Writing Bonus Checks

It is the time of the year when we start gearing up for the holidays and year end; either one of which may entail writing bonus checks. ESC Accounting makes it easy to enter the bonuses and then print all checks for distribution or use the existing direct deposit.

Setup

Before you begin, make sure you have a Bonus Wage Item and it is tied to the employees for which you are writing bonus checks. To set up a Bonus Wage Item go to Employees → Wage Items → Add New. Set it up similar to the screen shots below.

To tie the Bonus Wage Item to an employee, go to Employees → Enter Employees, choose the desired employee and click Edit. Choose the Payroll tab and add the Bonus Wage Item to their Wage item list.

Printing Paper Checks

To print paper checks, go to Employees → Write Manual Paycheck. Use the Bonus Wage Item and enter the amount of the bonus in the Rate field. Delete any additions and deductions that you do not want applied to this check by highlighting the item and pressing the delete key.

Creating Direct Deposit Checks

If you use direct deposited, the same procedure is followed but this time from the Process Payroll Checks screen instead of manual payroll. Go to Employees → Process Payroll Checks, choose the employee and click Open.

Use the Bonus Wage Item and enter the amount of the bonus in the Rate field. Delete any additions and deductions that you do not want applied to this check by highlighting the item and pressing the delete key. Remember to generate the checks before you exit the Process Payroll screen because anything entered and not generated will be lost.

That is all there is to creating bonus checks. Best of all, now that you have this procedure in place you can use it at any point in the future with no additional setup.

Written by Martha Wade
Featured in December 2013 Newsletter