Payroll Services

Agency Entered Paycheck Adjustment Procedures

• A paycheck adjustment is where a correction should be processed to a paycheck created for an employee for a particular pay period.
• A paycheck adjustment does not stop the original paycheck from being issued and sent to the employee.
• The adjustment process will create either an additional check to the employee for additional hours or refund of taxes or deductions, or it will create an arrearage (ADJ earnings) for an overpayment of hours reported or increased taxes or deductions.
• An Agency Entered Adjustment is the transaction an agency processes on-line by requesting the adjustment on the Reverse/Adjust Paychecks page. A Centrally Entered Adjustment is processed by the Division of Accounts and Reports Payroll Services Team when the agency submits a completed form DA-180, Paycheck Reversal/Adjustment/Supplemental. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm. 

• There are some instances where an agency cannot process an On-line Adjustment to a paycheck. These include:

1. Adjustments for previously adjusted checks.
2. Paychecks generated prior to version 8.0.
3. Refunds for savings bond account balances when an employee terminates participation.
4. Adjustments to pay periods when a paycheck was not issued, i.e.: personal reimbursements for Group Health Insurance when on leave without pay.
5. Adjustment to paychecks with inactivated earnings codes.
6. Paychecks with ADV earnings.
7. Paychecks with garnishment deductions.
8. Changes in Job Data, i.e.: step increases, promotions, department ID changes.
9. "Supplementals" after the 3 off-cycles associated with a pay period.
• You cannot process adjustments for changes in Job Data such as late step increases or late promotions. Additional wages owed to the employee for a change in rate of pay should be calculated and added to the next on-cycle paycheck using the earnings code "PRA". Any overpayment of wages owed by the employee for a change in rate of pay should be calculated and added to the time sheet with the earnings code "PRA" and a negative dollar amount.
• If a Job Data change was made for the effective date of Leave of Absence, Termination, or Retirement, you cannot process an adjustment to add hours to or delete hours from the paycheck. A change in earnings from changing effective dates in Job Data must be processed by the Division of Accounts and Reports Payroll Services Team by submitting a completed form DA-180, Paycheck Reversal/Adjustment/Supplemental. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.
• You can process only one adjustment to an on-cycle paycheck or supplemental paycheck. If more corrections are needed for that pay period, the Division of Accounts and Reports Payroll Services Team must process the additional transaction. The agency must submit a completed form DA-180, Paycheck Reversal/Adjustment/Supplemental. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.
• You cannot process both a supplemental and an adjustment for the same employee in the same off-cycle.
• You cannot process more than one adjustment for a specific employee in one off-cycle. If multiple pay periods are to be adjusted for the same employee, you will need to process each pay period in a separate off-cycle run.
• Adjustments for deduction arrearages or refunds that cover multiple pay periods may be sent to the Division of Accounts and Reports Payroll Services Team for processing.
• A paycheck adjustment does not stop the original funding charges. Funding changes should be made by journal voucher on the SOKI system.
• The pay group for an off-cycle adjustment will begin with "K" and the pay period end date showing on the list box of employee paychecks will be the last confirmed pay period end date. This will not necessarily be the pay period being adjusted.

Adjustment Request Procedures

1. Agency identifies that a paycheck should be adjusted, and that the agency can process the adjustment. See above list for transactions that cannot be processed by agencies. Review Common Errors listed below in order to avoid some of the most recurrent problems with adjustments.
2. Find the Pay Period End Date, Paycheck number, and the Paycheck Issue Date that requires the adjustment.
3. If the adjustment is for an incorrect deduction (refund or arrearage), verify that the data has been corrected in SHARP prior to requesting the adjustment.
4. Verify that the employee has not had a tax data change since the original paycheck was processed.
   • If there was a tax data change, you will need to add a new row to set up taxes as they were when the original check processed. Be sure to change the tax data back after the adjustment processes.
   • Failure to check and change tax data may result in additional federal and state withholding taxes to be refunded or charged. The Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Services team will not process a Centrally Entered Adjustment to correct withholding tax differences.
5. Go to Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing USA > Reverse/Adjust Paychecks.
6. Enter the run control "ADJ-ALL" and click on search. (You may need to Add A New Value if that run control does not yet exist for your operator ID.)
   • The three boxes under the heading "Process Request Parameter(s)" should default the correct values unless this is your first time on this page under this run control. The values should be:
     • Company: "SOK"
     • Pay Group: either "KAA" for the first off-cycle of a pay period, "KAB" for the second off-cycle of a pay period, or "KAC" for the third off-cycle of a pay period.
     • Pay Period End Date: The most recently confirmed on-cycle pay period end date. This date will not necessarily be the pay period end date of the paycheck being reversed or adjusted.
7. Under "Selection Criteria" enter the paycheck number and issue date of the paycheck to be adjusted. Tab out of the issue date field and the rest of the information will default to the page. Verify that the information such as employee ID, name, and net pay is correct. If not correct, exit out of the page without saving the page and find the correct information.
• To exit this page without saving, you can either click on the Back arrow button in the upper left hand corner of the page, or you can click on a different menu item on the left hand side of the page). You will get a message stating that you are exiting the panel with unsaved data. Click on the Cancel button.
8. The "Reversal/Adjustment" radio button at the bottom of the page should already be clicked on. If not, you will need to click that button.
9. Do not make any changes to the Account Period Option section.
10. Do not click on Run.
11. Click on the Save button.
12. If another paycheck is to be adjusted or reversed in the same off-cycle, click on the Add Row (+) button to add a new row to enter the next paycheck information. DO NOT write over any paycheck number or you will lose the prior request.
13. To delete an adjustment request,
    • And it is not your only reversal/adjustment request:
      • Click on the Delete Row (-) button of the row that should be deleted.
      • Click on "Save".
    • And it is your only request for reversal/adjustment:
      • Click on "Delete Current Reversal/Adjustment" at the bottom of the page.
      • Click on "Save".
14. If the adjustment is for a deduction change, you do not have to go to the time sheet. The adjustment request is complete at this point.
15. If time is to be adjusted see Time Sheet Adjustment instructions below.
16. The adjustment will process in the next off-cycle run. Normally, the off-cycles are run Monday and Wednesday of the week of payday, and Monday of the following week.

