WELCOME TO GMS ACCOUNTING ONLINE HELP
The help you need at your fingertips.
You are here: Payroll > Employee > Employee File
Employee File
​
​Function ​
The GMS system maintains comprehensive information on each employee, certain areas of which are user defined to accommodate your organization’s needs. 
Things You Should Know ​
  • This information is used in performing numerous functions ranging from Payroll Processing and tracking Leave Balances to reporting on a variety of personnel characteristics.
  • When accessing Employee Files, you will be presented with a sortable grid to enable you to quickly locate any employee.
  • Delete: If no timesheets or records exist for an employee, you may click on delete to remove the employee file. Once any records exist for an employee, their file cannot be deleted.
Operating Instructions ​
Grid: The grid lists all employees along with limited selected data. Clicking on the row containing that employee will cause their Employee File information to appear on the screen.  Clicking once on a column heading will sort that column in ascending order.  Double clicking will sort in descending order.  Dragging a column heading to the box just above the headers will cause the employees to be grouped by that column’s information. If an employee’s status is Terminated, the font will be in italics. 
Find: This will allow searching thru the columns listed in the grid.
 
Should your search result in multiple employees who meet the criteria, for example, in your search you enter VA.  Every instance of VA will appear in the grid and your search criteria will be highlighted, whether it is a last name, state, or part of a city name, etc. At that point, simply click on the desired employee on the grid and you will be taken to their employee file.
​
​Sort:  Clicking on any column heading will sort that column.  One click will sort ascending, two clicks will sort descending.
Clear:  This will clear any search criteria that has been entered and will return the complete listing of all employees to the screen.
​Personnel Information I:  The Personnel Information I fields will always remain on the screen, regardless of other choices made below this section.
​Image: The system allows you to attach a photo of the employee to the employee file. The photos should be in the .jpg format. Clicking on the image box, the options to Clear Image or Change Image will appear.  Change Image will allow the selection of a .jpg file. Clear Image will remove the attached .jpg file.
​Employee Code: Enter up to a 6 digit code. 
Last Name: Enter the last name of the employee.
​Suffix: A limit of 4 characters can be entered per requirements of W2 electronic file structure. The suffix entered will print on payroll checks and direct deposit stubs.
​First Name: Enter the first name of the employee.
​Middle: Enter the middle name of the employee.
​Address: Enter the street address of the employee.
​Address: Enter the second line of the street address, if necessary.
​City: Enter the city of the employee’s address.
​State: Enter the two letter state abbreviation.
​Postal Code: Enter the 5-digit or 9-digit extended zip code here. If using a 9-digit zip code, the format should be XXXXX-XXXX. This field is alpha/numeric for employee’s that may not reside in the US.
Email Address:  Enter the email address.
Home Phone: Enter the home telephone number in this field.
​Emergency Contact:  Enter the contact in case of emergency.
​Personnel Information II:  The Personnel Information II fields will always remain on the screen, regardless of other choices made below this section.
Employment Status:  The two options are “A” for Active and “T” for Terminated. Type in the choice or click on the combo box arrow and make your  selection. The box will be red if the status is “T”. When an employee leaves the            organization’s employment, and the final paycheck has been issued, the employee’s the status should be changed to “T”.
Class: Select the class in this field. The employee class will help define the type of employee and be used in certain cost allocation routines. There are also various reports available by class or class groups. The options for this field will be restricted to those classes as set up in the Tools, Cost Allocation Setup, Class Setup Tab. 
Title:  Select the Title in this field. Once established, title codes can be used for various reporting features such as a list of all “Drivers”. The options for this field will be restricted to those titles as set up in the Position form that is found in Payroll, Setup, Position
Marital Status:   Select “S” or “M” from the drop down. 
Gender: Select “M” for male or “F” for female in this field.
Hire Date: Enter the hire date as mm/dd/yy in this field or select it from the calendar.
Termination Date: Enter the date of termination as mm/dd/yy in this field or select it from the calendar.
Termination Reason:  Enter a brief reason for termination.
Birth Date: Enter the employee’s birth date as mm/dd/yy in this field.
Re-Hire Date:  If the employee has been rehired, enter the new employment date.
End of Service Date:  This field may be used to record a date such as termination from rehire or date employee transferred to another position. Enter the date as mm/dd/yy in this field or select it from the calendar.
