Understanding Retroactive Methods

Global Payroll provides two methods for calculating retroactivity:

Corrective Retro
The corrective method recalculates the elements of a pay run, updating all balance and segment accumulators. The recalculated run replaces the previously calculated run; however, the original results remain available for auditing and reporting purposes.
Forwarding Retro
The forwarding method calculates the differences between the original and recalculated pay runs. The differences between the new and old calculations are carried forward to the current calendar period as an adjustment to elements specified by the user. Unlike corrective retro, forwarding retro does not result in the replacement of the original results. Also, balance accumulators are not updated in the recalculated period but in the current calendar period.

This table provides a comparison between the two methods:

Corrective Retro	Forwarding Retro
The system recalculates the elements of the pay run that have been defined to be recalculated during retro processing.	The system recalculates the elements of the pay run that have been defined to be recalculated during retro processing.
Recalculated values for the elements of the pay run replace the previous calculations.	Recalculated values for the elements are used to compute retro deltas for the recalculated period, but do not replace the previous calculations.
The system updates balance and segment accumulators in the recalculated period.	The system updates segment accumulators only. Note: You can define balance accumulators to behave in a corrective manner at the accumulator definition level and on the Earnings/Deduction Accumulators pages even when the retro method is forwarding. This means that they can be replaced or updated in the recalculated period even though the retro method is forwarding.
The system computes retro deltas and stores them in the recalculated period.	The system computes retro deltas and stores them in the recalculated period.
The system computes the retro adjustment for elements of the pay run that are defined as forwarding element overrides (on the Retro Process Overrides page).	The system computes the retro adjustment for elements of the pay run that are defined to be forwarded (on the Retro Process Overrides page).
The banking process determines if any differences exist between the net pay from the prior calculation and the recalculation. Banking processes the differences.	The banking process picks up only the net pay from the current period calculation because differences from the prior recalculated periods are included in the current period.
Results are posted to PeopleSoft General Ledger for a recalculated period by fully reversing the prior calculations and re-posting the results.	Results are posted to General Ledger for a recalculated period by fully reversing the prior calculations and re-posting the results.

Note: Only segment accumulators can be forwarded. Balance accumulators cannot be forwarded regardless of the retro method.