5 Keys To Unlocking Year End

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It’s that time of year again – time to prep for year end. Year End can be a hectic time for you and your team but UKG Pro has the tools you need to stay on track and make this the smoothest year end yet. In the past, we’ve covered The Many Moving Parts of a Successful Year End and we’ve also presented you with tips on how to Simplify Your Year End. This year, we are going to dive in to the 5 Keys to Unlocking Year End.

Watch the recording of our webinar on this topic here:

Click here to download the slides used during the webinar

Key One – Make sure your system is set up for 2019.

It may seem counterintuitive but first, look back, not forward. Make sure your UKG Pro system is set up for the current year. Year End is your last chance to make sure that everything is set up properly.  First, review every location that had payroll in 2019 for an active tax ID – federal, state, local, and unemployment.

Next, ensure all employees have a valid Social Security numberby running a BI query with employee name, number, and Social Security number. Things to monitor:

  1. Social Security numbers do NOT start with a “9”.Taxpayer IDs can start with “9”, but they are not valid SSN numbers for employment.
  2. Social Security numbers will not have sequential zeroes in one section.Of the three sections in a social security number: three digits / two digits / four digits there are no cards where one of those sections is all zeroes.

The next step is to run a report out of BI to check W4s for the year. Check for:

  • Blocked: In UKG Pro, blocked means that an employee marked “Exempt” on the W4 form, and no income tax is being withheld, but their wages are still being reported to the IRS. In this case, the employee will need to submit a new W4 form by February 15, 2020 in order to keep this exemption.
  • Exempt: an employee marked as exempt in this report is earning wages not being reported to the IRS, and taxes are not being withheld. The only employees eligible for this are employees on certain types of work visas.
  • Finally, check employees with Lock In Letters. This is a letter from the IRS that requires you to set the employee’s withholding in a specific way. Review these and ensure they are still in effect.

The last thing to check in this key is is primary location assignment. This is especially important if you implemented UKG Pro this year, or you had an acquisition and brought in openingbBalances for the year. This is something that can be missed and, if you didn’t process any payroll for the employee in 2019, it would not be caught. Until you tried to print W2s, that is.

Key Two – Plan for All the Printing

If you are planning on printing your forms in-house, you must order supplies in advance. These forms are dated, so be sure to order enough forms to print one for every employee who did not opt out of a printed form (including terminations), plus extra for overflow pages, paper jams, and running out of toner (we recommend around +10%).

Key Three – Validate Everything

Your tax reconciliations should be performed after every payroll. For Year End, you will need to rerun them for each quarter and for the quarter to date. Note  any corrections that need to be made (i.e. moving wages from one state to another). The most important thing to look for are FICA taxes that are incorrect and do not offset on the next check.

Next, you must validate your year end tables and run the W2 summary. Compare the W2 summary to the Wage Summary report – these numbers should match, as they pull from the same tables, so if they don’t, there is a problem.

Use the Payroll Balancing Worksheet to doublecheck your numbers. You can find this in the customer support portal of your UKG Pro Instance.

Key Four – Prepare for 2020.

At the opening of your first payroll of 2020, UKG Pro will update some settings automatically — tax rates, annual limits for things like 401(k) and FSA contributions — But there are still a few things to review to ensure the first payroll of 2020 runs smoothly.

First, update the 2020company holidays table. Include any bank holidays that will impact your payroll calendar. Why?  You cannot run payroll on a bank holiday, so putting those in the system will allow UKG Pro to automatically adjust your payroll calendar for 2020 by moving any paydays on holidays to the day before or after.

Next, extend your pay calendar for 2020. This needs to be done before you can open that first 2020 payroll.

At this point, we recommend publishing an internal payroll calendar. Click here to download an example calendar. This is a 2020 calendar with important payroll dates on it, for example, the last day to make changes, the day the time is extracted from the timekeeping system, and the day payroll is posted.

Year End is a good time to clean up your deduction and earning codes. If you have codes you aren’t using, mark them inactive and if you have codes that you know aren’t set up right, or are missing, take this time to fix them or add them to make 2020 as smooth as possible.

Key Five – Relax – you’ve got this.

Lastly, take a deep breath and know that you can do this! Year End can seem daunting, but you have plenty of time. If you get stuck or confused, contact Mosaic today! We are happy to help you make Year End a non-event.

Note: UKG Pro was formerly Ultipro.

UKG Pro General Ledger (GL): Deciphered

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UKG Pro contains General Ledger functionality that captures payroll transactions and outputs them into a file formatted for import into your company’s financial system. When implemented and configured correctly, this GL function can eliminate or reduce manual manipulation of the data — which in turn reduces human error and improves compliance. Auditors love this type of automation, and your team will too! An optimized GL will allow your team to focus on bigger tasks, by freeing up time and improving efficiency.

