Naming Elements

Supporting Elements

For supporting elements, such as variables, formulas, dates, durations, and so on, PeopleSoft uses the following naming convention: FFF (or FF) TT NAME.

• FFF (or FF) is the functional area code.

  See Functional Area Codes.

• TT is the type of supporting element.

  See Element Type Codes (PIN_TYPE).

• NAME (or NAME NAME) indicates the purpose of the element.

  The number of NAME components may vary.

For example, in the garnishment variable GRN VR PROC STATUS, GRN stands for garnishment, VR stands for variable, and PROC STATUS stands for process status. With a maximum of 30 characters, the element's description (DESCR) field provides details about the element's purpose.

Primary Elements

Primary elements—such as earnings, deductions, absence take, and absence entitlement elements—often do not contain functional area codes or element type codes in their names. This is because primary elements have names, based on Australian terms, that identify their function and element type without the use of additional codes. For example, the name of the earning element PAY IN LIEU clearly identifies the element as an earning—specifically, as payment in lieu of notice.

Additional Information about Elements

Many Australian elements contain abbreviations that provide additional information about their purpose (beyond what the functional area codes and element type codes provide). For example, consider the following duration elements: PSH DR BS PRD D and PSH DR BS PRD Y. The functional area code PSH indicates that these elements are used for Prior Service History elements, and the element type code DR identifies them as duration elements. The abbreviations BS, PRD, and D and Y provide additional information about how each element measures periods of time. The durations are of between-service (BS) periods (PRD) expressed in days (D) and in years (Y). As you become more familiar with the payroll rules created for Australia, these abbreviations enable you to identify the role of each element.

The following table lists the most common abbreviations used in the names of Australian elements.

Component Names (Suffixes)

In Global Payroll for Australia, suffixes are used to name the components of earnings and deductions elements. For example, when you create an earning or deduction element in Global Payroll, you define the components that make up the element, such as base, rate, unit, and percentage. The system automatically generates the components and accumulators for the element based on the calculation rule or accumulator periods. The system also names the components and accumulators by appending a suffix to the element's name.

For example, suppose that you define the earning element named EARN1 with the following calculation rule:

EARN1 = Rate × Unit

The system automatically creates two additional elements for the components in the calculation rule: a rate element called EARN1_RATE and a unit element called EARN1_UNIT. In Global Payroll for Australia, all suffixes fall into one of the following types:

• Separator.

• Earnings and deductions and absence entitlement component suffixes.

• Earnings and deductions and absence entitlement accumulator suffixes.

• Deduction arrears component suffixes.

• Deduction arrears accumulator suffixes.

• Recipient suffixes.