One Off Pay (a pay outside the normal pay period)
In most cases a one-off-pay will not be required because payments such as bonuses, commissions and final pays can be included in a normal pay run.
However, if you have a special case where a one off pay is required, follow this procedure. It is much the same as running a normal pay run, but the date will be that of the one off pay, and usually only one employee will be included.
Step 1
First go to "Change Date" and enter the date for the one-off payment. For a One-Off Payment, there is not really a "Period End Date", so just enter the date for the one-off-pay into both the "Period End Date" and the "Payment Date" boxes. The "Pay Frequency" can either be the pay frequency of the employee who is getting the one-off-pay, or if you always use "All Frequencies" just leave "All Frequencies" as the pay frequency. The date entered will be somewhere in between the last date on which the employee was paid and the next normal pay date. For example, employee was last paid on Friday 17 August 2012, and the one off pay is for the 20 August - so enter 20/08/2012 for both dates. The employee in this example is on a weekly pay frequency, so the pay frequency in the box above the dates will be "Weekly" - this is ok, even though strictly there really isn't a pay period/frequency for a one off pay.
Now Click OK to return to the Main Menu.
Step 2
Select "Enter Current Pay", and call up the employee to be paid. You will see a "One Off Payment" box to tick just below the "To be paid this payrun" area to the upper right. Click "One Off Payment". A reminder will appear advising that you may not always need to do a one off pay - but at this stage you will be wanting to do this, so click "Yes". This may now take you to the "Time Sheet", where all hours will be zero, or for a salaried employee, the salary will be made zero. If you are taken to the time sheet, you can close it by clicking the "Save" button to the top right. Alternatively you may not be taken to the Time Sheet, but the hours or salary will still be made zero. The reason the hours (or salary) are made zero for the one off pay is because most times a one off pay is processed it is for an extra payment entered under "Allowances/Extras"..
Selecting "One Off Payment" also ensures Payroll Pro records the period and days worked as zero for the purposes of average rates (where applicable), as a one off pay is generally for something other than hours worked, since hours worked are included in the normal pay run.
Note
If any allowances or deductions which are to be paid with normal pay are to be EXCLUDED from the one off pay, ensure they are set to zero for the one off pay. Then set them to their usual amount for the next pay.
Step 3
Enter the pay information for the one-off-pay. For example if this is for a bonus payment (which as mentioned can usually be included in the normal pay run and does not usually need to be done separately with a one off pay), select the "Allowances/Extras" tab and enter in the bonus code and amount.
Now ensure the employee is set as "To be paid this pay run" - the same as you would do in a normal pay run.
Click "Save" then "Exit" to return to the Main Menu.
Step 4
Select the "Check Pay Details" report and view this on the screen to check that only the one employee (or employees if you are doing this for more than one) you are processing a one off pay for is included.
Step 5
Print a Payslip as you would in a normal pay run.
Step 6
Finalise the pay as per a normal pay run by selecting "Update Totals".
More Information:
Another Example of using a One Off Pay
Employee paid regular hours weekly or fortnightly, but a commission to be paid at the end of each month.
In this case when the commission is paid it could be paid with the last pay period week (or fortnight) of the month, meaning a one off pay would NOT need to be used. However it it is required to be paid separately, leave the employees pay frequency as their normal pay frequency (eg weekly or fortnightly) since the period length is not relevant here.
Salaried Employees
The salary will automatically be set to zero for the one off pay, but will automatically return to the usual amount for the next regular pay.
The reason for this is that Payroll Pro will assume that a one off payment is for an item other than the usual salary.
Wages Employees
The hours each day will automatically be set to zero for the one off pay, but will automatically return to the usual for the next regular pay.
The reason for this is that Payroll Pro will assume that a one off payment is for an item other than the usual wages.
Period Covered
For a normal weekly pay the period covered will be one week, for a fortnightly pay it will be two weeks, and for a normal monthly pay it will be one month.
For a one off pay, Payroll Pro will record the period length as zero weeks. This is because a one-off pay would be for an item other than time worked. For example an extra commission payment.