Using Cost Center Overrides

By using payroll-specific G/L account segments you can control G/L posting in ways that make your audit and analysis reports more meaningful.

The cost center override function allows you to set up G/L account segment names (for instance, Department, Region, or Division) at the company level, which you then define by certain codes (101, 202, and 303, for instance, in the case of departments), at the employee level. The segment codes you enter for each employee can then be used to override the default G/L account segments to which the system would otherwise post. You can further refine cost center posting by overriding segments for earnings, deductions, and taxes for each employee, or when you enter timecards.

To Turn On Cost Center Overrides

Before you can start setting up the codes, you must turn on the feature for your company.

1. Select Setup > Payroll > Payroll G/L Integration.
2. Select the Integration tab.
3. Select the Use Cost Center Overrides check box.

Use the option to post amounts from earnings, deductions assigned to individual employees to the General Ledger account segments you specify in the employee record, rather than to the accounts assigned to the earnings/deductions in the Earning/Deduction Codes window.

Set Up Cost Center Overrides at the Company Level

Once you set the option, you must configure the features at the company level (Setup > Payroll), and finally at the employee level (Employees > Payroll).

1. Select Setup > Payroll > Payroll G/L Integration and click the Segments tab.
2. In the Use Cost Center Overrides for These Accounts drop-down menu, select from the following options (as previously set up in G/L Account Structures): 
   • Expense Accounts. Select to use expense accounts when you designate segment codes at the employee level.
   • Expense and Liability Accounts. Select to use both expense and liability accounts when you designate segment codes at the employee level.
   • None. Select to have the system ignore any segment code overrides you enter in employee records. Generally, you use this option to disable the feature.
3. In the Allow Overrides of These Cost Center Segments section, select the first three General Ledger account segments you want to open up for overrides at the employee level.
4. Optionally, use the Select up to Three Additional Segments for Account Allocation section to specify three more levels to open up for overrides at the employee level. If you use this section, you can override up to 6 segments.
5. Save your changes and Close the window.

Define Override Segments at the Employee Level

Next, to configure the employee-specific overrides, you use the Employee Payroll window.

1. Select Employees > View/Edit Employee, select the employee you want to configure. Click the Employee Payroll tab.
2. On the employee record, click the Cost Center tab.
3. For each Segment Name (as you set at the company level) listed, double-click the Segment Code field in the table to specify the segment override for this employee. What you specify here will override cost center segments for this employee for earnings, deductions, and taxes when you process payroll.
4. Optionally, you can configure the overrides for each individual earning and deduction. To do this, click the Pay tab.
5. In the Earnings/Deductions for Employee table, highlight the earning or deduction you want to configure for overrides, and press the F9 key on your keyboard. The Earnings/Deductions detail window opens.
6. On the General tab of the detail window, click the Cost Center Override button. The Cost Center Override detail window opens.

7. For each Segment Name (as you set at the company level) listed, double-click the Segment Code field to select the segment code you want to use to override for this employee.

   Note: Select None instead of a segment code for each earning or deduction you do not want to override.

8. Click Close.
9. Save and Close the detail window.
10. Save the employee record.

11. Repeat these steps for all employees for which you want to override cost centers.

    See also: Employee Payroll Field List

Using the Cost Center Overrides in Payroll Processing

You can further refine cost center posting by overriding segments for particular earnings/deductions when you enter timecards.

If you use cost center posting (G/L segment replacement), when you calculate payroll the tax amounts posted are distributed to the cost centers in which the taxable wages were earned. This means that the system distributes tax amounts proportionately among the cost center segments to which the wage expenses were posted.