Making the mve frm Sage Abra Suite (FxPr) t Sage HRMS (SQL) 5272 S. LEWIS, SUITE 100 TULSA, OK 74105 918.496.1600 TOLL FREE: 877.496.1600
Making the mve frm Sage Abra Suite (FxPr) t Sage HRMS (SQL) As the publisher f sme f the leading ERP and HRMS sftware n the market tday, Sage Sftware has always develped and enhanced prducts per custmer demand. Frm the HRMS perspective, they realized sme time ag that a new ffering f Abra Suite was needed t stay current with technlgy and cmpetitive in the marketplace. A little ver five years ag, Sage intrduced a SQL versin t the HRMS family f prducts. Althugh it met the needs f sme clients, there were sme pretty extensive gaps in functinality between Sage Abra Suite and Sage HRMS. Each new release addressed sme f these issues, and ver the years, specifically with the latest Sage HRMS 2012 prduct, the vast majrity f these gaps have been clsed. CS3 Technlgy is cnfident that switching t Sage HRMS is the right decisin fr frward thinking rganizatins f all sizes. While dealing with clients, CS3 s cnsultants are getting asked mre and mre Shuld I lk at Sage HRMS? In mst cases, the answer is YES. Frm the Human Resurces perspective, very little will change. The HR mdule is 95-98% the same in bth prducts, s n additinal training will be needed; hwever the Payrll mdule is cmpletely different. We recmmend a cmplete evaluatin f the Sage HRMS prduct in rder t make an infrmed decisin abut making a change. Here are a few f the tp reasns t make the mve: Nte: Sage HRMS (SQL) will be referred t as Sage HRMS and Abra Suite (FxPr) will be referred t as Abra Suite. N Trial/Final Payrll With Abra Suite, there is a Trial Payrll prcess t calculate the checks. This can be run as many times as needed. Once yu are happy with the checks, yu then run a Final Payrll. After Final Payrll, checks and direct depsit advices are printed. In Sage HRMS there is a Calculate Payrll prcess t calculate the checks that can be run as many times as yu need. Once yu are happy with hw the checks lk, yu are ready t Print/Pst Checks and Direct Depsit Advices. ACH/EFT file fr ne check In Abra Suite when yu run a manual r On-Demand Check, yu d nt have the ability t create an ACH r Direct Depsit file fr just that ne check. It is pssible t run a full payrll, but that can be challenging t eliminate everyne else and nly prcess ne persn in a full payrll. In Sage HRMS, yu can run the Calculate Payrll prcess n ne emplyee r selectin f emplyees. This will take yu thrugh the whle payrll prcess, including the ability t create and EFT/ACH file fr the payrll. Future dated timecards In Abra Suite, nce the payrll is cmplete any Time Sheets are cleared ut. In Sage HRMS, yu can enter Time Cards fr any Pay Perid Date. Fr example, if yu have a sign n bnus after an emplyee cmpletes ne year f service, yu culd g ahead and create the Page 1
Making the mve frm Sage Abra Suite (FxPr) t Sage HRMS (SQL) Time Card during the hire prcess and date it in the future and it will be there when it cmes time t pay the emplyee. If the emplyee terminates befre that date the Time Card will remain, but the system will nt pay terminated emplyees. Direct depsit ptin f percentage in additin t a flat amunt In Abra Suite, direct depsits can be fr a flat amunt nly. In Sage HRMS, direct depsits can be fr a flat amunt, a percentage f net pay, r a percentage f grss pay. Direct depsit fr a perid f time In Abra Suite, direct depsits entered in with a Depsit type are active t prcess. In Sage HRMS, direct depsits can be made active fr a date range. N Optimize and Refrm In Abra Suite, yu shuld run the Optimize Database and Refrm Indexes prcess at least every payrll. These are FxPr functins yu must run t keep the database healthy. Back-ups Balancing In Sage HRMS, there is nt a similar prcess. SQL keeps its databases healthy in ther ways behind the scenes. In Abra Suite, yu shuld run the backup befre certain payrll prcesses and befre Mass Updates and ther types f prcesses are cmpleted. In Sage HRMS, there is n similar prcess. SQL can be setup t make transactin backups that can be scheduled by the database administratr. In Abra Suite, if there are any balancing prblems it can invlve up t 9 files