In this article, you’ll learn how to enter your company’s payroll calendar into Maxwell. You’ll want to enter and keep your payroll calendar updated if you:
- Offer financial products (examples: HSA, FSA, LFSA, DCA) so that per pay period amounts are calculated correctly. If you do not enter a payroll calendar, our system will assume your payroll schedule based on the eligibility group’s pay frequency.
- Use an integration in Maxwell that relies on pay dates to ensure information gets sent over to third parties at the right time (like a payroll or financial benefits integration)
- Have a different number of annual pay dates from Maxwell’s standard pay frequency settings.
Tip: Learn more about Maxwell’s pay frequencies and per pay period amounts here >>
Follow the steps below:
- Click Payroll > Payroll Calendar to view a list of your eligibility groups and their pay frequency (example: semimonthly). In the example below, I have 2020 pay dates entered for Charlottesville, Chesapeake and Newport News eligibility groups, but do not have them entered for Winchester.
Tip: The pay frequency was provided when you were implemented with Maxwell. If this needs to be changed, please reach out to Customer Support at support@maxwellhealth.com. - Click Enter Pay Dates. Now, you’ll create your payroll calendar by first selecting which benefits the pay dates will apply to and then entering your pay dates.
- Select Benefits. Maxwell will use the specific dates you enter in the following step to calculate your per pay period amounts on those benefits for employees. Any benefits that you do not select to include when setting pay dates in the payroll calendar will calculate per pay period amounts using Maxwell’s assumed number of pay dates based on your pay frequency.
- Set Deduction Schedule. Enter the First Pay Date or First Pay Date and Second Pay Date (for semimonthly). Click Preview and dates will generate based on what you entered and your pay frequency, for the next 36 months.
How dates are created based on pay frequency:
- Weekly: pay dates will be created every 7 days from the First Pay Date
- Biweekly: pay dates will be created every 14 days from the First Pay Date
- Semimonthly: pay dates will be created on the days of the month selected for each month
- Monthly: pay dates will be created on the day of the month selected for each month
- Review the dates created and click directly into the calendar to adjust based on your exact pay schedule. For example, you may need to adjust for federal holidays and weekends. Once you’re done, click Create Calendar and you’ll be all set!
- If you ever need to update your payroll calendar, click View Pay Dates. You can make any adjustments or extend your calendar by entering the next pay date after your last scheduled date. Extending your calendar will not overwrite your existing pay dates.
Please Note:
- We recommend that you review the number of pay dates you've entered and make sure you have the total number set according to your company’s payroll schedule.
- If you update your payroll calendar, per pay period amounts for products will now be calculated based on the new payroll calendar. This may change the per pay period amounts that employees have been paying. If there’s a change to per pay period amounts, they will appear soon after you’ve updated the calendar.