End of Service Reason:  If a date was entered in the “End of Service Date” field, use this field to enter a brief reason.
Last Review: Enter the date of the last review as mm/dd/yy in this field or select it from the calendar.
Next Review: Enter the date of the employee’s next review as mm/dd/yy in this field or select it from the calendar.
Department Code: Select the department code here. Payroll Checks can be printed in department order to aid in their distribution. The options for this field will be restricted to those departments as set up in the Department form that is found in Payroll, Setup.
Site Code:  Select the site code here. Payroll Checks can be printed in site order to aid in their distribution. The options for this field will be restricted to those sites as set up in the site form that is found in Payroll, Setup.
​Workers Comp Code: The worker’s comp code is entered here. This is necessary for the system to accrue worker’s comp insurance costs on either a per payroll or monthly period. The options for this field will be restricted to those codes as set up in the Worker’s Comp Rate form that is found in Payroll, Setup.
Payroll and Compensation Information tab:  The information entered on this tab will be used for payroll calculation purposes.
SSN: Enter the 9-digit Social Security number here. Should you enter the social security number of an existing employee, you will receive a message "the social security number is currently entered for employee xxxx, are you sure you want to enter the same number for the employee?" Click Yes to continue using that social security number or No to enter a different one.
Note: You cannot save an employee file with a SS# beginning with an 8 or 9 as the     SSA has not issued any in that range.
Rate of Pay: Enter the rate of pay. Enter the Annual salary, Pay Period salary, or Hourly rate
A-H-P:  Enter “A” if it is an Annual salary, “P” if it is a Pay Period salary, or “H” if it   is an Hourly rate. You are restricted to these three options.
Ask Hours: Check this box to have the message "Please enter the hours this employee worked this pay period" display when entering timesheets. This is helpful when an employee works a different number of hours than the standard pay period, but they are to receive their normal pay period salary amount.
State Residence:  Enter the two-letter abbreviation of the State for which state taxes are to be withheld. If MS is entered, you will be prompted in a box to the right to enter the exemption amount for MS residence. If OH is entered, you will be prompted to enter OH School District Code, also in a box to the right.
Note: You can select the appropriate OH School District code even if that school district has no school tax.
Federal Status:  Enter the Federal Filing Status here. This status should reflect the employee’s designation stated on their W-4 form.
            The 5 available statuses are:
            S - Single
            M - Married
            B - Married but withhold at higher single rate
            U - Withholds at the married rate
            H - Head of Household

Federal Dependents: Enter the number of Dependents claimed. This number should reflect the designation stated on their W-4 form.
Addt’l Federal: Enter the dollar amount of any additional Federal withholding tax to be withheld from the employee’s paycheck. This is a per pay period amount and will be withheld in addition to the initial amount calculated. This    amount should reflect the employee’s designation stated on their W-4 form.
Fed Exempt: Check this box if an Employee's W-4 form is designated as Exempt. When checked, no federal taxes will be withheld, but Federal Taxable Wages will still print on the W2 form.
​Use new W4 2020:  If employee has completed a 2020 or later W4 form, check    this box as taxes will be calculated based upon new IRS rules.
Check this box if step2 on W4 is checked:  If the box in Step 2 on the employee’s W-4 form is checked, place a checkmark here.
Dependent Amount: Enter the amount, if any, from Step 3 on the W-4 form.
​Other Income:  If an amount is entered in Step 4a, it should be entered here.
Deduction Amount:  If an amount is entered in Step 4b, enter it here.
State Status: The employee’s State Filing Status is entered here. All the options included on each state’s Employee Withholding Exemption Certificate    are available from the combo box. 
Note: You will see many states filing status' in this combo box that are not applicable to your state. Please check your state’s tax withholding publications(s) to assure you    are selecting a status available in your state.
For AZ employees: In the State Dependent field, enter the below number to correspond to the % to be withheld according to the A4:
            1= 0.5%
            2=1.0%
            3=1.5%
            4=2.0%
            5=2.5%
            6=3.0%
            7=3.5%
State Dependents: Enter the number of Dependents claimed in this field. In Pennsylvania, this field is not used. Taxes are calculated on a straight percentage times taxable wages.
Addt’l State: Enter the dollar amount of any additional State withholding tax to be withheld from the employee. This is a per pay period amount and will be withheld in addition to the initial amount calculated.
