Regarding error 26 - You don't mention which version of Sage 100 you are on.  The answer could be different between 2018 and prior versions because of the update of the payroll program.  I'm guessing you are in 2018 because you mention Employee Inquiry.

Do you have the latest product update installed?  2018 would be PU 3.

I don't see anything specifically in the knowledgebase about this.  Similar items (but not error 26) suggest uninstalling and reinstalling the workstation. 

You might also try doing a rebuild key files and rebuild sort files on  payroll. 

As regards your time off numbers being off.   You have to make sure you are looking at correct numbers.  The numbers you see in employee maintenance prior to updating the check register will not include activity for the current check.   The numbers that are found in the temporary work file used to print checks include activity for the current check.

Error 26 most likely means you either have a string stored in a number field or a number stored in a string field.

Yes, I'm using 2018. I thought I had put it in the post but must have deleted it when editing. I'm fairly certain that we've got the latest update. I've had this issue (and others) ever since I started using 2018 payroll. Some have been resolved, but this one is ongoing.

I understand that the numbers will change when the checks are written, but what is in the employee maintenance file is not what is being printed on the checks. I compare the numbers with my Excel sheet and they track until the check is printed. I printed checks on Wednesday and the time off remaining that printed was close to accurate, but off by a fraction of a day (between .25-.5) either high or low. I just checked them now and the time off remaining that shows is the amount that they will have accrued by the next paycheck that will be dated September 19. On my Excel spreadsheet, time off accrues by fractions of a day each work day. In Sage, it accrues hourly each day, so I figured out how many hours were in the fractions of the day: in 10 work days, they accrue .57692 days, or 4.61536 hours. I set my accrual to daily and amount accrued to .461536 each day. It seems to be adding up correctly but when it's printed onto checks the numbers don't quite match.

I'm not sure what you mean. I don't know how I could enter anything into a payroll field that isn't the correct format. 

Melinda,

I've seen about 4 cases like this and the issue was a customization to the Employee Maintenance task.  Go to Customizer, Utilities and run the Rebuild Customizer Log and Update custom Panels to Current Level.   I just published kb 93138 this morning with steps.

I've seen problems recently with BR errors due to payment having a bad cleared date (something like 2018 825, with a space instead of leading zero for the month).

I ran Rebuild Customizer Log and that solved the "error 26" issue. I'll have to update the panels later when others are out of the system. Thanks for the help!

The being off by fractions doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless there is something else going on that I'm not privy to.

Since the standard checks don't have the time off hours on them by default,  my best guess at the moment would be that there is something not quite correct in how you have placed that information on the crystal form.  If you run the benefit register prior to printing checks does the information look correct there?

Another thing you might try is do a check run and preview to the screen.  Then while still previewing, use data file display and maintenance to examine the data in the check printing work file and see if the numbers there look accurate.   (I did this recently for a client where we getting labels printed multiple times and discovered that the work file was indeed sending data records for multiple labels which then ruled out a problem with the crystal report and printer settings.  Turned out to be a check box on the printing selection window.)

I'm not sure how I could have placed it any other way than choosing the field and dragging it to the form, which is what I did. I don't understand the differences in accrual, because the benefit register shows everyone accruing the same amount of time, unless I have a different field on the form than I think I do. When I prepared the checks today and looked at the employee maintenance files just before printing, the time off remaining was within .02 hours of my records, which is close enough for me. However, when I previewed the checks, one was .27 days shy, one was .4 days shy, and one was .35 days over. This has been pretty much consistent ever since I started using payroll 2018, and is confusing the dickens out of me.

As for DFDM, I'm not sure what file I should be looking in or what I should be checking for.