Getting Started
Once you have Set up a Company, it's time to Get Started!
This page simplifies the setup process to ensure you include all necessary details. Once you've completed all the steps, you'll be ready to Go Live and Run Payroll!
Steps, Targets and Checklists
While getting started, you have 7 steps to complete. To set realistic goals, you can Set Target for the number of employees and payrolls (if any) that need to be imported.
Each step will have checklists that need to be completed. A number of steps, such as including the company address, industry and PE number will be auto-ticked once the settings are updated.
Other tickboxes, such as reading guides or setting allowances, can be ticked manually, as only you will know if they were done or not.
The Basics
The Basics Section is divided into 3 sections:
- Company Details
- Payroll Details
- People
In this section, you are required to fill in a variety of details ranging from the Company Details, Pay Schedules to Employee details. The options marked with asterisks (*) are required for each.
Company Details
The Company Details primarily include information that will be present in several legal documents, including Payslips and Tax Forms.
Moreover, choosing the correct industry is essential, as Buddy will calculate sick leave entitlements based on the Wage Regulation Orders (WROs) of the selected industry.
Payroll Details
Payroll details are all about company-wide settings that set the foundation for how payroll will be calculated. The Pay Schedules will determine how frequently you issue payslips for your employees.
Applicable Overtime rates and Allowances will need to be set up as these will influence the employee setup and import templates.
People (Employees)
Payroll is all about People! Inputting the correct details for your employees is essential; this can be added one-by-one or in bulk through an import, which is recommended, especially if you have a larger volume of employees.
The Compliant
The Compliant Section is divided into 3 sections:
- Payroll Import
- Cost of Living Adjustment
- Leave Adjustments
In this section, you are guided in achieving compliance and accuracy.
Payroll Import
If you are setting up Buddy during the fiscal year, then you will need import previous payroll data. This will allow Buddy to calculate FSS based on the full annual data, and issue Tax Forms like the FS3 and FS7 to be submitted electronically.
Buddy's importation process has several validations, such as SSC and MFC checks. This will prevent any undesired errors during submission at the end-of-year. That said, users are strongly encouraged to perform reconciliations to verify they have imported all the relevant details before proceeding.
Cost of Living Adjustment
Buddy automatically checks each employee's salary and notifies when a salary adjustment is required. This is extremely useful if you are starting on Buddy in a new fiscal year.
If the salaries you imported already include COLA, you can mark this and skip the adjustment altogether.
Leave
An important value that your employees will look at is their leave entitlement. Although Buddy handles the default entitlement, you will need to adjust balances to reflect any carryover from the previous year.
Furthermore, if you are starting mid-year, you will need to adjust the balances to match the current balances that your employees have.
The Essentials
In the final section, you must confirm your Buddy Subscription Plan, insert a payment method and set your billing email address.
Go Live!
Once all the steps in the Getting Started Page are completed, you can Go Live. Now you can invite employees to access their employee portal and start Running Payroll!