WFM UK: UI Refresh: Comparing Rota Reports to Payroll

Overview

This article explains why the Rota Analysis reports, including the Analysis and Monthly Wage Cost Analysis report, can vary from the reports run in Payroll on completion of a pay run.
The Monthly Wage Cost report is not designed to reconcile with payroll, but to give an estimation of what the cost may be at the end of the month and to give users a wage target to work towards.

There are several reasons why the reports will not match, and how a portal is configured will determine how close the figures in the reports are.

Analysis & Monthly Wage Cost Analysis

What is included in a customer’s Rota Wage Cost is determined within the Wage Function setting. A business can choose which pay elements are included and which are displayed. The wage cost elements can also be renamed as appropriate. It is important to ensure as many costs as possible are included, including tronc, holiday and any accruals, to narrow the gap between the rota and payroll reports. Other elements to consider including are fixed costs, pension costs, and statutory sick pay.

• Go to Rotas > Administration > Wage Function Setting

 

Payroll Reports

Payroll reports show what has actually been paid out to the employees. 
Example reports include:

• Payroll Preview – run with Payment Elements and Deduction selected for a breakdown of payroll costs
• Absences CSP Report & Absences SSP Report
• Payroll Deductions & Attachments

The following are examples of entries in the payroll module that are not accounted for in the rota module:

• Additional payments made in the payroll module
• Deductions taken from employees, e.g. Advances, Loans, Live-in deductions
• Manual Salary or Hours adjustments in the payroll Module.

Considerations 

The following should be checked to ensure the Rota Wage Cost is as accurate as possible.

• Ensure that all employees being paid through the payroll from the locations are seen on the rota, and that their costs are going through
• Ensure all job titles are included in the Rota Wage Cost. This can be checked in Rotas > Administration > Configure Location > select location
• Scroll down to the 'Salaried Job Titles Included in Rota' section, use the yellow arrow drop-down and select Edit Job Title Salary

• Check the Global Setting to either show the salaried cost split over 7 days or attributed to the scheduled days. If the latter, the salaried employees must be scheduled
• Go to Rotas > Administration > Global Settings

If the Monthly Wage Cost Analysis report is run for dates within a payroll period that overlaps two pay periods - such as when the 1st falls on a Friday - costs may be split. In this case, an employee working Monday to Friday will have their weekly costs fall into the previous pay period, not the new one.

 

Reasons for a Variance

In addition to entries made in the Payroll Module, the following reasons may explain why the Rota reports do not match payroll.
 

Employers National Insurance 

Employers National Insurance (ERNI) figures within the rota module are only an estimated amount. The rotas calculate NI on a weekly basis for employees earning above the threshold. However, ERNI is calculated on the amount the employee has earned within that pay period.  

A variance will occur if:

• A monthly payroll is run
• The employee’s hours vary week to week

Example

A business runs a four-weekly payroll. An employee earns £100 in both week 1 and 2 and therefore falls below the threshold for NI. In both weeks 3 & 4, the employee earns £250. As the employee’s earnings are above the threshold, NI is calculated based on one week. 

However, the correct amount of ERNI is calculated on the total earnings for the pay period: £700. 
ERNI would be £1.91 for a 4-weekly payroll and £3.96 for a monthly payroll.

SSP

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) entered in the rota module is only an estimate. The value for one day’s SSP is defined within the wage function setting to allow the cost of a sick day to be included in the rota wage cost. However, SSP is paid as a weekly amount in payroll. Please note, SSP is no longer claimed back from HMRC.

SMP, SAP, SPP, ShPP

These payments are entered into Payroll. For these to be included in the Rota Wage Cost, the relevant box will need to be ticked in the Wage Function setting to attribute an estimated cost.

Final Holiday Pay

Final holiday pay is not calculated in the Rota module but will be included within that pay run.

Holiday Accrual

If a holiday accrual has been set up in the Wage Function setting, the rota report will not match the actual payroll. It is recommended that the exact holiday cost be displayed on the Analysis page for reporting only.

Salaried Employees

An employee’s annual salary is divided by 12 for payroll, but in the rota module, the annual salary is divided by 52 to give a weekly cost rate.

An employee earns £20,000     
Divided by 52 = 384.62. Daily rate £54.86
Divided by 12 = 1666.67. Daily rate £55.55

Pension Contributions

Pension contributions are also included in payroll, and the amount of contribution is determined by the Payroll Payment types. The rota wage cost can include an estimate based on the setup in the Wage Function setting, but it will not be exact. To include an allowance for Employer’s Pension Contribution, Factor X (other accrual) can be set up within each location and reported on in the Analysis reports.

Agency Costs & Fixed Costs

These costs can be included in the rota wage cost to account for payments that are not being made through payroll.
This would again cause a variance between the two reports.