that might need t be fixed. Mst clients need help fixing the tables. In Sage HRMS if yu have balancing issues, there are very few tables that will need t be fixed. Yu can fix just abut anything using a prcess called Transactin Histry where yu can enter adjustments and fixes. N Trial/Final Quarter Clse In Abra Suite, there is a Trial Quarter Clse prcess t calculate the quarter end files. Yu can run the Trial Quarter End as many times as yu need. Once yu are happy with the quarter numbers yu then run a Final Quarter Clse. Final Quarter End must be dne befre yu can print W2s r 941s. In Sage HRMS, at quarter end yu nly run the reprts yu need fr the quarter. Pre-ntes fr Direct Depsits In Abra Suite, yu indicate n the emplyee s Direct Depsit screen if the accunt shuld be pre-nted. The pre-nte will be included in yur next ACH file as lng as the Pre-Nte indicatr is n fr that accunt. Once the pre-nte is apprved by the bank r befre the next payrll, yu need t change the pre-nte flag t Depsit t turn n ACH fr that accunt. Page 2
Making the mve frm Sage Abra Suite (FxPr) t Sage HRMS (SQL) Open Payrll In Sage HRMS, yu enter the accunt infrmatin n the emplyee s EFT screen alng with the date range the accunt is valid. At any time (nt just during payrll), yu can create a Pre-Nte file frm the EFT screen fr everyne r fr a select grup f emplyees. In Abra Suite, when it is time t start a payrll yu shuld make sure everyne is ut f Abra Suite t get a gd backup, run Optimize and Refrm befre yu start. In Sage HRMS when it is time t start payrll, yu run the Open Payrll prcess. This will prduce a reprt f all pay and benefit changes that affect payrll fr yur review. S yu may think All f that sunds great, but what are the tp cncerns abut mving t Sage HRMS (SQL) at this time?: If yu have had custm prgramming dne, yu will want t determine if it is tied t HR r Payrll tables. If HR, it might be pssible t pint the custm prgram t the SQL HR tables. If it is Payrll, it will need t be rewritten and pssibly with a different tl depending n what was used befre. In sme instances, the functinality in Sage HRMS might eliminate the need fr a custmizatin altgether. If yu have 3 rd party tls, yu will want t be sure there is an equivalent tl fr Sage HRMS if still needed. Change can be difficult fr sme cmpanies. Sme cmmn feedback we hear frm clients that have already made the transitin t Sage HRMS is: In Sage HRMS, the lk f the Payrll reprts are quite different and sme have said they are nt as pretty as the Abra Suite versin. In Sage Emplyee Self Service (ESS) yu n lnger have access t W2s and W4s. If yu desire t have W2s available nline there is an annual subscriptin cst t make them available t yur emplyees nline. In Sage HRMS, yu n lnger have t create files fr W2 s t Scial Security as well as unemplyment returns. Instead yu will use an annual subscriptin service, Sage Payrll Tax Frms and efiling by Aatrix. The gd news is it is easy t use and saves yu time by eliminating the need t create reprts manually. Reprts are autmatically cmpleted, reviewed, and edited n screen, then e-filed in minutes fr prcessing. This service insures 100% cmpliance by prviding a guaranteed delivery methd and eliminates many filing expenses assciated with printing and mailing activities. Yu can rest assured knwing yur files are prtected using multiple levels f security. W2 prcessing fr very large clients can be a slwer prcess than in Sage Abra Suite. There is, hwever, a very nice screen that allws yu t make necessary changes t the W2s in an Excel like grid that make changes much easier t cmplete. If yu add a new Organizatin Level that is a cmpnent f the GL, there are up t seven places yu need t g t set up that new level, In Abra Suite, it is changed in ne place. Fr a manual r On Demand Check in Sage HRMS, yu must run thrugh a full payrll cycle rather than the ne step in Abra Suite. As nted abve, yu Page 3
Making the mve frm Sage Abra Suite (FxPr) t Sage HRMS (SQL) can create an EFT/ACH file fr a single check in Sage HRMS t expedite this prcess. The Grss Up calculatr functin is nt available in the Sage HRMS Payrll mdule hwever; there are many FREE nline tls t assist with these calculatins. Page 4