Understanding Processing Multiple Versions of Pay Cycle Steps

To decrease the processing time of large payroll cycles, you can process multiple versions of several steps in the payroll cycle. Multiple version processing enables you to submit multiple versions of pay cycle steps simultaneously during a pay cycle. The system combines the output from these versions so that the output is identical to the output that would be created if only one version of a pay cycle step had been processed. You can use multiple version processing to complete any of these pay cycle steps:

• Pre-payroll

• Changes only

• Interims only

• Submit journals

• Revise journals

• Final update

You can run any or all of the listed pay cycle steps using multiple version processing. For example, you might choose to run a single version of pre-payroll, multiple versions of journal entries, and a single version of final update.

When you use multiple version processing, you must set up data selection for each version. Doing so ensures that employees are not included in more than one version. You should identify ranges of address book numbers that evenly distribute the number of employees across each version of a pay cycle step.

In addition, if you process more than one pay cycle step using multiple version processing, you should set up the same number of versions for each step, and you should use the same data selection scheme for the versions that are associated with each step.

For example, if you choose to process five versions of pre-payroll using multiple version processing, and you also want to use multiple version processing to submit journal entries and to process final update, you should create five versions for pre-payroll, journal entries, and final update. You might then use specific ranges of address book numbers as the data selection for pre-payroll, journal entries, and final update. For example:

Version Number	Range of Address Book Numbers
Version One	1000 through 250000
Version Two	250001 through 500000
Version Three	500001 through 750000
Version Four	750001 through 1000000
Version Five	1000001 through 1250000

Note: Multiple version processing does not affect the order in which you process pay cycle steps. If you process multiple versions of pay cycle steps, you must still complete pre-payroll before you run any other pay cycle steps, and final update must still be the last step in the pay cycle process. For additional information about when to process pay cycle steps, see Understanding the Payroll Cycle.

After all of the versions that you set up for a payroll cycle step have finished processing, the system automatically runs the Payroll Report Driver program (R07354). This program identifies any reports that you have set up to process during the specified step of the payroll cycle. The system then processes the reports for that step of the payroll cycle. Therefore, whether you run multiple or single version processing, the system produces a single set of reports for that pay cycle step. The output that the system generates when running a single version of a pay cycle step is no different from that which the system generates when running multiple versions.

Note: To determine the number of versions to use for each pay cycle step, you must first identify the number of processors that the system uses. Contact the system administrator for this information. After you identify the number of processors, multiply that number by three or four to determine how many versions to create for each pay cycle step. For example, if the system uses four processors, you should create between 12 and 16 versions of each pay cycle step to achieve optimal processing time. However, due to the differences in system speeds, you should test different scenarios to determine the number of versions that best suits the business requirements.