ͻ
FEATURES AND BENEFITS 
ͼ


                       HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

 The system requires an IBM PC or PC compatible computer with
640K memory, a printer, and a 5 1/4 inch diskette drive, although
a hard disk is highly recommended.

                                
                         SYSTEM BENEFITS

 $ Increased accuracy in Payroll calculations
 $ Reduction in Payroll Preparation Time
 $ Improved efficiency in labor allocation
 $ Timely reporting of errant behavior
 $ Improved forecasting using historical data


                         SYSTEM FEATURES

 * Customized workrules
 * Reporting by client specified groupings
 * Menu and screen driven
 * Live tutorial
 * Pop-up validation tables
 * Query and Report Writer capabilities
 * Transmission capabilities
 * Interface with General Ledger and other popular software
 * Customized programming
 * Support Network

                                                  
                        SYSTEM OPERATIONS

 The emphasis on ease of use is demonstrated in the ergonomically
designed user interface. The Menus and screens provided serve as
a control center to the various functions performed daily and on
an interim basis.

 The daily process includes the iterative process of collecting
employee punches, producing edit reports and making the necessary
modifications to employee time records and schedules.

 On a less frequent interval (eg. weekly), the current period is
posted, final reports are produced, transactions are archived,
and changes are made to employee schedules for the upcoming week.ͻ
SYSTEM BENEFITS 
ͼ

 Increased accuracy in Payroll calculations

 *   Elimination of clerical errors through computerized
     calculations.
 *   Instantaneous comparison of time records against predefined
     management or labor negotiated constraints.
 *   Data integrity through badge validation and edit routines
     that only allow posting of good transactions.
 **  Audit trail database shows what changes were made by who and
     when.

 Reduction in Payroll preparation time

 *   Automatic cost extensions for gross pay, overtime and
     differential calculations.
 *   Transmission of time records directly into computer files.
 *   Reduces staff clerical requirements freeing up personnel for
     other activities.
 *   Provide on demand, neat, typed reports for presentation
 **  Provide transmission capabilities of data to Payroll
     department and/or Service bureaus

 Improved efficiency in labor allocation

 *   Timely information allows for immediate reaction to avoid
     unnecessary costs such as overtime.
 *   Historical database easily massaged to aid in forecasting
     and budgetary needs.
 *   Dynamic changes to employee schedule, workrules and job
     assignments.
 *   Record department / location, and job costing changes via
     time clock punch

 Timely reporting of errant behavior

 *   Edit reports show employees reporting late, leaving early,
     extending breaks, etc..
 *   History files can be used to highlight trends and document
     past behavior.
 *   Instant access tells which employees are absent or late for
     current shift.

 Improved forecasting using historical data

 *   Determine average labor costs per job class within specific
     locations.
 *   Show cyclical trends to aid forecasting of labor
     requirements.ͻ
SYSTEM OPERATIONS 
ͼ


Daily Process


 *   Employee(s) records arrival, breaks and departure at time
     clock.
 *   Operator selects the clock for transmission of data to
     computer or sets up for night time transmission.
 *   Operator runs the Transfer and Time Card Validation report
     to produce a report of time records failing validations as
     determined by the assignment of workrules to each employee.
 *   Operator distributes reports to supervisory personnel for
     confirmation and authorization of errors.
 *   Operator adjusts time card records accordingly using the
     Time Card Maintenance function.
 *   Management requests various reports to determine weekly
     hours, approaching overtime, scheduled hours and other
     employee data used to make quick schedule adjustments.



End of Period


 *   Processes all records in the system for the current period
     and prints out final Time Sheet reports.
 **  Transactions are posted to the General Ledger trial balance.
 *   Active file is closed and archived to the cumulative history
     files.
 *   Employee Master Schedules are modified and rolled forward
     for the upcoming week.
ͻ             
SYSTEM FEATURES 
ͼ


Customized Workrules

 *   Group employees together with similar edit rules such as the
     same start and ending times, lunch and break durations,
     grace periods for arrival and departures, overtime and
     differential calculations and more.
 *   Modified at any time.
 *   Flexibility ranges from having zero edits to a vast
     combination of individual factors.


