Payroll software from EARNIE - the payroll people

Company FAQs

What exactly is the Directory for Data?

The Directory for Data is the drive or subdirectory name where you wish to store
the company and employee details. It is not neccesarily the same location as the program details.


Can I print off the Tax & NI rates for my company as requested by
HMRC auditors?

Yes. Go to File, Print Tax & NI rates.


I want to move my data to another location, how do I do it?

The ideal way to move your data to ensure you have no problems is as follows:
In EARNIE, go into the Company menu and select Alter Company Details. On the
first tab you will see a Drive/Directory for Data. This specifies where the company data is held. Change the Drive for Data to the new location and say OK.

You will then be asked "The Data file location has changed, do you want to move the data files now?" or "You have altered the 'Drive for Data' field. Do you want to move the data base to its new location?" Say Yes.

This will successfully move your files and ensure EARNIE is pointing to the correct directory.

How do I rectify running my company on the wrong Tax / NI Rates?

First of all, you will need to make sure you are running on the most up to-date version of the software and that the correct tax year is selected in company details.

Once this has been amended anyone on a cumulative Tax Code will have their tax automatically rectified during the next payroll run.

If there has been a change in the NI rate, or if you have anyone on a week 1/month 1 Tax Code, please contact Support or call 0844 815 5671.


How can I check my company is running on the current Tax / NI rates?

Go to the Company Menu, Alter Company Details and the Tax Tab Card. Check the 'Use Tax rates Effective from' and set it accordingly.


Can I delete any pay rates my company does not use?

You can only delete those pay rates which have never been used. To do so log into Admin, got to File, Delete Utility and choose your company.

Any rates and Payment/Deductions available to be deleted will be listed.


Where can I find the copy of my company I took during the
year-end restart?

It is stored in a folder called Last Year, this is a sub folder in your main EARNIE folder. To restore this copy, first make sure you have a back-up of your current position. Then log into Admin, go to File, Companies and Restore Last Year's Copy.


How do I reset my holidays at the end of the holiday year?

Go to the Company menu/Holiday Set-up and click on the 'Reset Holiday' button.
You will then be warned "This will Reset the holiday remaining for ALL employees. Are you sure you want to reset holidays?" Say YES if you are sure.

You will then be asked "Do you want to add any remaining holiday to the annual entitlement?" Say YES if you want your employees to carry over any holidays they have not taken to the next year. Otherwise say NO.

You will be asked "Do you want to zero amounts accrued for employees on accrual basis?" Say NO if you want your employees to carry over any accrued amounts for holidays to the new year. Otherwise say YES.

Your holidays have now been cleared down. Click on the button HOLIDAY RESET COMPLETE.


When logging in, I keep getting this message 'Licensed User Limit (Single User) has been reached - Contact your dealer to increase the number of licensed users'. What do I do?

This message can appear if the software was not closed correctly.

To clear the message log into Admin, choose the Operators/Groups menu and Clear Operator Locks.* You should then be able to log back in by going to File/Use Earnie and entering your usual login details.

*If you have changed your password and have forgotten it, please send a fax to 0844 815 5680 asking for a break-in password. This fax should be by an authorised person, and include your licence number, name, contact number and signature.


I am a bureau user. Can I globally change tax codes instead of going in and out of every company?

Yes, you can do this in EARNIE Admin.

From the FILE menu choose COMPANIES, then BUDGET AMENDMENTS. At the bottom of the Budget Amendments screen there is a SELECTION button. Click on the Selection button and then tick the box next to the companies you want to include in the Budget Amendments. You can choose ALL if you want to. Say OK. Then make the budget amendments as normal in the table. (The Default Name and Password into Admin is system and admin)


How do I change the location of EARNIE from one server to another?

  1. Map a network drive from a workstation to the server where you want to install EARNIE
  2. Create a sub folder on the network drive you have just mapped. (This is important as EARNIE may have problems running on a root driver)
  3. Install EARNIE to the new program location. Ensure you select TYPICAL in the install options
  4. Perform a WORKSTATION installation from one of your workstations, ensuring you set the destination location to the same path as you installed the typical installation to
  5. Check that the shortcut on the workstation that you use to run EARNIE has the new 'target' and 'start-in' locations. If not, modify them to correct
  6. If you have your licence details you can try running EARNIE from the new location at this stage. When you run EARNIE, it will detect that it is unlicensed and prompt you for your license details. If you do not have them, skip this step and continue. If you decide to enter your license details, EARNIE will run and you can try opening the Demo company to verify that EARNIE has installed to the network correctly.
  7. Assuming you also require a new location for the data files, create the folders you require for this and copy the data files into them. EARNIE data files take the form xxxxDATA.mdb and xxxxLOG.mdb where xxxx is the company number
  8. Copy the file 'E32-sys.mdb' from the original location to the new program location, that is the same location as the earnie32.exe file. E32-sys.mdb contains a list of the companies and their respective data locations and will need modifying in order for Earnie to locate the companies correctly
  9. To modify the E32-sys.mdb file to point to the correct data location you can do one of the following:- a) Phone Payroll Support and ask them to help you perform an SQL to change the locations using the E32SQL utility. b) Attempt to open each company in turn and when EARNIE fails to find the correct location it will ask you if you want to browse for it. Browse to the new location and repeat for all the other companies in the system
  10. When you are able to access all of the companies from one workstation, repeat steps 4 & 5 for all of the other workstations in your system

Can I make a Company copy?

Yes, you can. The copy option is found in EARNIE Admin. Select FILE followed by COMPANIES then COPY. You choose which company you wish to copy and enter a New Company Name. You then have 3 Copy Options:

1. Company Details Only
2. Exact Copy
3. For Receivership

Company Details Only

This creates a copy of the chosen company details only. No employee details are copied to the new company. See your manual for more details.

Exact Copy

This copies everything held for the company including employee details and leaver information. It can be used at year end to make a mirror image of your company before closing it down.

For Receivership

This option creates a new company and copies across all of the employees as though they were new starters to the company. The existing Taxable Gross YTD and Tax Paid YTD are set as the employees P45 figures in the new company. When choosing this option you are asked for further information, such as setting a new Date Started in the employees details and whether you want to copy leavers. See your manual for more details on these options before you embark on a receivership copy.


Why am I getting the message 'company limit reached' when I try to create a new company?

You may have reached the maximum number of companies allowed under that version of the software. Contact your dealer for advice or please contact us.


Does the payroll system cope with Stakeholder Pensions?

The Stakeholder Pension is a new type of Pension Scheme.

By October 2001 every company must have in place either a pension scheme that complies to new legislation, or, a Stakeholder Pension. A Stakeholder Pension is an after Tax and NI deduction which can either be a percentage or a fixed value.

In EARNIE the Payment/Deduction Wizard includes options for the employee's and employer's contributions.


Can I change the number of my company?

No.


When and why do I need to run a Rebuild Data File?

On occasions the data files for a company may become corrupted. This can happen if the computer is turned off during a payroll run or when there is a power failure. If the above happens it may be possible to recover the data files without having to restore them from a back up.

Log into Admin. Go to File, Companies & Rebuild. Choose the company and click OK, say yes to compacting the data files.

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