Summary

The Period Calendars Creation Tool allows you to quickly and easily set up a complete period calendar for a taxation year, and it has the following features:

• Creates a new pay period if required and it can automatically populate up to 10 pay period entities for New Zealand and 12 for Australia. It automatically generates the period calendar for the required number of periods.
• Ensures that the relevant calendar uses the correct period entities by checking the dates for each entity.
• Uses templates and wildcards to generate the required codes and descriptions for period entities making it easy to customise these values.
• Generates default codes and descriptions that will require no editing for most organisations.
• Contains a preview option that produces an audit log of all proposed changes.
• Checks whether existing records contain the same pay period date ranges.
• Allows you to retrieve history details from a previously successful update.

Usage

You can use the tool:

• When you set up a new company.
• At the end of the tax year, when you need to create next year's calendar.
• Any time during the year if only a partial year was set up previously.

When you create a new database, the Install Wizard now gives you the option to "Create Period Calendar on completion". If you select this option, then the Period Calendars Creation Tool will appear and you can create the period calendars you require for the new database.

To use the tool for the first time:

1. Complete the fields in the top half of the Details tab and the Link PTD by tab. See Period Calendars Creation Tool Form - Details tab and Period Calendars Creation Tool Form - Link PTD by tab.
2. Click Generate Codes to see the default Code and Description templates that the tool will use. See Period Calendars Creation Tool Form - Buttons. You can then edit these templates, if required.
3. Click Preview Only to check the records, codes and calendar that will be created.
4. Click Run Update to create the records, codes and calendar.

Create New Database

When you create a new database, the Install Wizard gives you the option to "Create Period Calendars on completion".

1. Click Next to see the final page of the Install Wizard.
2. After you click Finish, the Period Calendars Creation Tool appears.
3. Enter the values you require in the top half of the Details tab and the Link PTD by tab.
4. Click Generate Codes to see the Code and Description templates.
5. Click Preview Only.
6. Click Run Update.

You could now repeat this process to create other period calendars, such as fortnightly or monthly. The Preview Only log will show that most records already exist.

Create 'Duplicate' Calendar

If you need to create a period calendar that is very similar to an existing period calendar, then you could use Find History to load settings for the existing period calendar, and then change the settings as required.

In this example you created a fortnightly Period Calendar for 2011/2012 (FA - Fortnightly A) and you want to create a second fortnightly Period Calendar for 2011/2012 (FB - Fortnightly B).

1. In the Period Calendars Creation Tool, click the Find History button to display the Period Calendars History form.
2. Select the FA - Fortnightly A history record to populate the Period Calendars Creation Tool fields with the values that you set up for the first fortnightly calendar.
3. Enter the following values:

   Period = FB

   Description = Fortnightly B

   Accept the remaining values because FB - Fortnightly B uses the same records as FA - Fortnightly A.

4. Click Preview Only and check the resultant audit log.

   The tool will not create any new Period records so the log will display "(Period already exists)", but it will create a new calendar.

5. Click Run Update to create the FB - Fortnightly B calendar.

Create Next Year's Calendar

At the end of the tax year, you need to create next year's calendar. If you have already used the Period Calendars Creation Tool, then you can click the Find History button to display the Period Calendars History form.

Note: Alternatively, you could start the Period Calendars Creation Tool, select Period = W and enter the required values.

If you were creating a weekly Period Calendar for 2011/2012, then you could:

1. Select the W - Weekly history record to populate the Period Calendars Creation Tool fields with the values that you set up for 2010/2011.
2. Click the Roll Calendar button to update the Start date of first PTD value to reflect the 2011/2012 calendar.

For example, for 2010/2011 the Start date of first PTD was 29/03/2010 so the Period Calendars Creation Tool shows that the Last period end date was 27/03/2011.

When you click the Roll Calendar button, the tool changes Start date of first PTD to 28/03/2011 to ensure that no gaps occur between the 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 calendars, and it changes the Last period end date to 25/03/2012.

You do not need to update other Start date values, such as Start date of MTD and Start date of financial YTD because the tool calculates them correctly based on the Start date of first PTD value.