Report by Groupings

 *   Three levels of reporting: Corporate, Company, and Workrule
 *   All reports may be executed for groupings and other
     delimiters such as date and hour ranges.
 *   All reports are dynamic and may be executed at will and as
     often as desired to assure the most up todate information.
 *   Powerful Query and Report Writer can produce most reports
     imaginable. Works with any DBASE type file.

Menu and Screen driven

 *   Latest technology using popup windows and highlight bars
     makes system easy to use.


Live Tutorial

 *   Practice system is based on a group of practice workrules
     and employees assigned during training sessions.
 *   Practice system may be invoked at any time while the real
     data is safely stored on a separate area of the computer.
 *   Provides all the features of real system.
 *   Integrated with system.


Popup Validation Tables

 *   Data entry validated against tables to avoid errors in
     recording.
 *   Tables are accessible from within data entry mode to access
     desired values.
 *   User defined codes for Time Codes, Authorization
     overrides,job classes and workrules.


Query and Report Writer

 **  Access window to data that allows operator to design his/her
     own data groups that may be printed or displayed on the CRT
     terminal.


Transmission Capabilities

 **  Payroll transactions may be transmitted to headquarters.


Interface with QUE General Ledger and Payroll

 **  System can be linked into QUE Accounting General Ledger
     or Payroll.
 *   Data may be converted to other file formats used by popular
     spreadsheet programs and other systems.

 
Customization

 **  Any part of the system may be modified to meet the
     individual customer's needs. Functions may be added or
     deleted as desired.
 **  Other systems development and consulting services available.
 *   Solely owned, developed and maintained by QUE Accounting.
 **  Customized manual

Support Network

 **  Telephone support by experienced computer users.
 **  Remote linkup capabilities enable support from afar as if
     the support individual were physically on location.



** If desired by client, these features can be easily
implemented. The base version does not include these items.  
ͻ
FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
ͼ




INTRODUCTION



The Time and Attendance (T&A) system is used to collect, store
and validate time card entries as they are entered into the
computer via an electronic time clock interface, through the
keyboard or converted over from another computer system.


In order to use the system properly, a strong functional
understanding is needed. That is the intent of this section as
well as to introduce you to the various terms and concepts used
throughout this manual.


This section groups the various functions into four main areas:


      SETUP
      DAILY PROCESSING
      PERIOD END PROCESS
      UTILITIES



If you wish to skip this section and begin entering your tables
proceed to the MT section of the operator's manual.

ͻ
SETUP 
ͼ

T & A requires that applicable rules and regulations be set in
table formats recognized by the system. As an added benefit, this
exercise forces a rethink of payroll policies and many times
highlights inconsistencies and inefficiencies resulting from the
implementation of the manual system.

The table and rules listed below constitute the SETUP section.
They may be changed as often as needed but are rarely modified
after the initial setup. 

These tables are presented in the order in which they are to be
entered. The sequence given facilitates the SETUP process since
certain files depend on the entries of other files for
completion.

System Tables

     Time Code Table
     Setup Table
     Job Class Table
     Override Table
     Holiday Table
     Workrules
     Employee Master
     Employee Schedules 
     Clock Menu



Time Code Table

The Time Code Table contains the time codes and calculation
factors recognized by the system. Certain predetermined values
must reside in the table for the system to function properly.
These codes are:
     
    Code    Description     Factor

     HOL  holiday records    1.0
     REG  time card entries  1.0
     VAC  vacation time      1.0

The file may be expanded to include overtime codes, sick time,
personal time off and other categories.  Only codes residing in
this table may be used in the system

     150  time and a half    1.5
     200  double time        2.0
     SCK  sick time          1.0
     PTO  personal time off  1.0
Usage:

Time codes are assigned in the workrule file for overtime and
differential calculations and are required when entering time
entries.  Entries retrieved from a clock are given REG default
values.

Holiday records are assigned Time code='HOL'

Setup Table

The Setup Table contains many fields which control processing.
Each company in your system must have a separate company record
in this file.

