Introduction: Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 1

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1 Introduction: First, let's start with some background information. As most of you know, Berkeley Financial System (BFS) is the system we use to manage the financial transactions in our general ledger. Many of these transactions originate from third party feeder systems such as the Travel Reimbursement System, the Cash Deposit System, the Campus Accounts Receivable System, and the Payroll Personal System (PPS). We will focus on the relationship between BFS and the Payroll Personnel System (PPS). PPS is used to track UC Berkeley salaries and benefits. At the end of each month, after the payroll department generates paychecks, PPS feeds thousands of payroll transactions to BFS. BFS accepts most of these entries without issue. However, the system may reject some transactions due to an incorrect chartfield or mapping issue. BFS places these rejected transactions in a default suspense chartstring where they await correction. Keep in mind that suspended transactions are recorded in a liability account so do not appear as payroll expenses in BAIRS reports. This makes managing your budget more difficult - especially as the number and dollar value of these suspended transactions increases. That is why the PPS Suspense Correction function is so important. It allows users to see these suspended transactions and take steps towards clearing them out of the suspense chartstring. So how do departments clear out their suspended PPS transactions? The PPS Suspense Correction function allows departments to see a list of their suspended transactions. To clear them from the suspense chartstring, examine each transaction and determine if the correct chartstring was used. If the chartstring is correct, request a Journal Entry (JE). Now you might be asking yourself, how did a correct chartstring end up in suspense? Most likely, this is a Contracts & Grants fund, and PPS fed the chartfield combination to BFS before it was added to the PC Mapping Table. Or, in more rare instances, one of the chartfields was inactivated with an effective date that is before the accounting date on the PPS transaction. By running a journal, BFS conducts Chart of Account (COA) validation. If the transaction passes, it means the PC Mapping Table now includes this chartfield combination. Once approved, the entry will clear out of the suspense chartstring and appear as a payroll expense in your BAIRS report. If it does not pass COA validation, contact CGA and see if they received your budget that uses this chartstring. Once CGA updates the mapping table with this chartfield combination, request another journal. This journal should then pass the COA validation process. If the rejection is due to the inactivation of a chartfield, submit another journal entry with a note explaining why the chartfield should be reactivated. Now suppose that the wrong chartstring was entered into PPS. In this case, submit a Payroll Expense Transfer (PET) and type in the correct chartfield into BFS. Campus Shared Services (CSS) will reverse the original incorrect entry in PPS and replace it with a corrected chartstring. Once that is done, the transaction will fall out of suspense at the next PPS feed cycle. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 1

2 The menu path to get to the new PPS Suspense Correction component is Main Menu CAL Components - GL PPS PPS Suspense Correction Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 2

3 There are six search criteria available for users. Fund, Department, Chartfield 2, Employee ID, Pay End Date and OrgNode. You may enter as much search criteria as you would like to narrow your search. Once criteria have been specified, the SEARCH button is clicked. The program populates the grid and sorts the grid given the criteria specified. In the below example we have entered in the Fund field. Click Search and the following information will be displayed: Note: You must enter at least one search criteria for results to be displayed. If you do not enter at least one search criteria, the following error message will be displayed. A brief description of the information that is in the grid is outlined below. The columns PPS AcctgDate, PPS LineNbr and Employee ID appear in all tabs. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 3

4 There are four tabs. Tab one is Chart of Accounts (COA) which contains all of the COA information from the original journal. Click on the OrigCOA hyperlink and the original PPS COA values will be displayed. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 4

5 Click on the 'Notes' hyperlink. This is an editable page for user's to enter notes/comments. When the page is saved, notes/comments will be saved in history for future reference. Upon clicking the 'Save' button, the Last Updated On, Last Updated By and Role will be saved. Once saved, these notes cannot be deleted or edited. However, additional notes can be made. The character limit is 250 for each note. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 5

6 Tab two is Journal Attributes which includes the original journal information. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 6

7 Tab three is Last Update which will change as updates are made to this page; we will see screenshots of this later in the documentation after we have submitted journal entries (JE) and Payroll Expense Transfer (PET). Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 7

8 Tab four is Error Message and includes the original PPS accounting date, line number, employee ID and error message. You may find this tab particularly useful since it provides the reason why BFS rejected the transaction. As this error message indicates, all ten rows are due to PC Mapping errors. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 8

9 You can show all columns at one time by clicking on the icon. The display will look like this: Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 9

10 Process Options: There are six options provided at this time. 1. JE= BFS Journal Entry 2. PET= Payroll Expense Transfer 3. Submit= Submit for approval 4. Submit-Overide= Force Submit for JE only when there is a chartfield only error encountered (this does not apply to PC Mapping errors). 5. Un-Submit= Remove Submit status 6. Un-Flag JE/PET= Remove corrective action assigned Once the user selects the corrective action and then clicks on the Process button, the appropriate columns will be updated with new values. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 10

11 It should also be noted that the same logic that is used on the Validate COA/SpeedType page (Main Menu CAL Components Validate COA/Speedtype) is built into this component. Once the user clicks on the Submit button, this program is invoked to ensure that the chartstring is correct. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 11

12 Users may do a mass change by selecting the Select All button. The same can be applied if a user needs to do a mass clean-up by selecting the de-select All button. Now that we have reviewed the page, we will demonstrate how to process the suspended transactions. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 12

13 There are two actions which can be taken to clear the suspense transactions. The first is through a Journal Entry (JE). You would choose this action when the correct chartstring was entered into PPS but either the chartfield combination was not listed in the BFS PC Mapping table or one of the chartfields was inactivated with an effective date before the accounting date on the transaction. The other action is a Payroll Expense Transfer (PET). Use this method when an incorrect chartstring is entered into the PPS system. This reverses the original incorrect entry, and replaces it with a corrected chartstring. Example #1 PC Mapping errors chartstrings have been mapped in the PC Mapping table and a journal entry is required. For the sake of this example, let's assume that the chartstrings on all ten rows are correct and need journal entries to get them out of suspense. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 13

