Company-Level Deductions

Background

A payroll deduction is an amount of money that is withheld from an employee’s paycheck in order to make a payment to a third party. Examples could be pre-tax deductions, such as insurance premiums and 401k savings, or after-tax deductions such as loan repayments, wage garnishments, and employee purchases. For a full definition, seeDeductionsin our Payroll Glossary. For further reading about using payroll deductions, see our blog articleAn Overview of Payroll Deductions.

A deduction is different than a contribution. In Patriot Software, a contribution is a company-paid amount that appears for informational purposes only and does not affect the paycheck. SeeCompany-Level Contributions in Patriot Software.

Note that Patriot Softwaredoes notsend your collected deductions and contributions to a third party, such as your 401(k) provider or health insurance carrier. You are responsible for sending these funds directly.

To set up company-level deductions in the Payroll Software:

Before you can set up specific deductions for individual employees, you must first set up the deductions under the Company level.

Settings > Payroll Settings > Deductions & Contributions

To add a new deduction:

• Click the“Add New”link under the Deductions section.
• A set of blank fields will appear. For detailed field information, seeCompany-Level Deduction Set-up: Field-Level Help.
• Once you set up the deduction at the company level, you are now ready to assign it to your employees. SeeEmployee-Level Deductions.

To edit a deduction:

• Click the“Edit”icon in the row. You can now make changes in the appropriate fields for that deduction.Note:if a deduction has been assigned to an employee and/or used in a payroll, the Deduction Type and Method cannot be changed. All other fields may still be edited. For details, seeWhy Can’t I Edit a Company-Level Deduction?
• ClickSave. If the field you edited is a company default field used on an employee’s record, the employee’s deduction will be automatically updated.

To delete a new deduction:

• Click on the“Delete”icon in the row. You may only delete a deduction if it has not yet been used in a payroll. If the deduction has been used in a payroll, the delete icon will not be visible.
• Click eitherYesorNo.