State Exempt: Check this box if an employee has designated exempt status on   their state tax form. When checked, no state taxes will be withheld but State Taxable Wages will still print on the W2 form. Note: If you live in a state that does not impose a state income tax, and therefore has no state taxable wages, you   can go to Tools, Cost Allocation Setup and select the Class tab.  On the Class tab, make certain the State column does not have checkmarks in the boxes.  This will cause no State taxes to be withheld nor will State Taxable Wages be reported on the W-2 forms.
Special Pay: Select the special pay code to be used.  This represents an adjustment to payroll that is not Timesheet driven. An example of this would be Third Party Sick Pay. The response to this field will be limited to the Special Pay codes as set up in the Payroll, Set Up, Special Pay form. Once the Special Pay Code has been selected, enter the Amount of Special Pay.
Amount: Enter the dollar amount of the Special Pay identified in the field to the left. If entering whole dollars, no decimal point is needed.
Employer Health Amount: If the agency has an employer sponsored health plan, enter the amount representing only the employer's share of the cost for the health plan. This amount will be updated to the employee file during payroll processing. If payroll is semi-monthly, enter half of the monthly amount. If payroll is bi-weekly, there are two choices : 1) Enter half of the monthly amount, and don’t include the employer health insurance when processing the “third payroll” of the month that happens 2 months a year, or 2) Take the monthly amount times 12 months divided by 26 pay periods and enter that bi-weekly amount.

For more information and to see a list of what health insurance costs should/should not be included see the IRS article at  http://www.irs.gov/uac/Employer-Provided-Health-Coverage-Informational-Reporting-Requirements:-Questions-and-Answers.
Employer HSA Amount: If your agency contributes to the employee’s HSA account, enter the amount representing only the employer's contribution.
Local Tax: Select the local tax jurisdictions, if any. The response to this field will   be limited to those Local Taxes as set up in the Local Tax form that is found in Payroll, Setup. Should the employee desire to have additional local taxes withheld, enter the amount in the Add’l Amount $ column in this grid.
Deductions: Payroll deductions to be processed for the employee are entered here. The response to this field will be limited to those Deductions as set up in the Deduction form that is found in Payroll, Setup.

​Once the deduction has been selected, all necessary information for the    deduction must be entered into the grid.
  •  Amt – enter the dollar amount or percentage of gross wages to be deducted. The numeric value of the entry will be treated as a dollar amount or percentage of gross wages based on how the deduction was defined in the Deduction form that is found in Payroll, Setup. If entering a percentage, and the rate is five and one-half per cent, enter 5.5. When entering a dollar amount, if the entry is whole dollars, do not enter the decimal point.
  • YTD Max – if there is a YTD maximum amount for this deduction, enter it here. Once the YTD amount of the deduction reaches the amount   identified, the deduction will cease. Every pay period when gross to net   computations are calculated, it will check the YTD amount withheld for the calendar year. If the YTD amount withheld in the calendar year does not exceed the maximum amount, it will withhold the amount of the deduction. When W2 information is saved, the total YTD amount withheld during the calendar year will be subtracted from the maximum amount  resulting in an adjusted maximum amount for the new calendar year. Under Payroll Setups, the deduction must be designated to have a YTD maximum amount before it will allow entry and save a YTD maximum amount in the employee file.
  • PPD Max – if there is a pay period maximum amount for this deduction that is based on gross wages, enter it here. During payroll processing, as this percentage deduction is calculated based on gross wages, the result will not exceed the maximum as defined.
  • ​Min Net - if there is a pay period minimum net pay amount for this deduction, enter it here. For certain deductions, such as wage garnishments, the deductions are allowed only if it does not take the   employee’s net pay below a certain amount. When an amount is entered   in this field, and if the deduction would cause the net pay to drop below this amount, the deduction will be adjusted for the current payroll to keep the net pay at the stated amount. If the net pay is already below the stated minimum amount before the deduction is processed, the deduction is suspended for the current payroll.
  • DD Routing # - this field is for clients that have purchased the GMS Supplement #306 Direct Payroll Deposit. Enter the employee’s bank routing number which must be 9 digits. Do not enter any spaces, dashes or slashes in this field. Please see the Help section Payroll, Processing Direct Payroll Deposit supplement for further explanation.