GL: What It Is, Why It’s Important

Companies record their financial activity in a General Ledger (GL). This General Ledger is used for financial reporting, planning and compliance. GL affects every department within your company. From an HR and Payroll standpoint, GL is used for payroll recording as well as any forecasting and planning.

Scroll down to the end of this post to review our GL Glossary.

What causes GL challenges?

During your UKG Pro launch, or implementation, your GL will be configured. This includes setting up Organization Levels, GL Rules, and the GL export file and/or reports. (see our glossary at the bottom of this post for full definitions on these and other concepts).

During this initial configuration it is important to consider:

  • Finance, Payroll and HR: GL rules define how transactions are mapped and affect all three departments. If only one department is involved in the decision-making process; it’s possible that something will get missed, forcing another department to manipulate the data they receive. All departments should be part of the conversation.
  • Translations: Finance, payroll and HR departments don’t speak the same language! Each discipline has different words for similar concepts; for example, Departments versus Cost Centers. UKG Pro allows you to translate these words in a way that all departments will have the information they need at the end of each payroll.
  • Prepare for change: Consider where your company is now and where it is going. As you grow, so must your GL rules and tables. Your team should think strategically while implementing your system. Make sure to have your tables reviewed periodically to ensure that they still work the way you need them to for your current organizational structure.

So, what now?

At the end of the GL Process, you will have access to a GL Export File. This file, configured within UKG Pro, contains the required data for your financial system. If someone on your team is spending time manipulating this data, that is a sign that something needs to be optimized within your system.

The GL rules within UKG Pro are so configurable that they should work FOR you. Although it is not an accounting software, UKG Pro has the functionality, out of the box, to simplify your processes and make sure your data is clean and transferable across all departments.

If you believe you need a GL Review or have questions about how to optimize your system’s functionality, feel free to contact us today.

GL Glossary:

Components of UKG Pro GL configuration:

  • GL Base Account: The GL Base Account codes are used as the fixed portion of your General Ledger (GL) account number.
  • GL Segment Sequence: GL account numbers consist of cost center information, base accounts, and constant values that are unique to your accounting system. These components are referred to as segments of the general ledger.  Segment Sequences are sections linked together to form the GL account number. Your company defines which components are valuable for reporting, budgeting, and analysis.
  • GL Rules: The GL Rules defines how payroll transactions are mapped and reported on the GL export file or GL reports.  Mapping components on the GL Rules table include the GL Type Code, Payroll code (earning, deduction, or tax), base account, and segment sequence.

GL Export File:
An export template is configured in UKG Pro to allow the export of payroll data required for the financial system.  The export extracts its data from the General Ledger/Labor Allocations table. The resulting GL file includes the sum of debit and credit amounts by general ledger (GL) account number.

Organization (Org) Levels
Org levels in UKG Pro are typically used to classify employees based on a specific group for the purpose of reporting and/or GL posting. Examples of classification types include:

  • Cost Centers
  • Business Units
  • Region.

GL Type Code – each type of payroll transactions is identified with a GL Type Code.  The GL Type Code will assist with troubleshooting items that may appear on the GL Suspense Detail report.

GL Type Code
GL Type Code  General Ledger Code  Description  Debit  Credit
EE Earnings expense Debit  
DE EE Deduction payable   Credit
TE EE Taxes payable   Credit
NC EE Net pay checks   Credit
ND EE Net pay direct deposit   Credit
TR ER Taxes expense Debit  
TL ER Taxes liability   Credit
DR ER Deduction expense Debit  
DL ER Deduction liability   Credit

GL Suspense Detail report – this report is generated after the GL process is run.  If all payroll items are mapped on the GL Rules table, this report will be blank.  If items exist on this report, the GL Rules table must be updated to map that code.  Once mapped, the GL Process must be re-run.

Labor Allocations and the Auto Allocate feature are not necessarily part of GL and although commonly are used; they may not be used by every company. They are included in this list because they will affect the GL file.

  • Labor Allocations allow you to automatically or manually allocate your employees’ earnings and hours worked to cost centers such as departments, divisions, or projects.
  • The Auto Allocate feature allocates all employees’ wages according to a percentage, not specific time worked. This method is typically used for auto paid employees. Labor allocations for hourly employees can also be defined using the manual allocation method (such as through a time clock import)

If you believe you need a GL Review or have questions about how to optimize your system’s functionality, feel free to contact us today.