2013 Payroll data altered

[OrganizedInk]

Background: We switched to Paywindow mid-year 2013, so all 1st quarter pay records were entered as 1 amount per employee for the entire quarter.
Payroll reports were created from Paywindow & checked for accuracy - all was good.
However, last week while printing W-2's for our restaurant, I discovered incorrect/excessively low wages for 3 of our 23 employees.
I found that their earnings on the previous check created in the 1st quarter 2013 had been changed to zero, but all the tip & tax deductions were intact, leaving them with a paycheck of a negative amount. I was able to correct these paychecks using my previously printed payroll reports so W-2s are now correct, but how did this happen?
Out of curiosity, I attempted to create a payroll check for a negative amount, but couldn't save it - so I know I didn't accidently alter their checks.
All other employee checks created during that same pay period remained correct.
Strangely, the 3 employees with altered checks - their 1st names start with A, B & B, so if a sort was done by 1st names, they would be on top. The next employee alphabetically starts with D. Not sure if this is relevant...
I haven't spent the time yet to go thru previous back-ups to find when or where this occurred.
Just thought I'd ask if this is a common issue, before I invest any more time.

Thanks!
Sherri

[Paul Mayer]

My guess would be that someone opened the transactions in edit mode to view, and then saved them without entering the gross wages again (that entry element is cleared when opening to calculate from the employee settings). If they just want to view, the Report's are the best place using the print preview button.

If they would have simply cancelled, it would have retained what was actually stored in the database.

No you cannot create a pay check for a negative amount, not even a zero amount and we test for that when you attempt to save a transaction and stop you.

So in short, make sure all is correct when saving a transaction. And if you go to open a transaction in edit mode, be prepared to add that gross wages amount before saving or simply click Cancel.