Correcting Payroll

Corrections

There will be moments, where we have finished the Payroll run and Pre-Payments. We processed some report and figured out that, there is some issue with a set of Assignments. The same thing can even happen just after the Payroll Run, or in some cases, after Transfer to GL. Now how do we handle the situation? Is there any way we can correct the data. Yes. There are three different Processes.

  • Rollback
  • Retry
  • Reversal

Let's discuss these one by one.

Rollback

This is the most commonly used feature. We can use this to un-process the Payroll. However using a Rollback removes the entire history of the data. Let's use Joe's example. All of a sudden we realize that Joe has been paid $200 extra this time. Now we are at the last stage of our post processing. We are running costing now. How do we fix the Issue?

We will Rollback the Payroll for Joe. We will Rollback the Costing for Joe first. Then the Check writer job, then the NACHA / BACS, then the PrePayments and finally we will rollback his payroll. We will fix his elements, and rerun the entire set of jobs again in the actual order only for Joe.

Cases: So what are the cases where we would process Rollback?

  • We have processed Payroll for a person with a wrong Salary
  • We have processed Payroll for a guy who was terminated long back
  • We have processed Payroll for a wrong assignment set

How: How to Rollback?

  • To rollback payroll of a set of Individuals, Go to the View -> Payroll Process window OR Go to the View -> Assignment Process. Click on the individuals we want to rollback and select Delete Record from the Edit Menu.
  • To rollback payroll of an entire payroll, Submit a new request: "Rollback US Payroll Process". Choose the Payroll run. And Submit.

Retry

Retry is used when we see a small mistake just after the Payroll run. We want to fix it and move ahead with the Process. This is done when we see a set of assignments are processed wrong. We fix the data causing issue and then mark them to retry. It processes only those entries that are incorrect. In some cases where we saw there is something wrong with the Fast Formula we just recompiled; probably a calculation mistake. We fix it and run a retry.

Cases: So what are the cases where we would process a Retry?

  • We have an issue with the Calculation method used in a FF
  • We found out an issue with a set of assignments, where an earning was not added at all.

How: How to Retry?

  • To retry for an assignment, Go to View ->Assignment Process and select the Process we want to retry. Check the Retry Box.
  • To retry for a set of assignments, Go to View ->Payroll Process and select the assignments we want to retry. Check the Retry Box. And then run the "Retry US Payroll Process".
  • To retry an entire Payroll, Go to View ->Payroll Process and select the run, Check the Retry Box. And then run the "Retry US Payroll Process".

Reversal

Reversal is chosen in cases when all the processes are already complete, and we see an issue with an assignment. This will reverse all the Processes this far for the particular Run for the particular assignment.

Cases: So what are the cases where we would process Reversal?

  • An assignment was processed incorrectly like: An employee got a payment of $400 by a check, which should have gone to someone else.

How: How to Reverse?

  • Open the Employee's assignment screen.
  • Others -> Reverse Run
  • Select the Run we want Reverse.
  • Check the Reverse check Box.

Adjusting Balances

When Balances are calculated wrong, or we have done some manual workaround and want the Balance to be updated for the same, we can opt for Balance adjustments.

  • To view Balance of any particular assignment, we can go to View -> Assignment Process Results -> Employee Assignment Processes
  • To Adjust Balances, we can go to the Assignment Record of the Employee, Others->Adjust Balance.

Quick Pay

QuickPay is the process that can be used to process Payroll and Prepayments for one Individual assignment at a time. So this is the Assignment level version of the Payroll Process. Although all the other Post Processing except the Prepayments has to be done separately, but this tool, can help us to do small changes on the assignments and rerun the payroll for them, after a successful rollback. This can also be used as a testing tool. We can just run a quick pay and see the SOE. Once our validation is done, just roll back the Quick pay. It’s so simple.

Figure 27 QuickPay Process

(Figure 5.27 – QuickPay Process)

Quick pay can be processed from the assignment screen of an employee. Others -> QuickPay

  • Choose the pay period for which we want to process the quick pay
  • Enter the Pay period end date
  • Select run type as Regular
  • Save the record and Process.

Retro Pay

Retro Pay are one of the Important tools with which we can fix something that has happened in Past. For an example, salary of an employee is increased to $300 as of March, effective from the Month of January. Now, we need to make sure that the Amount of money accumulated since January to March to be paid as part of March Payroll; Similarly, if the Rate of Medical Insurance has been changed from $450 to $550 as of March, effective from the month of January. Here we need to adjust the $100/ month for three months. How do we do that?

There is a process called the Retro Pay that can solve the problem. There are three types of Retro pays, however not all of them are available in a particular localization.

  • Retro Pay by Aggregate
  • Retro Pay by Run
  • Retro Pay by Element

Even though the concept looks simple, it’s not. We must think about the deductions and taxes in place. If the salary increases by $100, my system will need the entire calculation to be done once again. Not only that, even my balances will need updates. Oracle Payroll takes care of all that. Let's discuss how to achieve the same.

Retro by Aggegate

We can use this, if we do not want to see the way Payroll derives the amount. If we take Joe's example forward, we will never see how payroll came up with that $300 for the three Months, if we use Retro Pay by Aggregate. It’s abstracted. Here it was simple to track, as its just $100/ month. But in Complex Calculations it will be completely abstract.

Set up:

  • Complete the Salary level changes.
  • First thing is to create/ update the element entries with the new value.
  • Now, create the retro pay elements with the following details.
    • Pick an appropriate classification. Should not be Information.
    • Type should be Non-Recurring
    • Should have three input values - Pay Value, Start Date, End Date
  • Create an Assignment set with the Impacted assignments
  • Link the element to the assignment set
  • Create a Retro pay set
  • Process Retro pay request.

Retro by Run

This one is similar to "Retro Pay by Aggregate". Just that it gives us the clear picture without any abstraction. It allows us to see how backdated changes are distributed across Individual processes. Here the system uses the old information and also calculates the difference using the new information and finally updates the system.

Set up:

  • Follow everything that's there in the "Retro Pay by Aggregate". However with the following changes on the element:
    • Multiple Entries allowed flag should be checked
    • It just needs one Input Value "Pay Value". No Start date or end date would be required.

Retro by Element

This option is chosen when we want the retro to be applied for one single Element without recalculating the others. This is highly specific to Elements and does not happen a lot often. Imagine just a Post Tax Bonus was updated wrong in Joe's record. To correct situations like that, we might need Retro Pay by Element

Set up:

  • Update the element entries with the desired value.
  • Create an assignment set
  • Create an Element Set of type Run Set
  • Process Retro Pay request

Retro by Set

This is not required in Retro Pay by Element. This is used only in the other two cases.

Responsibility: HRMS Manager

Navigation: Payroll -> RetroPay Set

Steps: Create a new record and enter the details.

Retro pay process

Responsibility: HRMS Manager

Navigation: View (M) -> Request (M) ->Submit a new request -> single request

Steps: Enter the name of the Process "RetroPay by Aggregate or RetroPay by Run or RetroPay by Element." and enter the parameters.

Oracle Payroll now rolls back and reprocesses all the payrolls for the assignment set from the date we specified. The system compares the old balance values with the new ones and creates entry values for the Retro Pay elements based on the difference. These entries are processed for the assignments in the subsequent payroll run for our current period. No changes are made to our audited payroll data.