The fields include:

  Company Code         The Company Code and Password are
  Password             used to gain access. With the 
  Corporate Access     Corporate Access set on, the person
                       logging into this company may access
                       records in other companies.

  Number of periods    The total number of periods (weeks, 
  Current period       months,etc..) and the current period
  Week Date            in the year. The Week Date is the
                       week ending date of the current week.

  Screen Header        This text will be printed on top of
  Report Header        each screen and report and usually
  Printer Code         includes the company name. The
                       printer code is used to send a
                       sequence to the printer to compress,
                       bold or italicize print.

  Automatic Backup     When this field is turnrd on then
    and Restore        anytime the computer is disrupted 
  End of Period        (eg. rebooted) during an update
    Status             a warning message will come on and
  Bar Code for Gantt   an automatic restoration of files
    Charts             from the last 'good save' will occur.

Job Class Table

The Job Class Table contains job classes, job descriptions and
pay rates for all the valid job classes accepted by the system.
Job classes are entered in the Employee Master file and when
needed into the actual time card entries and employee schedules.
All records coming from an electronic clock are automatically
assigned the job class in the employee's master record when no
temporary assignments have been entered on the clock.

When a Job class other than that of the employee's master record
appears in a time record a 'TJ' (temporary job) is marked in the
validation matrix of the Validation report. If the job class
doesn't exist a 'IJ' (invalid job) is used.

In determining gross pay on the Time Sheet report, the higher
rate between the temporary and master job classes is used in the
calculation.

Example

    Jobclass Description  Rate

    CASHR    Cashier      7.500
    COOK     Cook        12.500
    PANTRY   Pantry cook  9.750
    DISHWR   Dishwasher   7.250 

Usage:

Used in Time Sheet to produce gross pay, validated in the Time
Card Validation report and entered in the Employee Master, Time
Card and Schedule.
 
Override Code Table

The override code table is a collection of codes used to track
authorization of exceptional time entries such as overtime,
leaving early and working in another job class. The appearance of
an override, as entered in the time card function, overrides the
otherwise normal error suspension associated with that record. 

One predetermined value is assigned for generated records. When
holiday records are created or entries are pulled from the
employee's schedule, a GEN will be placed in the override field.
Example

     Code  Description 

     GEN  generated record     
     OT   authorized overtime
     LOK  late arrival OK
     EOK  early arrival ok

Usage:

Overrides error flag in Time Card Validation report and is
entered using the Time Card option in EM.

Holiday Table

The Holiday table is a collection of dates for paid holidays in
the coming year. Whenever a period is processed during a holiday
week, time records are generated for all  individuals that
receive holiday pay.

     Date     Description

     1/1/90   New Years
    1/16/90   Martin Luther King
    4/13/90   Good Friday
    7/04/90   Independence day

Usage:

Used to create Holiday pay records and identify schedule
conflicts in the Time Card Validation Report.

Workrules

The workrule file contains records for groups of employees that
share the same policies, overtime and differential calculations.
The record is used in the validation report process to determine:

        late and early arrivals
        long and short lunch period
        late and early departures
        lunch period deductions
        daily and weekly overtime

In the Time Sheet report, the workrule is used in calculating:

        overtime rates(daily and weekly)
        differentials based on day of the week
        pay for holidays actually worked

A more extensive description of each field is provided in the
Operation Manual.

Employee Master

Each employee in the system must have a record in the Employee
Master file. The master file keeps track of an employee's
demographics and pay information. Notably, address, name, social
security number, status, pay rate and job class are stored here.

A workrule and job class entry are required for employees. Both
values must pre-exist in the appropriate tables before entered.
The pay rate field, automatically transferred over from the
Jobclass Table during an Add, may be overriden, so that,
seniority and other differences between employees may be noted
without requiring a new job classification.

Usage:

Used to store information related to an employee. Controls
processing.

Employee Schedule

The use of employee schedules is optional. Simply speaking, if a
schedule is set up in the current period it will be used by the
Validation report to edit start and ending times and/or create
time card entries.

The operator has the option of using one or all of the days
within the current period. To skip a day, leave the start and end
times blank, and the default values in the Workrule will be used
for early and late time checks.

