Lesson 4.5: Payroll Distribution

In FastFund Payroll, every employee’s gross salary expense and related payroll taxes—including Social Security, Medicare, State Unemployment (SUTA), and Federal Unemployment (FUTA) if required—must be properly distributed to your accounting general ledger accounts. Because nonprofit employees often split their time among multiple programs, or have their wages reimbursed by various grants, FastFund allows you to allocate an employee’s pay across an unlimited number of general ledger accounts and project codes.

The distribution profile you build here serves as the employee’s default allocation for every payroll period. While you can always override these defaults during individual payroll batches, configuring them correctly in the employee setup saves significant time.

Accessing Employee Distributions To set up an employee’s default distribution:

1. Navigate to Lists > Employees and click on the specific employee’s name.
2. Click on the Distributions tab.
3. The system will display the employee’s Base Pay, Total Period Hours, and Pay Type, which are automatically pulled from their Payroll tab setup.

Allocation Methods You can allocate an employee’s pay using two primary methods, selectable via radial buttons at the top of the screen:

• Hours: You assign a specific number of the employee’s total pay period hours to a distribution line.
• Percentage: You assign a specific percentage of the employee’s gross pay to a distribution line.

As you enter the hours or percentage for each distribution line, FastFund automatically calculates the remaining amount required. You must completely distribute 100% of the employee’s total hours and base pay. If an employee’s pay is not fully distributed, the totals line at the bottom of the grid will appear in red, and the employee’s entire profile will be highlighted in red on your main Employee List to alert you of the incomplete setup.

Building a Distribution Line To add a new distribution line, click the New + icon. The Distribution Details window will open, requiring the following information:

1. Pay Type: Select the applicable pay type (e.g., Regular, Piece Work).
2. Hours/Percentage: Enter the hours or percentage for this specific allocation.
3. Account Allocation (Optional): If you previously built a default Point of Entry Allocation template for this grant or program, you can select it from the Apply Allocation drop-down menu. Doing so will instantly auto-fill all the required general ledger accounts below.
4. General Ledger Accounts: If you are not using a saved allocation template, you must manually enter the exact general ledger accounts for Salary, Social Security, Medicare, and SUTA. As you type, the system will move automatically between your fund, cost center, and object code segments.
   • Navigation Tip: If you do not know the exact account segment, place your cursor in the segment box and press the Up Arrow key on your keyboard to display a drop-down list of valid options.
5. Project Code: Select a Project code if this specific portion of the employee’s salary needs to be tracked in a subsidiary ledger for a short-term event or grant.
6. Click OK to save the line.

Piece/Quantity Distributions If an employee is paid by a Piece/Quantity rate (such as a flat shift rate or stipend) rather than an hourly or salaried rate, select a Piece/Quantity Pay Type from the drop-down. The details window will change to prompt you for a Pay Rate and Quantity instead of hours or percentages. You must still link the salary and tax accounts exactly as you would for standard wages.

Handling Pay Rate Changes If an employee receives a raise or their standard hours change in the future, you must update their record on the Payroll tab first. After changing their pay rate, FastFund will prompt you to visit the Distributions tab to update their payroll distribution so that the newly adjusted base pay is properly allocated.