A Category defines how the time of the employee's time was spent. For example, the Lunch category means that period of time was spent on lunch, Vacation means the employee was on vacation, and Worked time is when the employee was actively working.

The AMG Attendance System includes 16 default Categories which can't be deleted or set to inactive.

The Categories page is intended to view the lists of all existing categories and allows you edit or delete them as well as add new categories.

Click here to view the Categories page.

The main part of the page is the list of categories. The list can be sorted by any column both ascending and descending, by clicking on the desired sort Column title. The list has other properties that can be altered: the columns can be hidden or displayed, the order of the columns can be changed, and the list of categories can be filtered by some criteria. (Click here to see the description of these properties.)

To hide/show columns: Click on the Properties button. In the Columns list select or unselect the column you want to show or hide. Click on the OK button. To reorder the columns: Click on the Properties button. In the Columns list select the column you want to move up or down. Click on the Move up button to move the column up, or on the Move down button to move the column down. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to reorder the other columns as desired. Click on the OK button. To filter the list: Click on the Filter button. (The Filter Conditions panel will appear). In the Filter Conditions panel enter or select the criteria by which you want to filter. Click on the OK button. Filtering the list will display only those entries that correspond to the entered or selected criteria. If no category corresponds to criteria, then no record will be displayed in the table. To view all the categories, or to start over, click on the Reset button. To hide the Filter Conditions panel, click again on the Filter button. Note: If you don't remember the whole Code or Name of the category, you can search for a single letter found anywhere in Code or Name. You can simultaneously filter by more than one criteria.

   Adding New Categories

To add a new category:

1. Click on the Add button. (A new page opens - Add Category).
2. Go to General Tab.
3. Enter code and name of the category in the Code and Name text boxes, respectively.
4. In the Advanced box select category's type: Hourly or Money, and then check the options you need. (Click here to see the description of the options).




Miscellaneous Entry Overrides Absence Checking this option assumes that if the transaction of this category is committed, then the employee is not considered to be absent for that day. Pay Miscellaneous Entry This option is to be checked if the transactions of the category should be eligible for being paid. Add to Benefits Adding a category to Benefits assumes that employees are allowed to spend only a certain number of hours on that Category. Generally, these are categories for time not spent at workplace, such as VACATION or SICK time, that are paid during the period. Allow Negative Benefits (available only if Negative Benefits option from General Settings is enabled) Check this option, if you want to allow negative benefit for this category. Negative Benefit Limit X hours( available only if Negative Benefits option from General Settings is enabled) Enter Limit of negative balance of the category's benefit hours. Note that when limit is reached the system will not allow adding miscellaneous entries Show in Time Off Requests Check this option if you want to include the category in the list of those categories for which employees can request time off. Calculate Overtime for This Category Checking this option allows transactions in this category to be considered eligible for overtime. Otherwise, transactions in this category will accrue only at the regular pay rate. Note that this option is enabled only when Pay Miscellaneous Entry is checked. Miscellaneous Entry Links to Nearest Transactions Checking this option indicates a miscellaneous transaction in this category should be linked to the nearest in/out transactions' hours. Pay for intermediate inside hours This option is active only if Miscellaneous Entry Links to Nearest Transactions option is checked. Checking this option assumes that during the transaction of this category inside the workplace spent hours should be paid. Recommended to check this option if the category is not paid, otherwise double payment for same hours will occur. Outside category This option is active only when Miscellaneous Entry Links to Nearest Transactions option is checked. Here should be chosen the category which will be applied after the allowed duration of this category's miscellaneous transaction, if being late. All these options are active only when the type of category is set to Hourly.

5. If the category is to be exported, click on the Export Codes Tab and select Do you wish to export this category? check box and fill in the Field Code to export. If you are using the Peachtree 2003 payroll export, then also fill in the REG, OT1, OT2, OT3 field values used by that report.
6. Click on the OK button.

Note:

Code and Name are unique and mandatory values. Before entering these values, make sure that there is no other category with the same Code or Name.

 

   Editing Categories

   Deleting Categories

To delete categoriesg:

1. Select the category you want to delete from the Categories list.
2. Click on the Delete button.

Note:

Default 16 categories of the program can't be deleted.

 

   Making Categories Active/Inactive

To make a category active/inactive:

1. In the Categories list select the category you want to make active/inactive.
2. Click on the Edit button. (A new page opens- Edit Category).
3. Go to General Tab.
4. Select Active check box to make the category active, or deselect to make it inactive.
5. Click on the OK button.

Note:

To see inactive Categories, make sure that the status is is set to Any in Filter Conditions panel is selected. Categories, which are used, can't be set inactive.

To generate a report of the available categories, click on the Report button. The generated report will display only the categories in the filtered list.