Hey macfesto,
You’ve done the right thing, and nice job outlining everything you've tried. When reversing a pay, the system creates a separate negative amount that sits alongside the original pay, and those two entries cancel each other out so the pay is effectively nullified. Once a pay run has been accepted, it can’t be deleted, so reversing is the correct path. For peace of mind, you can open the Transaction Journal or run the Payroll Activity and Payroll Register reports for that employee to confirm the net effect is zero.
Cheers,
Doreen