Allowance Class Overview
The Allowance Class Inquiry screen within SapphireOne Payroll/HR allows for the grouping of employees Allowances and Deductions into particular classifications as applicable to your business. For companies or organisations that have a large number of employees, the grouping of Allowances into different Classes will greatly assist in the analysis and production of reports generated from SapphireOne.
The grouping of Allowances into Classes gives the user the ability to provide further classification and breakdown of these Allowances. Classes can be used for a variety of purposes, for example an Allowance of ‘Leave’ can be broken down further into Classes such as Holiday Pay, Personal Leave, Paid Parental Leave, etc.
To add an Allowance to an Allowance Class you can navigate to .Payroll/HR > Administration > Allowance Class page.
To create a New Class or Modify an existing Class, select the Class and click the New 
or Modify 
icons as required. Select the Green Tick 
to save your Allowance Class entry.
To link an Allowance to a Class navigate to Payroll/HR > Administration > Allowances. Either click the New or Modify icons as required.
Allowance or link to an existing allowance
Once you have set up an Allowance Class using the New icon and then created Allowances within this Class, when the Allowance Class Inquiry is next opened these Allowances will be listed in the lower section of the screen.
To add an existing Allowance to this Class, navigate to Any Allowances that have a Class entered in the Class Area on the Details Page will be listed in the Allowance Class Inquiry screen as seen below.
All inquiry screens have the option to Customise the list of items that are displayed on page. The Custom Inquiry Option allows you to select the data fields that are displayed, and the order in which the columns of data are displayed across the screen. While a list of clients has been used to demonstrate below, any type of inquiry may be customised within SapphireOne.
The list below is the Standard Inquiry list.
When the ‘Swap to Custom Inquiry‘ button in the lower left hand corner of the screen is selected SapphireOne will display the default Custom Screen as seen below. This Custom List screen gives the user user two main options when organising the order that the data is displayed:
- To add or remove the data field columns that are displayed on screen. To add or remove a column, go to the ‘Setup’ button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Within the Setup screen you can right click on the column lines and select from Delete, Move Left or Move Right. Further information on the Setup screen is documented below.
- To change the order in which the data field Columns are displayed. To change the order of the columns, go to the ‘Setup’ button in the bottom right corner of the screen. Within the Setup screen you can right click on the column lines and select from Delete, Move Left or Move Right. Further information on the Setup screen is documented below.
Once the user has customised the Custom Inquiry screen, the screen view will become unique to the user and each time the user logs in they will be shown the same custom view. The user also has the option to select and save unlimited custom views. This can be done in the ‘Setup’ screen as documented below.
The Inquiry screen below is the initial Custom Inquiry screen which may be modified by the user.
Custom Inquiry Screen ‘Setup’ Function
To commence setting up your Customised List screen, select the Setup button as seen above. The Setup screen will be displayed as seen below.
From this screen the user is able to add and remove columns of data as required. Almost every field within the SapphireOne data tables is able to be included in the Custom List screen if the user is authorised.
There are a number of menu items across the top of the screen. These are as follows:
- Reset to Default – Selecting this button will set the display back to default as determined by SapphireOne. When a new data field is selected SapphireOne will add it to the right hand side of the columns of data. You can then click on the field heading and drag it to wherever you want across the screen.
- Show Related Record – You can also add related fields from other tables. Clicking on the
checkbox at the top of the screen, allows you to choose a related record and a mini view of the related record for the chosen record will be displayed for the currently selected record. You will need to select the fields displayed. - Favourite Set – You can use this option at the top left of the screen to save a custom created screen for later use. For example, you can have a simplistic Inquiry screen for general use, and a more complex screen view when auditing certain information.
Class Area
- Class ID – Enter the chosen Allowance Class ID.
- Class Name – Enter the chosen Allowance Class Name.
Notes Area
Any notes that are required may be entered here. You can select the Green clock 
icon to add Time and Date stamps to your notes. You can also highlight the text in the Notes area and right mouse click to customise the Font, Style, Colour and Background Colour to your preference.
SapphireOne’s implementation of both Dictation (MacOS) and Speech to Text (Windows) is a game changer for data entry. Any data entry field you can type into using a keyboard can use this feature.
You can also use this functionality on all inquiry screens within SapphireOne. For example, the user is in a Contact within a Client. They may have made a phone call to that particular client using the Softphone technology. Consequently, this will automatically date and time stamp both the contact and the phone number you called.
As soon as the call is completed, the user has the ability to use Speech to Text (Windows) or Dictation (MacOS). They can dictate into the memo field of the CRM contact, adding as much description as they require.
Dictation and Speech to Text Procedure
This functionality applies across every single Data Entry screen. For example, the SapphireOne user is entering a Vendor Invoice (VI). Additionally, you may want to add a memo within the Vendor Invoice (VI). The user can utilise the tool and simply dictate the memo.
Another example is if the user wants to add additional lines to the General Ledger account, within each General Ledger account. When the user is completing data entry using a General Ledger, there’s always a unique memo field for each GL account line. The user can then utilise this feature to quickly add the information they need to add. Alternatively, you may have an interview with an employee. After the interview process is completed, the user can then make notes about the employee.
Speech to Text or Dictation is an extremely powerful tool. It is something that we at SapphireOne, as well as our clients, utilise daily. It is a massive timesaver.
Allowance Class Lines Area
This area displays a full list of the Allowances that are currently classified under the particular Allowance Class that is being viewed.
You can review our Blog and YouTube channel for additional information and resources on SapphireOne ERP, CRM and Business Accounting software.