Noncalculation Processes

Three processes calculate plan-specific data that is not part of the normal calculation job flow:

  • Plan Dates.

    Plan dates are aliases that are resolved during the calculation, but by running them through periodic processing, you populate inquiry pages to access the results even without a calculation.

  • Pension Statuses.

    Pension statuses are not processed during a calculation; therefore, it is important to run these processes regularly so that the results, which the calculation uses, remain current.

  • Consolidations.

    Like pension statuses, consolidations are not processed during a calculation; therefore, it is also important to run these processes regularly so that the results remain current.

Plan Dates

The Plan Dates process always runs; you cannot select whether to run this process.

Your plan implementation includes aliases that establish the dates on which employees reach:

  • Normal retirement age

  • Early retirement age

  • First vesting

You define these on the Plan Aliases page.

Updating plan dates determines the appropriate dates, based on your definitions. These dates are displayed on the Review Plan History - Plan Information page.

Pension Statuses

Pension status codes categorize participants, based on pension-related information. They are plan specific and effective-dated, enabling you to track an employee's changing status in a plan over time. These statuses are more than just informational; they are also the foundation for the actuarial valuation extract and Form 5500 extracts.

You use periodic processing to maintain the pension statuses for active and terminated employees. You manually update the status when you prepare payments. After you start paying benefits to your pension payees, the payment process automatically maintains pension statuses.

Periodic processing maintains the following pension statuses:

  • ANP: Active, not yet participating.

  • APR: Active participant.

  • AVS: Active, accrue vesting only.

  • ANS: Active, not accruing service.

  • A70: Active, over age 70 1/2.

  • TNV: Terminated, not vested.

  • TDF: Terminated, deferred benefit.

Periodic processing evaluates the pension status only for employees with one of these statuses or with no recorded status. Individuals who receive, are about to receive, or have finished receiving pension payments are not affected by status code periodic processing.

If pension statuses are based on the results of service or participation, run those processes during the same job.

Run pension statuses before producing the actuarial valuation extract or the PASPC01 - Form 5500 Participant Count report. The PASPC01 report relies on vesting information and pension status. Vesting runs automatically during periodic service processing; therefore, service processing is the other prerequisite for Form 5500 reporting.

You view service pension status data on the Identify Pension Status page.

Consolidations

A pension calculation uses vast amounts of historical data. Earnings histories, for example, can cover 20 years and more. If every calculation involved looking up each paycheck that an employee received during the period, processing would not be very efficient. You would also have to keep all that data available indefinitely, rather than eventually archiving it.

A more efficient way to deal with this data is to use the periodic Consolidation process. This gathers paycheck data and stores monthly or yearly totals. By separating the Consolidation process from the rest of the calculation, you can schedule this time-consuming operation for a convenient, off-peak time.

Your calculation accuracy depends on the availability of up-to-date consolidation information from periodic processing. The following are suggestions for handling consolidations:

  • Keep consolidations current.

    When you produce year-end benefit statements, always run your calculations after running consolidations.

    When you run individual calculations, particularly final calculations, run ad hoc consolidations beforehand so that the very latest payroll information is included. If you run calculation estimates based on projected hours and earnings, it is not as important to consolidate first; the system starts the projection with the last available data. However, still use as much actual data as is available.

  • Manage the final consolidation period.

    Calculations use the consolidation history up to, and including, the consolidation period that contains the event date (the date of termination or retirement).

    For example, suppose you consolidate yearly. If Gilbert terminates on November 12, 2006, his calculation has access to consolidated data up to December 31, 2006.

    If Gilbert's final paycheck is dated November 30, 2006, data from that check is available as long as you process his consolidations again after the payroll information is recorded in the PeopleSoft Payroll for North America tables. However, if the check with his fourth quarter commission is dated January 15, 2007 and if you consolidate based on the check date, that final paycheck data is stored in the 2007 consolidation period. Because Gilbert terminated during the 2006 period, that data is not considered in the calculation. In this case, you might want to manually override the consolidation history.

    If you allocate earnings based on the earned date, then the bonus check data goes into the 2006 consolidation and you do not have to use a manual override. However, you must still run consolidations after the payroll run.

  • Rebuild consolidations.

    Consolidations produce effective-dated results. Each effective-dated set of results contains multiple periods. By effective-dating the results, you can rerun consolidations without overwriting existing results. This is useful if, for example, you corrected or otherwise altered an employee's payroll data or your calculation rules, but you want to keep the prior consolidation results because you distributed benefit statements based on those results.

    Alternatively, you can reconsolidate and remove the earlier results if you do not need the earlier results.

    Periodic processing's normal mode is to continue to add segments to the existing effective-dated history. Use either a Delete and Rebuild mode or a Create New Consolidations mode when you set up a periodic job.

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