Defining Processing Order

The processing rules that apply when earning and deduction assignments occur with positive input also apply when accumulator driven elements occur in combination with element assignments and positive input:

See Defining Interactions Between Positive Input Entries and Element Assignments with User Field Sets.

  • Earning/deduction assignments are calculated first within each unique user field set and dictate the processing order of matching positive input entries.

  • After earning/deduction assignments, the system processes positive input entries with matching user field sets in instance number order.

    Note:

    If positive input overrides an element assignment, the positive input inherits the processing order of the assignment it replaces.

  • Next, the system processes positive input entries without matching user fields in instance number order.

In addition, the system observes the following rule for accumulator-driven elements:

Driver occurrences with no element assignment or positive input user field set match are processed after positive input entries.

Example: Process Order with Accumulator Driven Elements

A tax deduction is defined with a driver accumulator (State Taxable Gross Accumulator).

Not all driver instances match with either an instance of positive input or an element assignment.

The tax deduction has one user field: State.

The tax deduction has a calculation rule of Base x Percent.

Assume that the percent is defined as a formula that uses the state to retrieve the applicable percent, and that the formula returns a value of 3% for states 1, 2, and 3.

Assume that the Base is defined as CURR_DRIVER_VAL.

Note:

CURR_DRIVER_VAL is a delivered system element that can be used to retrieve the current value of a driver accumulator if that accumulator is used in the calculation of an element. We discuss this and other system elements later in this topic.

See Using System Elements.

During payroll processing, the system encounters three instances of the driver:

Note:

In this example, earning/deduction assignment is abbreviated E/D Assignment, positive input is abbreviated PI, and the positive input action types of override and additional are abbreviated Over and Add.

Driver (Accumulator Name) User Key (State) Result Value

State Taxable Gross

State 1

6000

State Taxable Gross

State 2

5500

State Taxable Gross

State 3

3300

This table lists the earning/deduction assignments for the tax deduction:

  E/D Assignment E/D Assignment E/D Assignment E/D Assignment

Element Name

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Instance Number

1

2

3

4

Process Order

10

30

20

30

Amount

1000

750

175

225

User Field (State)

State 1

State 1

State 4

State 5

This table lists the positive input entries for the tax deduction:

  PI (Over) PI (Over) PI (Over) PI (Add) PI (Over) PI (Add)

Element Name

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Tax Deduction

Instance Number

1

2

3

4

5

6

Amount

600

555

175

225

325

500

User Field (State)

State 1

State 2

State 6

State 2

State 6

State 5

The system resolves nine instances of the tax deduction in the following order:

Resolution Number Amount User Field (State) Override

1

600

State 1

Positive Input Override

2

175

State 4

Element Assignment

3

225

State 5

Element Assignment

4

500

State 5

Positive Input Additional

5

555

State 2

Positive Input Override

6

225

State 2

Positive Input Additional

7

175

State 6

Positive Input Override

8

325

State 6

Positive Input Override

9

99 (3300 x 3%)

State 3

Driver Occurrence

In this example:

  • The system processes the user field set with the lowest process order number first (State 1, process order number = 10).

  • The system then processes the user field set with the next highest process order number (State 4, process order number = 20).

  • The system continues to order and process elements in this way until it runs out of matching user field sets. The last element it processes is a driver occurrence for State 3 with no matching element assignment or positive input entry (the system gives this driver occurrence the highest process order number [the lowest priority].

    Note:

    The system element CURR_DRIVER_VAL has a value only when an element assignment or positive input entry has a corresponding accumulator driver instance. If there is no corresponding accumulator instance, the value of CURR_DRIVER_VAL is zero. Consequently, when you enter data for earning/deduction assignments or positive input without a driver instance, you must specify the value of the Base and/or Amount fields. Thus, in the current example, the entries for State 4, State 5, and State 6 require a value for the Base or Amount.