Jack Wiebe

Modified on: Wed, 13 Dec, 2023 at 4:49 PM

Pay Group Setup Guide

Pay Groups within Avanti are used in payroll processing to group employees paid similarly. Pay Groups are where:

Pay frequency and payments per year are entered.
Business numbers, Quebec IDs, EI Groups, and CPP groups are assigned.
Statement and cheque forms are selected, determining how statements and cheques are formatted.
Access to employees is restricted in conjunction with role assignments.

How to Create a New Pay Group

Pay Groups can be added, modified, and deleted from the Pay Groups on the Avanti Desktop. A Pay Group ID and a description of the Pay Group are the first items to enter when setting up a new Pay Group.

Step 1: Select Insert in Pay Groups.
By default, this can be found in Canadian Payroll >> Employer Payroll Tables.

Step 2: Add a three-digit Pay Group ID and the Description.

Additional Information
You cannot change the ID once you save the Pay Group. Including pertinent information about the pay period, employment status, or union number in the Pay Group Description helps identify the right pay group in the future.

How to Setup the Payroll Calendar Rates

Calendar rates are required to convert between different earning amounts entered in Avanti for this Pay Group.

For example, a salaried employee receives $104,000 annually but is paid bi-weekly. The Pay Period/Yr calendar rate converts the per-year earning rate into a per-period rate during payroll processing, so the employee is paid $4,000 each period.

Step 1: Enter the Hours Per Day, Days Per Week, Weeks/Yr, Months/Yr, and the Pay Periods/Yr on the Basic Setup tab.

How to Set the EI, Max Hours, CPP/QPP, Dental Benefits

Maximum EI Hours are applied per pay period to employees who aren’t paid using an hourly rate but must still earn insurable hours for EI, like salaried or commission-based employees.

Step 1: Enter the Max. EI Hours for the Pay Group.

Additional Information
The Max. EI Hours are the hours earned per period by non-hourly employees. We'll default these hours to the current federal maximum.

Step 2: Enter the Max. Payment amount for the Pay Group.

There’s a warning in Payroll Processing if an employee has an amount greater than the Max. Payment. Go to Maximum Payment Warning on Pay Groups to learn more.

Step 3: Select the EI Group that applies an EI rate to all employees in the Pay Group.

Step 4: Select the CPP/QPP Group.

Step 5: Select the Dental Benefits (T4/T4A) used in tax slip boxes on your T4s and T4A tax Slips. Go to Dental Benefits Reporting in Avanti to learn more.

How to Setup Banking Values

You’ll need to enter the bank to pay the employees in the Pay Group, and select the forms used when printing cheques and providing pay statements.

Step 1: Select the Bank to use for payments.

Additional Information
If you don’t see the right bank, you’ll need to add it in Install Bank Information. By default, this can be found in Cheque Reconciliation.

Step 2: Select the Cheque Form used when issuing a cheque to employees in the Pay Group.

Step 3: Select the Statement Form used for the Payroll Statement of employees in the Pay Group.

How to Add Your Business Number and Quebec Employer Information

Step 1: Enter the Business Number.

Additional Information
If you don’t see the right number, it must be added in Maintain Business Numbers. By default, this can be found in Canadian Payroll >> Installation and Maintenance.

Step 2: If this pay group will have Quebec employees, add the:

Employer ID
Health Services Percentage
QPIP Group

How to Save Pay Group

Step 1: Select OK to save the Pay Group.

How to Create the Payroll Calendar

New payroll calendars can be created for each pay group to set the pay period ending dates and the number of days between the pay-period ending date and the payment date.

Step 1: In the Avanti Desktop Application, navigate to Payroll Calendar.
By default, this can be found in Canadian Payroll >> Employer Payroll Tables.

Step 2: Select the current year in Calendar if it’s not already selected.

Step 3: Select Insert.

Step 4: Select the Pay Group. The number of periods is defined on the pay group and automatically populates when the pay group is selected.

Additional Information
Only the pay groups you have access to will be available for selection. If you don’t have access to all pay groups, please ensure someone with access to the pay group creates the payroll calendar.

Step 5: Select the Pay Period End Date for the first pay period of the year. The remaining pay period end dates populate based on the number of periods for the pay group.

Additional Information
The pay period ending date is the last day for hours worked/paid in the period; it’s not the payment cheque/deposit date.

Step 6: Enter the number of days the Payment Date is after the Pay Period End date.

Step 7: Select OK to create the Payroll Calendar.

How to Review and Update a Payroll Calendar

Step 1: To ensure accuracy, review that the following are correct for each pay period:

Accounting Period - If the account periods are incorrect, the G/L Financial Calendar must either be added or corrected.
Ending Date - This is used during Process Pay Run to determine pay. It cannot be changed while processing pay.
Payment Date - When processing pay, the payment date will default to this date. It should be updated if it falls on a weekend or statutory holiday.
Accounting Period, Allocate Basis, Prior Acctg Period, Allocate Basis - If you’re using Avanti to generate your expense accruals, ensure each accounting allocation is correct for the accounting period and prior accounting period.
You can set the allocation as a percentage, with the values adding up to 100 percent, or set it as days, with the values adding up to the number of days in the period.
AERS Weeks - If you’re using the AERS reporting function in Avanti, the AERS weeks will be loaded automatically, but can be modified if required. AERS is a voluntary program allowing employers to submit their payroll information to Service Canada monthly using a secure online application.