Payroll Code Types

When a company implements Aspire, an Aspire Account Manager will guide you through the process of integrating with the payroll system. This section defines some of the terms that are helpful to understand during the setup process.

Payroll Code Types

There are several payroll-related codes that must be set up in Aspire. These payroll codes are central to the integration with the payroll system (i.e. QuickBooks) or the payroll service (i.e. Cornerstone or Paychex). These codes are established when you initially set up Aspire.

• Pay Codes
• Branch Codes
• Division Codes
• Locality / County Codes

Pay Codes

Pay codes and the information associated with them determine how payments will be calculated for specific employee hours relative to their standard pay rate during the regular payroll process. An employee’s standard pay rate is specified by selecting a Pay Schedule on the Payroll tab of the Contact screen. The pay codes specified in Aspire must match the payroll system or service. Pay codes used in Aspire are defined on the Admin List Pay Code screen. Pay codes are fully customizable, but common examples of pay codes include:

• Standard Hourly
• Hourly Overtime
• Vacation
• Snow Premium

An employee’s default pay code is determined by their assigned pay schedule. Pay schedules are established on the Admin List Pay Schedules screen. Pay codes are defined on the Admin List Pay Code screen.

As employees’ time enters Aspire, each time entry is associated with the appropriate pay code. Default pay codes assigned to services in Aspire determine the initial pay code assigned to a specific time entry. The payroll administrator may override the default pay codes for a time entry when the time is accepted on the Time Entry screen.

When a pay code is defined, the user can specify how it will modify the employee's pay based on their pay rate. For example, the user can specify that a specific dollar amount (i.e. $5) should be added to their base rate when a pay code applies, or that the base rate should be increased by a certain percent. In some situations, however, the pay differential for a pay code (i.e. Snow Premium), is not determined by a standard formula but is negotiated individually with each employee. If this is the case, Aspire will allow you, for each employee, to add a set of override pay codes that will determine, for each employee, their pay rate when a given pay code applies. These override pay codes can be specified on the Override Paycodes screen available through the HR Admin tab of the Contact screen for each employee. The application of override pay codes is described in the following diagram.

When time entry information is transferred to an integrated payroll system (i.e. Paychex or QuickBooks) pay codes are included. 

The most common pay codes in Aspire are:

• Hourly
• Holiday
• Vacation
• Salary
• Regular
• Overtime

Branch Codes

If the organization has multiple branches, the user may decide to separate out payroll information by branch. Branch codes allow the user to map branches defined in Aspire with the appropriate mechanism in the payroll system. For example, in QuickBooks, branches for multi-branch organizations are defined as classes. In Great Plains, they are established as “locations.” When setting up a branch in Aspire on the Branch screen, the Branch Code field is determined based on the value defined in the payroll system.

Division Codes

Aspire allows you to map its divisions to divisions defined in the payroll system or service. For example, in QuickBooks, divisions are typically defined as classes or sub-classes, and codes are assigned as follows: