Frequently asked questions
about IMS Payroll
IMS Online
Each product has standard leave types. Adding additional leave types is a customisation in Online Express and Max. Please contact us for further information.
The employee may withdraw the leave, and then create a new Leave Request for the new dates. Alternatively, a Manager or Administrator may decline the leave and create a new Leave Request for the new dates.
Since casual employees do not typically have a standard pattern of work, they do not have a roster. Therefore leave payments cannot be created for them. Either revise the employee status setting in IMS Payroll if they are not a true casual, or upgrade to IMS Max for customisation in business rules for casual employees.
No, IMS Online will automatically create a salary reversal transaction for the leave payment, saving you time doing manual data entry in IMS Payroll.
It is possible to reduce and pay leave units in different types in IMS Online Max, however this is not available in IMS Online Express.
Quarter day units are a customisation in Online Express and Max. Please contact us for further information.
No, this is not possible. Ideally, the Manager should be assigned to a different pay point to the one for which s/he is Manager so that his or her leave requests may be approved as normal.
Yes. All leave requests - whether they have not yet been submitted, submitted but not yet approved, and approved - will be included in the import file for the pay period range.
In standard IMS Online, the following formula is applied when working out partial days (note that this only applies to leave types that are paid in daily units).
The number of partial leave hours are divided by the number of rostered hours for the day. Leave will be paid as either a half day, or a full day. If the result is between 0.01 and 0.50, then a half day will be applied, if the result is greater than 0.50, then a full day will be applied. This formulae may be modifed for IMS Online Max customers.
Yes. You decide whether negative leave balances are allowed in IMS Online Max (as well as how far in advance). Negative leave balances may be a customisation in IMS Online Express.
Yes. IMS Online uses the unit type stored against each leave type in IMS Payroll to determine the unit type. This means that even if some employees are paid in days and others in hours for the same leave type, this is all catered for.
IMS Online determines the unit type based on other leave types. For example, Statutory Holiday will be paid in hours or days depending on the Alternative Holiday balance type, and Bereavement Leave is based on the Sick Leave balance type.
Leave escalations are a customisation in Online Express and Max. Please contact us for further information.
Showing the Shift Leave balance is a customisation in Online Express and Max. Please contact us for further information.
A Leave without Pay transaction needs to exist in IMS Payroll. It then needs to be assigned to the Leave without Pay code in the Configuration area of IMS Online.
Projected leave balance functionality is available in Max and Express as a standard feature.
Leave without Pay is not a standard leave type in IMS Payroll. For this reason, IMS Online can only show Leave without Pay if the description is exactly “Leave without Pay”. It will show as “Other Leave” if the name is labelled as anything else.
The leave history screen uses the leave dates as entered into IMS Payroll. If the leave dates weren't entered with the correct dates at the time of data entry, by default, the pay period end date is used. As future leave transactions get generated by IMS Online via leave requests, this will be correct once IMS Online is used (however historical transactions cannot be changed in IMS Payroll).
If employees work across more than one Work Area, it is possible to allow all relevant Managers to approve the timesheet.
On the Timesheet Summary, the timesheet will display as a solid block of green if fully approved, and if partially approved, it shows as a green stripe.
Projected leave balance functionality is available in Max and Express as a standard feature.
No. The e-mail will be sent to the employee’s normal Manager only.
No. The entry is initiated by either the employee when filling in their timesheet, or by that employee’s Manager. Only then will the other Manager have access to the timesheet in order to approve the time.
Yes. We can modify the Business Rules to ensure employees only see Work Areas that you want them to be able to see. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
It is only available in IMS Online Max, since this is the only product that has timesheet functionality.
There is a document available on the Documentation page which has further information, including screenshots
This may be customised functionality in IMS Online Max. Administrators do not receive leave request e-mails in IMS Online Express.
Yes, Assistant Managers receive a copy of the e-mail that is sent to the employee's manager.
This functionality is not available at this stage.
Yes, this functionality may be made available in IMS Online Max. It is however not available in IMS Online Express.
A warning will display since no leave payments are generated for non-rostered days.
Managers may be given the ability to maintain employee rosters in IMS Online Max. In Express, only Administrators may modify employee rosters.
In IMS Online Express, it is only possible to specify a pattern that repeats every x days, usually every 7 or 14 days. If your roster pattern is variable and needs to be updated by managers each fortnight or month, then this can be handled via IMS Online Max.
In IMS Online Express, it is simply based on whether or not the non-casual employee is rostered on the public holiday or not. IMS Online Max may be customised to use a four-week averaging rule as well to determine whether today is a "normal"; day of work or not.
IMS Online Express simply pays on the number of rostered hours for the day if the Alternative Holiday unit type is hours; if in days, the employee receives one day Statutory Holiday. This may be enhanced in Max to deal with increased complexities if required.
This functionality is available in IMS Online Max.
IMS Online recognises that the day is a public holiday based on the Holiday Group the employee is linked to in IMS Payroll, and although the reason code will display as Annual Leave (or whichever leave type they have applied for), the day will actually pay as a Statutory Holiday. A yellow warning will display alerting the user that leave will not be deducted on this day.
Online Max handles worked time, and will automatically accrue an Alternative Holiday should the employee work on a Public Holiday. Note that IMS Online Express does not handle worked hours so this functionality is not available in these products.
This functionality is available in IMS Online Max.
Date-effective manager delegations are available in IMS Online Max. In Express, this is handled via IMS Payroll by assigning a new manager to the Pay Point. IMS Online Express will be updated upon the next IMS Online Update. Note that this is not date effective, so it will apply immediately.
Employees and managers will require:
- Internet connection (preferably broadband)
- Internet browser (Internet Explorer 7 or 8, Firefox 2 or 3, Safari 3.1 or 4.0, Google Chrome).
- Note that IE6 (with recent MS patches) is supported, however it is not recommended.
- Minimum screen resolution of 1024 x 768
- A PDF viewer installed in order to print reports
In addition, the IMS Payroll Administrator user will require:
- Windows 2000, or later
If there is more than one Administrator set up, then the other Administrator may log in and reset your password under Masterfiles. If this is not the case, you will need to contact us to reset the password for you.
Please note however if this Admin login is also used to synchronise data in the IMS Online Sync Tool, then you also need to update the password in the Details area of IMS Online Sync. Please see pages 6 to 8 in the Administrator guide.
IMS Cloud
It's exactly the same as our simple and easy to use PC version but in the Cloud. You can now access IMS Payroll from anywhere, anytime. Suitable for all small, medium and large businesses.
Employee maintenance
- On the ‘Standard’ tab in the ‘Employee Information’ area double click on their finish date and press the delete key on your keyboard. As start/finish dates are reported on the Employer Monthly Schedule, a new start date should also be entered (if you wish to keep a record of the employee’s original start and finish date these could be entered on the employee’s ‘Notes’ tab). Press ‘Enter’ to save the changes to this record.
- You will also need to check that the details on the employee’s ‘Standard’,‘Payment’, ‘Leave’ and ‘KiwiSaver’ tabs reflect the employee’s new employment status.
- Delete previous 'Leave Earnings' history.
- Click on the cancel button (red circle) if it is active to re-instate the finish date, or re enter the finish date and press ‘Enter’ to save. This should enter a valid date in this field. Then double click on the ‘Finish Date’ to select it and press the ‘Delete’ key on your keyboard. Press ‘Enter’ to save.
- A date cannot be successfully removed by clicking in the field and using the ‘Backspace’ or ‘Delete’ keys to delete one character at a time. The easiest way to delete a date is to double click on the date to select it, then press the ‘Delete’ key on your keyboard.
IMS Payroll Partner will not allow you to save the new employee record if this field is left empty. Therefore, to save the record you have just created we recommend you set their payment method to cheque until you receive a bank account number for this employee.
Change Employer Monthly Schedule to Employee Information and Employee Details.
A Modulus check is performed which will not allow entry of an invalid IRD number. Check the entry of the number. Alternatively, verify the number provided with the employee or Inland Revenue. IRD numbers now have 9 digits, if you have an 8 digit number place a zero (0) at the beginning.
On the employee’s ‘Payment’ tab you are able to set up various pay rates. If an additional pay rate (eg Pay Rate 2) is used you will then be able to select this rate when entering transactions on the employee’s ‘Permanent’ or ‘Timesheet’ screens by clicking on the ‘Rate Override’ button in the bottom right hand corner of the rate box. This will activate a ‘Rate Override’ dialog box where you can select ‘Employee Rate’ and choose the appropriate rate from the drop-down list.
A Modulus check is performed which will not allow entry of an invalid account number. Check the data entry of the account number and suffix. A common error is trying to enter more than 2 digits in the suffix. Alternatively, verify the number provided with the employee or bank.
Direct credits
- If the pay period is still open and the file has not been transferred to the bank yet you can alter the employee’s timesheet and progress through the pay period again (ie check, calculate, reprint reports etc.). Create another bank file (if you do not change the file name, the new file will replace the previous incorrect file) and transmit this file to the bank.
- If the pay period is closed and the file has not been transferred to the bank yet you can restore your backup taken just prior to closing the period. This will restore you to an open period state for the pay run, allowing you to go back and alter the timesheet (see above).
- If the file has already been transmitted to the bank then an adjustment will need to be made in a future pay period.
- On the ‘Company’ tab ensure the ‘Schedule Method’ is set to ‘Electronic’ and you have correctly specified the electronic banking format required for your bank. Depending on the format selected you may also be required to enter a ‘Batch/Subscriber No’ which will be provided by your bank.
- Check each employee’s ‘Payment’ screen to ensure the ‘Payment Method’ is set to ‘Bank’ and a valid bank account number has been entered.
- When you process each pay period you will be required to create a bank file. The ‘Banking Due Date’ will be the day before the funds are required to be in the employee’s bank accounts, (check with your bank to see when the funds are available to your employees). The ‘Banking File Name’ will show the location (path) and name of the file being created and can be changed by clicking on the ‘Options’ button.
- Once the file has been created it needs to be presented to your bank (eg via diskette or by using banking software).
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