Reporting to the MAX Field Lookups Always Available

Movement reports give item-by-item breakdowns of a percentage of movement for any given period of time

This wizard function comes into play when you want to enter your regular payroll. By either pressing the Enter Payroll icon on the toolbar or the same-named  menu option on the pull-down menu bar, you will activate this wizard which pulls up a simple dialogue box with a checklist of procedures to do in order to process payroll. Double-clicking on each item down the list or pressing the Process button at the bottom of the box opens up the window for the step in entering the payroll. This whole process can also be controlled from the keyboard which can make it move pretty quickly. The different steps in the checklist include operations by the user (entering time card data), operations controlled by the user (printing checks, edit reports, et al), and internal processing steps done entirely by the computer (calculating taxes). The user can move back through the checklist in order to redo certain operations or to make corrections, but the core of the processing remains with in this specific structure.

This fixed structure has its good points and its bad points. This provides an excellent procedural structure within which to process payroll in a systematic way, especially for several clients. Payroll for Windows prompts the user along and catches errors in the processing along the way, giving the user opportunity to make corrections as needed. Smaller firms will appreciate this design; however, some larger firms that have other requirements for payroll processing procedures or need a more flexible set of procedures may find the rigidity of this program's processes a little too much for them.

The data-entry screens are very well designed, clean and allow for quick data entry, not only within the individual payroll records, but from one record to the next. This program lets you move through payroll entry just about as fast as you want to go, while still allowing you to navigate back and forth, through the data base as needed.

Reporting to the MAX provides a more than adequate repertoire of reports. If you want more, however, they provide a built-in  report writer that can very easily make sophisticated reports based upon user-defined parameters and queries. All reports can be previewed on-screen in a WYSIWYG viewer before they are printed.

Reporting to the MAX's Payroll for Windows is well-thought-out and has a clean design. If your firm is new to payroll processing and is looking for a good package that will give some built-in structure to the process, this should be on your short list.