Configuring Document Formats

The Maintenance > Document Designer Section > Document Formats item allows you to create and manage templates that define the format in which the following documents are generated:

• payslips

• proforma remittances

• invoices

• credit notes

• supplementary documents that can be issued with payslips, payment summaries, invoices and credit notes.

The document format determines how each of the document types listed above are laid out and the information that appears on the documents. In the Document Formats area you can do the following:

• create new document format based on a default format for the applicable document type

• find and list existing document formats

• create a new document format by copying an existing document format and modifying the new document format according to requirements

• edit an existing document format

• preview document formats to check how what a document will look like when the format is applied

• release a document format so that it can be used to generate payslips, invoices or credit notes

• delete a document format that is not required and has not already been applied in the system.

Each document format is specific to a country and has the following attributes:

a name that uniquely identifies the document format for that country to which to is assigned

a type that determines the type of document to which it applies (payslip, invoice, credit note, supplementary document)

a format type that determines the type of invoice. credit note or supplementary document to which the document format applies

a status of pending or released that determines if the document format is not yet available for generating documents or is ready and available to be used respectively.

Payslip Formats

When a payee record is created in the Portal > Pay module, a payslip format must be selected on the payee record to determine the format that will be used to generate the payee's payslips. The applicable format may be defaulted from the pay company by which the payee is employed or from the payee's employment type.

Before a payslip format can be applied to a payee, directly by selecting the applicable format on the payee record or by being inherited from the pay company or employment type, the relevant payslip format must first be created in Portal > Portal Maintenance > Document Formats.

When a pay batch is closed the system automatically generates payslips for all payees included in the pay batch, using the payslip format that has been applied to each payee. Where the payslip format that applies to a payee is changed at any stage, any future payslips that are generated will be generated with the new format. However, the forma that was originally used to generate a payslips will always be applied whenever a previous payslip is re-printed/re-delivered to a payee.

Invoice and Credit Note Formats

Before invoices and credit notes can be created via the Billing Module invoice and credit note formats must be created for each type of invoice and credit note that can be generated.

The invoice format types are as follows:

• Timesheet Based Invoice – format used for invoicing timesheets

• Non Timesheet Based Invoice (Perm/Service) – format used for invoicing job orders related to supply of permanent staff and associated services

• Non Timesheet Based Invoice (Vendor/Supplier)- format used for invoicing job orders related to supply of staff via a third-party supplier

The credit note format types are as follows:

• Timesheet Based Credit Note – format used for crediting timesheets

• Non Timesheet Based Credit Note (Perm/Service) – format used for invoicing job orders related to supply of permanent staff and associated services

• Non Timesheet Based Credit Note (Vendor/Supplier) - format for crediting job orders related to supply of staff via a third-party supplier.

Once an invoice/credit note format has been created and released it will be available to be selected within an invoice format group. An invoice format group determines the invoice/credit note formats that will be used when an invoice/credit note is issued to a debtor depending on the billing company that is issuing the invoice/credit note. For more information, see Invoice Format Group Maintenance.

Supplementary Document Formats

When a payslip is issued to a payee or an invoice/credit note is delivered to a debtor, one or more supplementary documents can also be automatically generated and issued along withe the payslip or invoice/credit notes. For example, a debtor may require a copy of each timesheet that is invoiced to be appended to their invoice. Where this is the case, a supplementary document format, which is included in the document format group that applies to the debtor, defines the template for how each invoiced timesheet is to appear.

The table below lists and describes the types of supplementary documents that are supported.

Proforma Remittance Formats

A proforma remittance format is identical to a payslip format with the following exceptions:

• it supports the display of a Current Payment Terms Due Date field, which displays the date when the corresponding timesheet is due to be paid, if the payee is a contractor who is subject to payment terms (for more information, see Maintenance > Payment Terms)

• it supports the display of a Proforma ID field, which shows the sequential ID number of the interim pay advice that the payee can refer to when making an enquiry about their pay and to cross reference with their payslip, once they have been paid and a payslip has been issued. The proforma ID can also be used to cross reference the payee’s timesheet to the interim pay advice that corresponds to the timesheet. For more information about how this ID is configured and managed, see Issuing Proforma Remittance Advice.