How to Set-Up Human Resources Accruals in Dynamics GP

Are you utilizing Payroll and Human Resources through Microsoft Dynamics GP?  Are you still using Payroll Vacation/Sick time for recording available hours?  It is time to get away from this functionality and use Human Resources to its fullest capabilities.

First, go to Microsoft Dynamics GP Button | Tools | Setup | Human Resources | Attendance | Setup

Choose Accrue Type of Human Resources.  This will enable the options below.  If you select to Allow entry of attendance type and reason in Payroll, a window will open in the Payroll Transaction Entry when entering a Pay Code related to Vacation/Sick/Holiday/etc. and prompt you to enter a Reason and Type.

Next, set the Current Year and Last Day Accrued.  If you are using the Payroll Accrue option currently, enter the date of the last time the accrual process ran.  If you are just starting out with accruals it is best to enter the last Payroll Check Date, this will start to accrue going forward.  After the accrue process is completed the date entered in the Accrue Attendance window will populate in the Setup Window.

Update the Transaction Entry Information with the Number of Days in a working week, Number of hours in a working day, and the Next Transaction Number.  If this is the first time using Human Resources, enter Next Number of 1.

If you are going to setup a Vacation Calendar, you will want to mark Update Vacation Calendar. The Options button holds the Reasons and Types for Payroll Transactions.

Now that you have enabled Human Resources Attendance, go to the Accrual Setup Window:
Microsoft Dynamics GP Button | Tools | Setup | Human Resources | Attendance | Accrual

This window determines the rate that benefit time (vacation/sick) is earned.

You can accrue by the following options:

Post Once – Will Post only one time, usually for an available balance to post for the year.  This schedule does not accrue over time.

Interval – Accrues by a certain number of days, For example: Every 90 days

Hours/Yr – Accrues by hours worked in a year

Pay Period – Accrues every Pay Period set by Accrual Period

Depending on the Accrual Type chosen, enables the options below the selection.  If Hour/Yr is selected the Based on Time Codes options appear:

Repeat these steps for all Accrual Types in Dynamics GP.

Once, Accruals are setup, navigate to the Time Code Setup window:
Microsoft Dynamics GP Button | Tools | Setup | Human Resources | Attendance | Time Code

Create Time Code IDs that link to the Pay Code in Payroll.  Such as Sick, Vacation, and Holiday.  Select the Time Type and the Accrual Period for how often this code accrues.  If the Time Type is a Benefit, you will select a Default Accrual Schedule that you will setup after this window. Then select the Linked Pay Code.  If you mark Warn When Available Time Falls Below Zero, you will see warnings on your Payroll Batch Build report that states the Pay Code hours are below zero.  Continue to setup codes for all time that to accrue.

Next, you need to setup the Accrual Schedules, navigate to:

Microsoft Dynamics GP Button | Tools | Setup | Human Resources | Attendance | Accrual Schedules

Within this window, setup the schedule related to each Accrual that is setup in the Accrual Setup window.  Enter a Start and End date that applies to this particular accrual.  On the line, select the Accrual and a prompt will tell you to enter the Seniority.

Remember back to the main Attendance Setup window where Months or Days were selected for Seniority?  Depending on the selection, this field drives when the accrual schedule will be active for the employee.  For example, if you enter 0 for seniority, the employee starts accruing right away.  If you enter the number 3, the employee will start accruing at 3 Months or Days depending on the option chosen in the setup.  You can have multiple lines within this window if the schedule should accrue more as the seniority of the employee increases.

Continue to setup accrual schedules for all accruals.

If you are on Dynamics GP 2015 or newer, then you will see another setup window for Accrual Periods:

Microsoft Dynamics GP Button | Tools | Setup | Human Resources | Attendance | Accrual Periods

Within this window you will need to setup your company’s current period structure, set this up for the current year and the next year.  Make sure to click and setup for all buttons within the window: Weekly, Biweekly, Semimonthly, etc.  At the end of the calendar year, make sure to setup the next year.  The checkmarks in each weekly/monthly setup window indicate that those particular dates have already accrued.  If the box is not marked, that date range has not accrued.

The last and final setup is to setup the individual employees.  Navigate to:

Cards | Human Resources | Employee Attendance | Maintenance

Within this window, you will assign each employee the Time Codes and Accrual Schedule related.  When the Time Code is selected the Accrual Schedule will default based on what is set on the setup.

If you need to enter Hours Available as the balance current for the employee and the options are grayed out, navigate to Microsoft Dynamics GP | Tools | Setup | System | Human Resources Preferences and mark ‘Edit Attendance Maintenance and Earnings History’.  This will allow you to key in the Hours Available within the above window.  Complete the setup for ALL employees.

Microsoft Dynamics GP is now setup to utilize Human Resources Accruals!  It may seem like a lengthy process but once everything is setup, you will have a more efficient way of monitoring the time used by your employees.  If you have any additional questions about Microsoft Dynamics GP, please let us know by filling out the contact form below.