System Elements

System elements are delivered and maintained by PeopleSoft, and contain information that you can use to define your payroll rules. You never have to change system elements or do anything special to define them. You cannot add system elements; however, you can rename them.

There are two types of system elements:

• Database system elements

  Think of database system elements as payee-related elements. They contain data that can be used frequently in a calculation, such as department ID, location, and personal data. Database system elements are resolved only when they are used in a calculation.

• System-computed elements

  System-computed elements are populated by the payroll process, but are not physical database fields. If, when, and how often a system-computed element is resolved depends on its purpose and type.

  For example, Pay Period End Date and Period Type are resolved at the beginning of every gross-to-net calculation; daily data, which is used in absence calculations, is calculated daily. Other system-computed elements, such as those that are used with rate codes, are resolved only when a rate code element is encountered in a calculation.