Dundee Group Blog

Sage Webcast On Tuesday For Compliance

Sage is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, May 10th at 2PM EST on how to have an HR system that meets all compliance requirements. This webinar is of intrest to both current Abra users and people who want to learn more about compliance. If you are already using Sage Abra, join us to learn best practices for compliance. Cost-Effective Compliance: What It Consists Of and How to Achieve It

 

Compliance -- the very thought of implementing an HR "compliance system" typically strikes terror in the minds of HR managers and IT professionals alike. Attend this live webcast and learn what an HR "best practice" compliance system consists of, its benefits to your HR organization, and how to achieve it cost-effectively.

May 10, 2011 11:00AM - 12:00PM Pacific Time 2:00PM - 3:00PM Eastern Time Click here to sign up

Upcoming Sage Webcast on HR Metrics

Sage is running a webcast next week on the topic of HR Metrics. The hour long live webcast will focus on providing HR professionals with the tools to effectively communicate with C-level executives.  You’ll learn how to speak the language of business through metrics for staffing, compensation, and benefits to effectively evaluate and improve performance within the HR function. For those of you who already use Sage Abra HRMS, this is a great chance for a refresher on the powerful functionality of the HR tools that you use every day.

Here's what Sage has to say about HR metrics:

A company is only as good as its human resources management but sometimes businesses and managers may not see it that way. Thanks to HR metrics however, human resources professionals can show their direct impact on a business and its profitability.

Having metrics in place is like finally using a scale when on a diet. Sure, it looks like you’ve lost weight and all of your efforts seem to be having an effect on your waist line, but there’s no way to be sure of the exact impact without a clear way to measure it. Hop on a scale and your weight loss goes from “I look great” to “I lost 10 pounds!”

Metrics for HR allow businesses to see tangible evidence of where staffing, compensation and benefit policies are working and where there is room for improvement. Areas that are often measured include turnover, open positions, employee engagement, cost per hire, cost per healthcare plan and customer feedback scores.

Human resource planning is essential to a business’s success, and metrics allow companies to have a more accurate way to measure HR success. Before, HR departments were mostly measured on how long it took to fill a vacant position, but today, we have so many more ways to weigh success.

There are three possible times you can participate in this webcast: March 29^th, at 2:00pm (EST); March 30th, at 1:00pm (EST); and March 31st, at 2:00pm (EST).

Follow this link to sign up for Measuring Up: Using Metrics to Meet and Exceed Expectations. 

 

Sage Abra SQL V.10.1

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, Sage North America released version 10.1 of Sage Abra SQL HRMS. Exciting new features include more advanced group security and smart phone integration, as well as more improvements to save your HR team valuable time.

Read the official press release.

Upgrading from Sage Abra 7.7x to 7.8x?

Although Sage recommends upgrading directly to the latest version, Sage Abra Suite Version 9.0, we understand that customers may decide to upgrade from version 7.7x to version 7.8x instead. Users of Abra Suite 7.7x installation upgraded to version 7.8x will need to reset employees who are "HIRE Act qualified" after the upgrade is performed and quarterly updates applied.

NOTE: Employees who are HIRE Act Qualified will need to have their "HIRE Act Indicator" reset to "Yes" within the Abra "Payroll Status" detail.

Run the Tax Withholding by Tax Code Report for the Tax Code EMP9 in version 7.7x. Print this report for use in step 7 below.

To install this update, please follow the directions below:

1.  Abra Suite currently on version 7.7x.

2.  Upgrade to version 7.8x.

3.  Apply 3rd Quarter update 7.85.

4.  Apply Legislative Update from within Abra Suite.

To reset Employee's HIRE act status:

5.  Log on to Abra Suite.

6.  From the Active Center, select Payroll, Detail and Payroll Status.

7.  In field "HIRE Act Qualified Employee" select Yes.

Boston Area Training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll

We are planning four full days of training for Sage Abra HR and Payroll in Boston this October. Registration is limited, so act quickly.

Managing your Employees with Sage Abra HR

Boston, MA October 19-20th. Course Fee: $1,035.
 Sage Abra has a brand new look and feel! This hands-on two day workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate users of Abra HR. Learn to use the brand new look and feel to help manage your employees with ease. From utilizing the new User Interface to intuitively access your employee information, run reports, or update your employee information, Sage Abra Suite HR is your partner in the ever changing world of HR. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits]

08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 14, 2010
Seats Left: 3
 
Abra Suite Payroll Basic

Boston, MA October 21-22nd. Course Fee: $1,035.     
 This hands-on workshop is designed for the beginning to intermediate Abra Payroll users. Students will quickly learn how to run payroll, set up audit trails, add and edit code tables, set up system security and much more. [Eligible for 16.0 CPE (NASBA) credits and 13.0 RCH (APA credits]
 
08:30 AM - 04:30 PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Registration End Date: October 15, 2010
Seats Left: 4
 

Sage Abra Suite V9 Delivers Mobile Workforce Collaboration and New Levels of Paperless Automation

We're very excited about the release of Sage Abra Suite V9. For customers that are still in older versions of Abra this is the time to upgrade. All customers should contact us to discuss their upgrade plans prior to doing the upgrade.

Sage Abra Suite v9 features dynamic information sharing capabilities and new HR Actions that help companies save time, money and paper while turning workforce data into a competitive advantage. 

"With dynamic information sharing capabilities, Sage Abra v9 enables business leaders to access, analyze and act upon workforce data from virtually any mobile system," said Johnny Laurent, vice president and general manager for Sage Abra. "Streamlining core HR processes frees up management and HR resources to address more strategic business objectives. Plus version 9 automates a host of paper-based HR processes, squarely addressing the needs of today's business customers to maximize resources, increase process efficiencies and cut material costs

Dynamic information sharing capabilities give executives, managers and staff secure access to real-time workforce data from remote laptops, notebooks, and later this summer iPads and other mobile devices. Data access is appropriately filtered for individual roles within the organization with customizable "views" addressing specific executive, director or supervisor needs. Unique URLs then link the views to a variety of applications such as spreadsheet models, web pages and management dashboards. Dynamic information sharing capabilities turn workforce data into a true, competitive advantage by enabling users to leverage up-to-the-moment information while significantly streamlining processes.

Sage Abra v9 provides sample templates, such as merit pay budgeting and contact lists, for Excel, SharePoint and other applications, which help HR and non-HR users create the specific information sharing documents they need. Once created, accessed documents are automatically updated through Sage Abra Employee Self Service, freeing up valuable time for HR and executives to address strategic business objectives

HR Actions within Sage Abra v9 replaces paper-based HR processes, such as status changes, new hires, and performance management, with online, Web-based workflow. HR Actions improves HR service delivery while cutting costs and provides extended benefits and security by:

• Enforcing business rules by routing and approving personnel change requests
• Providing secure electronic approval signatures from any PC with a web browser
• Providing detailed audit trails of any edits made during the routing and approval process
• Providing real-time status of each transaction from request/submission through approval and administration
• Supporting file attachments to web forms, for example a scanned copy of I-9 and W-4 attached to a new hire form

Posted by: Tim Ross
 

Be Part of the Solution - Learn to Eliminate Hidden HR Costs

Sage is offering the following webinar on July 14th at 11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern. I've attended this presentation in the past. If you are serious about finding ways to eliminate costs this is a great place to start.

Be Part of the Solution - Learn to Eliminate Hidden HR Costs

In today's economy, HR can be perceived as either a cost center or as contributing to driving down operating expenses. Attend this webcast to learn how to identify common hidden costs buried in your HR processes. Learn how to quantify the costs, calculate the savings and determine the return on investment for process improvement and automation. Sound complicated? It's not. At the end of the webcast, you will receive a self-assessment tool that does the math for you

Register here:  http://bit.ly/6I80p3

Posted by: Tim Ross

Passwords in Sage Abra Workforce Connections

AWC 7.8 handles the reset password process differently than previous versions.