Time Sheet Adjustment

1. Go to Time and Leave > Adjust Employee Timesheet.
2. Enter the Pay Period End Date and the Employee ID Number and click on "Search".
   • The "Pay Affecting" box in the upper right hand corner of the page should already be clicked on.
     • If the box is not clicked on, verify that the time sheet is for the correct pay period end date. If not the correct pay period, click on "Return to Search" at the bottom of the page and enter the correct information.
     • If the box is not clicked on, and the pay period is correct, go back to Paycheck Reversal/Adjustment (see step 5 under Adjustment Request Procedures) and verify that the correct paycheck number was entered. After entering the correct paycheck, pull up the time sheet again and verify that the "Pay Affecting" box is now checked on.
3. The original earnings codes and hours are grayed out. You will not be able to change those rows. Any corrections will be made by adding rows and adding or subtracting hours.
4. Click on the Add Row (+) button next to an earnings row to add a new row for entry. Enter the correct earnings code and hours.
   • To subtract hours enter the earnings code and negative hours (or negative dollar amount or both, if appropriate) in the appropriate box.
     • For example, if the employee was paid for 64 REG hours and it should be 56 REG hours, add a REG row that has negative 8 hours on it.
   • To add hours, enter the earnings code and positive hours (or dollar amount or both, if appropriate) in the appropriate box.
• For example, if the employee was paid for 56 REG and it should be 64 REG, add a REG row with 8 hours on it.
• If there was a day without pay and it should be leave time taken, add a row and put in the appropriate earnings code (VAC, SCK, VAE, SCE, etc.) and positive hours. (For exempt employees, do not forget to back out the time from the LWP earnings code as well).
5. After verifying that the hours and earnings codes are now correct, save the page.
6. You should receive the message "This is a Pay Affecting Adjustment and a paycheck will be created."
   • If the employee was overpaid originally, the adjustment will still create a new paycheck. It will be a zero net paycheck.
   • If you receive the message "This is a Non-Pay Affecting Adjustment and no paycheck will be created", cancel out of the page without saving. Then, return to Reverse/Adjust Paycheck and enter the paycheck number and issue date of the check to be adjusted (starting from step 5 in Adjustment Request Procedures). To exit this page without saving (cancel out of the page), you can:
     • Click on the Back arrow button in the upper left-hand corner of the page. You will get a message stating that you are exiting the panel with unsaved data. Click on the Cancel button.
     • Click on another Main Menu item.  You will get a message stating that you are exiting the panel with unsaved data. Click on the Cancel button.
     • Click on "Return to Search" at the bottom of the page. You will receive a message "Would you like to save before leaving?" Click on "No".