To use the daily record for creating records place a 'T' in the
ADD field. The next time the validation report is ran for that
employee two records will be created for each schedule entry with
a "T" ADD value.

Schedule created records can only be deleted from the time card
file through the F5 time card function.

Example

     10/10/89 10/11/89 10/12/89 10/13/89 ...

Start  07:30   -----    08:00     09:00
End    15:00   -----    16:00     12:00
Add      T     -----      F         T
Job   DISHWR   -----   DISHWR    CASHER
Code   REG     -----    REG       REG

Usage:

In the above scenario, two of the entries would create records on
the time card file. The entry marked with a 'F' ADD field would
be used as a schedule validation only. The blank entry for
10/11/89 would default to the entries in the workrule for
starting and ending time validations.


Clock Menu

The clock menu includes several functions that provide the
mechanism to bring time card entries from electronic time clocks
and other computerized systems into the QUE Time and Attendance
package. It is a safe assumption that the communications software
needed to bring records to the computer is provided by the
external company.

QUE works with any ASCII type file that is produced by other
systems. ASCII files are a standard on PC compatible machines and
should present little problem for any vendor dealing in this
environment. However there are those companies which chose to
keep file structures proprietary. This in itself should raise
questions on the firm's motives.

Certain field lengths and other criteria exists as defined in the
operation manual.

Usage

To interface the system with outside input from time clocks
and/or other systems.
ͻ
Daily Process
ͼ

This section describes the functions which are done normally on a
day to day basis. Depending on your volume they may be done more
or less frequently. Frequency, therefore, is a function of demand
and not a limitation of the system. 

Collecting data

Time Card entries constitute the basic level of information used
by the system. The data can be entered using the F5 Time Card
function within the EM module or collected externally from time
clocks using the transfer process(TR) on the CK menu. Also by
using the special ADD function within the employee schedule
function, records can be generated for vacation and other
time-off categories.

 An employee's schedule serves two purposes; 

     1) to monitor starting and ending times for variable
        shifts
     2) to create records in the time card file for
        vacation and other time-off categories.

The schedule is interactive and is read each time the Validation
report is executed. Therefore adjustments may be made on a daily
basis. If however, records were created in the time card file by
error through the scheduling process, they must be deleted
through the Time Card function (EM).

Each shift's entries must include at least two card entries; an
arrival punch and one for departure. Additional entries may be
made for logging in and out of breaks and temporary assignments
to other departments and/or job classes. 

Time is recorded in military format ranging from 00:00 to 23:59. 

The acceptable punch values are '1','9',' ' and '2'. The punches
are automatically set by the time clock but must be entered if
entries are keyed through the Time Card entry function.

For systems obtaining clock records from electronic time clocks
or other systems, the TR function on the CK menu must be used to
transfer time card records into the system. Certain crucial edits
are performed in this process and displayed on an edit report.
They include duplicate time card entries and records with invalid
or disabled badges.  These records are not transferred into the
system amd must be entered by hand after correction.


Modifying data

Once in the system records can be added, changed or deleted
through the Time Card function F5 in the EM module. Certain
validations are automatically performed as data is entered. These
includes job class and override code verifications, and correct
time and date values. An audit trail can be established for all
records changed through keypunch. 

Validation report

The validation report performs the various edits established in
the Workrule file and calculates the hours worked for each
employee and day within the selected period. The report provides
also for the selection of individual workrules and date ranges to
accommodate the need to have several supervisors inspect employee
reports simultaneously.

The edit restrictions are based on workrule values and if used,
employee schedules. The range of edits may be extensive or
liberal as need be for individual situations.

 The basic edits include:

     automatic rounding of actual time 
     short and long break durations
     early and late arrivals
     early and late departures
     job class validations
     missing or duplicate punches
     daily and weekly overtime

Each shift must contain at least two punches. The system begins
counting a shift when it detects a '1' punch and determines the
end of the shift with the first subsequent '9' punch. Any punches
in between must constitute break durations (spaces) or
interdepartmental transfers ('2' punches).

The total time per shift is calculated as the difference between
the arrival and departure punches minus any break durations
either as a result of time punches or as an automatic deduction
as noted in the Workrule file.


