Using the Payroll Log

When paying your crew via timecards, enter the information for each timecard on the Payroll Log.

The Payroll Log has the following columns:

• Line – this is where you input the Line Number associated with this timecard. In addition to the Line Numbers found on the detail budget pages, you may also actualize to Lines 19-21 and 27 of the Cost Summary sheet. To do so, input “CS" followed by the Line Number. For instance, if you wish to actualize to Line 19, enter “CS19”. Please note that you must have this feature enabled in the main Options menu, on the ‘Actual’ tab. Refer to this article for more information.

  Note: some timecards may require more than one Line Number. When this is the case, simply use more than one row for that timecard.

• Name – enter the employee’s name here.

• W/E – put the week ending date of the timecard here.

• PO – if you wish to assign a PO number to your timecards, you would list the PO number in this column. (Anything you list here will not affect the Purchase Order Log.)

• Custom – this is a column that you can use for whatever you would like, and you can change the header of this column. By default, the header is labeled “BATCH”.

• Fringe % – this is the payroll fringe percentage for each person.

• PH&W % – this is the PH&W percentage for each person.

• PH&W Flat – this is where you would input the PH&W flat amounts. (These columns will not be available if you do not enable the PH&W Flat columns on the ‘PH&W’ tab of the main Options menu.)

• Hourly Rate - by default, this column will be “locked”, as the hourly rate is normally generated by a formula. However, if you would like to input the hourly rate manually, you can do so by making a change to the ‘Overtime’ tab of the main Options menu.

• OT Base – this is the number of hours that are covered by the person’s Day Rate. For instance, if you are paying your Gaffer $600 for up to 10 hours of work, you would put in 10 for their OT Base.

• Days – this is the number of days that the person worked.

• 6th Day / 7th Day – if your employee is owed additional money for a 6th and/or 7th day, you can use these columns. See [this article] to learn how these columns work.

• Day Rate – this is the rate you are paying the person per day.

• Overtime – there are several overtime columns available, which we will address below.

• Miscellaneous – there may be additional payments owed to an employee, such as mileage or meal penalties, and you can enter those in these columns. There are two different ways to enter this information. We’ll address that below.

• Total ST – the total of ‘standard time’ owed to the employee, meaning any amount owed for labor, excluding overtime. This will be calculated automatically.

• Total OT – the total owed to the employee for overtime. This will be calculated automatically.

• Actual – the total for both labor and miscellaneous items. This will be calculated automatically.

• Fringe Total – the total Fringe, based on the amount entered into the Fringe % column. By default, this will be calculated automatically, but you may change that via the Options button at the top of the sheet. More information on the Options menu can be found later in this article.

• PH&W Total – the total PH&W, based on the amount entered into the PH&W % and PH&W Flat columns. By default, this will be calculated automatically, but you may change that via the Options button at the top of the sheet. More information on the Options menu can be found later in this article.

• Line Description – this column is automatically filled in, based on what is entered into the LINE column.

• Notes – you may enter whatever you like here.

Note: you may choose to show or hide any of the above columns, using the ‘Columns’ button at the top of the sheet.

Overtime columns

The Payroll Log has many different overtime columns that you may use, depending on the needs of your production. They are:

• 1.333x

• 1.5x

• 1.65x

• 1.75x

• 2x

• 2.2x

• 2.25x

• 2.333x

• 2.5x

• 3x

• 4x

• 7.917x

• 8.168x

• 14x

These are all of the overtime multipliers we anticipate you possibly needing. However, if you were to need one not listed above, there are also three ‘custom’ OT columns where you can enter your own multiplier.

To enable any of these, click the ‘Columns’ button at the top of the sheet and check the box next to the ones you wish to use. For the custom columns, you’ll also need to enter the multiplier you wish to use.

Miscellaneous columns

If there is an additional payment you need to make to your employee on their timecard (for items such as meal penalty, kit fee, etc.), you may use the Miscellaneous columns. There are two types of Miscellaneous columns -- taxable and non-taxable -- as some of these payments may be taxed and others may not be. If you are unsure about the particular payment you are making, check with your payroll company.

If the Miscellaneous columns are currently not visible on your Payroll Log, you may enable them by clicking the ‘Columns’ button at the top of the sheet and then checking the box next to the one(s) you wish to use.

There are multiple columns within both the taxable and non-taxable areas.

Taxable

• MP (meal penalties)

• FC (forced calls)

• Two “Other” columns - you can change the text in the headers and use these for whatever you’d like.

Non-Taxable

• Kit Fee

• Mileage

• Per Diem

• Car Allowance

• Wardrobe Allowance

• Three “Other” columns - you can change the text in the headers and use these for whatever you’d like.

The total of each row of the taxable items will appear in the ‘TAXABLE’ column, and the total of each row of the non-taxable items will appear in the ‘NON-TAX’ column. By default, these total columns are locked, as they have formulas in them. However, if you wish to be able to type directly into them, you can. You’ll need to make a change via the Options menu, which we’ll discuss later in this article.

Adding & Deleting Rows

If you need to add rows to the log, use the ‘Add Rows’ button at the top of the sheet. It will ask you how many rows you’d like to add.

If you need to delete rows, first highlight a cell in all of the rows you wish to delete. (Note: the rows you choose must be consecutive.) Then press the ‘Delete Rows’ button.

Using the Total Finders

If you want to quickly see the total amount of payroll associated with 1) a certain week ending date, 2) one of the PO numbers you listed in the PO column and/or 3) whatever you have entered into the Custom column, you can do that with the Total Finders. Press the ‘Show Total Finders’ button at the top of the sheet, and it will appear just below the log. To use it, just enter the value that you want to see the total for. For instance, if you want to see the total payroll assigned to PO #1234, in the cell below “PO”, type in “1234”. The total will appear in the cell to the right, under “TOTAL IN LOG”.

Importing Payroll Data

To learn how to import payroll data into your Payroll Log, please see this article.

Exporting the Payroll Log

You may export the Payroll Log as a separate Excel document. To do this, press the ‘Export Log’ button at the top of the sheet.

Showing & Hiding Columns

You may show or hide any column on the Payroll Log. To do so, click the ‘Columns’ button at the top of the sheet. This will open a menu where you can check a box next to each column that you want to make visible. Please note that hiding a column will not delete its contents.

Total PR from PO’s

On the Purchase Order Log, you will probably want to list the PO(s) for your payroll company for paying your cast & crew. When you do this, instead of putting a Line Number in the Line column on the Purchase Order Log, you can instead type ‘PR’. The total of any amounts on the Purchase Order Log with ‘PR’ in the Line column will appear in the ‘Total PR from PO’s’ cell on the Payroll Log. This cell can be found near the bottom right of the log, under the ‘Total Payroll’ cell. This will help to make sure that the total of your Payroll Log matches exactly with the total of the invoices from your payroll company.

Eliminating any Variance on the Payroll Log

If you have a Variance amount on the Payroll Log, first make sure that the amount(s) listed on the Purchase Order Log for payroll (with ‘PR’ in the Line columns) is correct. Next, make sure all the data you’ve typed into the Payroll Log is correct. Once you’ve done those two things, you can then make slight adjustments to the numbers in the Fringe % column (and PH&W columns, if you’re using them) to change your Payroll Log total until you’ve eliminated the Variance.

Options

You can make several changes to the Payroll Log, via the Options menu. Press the ‘Options’ button at the top of the sheet to open the menu.

Allow Filtering

If you wish to be able to filter your Payroll Log, you can enable that by checking this box. You will then be able to filter by the following columns: LINE, NAME, W/E, PO, and the Custom column.

To use the filter, click the down arrow on the right side of the header and a menu will appear. Then, in the bottom portion of the menu you may select which values you wish to filter for. Please note that the ‘Sort’ feature of this menu will not work in TrueBudget. (To sort the Payroll Log, click on the header that you wish to sort by.)

Show row numbers

By default, TrueBudget displays the row numbers on the right side of the log. If you do not wish to see them, you may uncheck this box.

Highlight cells with errors

By default, the Payroll Log will highlight any cells that contain errors so that it is easier for you to see them. If you do not wish it to do this, you can disable it by unchecking this box.

Manually enter Fringe Total and PH&W Total

You can choose to manually enter amounts in the Fringe Total column and the PH&W Total column. If you do this, it will remove the formulas that are currently in the cells and will also unlock them.

Include Fringe % and PH&W % on Misc Taxable and Non-Taxable amounts

You can choose if you want the Fringe % and PH&W % calculated on the amounts in the Misc Taxable and Misc Non-Taxable columns. These check boxes are all checked by default.

Use Misc Taxable and Non-Taxable detail columns

By default, the Payroll Log is setup for you to use the various detailed columns within the taxable and non-taxable sections of the Miscellaneous columns. However, if would rather not use these detailed columns and instead would like to be able to type directly into the ‘TAXABLE’ and ‘NON-TAX’ columns, you can do that by unchecking these boxes. The formulas will be removed from those columns and the cells will become unlocked.

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