Bricks and blocks
Payroll software for brick kilns and block yards
Press operators, the yard foreman and drivers on monthly salary with shifts and advances, and the loading gang settled on its leader's bill, without a second notebook.
In short
SimpleERP is payroll software for brick kilns and block yards. Monthly staff are paid from attendance with advances recovered on the payslip, and the loading gang leader is paid as a supplier on his bill per thousand.
Illustration of the daily attendance sheet on a phone with a Mark all present button.
A payroll day at Brazos Brick Works
Brazos Brick Works has two kinds of workers. Fourteen are on monthly salary: the operators on the two hydraulic brick machines, the pan mixer operator who loads fly ash and cement, the yard foreman who also waters the curing rows, the tractor driver, a mechanic and the office. Loading and stacking are done by a gang whose leader is paid per thousand loaded.
Many of the monthly staff are a seasonal crew who come back each spring. Advances are constant: a trip home, a wedding, a hospital bill. The owner pays them in cash from the drawer and writes them in the back of the attendance book, and at month end nobody agrees on what is still owed.
In SimpleERP the monthly staff are employees with a salary structure and a shift, each advance is entered when it is paid and recovered on the payslip, and the gang leader is a supplier whose bill per thousand is posted once the loading count is agreed.
Which shifts and components suit a brick yard?
The yard runs one press shift most of the year and two in the building season. Structures stay short: Basic, a season allowance where it applies, the deductions your country requires and the advance line.
- A second shift added for the season and removed after it
- Season allowance added for the months the second shift runs, and removed after
| Item | How Brazos Brick Works sets it |
|---|---|
| Press shift | 6 am to 2 pm, with 15 minutes' grace |
| Season shift | 2 pm to 10 pm from January to May, its own grace minutes |
| Basic | Per worker, pro-rated by paid days |
| Season allowance | A fixed amount for the months of the second shift |
| Tax and social security | Withholding and contributions set per worker as components |
| Advance recovery | $100 to $300 a month, fixed when the advance is paid |
| Loading gang | Not on payroll; the leader's bill per thousand is a purchase |
How do advances to the crew stay straight?
When Luis takes $600 to go home for Christmas, enter it with a $150 monthly recovery. Four payslips later it is settled, and at every step the advances page shows what was paid, what has come back and what is still due, with no page torn out of a notebook.
- Paid from the cash account, so the drawer and the books agree
- Recovery line on every payslip until the balance reaches zero
- Workers see their own balance in self-service, which ends the month-end argument
Illustration of a payslip with Basic salary, Allowances, Bonus and net pay of 4,440.
How is attendance marked at a yard without a computer?
The yard foreman opens the attendance screen on his phone at the start of the press shift, taps mark all present and changes only the absentees and half days. Holidays and weekly offs are already filled in, and payroll reads paid days and loss of pay straight from the sheet.
- Half days count as half, absences as one, unpaid leave as loss of pay
- Check-in from a worker's own phone for those who have one
Can I pay the loading gang per thousand bricks?
Not through payroll, which pays a monthly salary. Set the gang leader up as a supplier, and when the month's loading count is agreed, say 310,000 bricks at $3.50 per thousand, post his bill for $1,085. It lands in the books as labour cost and his payment clears it.
- Gang cost visible next to salaries in the P&L
- Gang payments recorded from cash or bank against the bill
One system
Where the wage bill goes
Payroll reads attendance and advances and posts salary expense; the gang leader's bill posts as a purchase; both sit in the same P&L.
Bricks and blocks
Bricks in thousands by yard, batch costs from a BOM, truckload invoices and builder credit.
See howInvoicing & tax
Tax invoices with VAT, GST or sales tax on every line, numbered by fiscal year and posted in one step.
See howInventory for brick makers
Fly ash in tonnes, cement in bags and bricks in thousands, across the raw material shed, the curing yard and the ready yard.
See howAccounting for brick plants
Builder cheques, gate cash, diesel and supplier credit in one double-entry ledger, with the month-end checks a brick unit needs.
See howProduction for brick plants
A mix per 1,000 bricks as a versioned BOM, a work order per shift, and the real cost per thousand from what the pan mixer used.
See howPayroll
Salary structures, monthly runs and payslips with your earnings and deductions, posted to the books.
See how
Honest limits
What SimpleERP does not do yet
- Income tax withholding is not computed from government tables; you set the deduction per employee
- Social security, pension and end-of-service amounts are components you set, not statutory calculations
- No biometric device integration: attendance is marked on the phone or entered by HR
- Gang wages per thousand loaded are not worked out in payroll; post the gang leader's bill as a purchase
- Weekly cash wages are not supported; payroll runs once a month
Getting started
Start with payroll
Sign up with your email
Name, email and a password. No card for the seven-day trial.
Tell us about the business
Pick your country and, if you are registered, type your tax number. Accounts, tax rates, units, roles and numbering are seeded for that country.
Add your people
Add the press operators, yard foreman and drivers with their shift and salary structure, and enter any advance already given.
Run the first payroll
Attendance and leave feed the run; payslips post to the books and staff see them on their phones.
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I pay moulders per thousand bricks?
Not in payroll; piece rates are not supported. If a moulding or loading gang is paid per thousand, record the gang leader as a supplier and post his bill for the agreed count. Monthly staff stay on payroll with their salary structures.
Most workers do not have phones. How is attendance marked?
The yard foreman marks it for everyone from one screen on his own phone. He taps mark all present, then changes the few who are absent or on half day. Workers who have a phone can also check in themselves, but nobody has to.
How do I record an advance given in cash?
Enter the advance against the worker with the amount, the date and the monthly recovery, paid from the cash account. The cash balance drops, the advance shows as due from the worker, and each payroll run deducts the instalment until it is settled.
Do the workers get a payslip?
Yes. Every payslip prints on plain paper with earnings, deductions, the advance recovery and net pay in words. Workers with a self-service login can open their own from a phone once the run is approved, which helps when they budget for the month.
Related
Keep reading
Bricks and blocks
Bricks in thousands by yard, batch costs from a BOM, truckload invoices and builder credit.
Read moreAccounting for brick plants
Builder cheques, gate cash, diesel and supplier credit in one double-entry ledger, with the month-end checks a brick unit needs.
Read moreProduction for brick plants
A mix per 1,000 bricks as a versioned BOM, a work order per shift, and the real cost per thousand from what the pan mixer used.
Read more
See how payroll works in SimpleERP for bricks and blocks
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