Payroll: Set Up Earning Codes

Earning codes are the categories you use to track the different types of work and pay your crew receives. Some commonly used earning codes include Regular Pay, Overtime, Vacation, Holiday, and Sick Leave. Each earning code represents a distinct type of activity or pay, but the actual rate for that activity is set on each crew member's payroll class. This means the same earning code can have different rates depending on the crew member's role or seniority.

Clear, meaningful earning codes help you build flexible payroll schemes and get useful information from your reports. They also appear on the Payroll Details tab, giving payroll managers a clear view of what's being paid to each crew member. This transparency makes it easier to validate payroll, troubleshoot issues, and keep your data consistent with any external payroll systems you use.

Set Up Earning Codes

You can set up earning codes on the Setup > Payroll > Earning Codes tab.

To create an earning code

1. Go to the Setup > Payroll > Earning Codes tab.
2. Click New Earning Code.
3. In the Name field, enter a name for the earning code.
4. (Optional) In the Accounting Code field, enter an accounting code. This will enable you to export your payroll data or integrate it with an external accounting system. Accounting codes are also displayed in the Code column on the Payroll Details tab.
5. From the Quantity list, select how the quantity will be calculated for this earning code:
   • Amount: For customers still using our original Crew Scheduling module, the quantity will be the value in the Amount field of a work period. For customers using the new Crew Scheduling module, the quantity will be 1.
   • Daily: The quantity will be 1.
   • Flat: The quantity will be 1.
   • Hourly (Exact): The quantity will be the exact number of hours of whatever you're paying for. For example, for a date payment, the quantity will be 24; for a crew change lasting 6.3 hours, it will be 6.3.
   • Hourly (Rounded): The quantity will be the number of hours of whatever you're paying for, rounded according to the rounding rules defined on the payroll group. See "Payroll: Set Up Payroll Groups."
6. (Optional) The Work Factor field lets you decide how much each unit of this earning code should count as work. Enter a multiplier that (Undefined variable: General.ProductName) will apply to the pay line quantity to calculate the value in the Work column on the Personnel > Payroll > Payroll Details tab. For example, if a shift should count as 1.24 days of work, enter 1.24 in this field. With a pay line quantity of 1, the Work value will be 1.24. Leave this field blank if you don't need to track work for this earning code.
7. In the Display In field, select one or more areas of (Undefined variable: General.ProductName) where you want to display this earning code:
   • Crew Changes: Displays in the Override Earning Code fields on the Crew Changes and Schedule tabs under Personnel > Schedule.
   • Days Off: Displays in the Earning Code field on the Management > People > People > [select a person] > Schedule sub-tab.
   • Schedule: This option only applies to customers still using our original Crew Scheduling module. It has no effect in the new Crew Scheduling module.
   • Timesheets: Allows you to configure the earning code in the Timesheet Settings window on the Personnel > Schedule > Timesheets tab.
   • Request Pay: Displays in the Earning Code fields when you add a new request on the Payroll Request tabs under My Helm > Payroll and Personnel > Payroll. It also displays in the Earning Code field in the Adjust Pay window on the Personnel > Payroll > Payroll Details tab.
   • Custom Fields: Displays in select-box custom fields that use Earning Code as the data source.
8. Click Save Changes.

About Reports

The table below shows the report data sources that include earning codes.