility to enable or disable specific functionalities based on your payroll processing needs. Here's how you can utilize the toggle to manage these payroll elements effectively:
Scheduled Earnings: Scheduled earnings refer to recurring payments made to employees. With the toggle feature, you can choose to block or unblock Scheduled Earnings as needed. For instance, if you need to temporarily halt scheduled earnings, you can easily toggle on Scheduled Earnings to prevent them from being processed.
Scheduled Deductions: Scheduled deductions encompass regular deductions such as health insurance premiums, retirement contributions, and loan repayments. By utilizing the toggle, you have the ability to control whether these deductions are applied to employee paychecks. Please note that this feature will also block child support and other wage garnishment deductions
Direct Deposit: Direct deposit allows employees to receive their pay electronically, directly into their bank accounts. With the toggle feature, you can enable or disable direct deposit for individual employees or across the entire payroll system.
Employee Taxes: Employee taxes include federal, state, and local income taxes, as well as Social Security and Medicare contributions withheld from employee paychecks. Using the toggle, you can control whether withholding taxes are calculated and deducted from employee wages.
Auto Labor Allocations: Auto labor allocations automate the distribution of labor costs across different cost centers or departments set up under the employee’s profile. By toggling this feature on or off, you can determine whether labor costs are automatically allocated based on predefined rules.
Use Supplemental Tax Rate: You may consider utilizing a supplemental tax rate when paying a bonus. This will calculate withholding taxes using federal and state supplemental rates, which are typically set at a higher level.
Gross Up Calculation: If you wish for the entered amount to represent the net pay, enable the gross-up calculation toggle.
Earnings, deductions, taxes, and direct deposit
Control the employee's paycheck by selecting specific types of earnings and deductions. Simply navigate to the respective tabs for earnings, deductions, taxes, and direct deposit, then click on the "+Add" button to select and input amounts accordingly. This streamlined process empowers you to tailor employee paychecks precisely to their unique circumstances and ensures accurate and efficient payroll management.
Earnings: Earnings encompass all forms of compensation that employees receive for their work, including regular wages, overtime pay, bonuses, commissions, and allowances. Fingercheck allows you to input different types of earnings and specify the corresponding rates or amounts for each, making it easier to calculate total compensation accurately.
Deductions: Deductions refer to any withholdings or reductions made from an employee's gross pay before the net pay is calculated. Common deductions include health insurance premiums, retirement plan contributions, and voluntary deductions such as charitable contributions or union dues. Managing deductions accurately ensures that employees' paychecks reflect their true take-home pay after accounting for mandatory and voluntary deductions.
Direct Deposit: Direct deposit is a payment method that electronically transfers employees' net pay directly into their bank accounts. Setting up direct deposit eliminates the need for paper checks and simplifies the payroll process for both employers and employees. Fingercheck allows you to select an employee's bank account.
Taxes: Taxes include federal income tax, state income tax (if applicable), Social Security tax, and Medicare tax. Employers are responsible for withholding the appropriate amount of taxes from employees' paychecks based on their tax filing status, allowances claimed, and other relevant factors.
Create a gross-up check
Log in to your Fingercheck account as an Administrator.
In the left hand menu, select the PAYROLL tab.
Select Check Calculator from the Quick Actions section.
Select an employee from the Employee Selection drop-down list.
Click Continue.
Select the dates for Period Begin and Period End (optional).
Select a Tax Frequency (optional).
Select a Special Check Type (optional).
Toggle selections for blocking payroll elements.
Enable Gross Up Calculation.
Click +Add to select an earnings.
Select earnings from the drop-down menu.
Enter an Amount.
Click Calculate.
Click OK to view the check details.
You will see an additional earnings line for the taxes calculated in addition to the net pay that you entered. You can save the check from here, or continue to adjust the gross by managing deductions and taxes by selecting the appropriate tabs or using the toggle feature.
*Remember to click Calculate to recalculate the check.
Use the paycheck calculator to assess your net pay accurately, especially when there are adjustments to your earnings or deductions. This tool proves invaluable for promptly understanding how changes impact your take-home pay.
Here is a short video demonstration. You can access the calculator also from our Service Desk, which is on the right side of your screen on the web.