Automatic Rounding

Each record is rounded according to the time accounting unit in
the workrule. If the field contains a '1', rounding is done only
at the conclusion of the shift otherwise each time card entry is
rounded to the next occurrence of the time account unit.
(workrule file).

Example

   Time Accounting Unit    Actual Time   Adjusted Time
                                        (after rounding)
          3                  7:31          7:30
          3                  7:33          7:33
          3                  7:34          7:36
          6                  7:31          7:36
          6                  7:33          7:36
          6                  7:34          7:36   
     
         

Early and Late Arrivals and Departures

The early and late checks are performed on arrivals and
departures. Each time frame has an associated grace period
composed of a before and after grace figure. These values are
stored in the Workrule file as minutes and are applied
against the actual times entered in a shift and compared to the
starttime on the workrule or if employee schedules are used to
the start time for the given date. 

These two sided graces provide the means to avoid unnecessary
labor expenses associated with unworked time. Also with the
application of a short before grace on departure accompanied with
a long after grace, employees are more apt to leave on schedule. 

This same logic may be applied to arrivals to discourage lateness
and early arrivals.


Example

 Assuming the Time Accounting unit=6

 Before   Actual Time    After    Schedule Time  Adjust Time

  -3         17:34        +15         17:30          17:30
  -5         17:34        +15         17:30          17:30
  -5         17:22        +15         17:30          17:24


The actual grace periods are 17:31 - 17:45
                             17:25 - 17:45
                             17:25 - 17:45  respectively.


Short and Long Durations


Lunch periods are deducted from the total hours per shift if the
PAID FOR LUNCH field in the Workrule is set to 'N'. As determined
by the LUNCH REQUIRED field, lunch is deducted using the actual
punched values or the default duration recorded in the workrule.
If the value is 'N' lunch is only deducted if there are actual
lunch punches made. 

Applying the lunch grace to the total lunch period in effect
increases the time span. A 30 minute lunch with a 10 minute grace
extends to a 40 minute time frame. Any lunch period within the 40
minutes would constitute a 'within grace' deduction of 30
minutes.

Durations below the thirty would be highlighted as a 'short
lunch' (SL) while times exceeding the forty would be marked as an
'extended lunch'(EL) on the Time Card Validation report. 

Job Class Validations

Any time card entry may contain a JOBCLASS value other than what
is normally assigned to the individual in the Master file. This
is to identify temporary job assignments and allows for proper
tracking of expenses by job categories. If the value is different
a check is peformed to verify that the value exists in the valid
JOBCLASS TABLE. If it doesn't a 'IJ' is placed in the JC column
of the validation report, otherwise a 'TJ' notation is made. 

Missing and Duplicate Punches

There are certain punch values that must exist in sequence to
signify a valid shift. If a '9' punch is missing or a there are
two '9' punches in succession a missing or duplicate error is
noted, respectively.

Overtime


The system will identify daily and weekly overtime by comparing
actual values to the limits imposed in the DAILY OVERTIME and
WEEKLY OVERTIME  fields in the employee's assigned workrule.
Hours which are considered daily overtime are not considered in
the weekly determination. Each workrule has the option of
applying one or both overtime calculations.


Example


  Daily Hours        Over  Under  Over  Under  Over  Under
                      8     10     10    12     12    24
    8.5                 .5 OT
   10.5                              2.5 OT  
   12.0                                           4.0 OT    


Management Queries

One of the most used feature of the system is the ability to
query against the collected information.

The Approaching Overtime report is used in avoiding unnecessary
overtime. The selection screen to the report provides the ability
to select a given group of employees that exceed the time limit
entered.

The Tardy and Late report can be used to track errant behavior on
a timely basis.*

The Time Sheet summary is used to track expenses over a period of
time beyond the current period. It produces the average hourly
cost per job class and aids in the budgeting process.*

Employee schedules may be produced in ghant chart style reports
or vertical text displays. The vertical display is a printed copy
of what appears on the employee schedule option in the EM
function. Each employee in the range selected will have a printed
schedule.