  • DD Acct# - this field is for clients that have purchased the GMS Supplement #306 Direct Payroll Deposit. In addition to the net pay, the employee has the option of additional deductions to be direct deposited into various accounts. Enter the employee’s bank account number for the account in which this deduction is to be deposited. Do not enter any spaces, dashes, or slashes in this field. A maximum of 17 digits can be used for the bank account.  Deduction #99 is reserved for Direct Deposit net pay.
Note: any user that does not have the rights to the Payroll Direct Deposit supplement will not be able to set up deduction #99 in an employee file.
DD Type – enter the type of account for this deduction. Your options are   limited to "22” for live checking, "32” for live savings, "23” for checking pre-note, and "33” for savings pre-note. If the deduction will no longer be used for direct deposit, select “0”.
Note: If data exists in any of the 3 fields, all 3 fields need data before the employee file can be saved..
GMS strongly recommends that the first time there is a Direct Deposit set up or a change made to the account number, the DD type should be set up as a pre-  note.
To remove a deduction from the grid, click on it to highlight it.  Once highlighted click on the minus (-) sign at the bottom of the form to the right of Record numbers. To expand the deduction description field so the entire description can be displayed, click on edit and drag the description column heading to the right. When you click on save, the size of that field will return to the original length.
​The deductions will be listed in deduction code order in the grid no matter what order they are entered.
Leave Information tab ​
​Employees can earn Leave on a per pay basis, based on a rate as defined in this section. This feature, along with tracking the usage of leave, will generate available leave balances that appear on an employee’s check stub as well as a variety of other reports.
Select the Leave types to be tracked. Another setup that will affect how the employee earns leave is the Setup Leave Assumptions form that is found in Payroll, PR Processing, Leave Balance.
As the leave types are selected in this field, they will appear in the grid. Only leave types set up on the Leave Balance Type form that is found in Payroll, Setup will be available.
​Once the leave type appears in the grid, the following fields are available to be set up/edited. This is done by clicking on the field to be changed, then typing in
the desired information. These fields are as follows:
  • PPD - record the number of hours for the leave type that is to be earned per pay period.
  • Balance – record the available balance of the leave type for the employee. This field is typically used when the GMS system is being initially set up and careful attention needs to be paid to the date these balances represent. However, this field can be accessed at any time for corrections. Please use caution when changing these balances as it may influence your organization’s financial reports.
  • Leave Max – this field is used to record the maximum number of hours that can be earned for the leave type selected. This field is used in conjunction with the Setup Leave Assumptions form that is found in Payroll, Processing, Leave Balance. If the Leave Assumptions are set up to define the leave max on an individual employee basis, then this field is used. If the Leave Assumptions have a False under Max or Employee, but an amount is entered in the Employee File, it will print on the pay stubs even though the leave balance calculation did not factor in that max amount.
Enter the maximum number of hours to be earned in this field. Once the leave balance reaches this maximum, the system will no longer allow an employee to earn any more hours for this leave type until they use some of the leave. At that point the balance will fall below the maximum and the system will then allow the employee to start earning the leave again.
To delete a leave type from the grid, double-click anywhere on the row containing that leave type.
Education tab
Three sections are included under this tab – High School, Colleges, and Additional Trainings.  You may use these sections to enter the pertinent information.  Data entry is optional.​
​Optional Questions tab
The system allows you to record and organize additional information about employees. For further details about this feature, please see the Help section for the Personnel form that is found in Payroll, Setup, Optional Questions.
  • Code – select the Optional Question code to be set up in the current Employee File. Your selection will be limited to those set up in the Optional Question form that is found in Payroll, Setup. Data entry can be accomplished by typing in the personnel code or clicking on the combo box arrow to the right of the field and making your selection. 
  • Description – this field will be automatically populated with the Description that has been assigned to the selected Code.
  • Response – enter the response to the Optional Question selected for this employee. If the response type is a date, enter the format as you would want to see printed on the profile, i.e. mm/dd/yy. If the response type assigned during the Optional Question Setup is date or dollar amount, the response must correspond to that type or you will be blocked from including the optional questions on the employee profile.
To delete an optional question from the grid, double click anywhere on the row containing the information to be deleted. To edit the response to an optional question, click edit, click on the response you wish to change, edit the response and click on Save Edit.
YTD Earning tab
​This screen is for informational purposes only and cannot be edited. As a payroll is completed and the check run is saved, this screen is updated and will display the current calendar Year to Date payroll information for the employee.