The Abra Workforce Connections Logon page includes a link to the new Change or Reset Password page, which allows employees to change or reset their password. When an employee uses this page, Abra Workforce Connections confirms the change by sending an e mail message to the employee. The password is no longer included in the e mail message. A reset will not change the password to 'newuser'. The user must go to the Change or Reset Password page and enter a new password. This page replaces the Request Logon Information page.

Note: When the employee clicks on the change or reset password link, the validation fields will depend on Initial Logon Fields selected in the Logon Setup in AWC

Posted by: Tim Ross

Proper Setup of the Tax Withholdings Panel in Sage Abra Payroll

How do you setup an employee to have no Federal Income Tax or State Income Tax withheld? Can you set an employee to have a flat amount withheld in each check? In this post we'll examine how to do this. Abra has two settings in the exemption count field which can assist with this.

If you want Abra Payroll to accumulate wages for the employee, but not withhold any taxes, enter 99 in this field and select No in the Exempt field. (This is a special code you should use only for this situation.)

If you want Abra Payroll to accumulate wages for the employee and only withhold supplemental taxes enter 98 in this field and select No in the Exempt Field. (This is a special code you should use only for this situation.)

You can also combine the Extra Tax field to give you flat amounts.

Example: an employee needs to have $600 per pay period withheld. First set their exemptions to 98 or 99 as noted above. Next, enter 600 in the Extra Amount field. Select 'Absolute' for Extra Tax Type field. The 98/99 setting will ignore the tax table and withhold $0. The extra amount is added, $0+$600, and $600 will be withheld each pay period.

If you are pay a Bonus Earning taxed at Supplemental Tax Rates you will probably want to use 98 exemptions.

Example: An employee is setup to have $200 per pay period withheld. They are also receiving a $500 bonus earning this period. Your bonus earning is set to use the Supplemental Tax Rates.

If the employee is set at 99 exemptions, their regular check will have $200 Federal Income Tax withheld. Their bonus check will have $0, since the $200 amount was withheld in the first check.

If the employee is set at 98 exemptions, their regular check will have $200 Federal Income Tax withheld. Their bonus check will have $125 Federal Income Tax withheld ($500 * 25% Supplemental Federal Tax Rate).

Disclaimer: the purpose of this post is to educate you on how Sage Abra Payroll works. We are not giving tax advice. Please consult a tax professional if you have questions on what is allowed by State and Federal law.

Posted by: Tim Ross

Importing Hours into Sage Abra Payroll with Time & Attendance Software

Dundee Group's customers have a number of different Time & Attendance solutions that they use with their Sage Abra Payroll systems. Some they love and some not so much. Some systems have been built from the ground up to work with Abra and others are designed to work with a variety of payroll systems.

Without an automated Time & Attendance system, payroll staff key hours into Abra using 'Create Auto Time Sheet' or 'Enter/Update Time Sheet'. Both of these processes put records in the table PrPost. The goal of a Time & Attendance system is put those records in automatically with a Payroll Import. These hours are visible in the 'Time Sheet' tab when you run 'Edit/Update Time Sheet' for your payrgroup.

If your system has table-to-table integration with Abra, then it will write your hours directly to the PrPost table. Typically your Time & Attendance software has a process that you will run to write the records directly to Abra. Since the records are added outside of the Abra User Interface, you will need to Reform Indexes when you log into Abra to see your hours in Abra. (If you don't see any hours on the 'Time Sheet' tab you've forgotten this step!)

Other systems will create an import file which can be brought into Abra using an interface which converts the text file into FoxPro records. In this case the process is to 1) create the export file in the Time & Attendance software and then 2) convert and import the hours with your interface. An interface written to run inside of Abra will do your reindexing for you.

Some earnings are paid in dollars rather than hours such as stipends or bonuses. These earnings are visible in Abra on the 'Other Earnings' tab of 'Edit/Update Time Sheet'. If you plan to track these in your Time & Attendance system then you will need to have it update the table PrEarn. If the earning doesn't exist on the employees Earnings panel your interface should create it.

If you don't have an automated Time & Attendance system, we suggest you contact us to learn how Time & Attendance systems can improve your bottom line. If you have an existing Time & Attendance system, Dundee Group can write an interface for Sage Abra Payroll.

Posted by: Tim Ross