The ghant selections are more useful in depicting schedule
bottlenecks and conflicts. The advantage of having bar charts is
readily captured in both formats; showing all employees for a
given day or all days in the period for each employee.

For a detailed example of reports please consult the operational
manual.



* Represents two of the many reports derived using the built-in
Query and Report Writer function.ͻ
PERIOD PROCESSING
ͼ

This section describes the processes that occur at the end of a
pay period. Once a period is closed the time card records can no
longer be modified but may be displayed through the history
queries.


Time Sheet Report 

The TS module applies the time card records to the logic placed
within the workrule file and creates gross dollar figures for the
period of time selected. It shows all temporary job assignments,
overtime, vacation and other time off categories as separate
entries for each day in the selected time frame. A summary for
these distinct categories is given for each employee, as well as,
a grand total for all employees in the selected range.

The TS function does not perform validations and assumes only
good transactions are being processed. As an added security
measure, a check may be made to force a good VR before this
report can be created.

The following example shows how Time Cards are transferred into
Time Sheet Entries.

           ADJ
  DATE     TIME PUNCH CODE JOB   HRS FACTOR RATE DIFF GROSS
  
 10/10/89  07:30  1   REG  COOK      
 10/10/89  11:30      REG  COOK
 10/10/89  12:00      REG  COOK
 10/10/89  16:00  9   REG  COOK   8  1.00  8.00  0.00  64.00
 10/11/89  07:30  1   VAC  COOK   
 10/11/89  16:00  9   VAC  COOK   8  1.00  8.00  0.00  64.00
 10/12/89  07:30  1   REG  COOK
 10/12/89  10:00  2   REG  DISH  1.5 1.00  8.00  0.00  12.00
 10/12/89  11:30      REG  COOK
 10/12/89  12:00      REG  COOK
 10/12/89  16:30  9   REG  COOK  6.5 1.00  8.00  0.00  52.00
                                  .5 1.50  8.00  0.00   6.00
 10/13/89  20:00  1   REG  COOK 
 10/14/89  03:00  9   REG  COOK  5.0 1.00  8.00  1.00  41.00

At first glance its obvious there are less time sheet
transactions than there are time card entries. This is an
expected outcome of the conversion process which summarizes daily
time records by timecode and jobclass.

Straight Transfer

On a normal day, such as 10/10, there will be one time sheet
entry for the total amount of time worked minus lunch if
applicable.

An individual may punch out for lunch even though it is not
deducted as well as having lunches deducted automatically without
any punches. 

Generated Records

On 10/11, a schedule entry was used to generate a vacation
record. This is signified by the GEN override code, which is also
used to identify records created for non-working holidays. 

Temporary Assignment / Job Costing

The 10/12 entry shows what happens when an individual is assigned
to another area. The time card entry at 10:00 has a job class
entry of DISH. When the time sheet program recognizes this break
in sequence it assigns the calculated period to the previous
jobclass (COOK) and upon recognizing a second change back to the
original jobclass, calculates the time period spent in the
temporary assignment.

Daily Overtime

Also as indicated by this shift's entry is an overtime
calculation of one/half hour. This constitutes a separate
overtime record with a payment factor one and a half times
greater (time and a half) than normal.

Crossing over Dates

The last entry in our example shows that shifts may expand over
date ranges without causing any problems.

The time sheet file is stored for future reference and is
archived into the yearly file during the PE Period End process.

Posting to General Ledger or Payroll

If desired, the gross pay for each employee can be transferred to
the QUE Payroll system or directly into the General Ledger. With
the Payroll intermediary step, taxes and other deductions can be
removed in creating net pay figures and labor cost posting can be
done simultaneously with these entries.

Closing a Period

When the current period is closed, the pay period range is moved
forward, current transactions are archived and erased and
employee schedules, so marked, are carried forward into the next
period.

Historical data may be accessed through one of the 'can' reports
provided in the History Report menu or more flexibility and
formats can be achieved using the RW Query and Report Writer.

At the end of the year, the history file is archived into a file
bearing the current year's name (eg TAAA1989) and the records for
that copy are erased from the yearly history file.


