Sage — Sage Abra Payroll

From the September 2009 Review of Professional
Payroll Programs

Sage
Abra Payroll is a high-end live payroll and human resources management system
fully compliant with all employment, safety and privacy oversight agencies,
EEO, FMLA, OSHA, COBRA and HIPAA regulations. The payroll system is a module
to the broader Abra HRMS suite, and can be used to support the payroll needs
of complex business entities with multiple divisions, departments, subsidiaries
and any number of employees, including those in all U.S. states. This enables
its use as either an in-house program for mid-sized and larger enterprises or
as a client service tool for professional practices managing multiple payroll
clients. A Canadian version is also available. Direct deposit is standard, and
electronic filing is an available option. Licensing of the Abra Payroll system
starts at about $2,000 per year.

DATA ENTRY & KEY FEATURES:
Users access the payroll program via the Sage Abra HRMS system, which provides
a centralized home interface called the Activity Center that offers extensive
customization options and access to other modules in the program via navigation
menus and screen-top toolbars. Company and employee information is entered into
the main Sage Abra suite and is guided by wizards that help with setting up
company departments and projects, employee groups, payroll frequencies, pay
rates, deductions, benefits, accruals policies and other options. Employees
can be assigned an unlimited number of pay rates and their payrolls can, if
necessary, be assigned across multiple departments.

Abra Payroll categorizes payroll processes into a menu of tasks that include
Actions, Analysis, Processes, Reports and Rules. Most payroll run functions
are located in the Actions and Processes sections, which include further menus
for specific tasking, including multiple methods for entering employee hours,
running payrolls, printing and checks, and initiating tax compliance functions.
All calculations are automatically performed by the system as data is entered,
allowing users to perform gross-up calculations and quickly see the effects
of different withholding and deduction treatments.

Any number of deductions can be created, customized and assigned to employees,
including tax deferred savings, taxable and non-taxable insurance, HSAs, cafeteria
plans, union dues, and garnishments. Employee time data can be entered on spreadsheet
views of multiple employees, or timesheets that also enable time management
and productivity analysis through the Sage Abra system. The program’s
tabbed data-entry screens generally ease navigation through the comprehensive
system and include selection lists and other tools that speed entry tasks. Direct
deposit functions allow an unlimited number of direct deposit accounts for employees,
along with the ability to pay partially by paper check.

With the addition of Sage Abra Workforce Connections, client employees can
benefit from portals that allow them to access their pay histories, make HR
requests and manage benefits elections and annual enrollments. Sage has recently
introduced a SQL Server-based version of Abra Payroll.

REPORTING CAPABILITIES:
Abra Payroll includes customizable payroll reporting options that include traditional
payroll detail and summary output, histories, departmental and project costing,
check registers, reconciliation functions, and an audit trail. Reports can be
customized and output into Excel, Word, PDF and plain text formats, or further
managed in Crystal Reports. For compliance, an optional tax filing option is
available, which supports all state, local and federal tax requirements. Abra
Payroll also includes 1099, W-2, W-3, 1096, 940, 941 and 943 generation.

INTEGRATION/IMPORT & EXPORT:
Abra Payroll provides total integration with the Abra HRMS Suite, and offers
data output into formats usable by most accounting systems. The program can
import employee time data from time clock programs. Report output into various
Microsoft Office programs is also available.

RELATIVE VALUE:
As a part of the Sage Abra HRMS Suite, Abra Payroll provides extensive payroll
capabilities, along with powerful human resources and benefits management capabilities.
The system is best-suited to professionals with multiple clients needing benefits
management support, or to mid-sized and larger businesses as an in-house application.

2009 Overall Rating: