Lesson #66
Payables – Pay Resources function
Before you can pay resources or send them pay statements you must close (i.e., finalize) payroll. Closing payroll ensures that no changes can be made to the payroll data after you distribute checks and pay statements to your resources.
Before you use this function to close payroll and pay resources you must set up pay dates in your RB System Preferences and enter individual resources’ pay information — such as how long they wait to get paid for an invoice — in their RB listing.
After these initial preparations Pay Resources is where you set payroll for an open payroll date, including reviewing scheduled payments to resources, and updating which invoices will be included in payroll. It is also where you close payroll.
Review current payroll
The first step in paying resources is to run the Draft Resource Pay Statements report for review. The Draft Resource Pay Statements report lists each invoice (selected for the specified pay date), grouped and subtotaled by resource. If you or your resources find any errors or missing information, you can modify the current payroll before closing payroll.
To generate the Draft Resource Pay Statements report, you select a pay date from the list you set up previously. The Pay Group (i.e., pay period) and Cutoff Date (last date for invoices to be included) associated with the pay date are displayed. (You designate the Pay Group and Cutoff Date when setting up pay dates.) Choosing from a set list minimizes the chance of running the wrong payroll: All open pay dates are listed along with their cutoff dates in chronological order with the earliest one first to make it easier to select the correct pay date.
RB calculates payroll for the selected pay date and shows every resource that has eligible outstanding pay amounts. Clicking any resource listed opens a sub-listing of all of their outstanding invoices with invoice amounts, dates, balances, pay amounts, and other relevant information displayed. Beneath the list of invoices RB lists any pay adjustments not specifically tied to an invoice that will be included in the payroll.
Modify payroll
Click one or more column headers in any sub-listing to sort the order of payments listed in ascending or descending order by those criteria. Only invoices that are checked in the sub-listing are included in this payroll. You can override which invoices to include. You cannot change or remove the non-invoice pay adjustments listed in this function. IF you need to update those use the Pay Adjustments function.
RB automatically selects which invoices to pay based on the Original Term and Copy Term settings for each resource. Terms include the number of days you wait before paying a resource on an invoice and whether the wait period starts from the invoice date or the date the invoice was paid. You can have different terms for originals and copies.
Before closing payroll you can review and modify RB’s selection of invoices for any resource. For example if a reporter asks for more money than is currently due, you can add more invoices to the current pay sheet instead of giving an advance. As you add or remove invoices for a resource the total pay for the resource adjusts on the screen.
If a resource’s list of invoices is too long to see what you want easily based on invoice number, you can click one or more different column headers to sort the list by those columns in ascending or descending order.
You can export the list of resources and their invoices as an Excel spreadsheet to save, print, share, or use in other applications.
Review payroll as a report
You can review this information in its final form as a report and have your resources review their upcoming payroll before closing payroll. Choose summary or detailed draft pay statements which you can print or email to resources. Draft pay statements have the word “Draft” splashed across every page so you don’t accidentally send or archive a draft statement instead of the real thing. If you choose a print version, you can print the report or export it in a variety of formats to view elsewhere or archive.
Draft pay statement reports compile the current payroll into a draft report with one resource per page and a grand total payroll as the last page. Each invoice listed under a resource includes the invoice number and date, whether the invoice is for an original or copy, the pay amount, job number and date, case name or description, Sold To Contact, and the resource’s reference number.
You can generate 3 versions of the draft pay statement:
- A detailed version for your office that includes the most information listing each invoice broken down by service item, including the billing rate, number of units, pay rate, pay percentage, and pay amount. This is the best draft report to select for verifying pay because it is the most complete.
- A detailed version of the report to either print out or email to resources, which lists pay by service item for each invoice included in this payroll. Similar to the detailed office version, except it does not include billing rates or pay percentages.
- A summary report, which only lists pay amounts by invoice with no further break-downs by service item. This is the draft of the report you either print out or email to resources if you prefer to give them pay statements with no details.
Reset payroll when there are mistakes
If there are any mistakes in the Pay Resources results grid or a draft pay statement, you reset payroll which deletes all entries in the current payroll, then start the payroll over again after correcting the errors. If you find the errors are due to incorrect pay info settings in the resources’ profiles (such as original term or copy term) correct those settings first before resetting the payroll.
Close payroll
After verifying payroll use this function to close payroll. RB finalizes payroll so all checked invoices are included in resource pay for this payroll and will no longer appear as outstanding obligations in payroll. Then use the Send Resource Pay Statements function to make a final copy of the Resource Pay Statements report for your office and send resources their pay statements.
TIP: You can also generate a report In Pay Resources that includes all resources who are owed money on outstanding invoices, whether they are scheduled to be paid on this pay date, for your records.
TL;DR: Review a specific pay date’s invoices, grouped and subtotaled by resource. Review and modify RB9’s automatic selection of invoices for any resource. You can also reset (restart) an incorrect payroll.
RB concepts in this lesson
Pay Group: Category of time period your company uses to pay resources, e.g., Monthly, Weekly, On Demand.
Reference No. (for resources): If a reporter or other resource (such as an agency which works for other agencies) bills you for work done, enter their invoice number as the reference number when turning in jobs so they will know which of their invoices you are paying on their pay statements.
Resource: Person or thing that provides your business with a service, such as reporters, videographers, interpreters, scopists, account executives, other agencies that cover jobs for you, or a conference room.