7. Click on "OK"

After The Off-Cycle Run

1. Agency should check the PAY002, Paycheck Register, after the off-cycle to verify that the adjustment was processed correctly. A more complete picture (including the employer charges) will be found on-line in SHARP in Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing USA > Produce Payroll > Review Paychecks, or by checking the KPAYWAGE.
   • Hint: To more quickly pull up the adjustment in SHARP, enter the last confirmed pay period end date (the pay period that was on the Reverse/Adjust Paychecks page) and the employee ID number. This will pull up a shorter list of paychecks: the on-cycle paycheck and the off-cycle adjustment(s) or supplemental(s) that were run for that pay period.
2. If the adjustment did not process:
   • Look for Payroll Error Messages
     • Go to Payroll for North America > Payroll Processing USA > Review Processing Messages > Review Payroll Error Messages.
     • Enter the Employee ID number and click on "Search"
     • Be sure to check for all error messages on this page.
     • Any errors will need to be corrected and the adjustment must be requested again in Reverse/Adjust Paychecks.
     • If you receive "No records found", look for Time Entry Errors.
   • Look for Time Entry Errors
     • Go to Time and Leave > Time Entry Errors.
     • Enter the Employee ID number and click on "Search".
     • Be sure to check for all error messages on this page.
     • If there are time entry errors, you will need to request the adjustment again in Reverse/Adjust Paychecks, and correct the time sheet again.
     • If you receive "No records found" and you are certain that the adjustment did not process, contact the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Services Team for assistance.
   • Check the Common Errors listing below.
3. If the adjustment processed, but not as expected, check the common errors section below. If you cannot determine why the adjustment did not process as expected, contact the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Services Team at 785-296-2311 for assistance.
4. If a large arrearage amount needs to be collected over more than one pay period, the agency needs to follow the procedures outlined for the Maximum Arrears Payback. Instructions for entering a Maximum Arrears Payback can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/payback.htm.

Common Errors

No adjustment processed:

• Use guidelines listed above to search for error messages.

• Shared Leave (Time Entry Errors):

• To process a shared leave adjustment, the current vacation and sick leave balances must be zero. This is true even if the pay period being adjusted is the most current on-cycle paycheck. The employee would have new leave balances as a result of the on-cycle process. It can also result from an off-cycle adjustment processed in between the on-cycle confirmed payroll and the second or third off-cycle for that pay period end date.
• Contact the Division of Personnel Services to have the current vacation and sick leave balances changed to zero.
• Request the adjustment again in the Reverse/Adjust Paychecks page.
• After the adjustment processes, contact the Division of Personnel Services to add back the leave balances that were previously deleted.

• Unable to adjust paycheck (Payroll Error Messages)

• There are certain paychecks that cannot be adjusted by the agency. See page one of these Instructions for a complete list.
• These adjustments must be processed centrally by the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Services Team. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.
• Most common checks that error out are:
• Checks with ADV earnings codes.
• Checks created prior to version 8.0 of SHaRP.
• Checks with inactivated earnings codes.

Adjustment not processed as expected:

• Error in changes to time sheet:

• Most commonly, the order of the requests was reversed. The time sheet was changed, and then the request was made in Reverse/Adjust Paychecks. You can tell if this is the case by pulling up the time sheet in Time and Leave > Adjust Employee Timesheet. There are indicators to the left of each earnings code. "N" is for the on-cycle rows, "L" for Leave adjustment rows, and "Y" for pay-affecting adjustment rows. Any row with an "L" indicator will not be picked up in a pay-affecting adjustment.
• The request for an adjustment was made, but the time sheet did not get changed. Pull up the time sheet in Time and Leave > Adjust Employee Timesheet. There would be no rows with a "Y" indicator.
• The adjustment was needed because of a change of effective date in Job Data for a hire, transfer, termination, start of Leave of Absence or end of Leave of Absence. As listed on page one, these cannot be processed with an Agency Entered Adjustment. These adjustments must be processed centrally by the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Services Team. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.

• No change between original check and adjustment check for deduction changes

• The original check could have already had the correct deduction so that an adjustment was not actually necessary. Verify the paycheck deductions.

• In addition to the expected deduction change, another deduction or tax withholding could have changed. Compare the original check to the adjustment check to find all differences.

• If the other deduction change should not have processed, you will need to submit an adjustment to the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Section for processing. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.
• The other difference could be due to a change in the tax withholdings; for example the employee changed from Single with 1 exemption to Married with 2 exemptions. Note: The Division of Accounts and Reports does not process adjustments for withholding tax differences only.
• Another tax change can occur when the tax tables have been changed by the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of Revenue in between when the original check was processed and when the adjustment is processed.
• The change in deduction(s) was not made or was made with the incorrect effective date. After correcting the deduction data, submit an adjustment request to the Division of Accounts and Reports, Payroll Section for processing. Instructions for requesting a Centrally Entered Adjustment can be found at http://www.da.ks.gov/ar/payroll/adjustment.htm.
• The wrong pay period was adjusted. Verify the pay period to be adjusted. Request the adjustment to the correct pay period.
• The adjustment was to pick up a change in rate of pay or a late promotion/transfer. You cannot process this type of adjustment as Agency Entered Adjustment. See the list on page one of these instructions for types of adjustments that cannot be processed on-line. You will need to add the earnings code "PRA" to the next time sheet to pay the employee the difference in gross earnings.

Page last modified on:  October 06, 2009