14 The easiest way to determine if the transactions are PC Mapping errors and require a JE to get them out of suspense is to click on the Error Message tab and read the message that is displayed. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 14

15 Click on Select All, select JE from the Action drop-down box and click on Process. A message box summarizes the intended action. It states that you are about to flag 10 rows as JE. Click OK. The PET/JE column now displays JE for each row. Once you have selected all the transactions that require a journal entry, click the Save button. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 15

16 Alternatively, you can mark each row individually, then go to the PET/JE drop down list and select PET or JE. This is helpful when you have both PET and JEs to process both combinations at the same time. Next, go the Process button; select Submit from the drop-down to the left and click Process. A message box summarizes the intended action. It states that you are about to submit 10 JE transactions. Click OK to process your request. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 16

17 A new message summarizes the results of the action. Of the 10 JE transactions submitted, BFS accepted all 10 of them and did not reject any. Click the OK button to close this message box. To find out which transactions were accepted, look at the Submit for Approval column. If Submit" appears in the row of the transaction, it was accepted. In this example, all ten transactions were accepted and will fall off this suspense list 24 hours after an approver accepts these entries. You can also look at the Error column which indicates N for no errors and the Corrected Line COA Edit Message now reads Successful chartstring validation. Remember, only transactions that pass COA validation will be marked as submitted. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 17

18 Example #2 PC Mapping errors not mapped by CGA in the PC Mapping table Let s take a look at a few transactions that do not pass the COA validation and what the grid looks like upon clicking on the Submit button. As the screenshots below indicate, these four transactions have the same PC Mapping errors and require a JE to get them out of suspense. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 18

19 Click on Select All, select JE from the Action drop-down box and click on Process. A message box summarizes the intended action. It states that you are about to flag 4 rows as JE. Click OK. The PET/JE column now displays JE for each row. Once you have selected all the transactions that require a Journal Entry, click the Save button. Next, go the Process button; select Submit from the drop-down to the left and click Process. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 19

20 A message box summarizes the intended action. It states that you are about to submit 4 JE transactions. Click OK to process your request. A new message summarizes the results of the action. Of the 4 JE transactions submitted, BFS did not accept any; all 4 were rejected. Notice that the Submit for Approval column is blank. Remember, only transactions that pass COA validation will be marked as submitted. If you scroll to the right, notice that BFS has flagged all four transactions with a red "Y" in the Error column. This entry also has the same error message as before. To correct this transaction, you should verify that a budget has been submitted to Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) with this chartstring, and if so, then you should follow up with CGA to determine when the budget will be processed. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 20

21 Example #3 Invalid/Inactive chartfield need to do a Submit-Override journal entry. If the error is due to the inactivation of a chartfield, you can submit the transaction for a journal entry but the process is slightly different. You should include a note indicating that the chartfield needs to be reactivated and why. Then, in the Process field, choose Submit-Override instead of the normal Submit. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 21

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23 Please note that if you scroll to the right, BFS has flagged both transactions with a red "Y" in the Error column and both transactions also have the same error message as before. However, because we chose the Submit-Override action, Submit appears in the Submit for Approval column. These two transactions will go to the appropriate approver for review and upon the reactivation of the chartfield(s) will fall off this suspense list 24 hours after an approver accepts these entries. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 23

24 Example #4 Wrong chartfield entered need to do a Payroll Expense Transfer The other action we briefly mentioned is a Payroll Expense Transfer (PET). As you may recall, this error occurs when someone enters the wrong chartfield into the PPS system. Use this method when an incorrect chartstring is entered into the PPS system. This reverses the original incorrect entry, and replaces it with a corrected chartstring. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 24

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26 Click on Select All, select PET from the Action drop-down box and click on Process. A message box summarizes the intended action. It states that you are about to flag 16 rows as PET. Click OK. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 26

27 Notice how this opens up the chartfields for all 16 lines to be edited. Let's assume our research indicates that the correct fund should be Go ahead and overwrite the incorrect fund with the corrected value. Once you have made the changes, click on Save. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 27

28 Make sure the processing field is set to Submit and click the Process button. A message box summarizes your intended action. Click the OK button to proceed. A new message box confirms the results of your action. In this example, the message box says the 16 PET transactions were successfully submitted but keep in mind that this does not actually correct the error. Only after Campus Shared Services (CSS) processes the PET and the corrected chartstring comes across at the next PPS feed does the error actually get corrected. Click the OK button to close the message box. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 28

29 Just as we did with transactions marked as JE, to find out which transactions were accepted, look at the Submit for Approval column. If Submit" appears in the row of the transaction, it was accepted. In this example, all sixteen transactions were accepted. You can also look at the Error column which indicates N for no errors and the Corrected Line COA Edit Message now reads Successful chartstring validation. Let s quickly summarize what we have reviewed. Conclusion / Summarization Example # 1 - The first ten entries (Fund 31867) will fall off this suspense list 24 hours after they are approved. Example #2 - The second set of entries (Fund 95419) will remain on the list until CGA updates the PC mapping table and you resubmit another journal entry. Example #3 - The third set of entries (Fund 69799) will go to the appropriate approver for review and upon the reactivation of the chartfield(s) will fall off this suspense list 24 hours after an approver accepts these entries. Example #4 - The fourth and final set of sixteen (original Fund 87942, which we changed to 32594) will remain on the list in suspense until CSS makes the correction in the PPS system and an updated entry is fed to BFS at the month end cycle. Payroll Suspense Correction (PPS) Process Prepared by Deanna Sailor 04/14/2015 Page 29