Understanding Municipal vs. Commercial Department Numbers

Generally, municipalities post payroll transactions to the Fund Accounting module and commercial installations post to the General Ledger (G/L) module. Depending on the module interface settings, the Department Number matches a valid Appropriations Account Number in Fund Accounting or a valid General Ledger Account Number. However, the Department Number can also be a completely unique number that creates a cross-reference to the Appropriations Account Number or G/L Account Number. Sometimes they are collectively referred to as the expense account.

To accommodate Account Numbers for both the Fund Accounting and General Ledger modules, the Department Number can be up to 20 characters long.

The table below describes how the setting for the Department File Active Flag in Company Control Options affects the way Payroll handles the Department Number.

Department File Active Flag Note: This setting appears on the Payroll I Tab of the Company Control Options.
Municipal Settings Note: All payroll transactions are posted to the Fund Accounting module for municipalities that use the following settings:
Flag Setting	Description
N - Not Active	Department Number Maintenance is not active. Enter the Appropriations Account Number in the Department Number field during Employee Master Maintenance. (Under certain circumstances, you can enter the G/L Account Number here.) Department totals are visible only in the Fund Accounting module
M - Municipal	Department Number Maintenance is active. Assign a valid Appropriations Account Number as the Department Number. Enter the Department Number, which is essentially an Appropriations Account Number, during Employee Master Maintenance. Department totals are visible during Department Master Maintenance and in the Fund Accounting module.
H - Handbook II	Department Number Maintenance is active. Assign any unique number as the Department Number and enter a cross-reference to the correct Appropriations Account Number. Enter the unique Department Number during Employee Master Maintenance. Payroll will automatically post transactions to the cross-referenced Appropriations Account Number. Department totals are visible during Department Master Maintenance and in the Fund Accounting module.
Commercial Settings Note: All payroll transactions are posted to the G/L module for commercial installations that use the following settings:
Flag Setting	Description
S - Standard	This method accommodates standard four-digit G/L Account Numbers or non-standard lengths, which are used more often by commercial installations. Department Number Maintenance is active. Assign a valid G/L Account Number as the Department Number. Enter the Department Number, which is essentially a G/L Account Number, during Employee Master Maintenance. Department totals are visible during Department Master Maintenance. Note: The difference between the Standard and Variable settings is that with the Standard setting, the Department Number must be a valid G/L Account Number. You do not need to enter a separate G/L Account Number field during Department Master Maintenance. With the Variable setting, you must enter both a Department Number and a G/L Account Number during Department Master Maintenance. The Department Number can be any unique number you want to assign to the Department. Both the Standard and Variable settings permit non-standard length G/L Account Numbers.
V - Variable	This method accommodates non-standard G/L Account Number field lengths (greater than four digits). Department Number Maintenance is active. Assign any unique number as the Department Number and enter a cross-reference to the correct G/L Account Number. Enter the unique Department Number during Employee Master Maintenance. Payroll will automatically post transactions to the cross-referenced G/L Account Number. Department totals are visible during Department Master Maintenance.