HOW TO ENSURE PAYROLL CANADA IS RECORDING CHEQUE DATA ===================================================== Switch on the collection of cheque data as follows: Either: 1. From the MAIN PAY MENU F3 PRINT AND/OR RECONCILE CHEQUES, PRINT PAY SLIPS, then F3 Bank Reconciliation of Pay Cheques { it will offer to turn it on if not already on, not much else you can do here until some cheques on file } -OR- 2. From the MAIN PAY MENU F5 CONFIGURATION & OTHER UTILITIES, then F4 CHANGE CONFIGURATION - DISKS, PROMPTS, ETC., then F9 Edit Company Information, then F2 Set Up Co. Name, RevCan A/c No., Co. UIC, then set "Using Cheque Reconciliation" to True and press Escape repeatedly until back to the MAIN PAY MENU. Any PAYROLL CANADA cheques printed after this is done will be added to the cheque file. If you later stop using this feature then repeat this procedure but change "Using Cheque Reconciliation" to False to stop cheque recording and prevent the file filling up. (It can only be made False from the "F5 CONFIGURATION & OTHER UTILITIES" route) Also, for those who were using it prior to January 1995 note that your cheque file names will be automatically changed to allow for the new multiple bank feature. Only the 3 character extension will be changed, example PCANCHQR.DTA will become PCANCHQR.BRC and PCANCHQR.INX will become PCANCHQR.BRI You need not worry about this unless you have an automatic backup routine that copies certain specified files to tape - if so change it to take the new names. PROGRAM FEATURES ================ Pay cheques are automatically added to the cheque file as they are printed by PAYROLL CANADA. At that point they are outstanding. You can mark them as reconciled when they are returned to you by the bank (or are shown as paid on your bank statement). You can also mark them void if they are reissued or replaced with cash. You will want to keep outstanding cheques on the file at least until they become stale dated, and you may wish to keep void and reconciled cheques on file for say 3 months in case of queries. You can selectively delete older cheques in either category when the file becomes too full. If you need a longer history than 3 months you can have it, but the file will become larger. If it exceeds 2,500 cheques and you want to keep them all then you will need to order the upgrade to the maximum file size of 8,190 cheques ($100.00 plus taxes). F1 Find Any Pay Cheque ---------------------- Cheques can be located by number or by payee name. You can modify or void individual cheques, and you can void a range of cheque numbers in one operation (Example: Pay cycle run, cheques printed, errors found, corrected, pay cycle re-run and cheques re-printed. First set of cheques can all to be voided as a range of numbers from ... to ... because replaced by second set). The cheque display includes cheque number, cheque date, payee, amount, the type of cheque, what the last action taken was, and the date that action was taken. F2 Enter NEW Manually Issued Pay Cheques ---------------------------------------- Additional manually issued cheques can also be entered. When entering manual cheques you can select what the last activity was and that activity date. The cheque number must not already be on file or an error message will occur when attempting to insert the new cheque into the file. Also, of course the same cheque number must not be used again later by Payroll Canada before the first cheque has been purged from the file or an error message will occur then. You should not mix bank accounts on the same cheque file or your reports will give confusing figures and there may be conflicts in cheque numbers. The program allows multiple bank files so use that feature if you have this situation. F3 Reconcile Cheques from Bank Statement ---------------------------------------- When reconciling cheques from your bank statement you can enter your beginning balance, deposits, and service charges and your ending balance will be calculated for you to double check against your bank statement. Reconciling cheques is just a matter of entering a series of cheque numbers and amounts. Each cheque is retrieved from the file, the number and amount is verified and if any differences are found you are immediately advised and shown the cheque record so you can determine the cause of the error. You are also warned if you try to reconcile a cheque that has previously been reconciled or voided. Keying in the amounts may seem un-necessary as we could get it from the cheque number, but it is required to catch any errors on the bank's part. They work from the MICR coding and if their clerk keys the amount wrong when adding the MICR for amount then the wrong amount is taken from your account. It will also catch fraud if somebody deliberately changed the cheque before depositing it. Take the amount from your bank statement. The cursor can be moved around this screen. Instructions are on the bottom of the screen. When you are about to leave the screen you are asked if this is the last entry screen you need. If you answer Y (when all cheques from that bank statement are reconciled) then a report is printed of what was entered on the screens. A copy of the report file is saved on disk in case of any printer error (out of paper, not on line, jambed, etc.). You will be given a second chance to print this report next time you select the F3 function. F4 Purge Old Cheques -------------------- Reconciled or not, cheques remain on file until purged. You can select purge dates for dead (reconciled) cheques (defaults to 3 months ago) and for live (outstanding) cheques (defaults to a year ago). You can change the defaults by typing in your choice of date. The purge routine also makes a backup copy of the file as it was before the purge (in PCANCHQR.BRB / PCANCHQR.BRX) so if a purge is done in error and you realise it immediately (or before any other cheques are added, changed, or reconciled) you can reverse the purge from the DOS prompt with: COPY PCANCHQR.BRB PCANCHQR.BRC COPY PCANCHQR.BRX PCANCHQR.BRI The filename may be different from PCANCHQR as you can name it for the bank whose cheques are in it, but the .BRB etc. extensions will be the same. Do a DOS DIR \PAYPGMS\*.BR* to see all bank files. If you do this copy after any changes are made you will lose the changes and they will have to be redone. F5 Print Cheque Register ------------------------ You can also print a cheque register at any time showing what is on the file. You can select start and end cheque dates (they will default to the last month but you can change them to whatever you want) and types of cheques (any one of or combination of: Outstanding, Void, N.S.F., Reconciled) that will be included on this report. Outstanding cheque amounts are in a seperate column from dead cheques and both are totalled seperately on the report. UPGRADING MAXIMUM FILE SIZE --------------------------- On the version included free with Payroll Canada the maximum cheque file size is 2,500 cheques - should be enough for most companies. It can be increased to 8,190 cheques for a one time cost of $100.00 (plus taxes). For this we provide a seperate program which does the same thing (with the higher limit) but which has to be run from the DOS prompt (as we cannot create special versions of Payroll Canada). Telephone me if an upgrade is needed urgently, else mail us a cheque for the amount shown with a note of what it is for. Christopher Anthistle, President 19th. December 1994