Understanding Accumulators

This topic discusses:

  • Accumulator elements.

  • Balance accumulators in batch processing.

  • Retroactive processing and accumulators.

Accumulators are elements that store the cumulative values of defined items as they're processed. For example, they can store accrued entitlement balances, gross earnings, and other cumulative values.

Accumulators can be defined:

  • Automatically

    When you create an earning, deduction, or entitlement element, the system can automatically generate a set of accumulators to track the value of the element over time. Automatically generated accumulators typically accumulate values for a single element. You specify the periods of time that the accumulators are to track.

  • Manually

    You can create accumulators to track several elements, such as all voluntary deductions or all accrued entitlement. You select the elements that the accumulator is to track and define the period of time that the accumulator is to cover. You can accumulate a single value or multiple values over time.

There are two types of accumulators, those that pertain to a single segment, and those that span several calculation periods:

  • Segment accumulators accumulate values during a single gross-to-net calculation.

  • Balance accumulators accumulate values over a period of time, such as a month or a year.

Note: You can accumulate values for segment accumulators using old values that are derived from formulas. You cannot, however, accumulate values for balance accumulators using old values from formulas.

This topic describes various aspects of how the batch process handles balance accumulators.

Updating Balances

The system loads the value for an accumulator from the end of the previous period. When the accumulator is processed, the value for the current period is added to the historic value to maintain an up-to-date balance. For each period, the batch process pulls forward the accumulator likewise.

Creating New Instances

When defining an accumulator, assign such attributes as level, based-on date, and period to cover—such as calendar year. Level determines whether to keep separate counts per job or across jobs by employee. You can add specifications by adding user keys, such as contract or department. The period and based-on date determine the applicable time period. These attributes determine how and when the batch process creates and keeps separate instances of the same accumulator. The system creates a new instance of balance and segment accumulators anytime that you change the value of a key field. Balance accumulators also spin off a new instance for each new period.

Writing to the Result Tables

How you set up the Accumulator page tells the system whether to write the accumulator to the results tables. The system determines when to drop balance accumulators, using the number of months to maintain after end date and comparing the accumulate through date of each instance with the current pay period begin date.

With retroactive processing, you must be aware of several accumulator considerations.

Only segment accumulator deltas can be forwarded, because forwarding a balance accumulator delta can lead to double counting of contributing elements. The calculation period accumulator delta must be forwarded to an earning or a deduction, not an accumulator.

If the retroactive method is corrective, accumulators reflect new retroactive values in the retroactive period by default. If the retroactive method is forwarding, accumulator values in the retroactive period remain unchanged by default and reflect delta values when they're brought in as adjustments in the current period.

Use the Use Corrective check box on the Level page (for automatically generated accumulators, it's on the Earning Accumulators page) to override a general retroactive method of forwarding and make the accumulator behave in a corrective fashion. Define all absence balance accumulators as corrective. This makes it possible for the true balance of the accumulator to be reflected in each period.

Note: Once the accumulator has results stored, the Use Corrective check box is not available for selection. To make the check box available again, you must cancel the payroll calendar that generated results for the accumulator.

Example

An accumulator is used as a limit in a retirement account; its value determines the value of other elements. Assume a current period of December, with retroactivity going back to October. Further assume an original balance of 9,000 at the beginning of October, with no contribution to the retirement account. If the contribution is recalculated as 1,000, that should be reflected in the accumulator balance going into November to prevent further contributions. When the 1,000 delta is brought in as an adjustment in December, it isn't added to the accumulator, because that would cause double counting.