How Calculation Cards Work Together for the US

Personal payroll calculation cards capture info specific to a payroll relationship. Payroll runs use this info to calculate earnings and deductions.

Some actions create these cards automatically, such as hiring a person or loading data. Otherwise, you create the card manually. You can also add components to cards and enter calculation values, which could override default values. Additionally, you can associate some cards with a tax reporting unit (TRU).

Consider the following when working with these cards.

What types of calculation cards are available
How to create these cards
What calculation components can you add to them
What calculation values can you add
How to associate TRUs with a card

To view and manage calculation cards, use the Calculation Cards task.

For further info, see the following sections.

Calculation Card Types

The types of calculation cards you can create and the type of info captured on a card can vary, including:

Absences
Benefits and pensions
Involuntary deductions
Statutory deductions
Time card entries

Additional cards are available to capture info for reporting purposes.

Card name	What it does
Absences	Identifies absence data and categories, such as: Vacation Maternity Sickness Other It also tracks accrual balances, qualifications, or no entitlements. For further info, see Absence Components for the US in the Help Center.
Benefits and Pensions	Identifies important info for some deferred compensation plans. Contribution amounts Limits Payees Additional contributions For further info, see the following in the Help Center: Benefits and Pensions Card for the US Considerations When Setting Up 403 (b) and 457 (b) Deferred Compensation Plans
Employee Earnings Distributions	Identifies earnings distributions for employees who are working in multiple states, counties, and cities in a single assignment and default work location. For further info, see Employee Earnings Distribution Overrides Card in the Help Center.
Involuntary Deductions	Identifies involuntary deductions for employees. Each card can support multiple deduction types and configurations. One card per payroll relationship. For further info, see Involuntary Deductions Card for the US in the Help Center.
Reporting Information	Stores info required for quarterly and year-end reporting. For further info, see Reporting Information Calculation Card for the US in the Help Center.
Retiree Reporting Information	Stores info required for quarterly and year-end reporting for retirees.
Tax Withholding	Also known as the Employee Withholding Certificate. Identifies employee info for federal tax forms and regional forms, such as Form W-4. Pennsylvania employees also have the Residency Certificate added to their Tax Withholding card. For further info, see Tax Withholding Card in the Help Center.
Tax Withholding for Pensions and Annuities	Identifies retiree info for federal tax forms and regional forms, such as Form W-4P.
Time	Depending on how your configuration, time cards capture: Hours and dates worked Categories of time, such as regular time, overtime, absence, vacation, and holiday Billable and nonbillable time Project-related time For further info, see Time Cards for the US in the Help Center.
Organization	Organization configuration cards at the following levels. Legal Entity Calculation Card at the payroll statutory unit (PSU) level Legal Reporting Unit Calculation Card at the TRU level Use the Legal Entity Calculation Cards and Legal Reporting Unit Calculation Cards tasks to set the following. State unemployment insurance (SUI) and state disability insurance (SDI) rates Self-adjustment settings Overrides to standard rates For further info, see Configure Organization Calculation Cards for the US in the Help Center.

Card Creation

Automatic actions occur in the following cases.

When you do this	This happens
Hire or rehire a person	Unless you have specifically disabled this action, new hires or rehires are automatically granted a Tax Withholding card. For further info, see Tax Withholding Card in the Help Center.
Make changes to an employee's resident address or work location	The Tax Withholding card is automatically updated with the new address. For further info, see Tax Withholding Card in the Help Center.
Process valid e-IWO inbound orders	The employee's Involuntary Deductions card components are created or updated with the new deduction info The card is created if one doesn't exist For further info, see Human Resources Cloud Administering US Electronic Income Withholding Orders on the Help Center.
Record and approve an absence in the Absence Record task for an employee, the task automatically	Creates an Absences calculation card. Automatic creation happens only if the card doesn't already exist. For further info, see Employee Absence Records for the US in the Help Center.
Mass data uploads	If you load absence, time card, or pension data from another application, the application automatically creates the calculation cards.

For other card types, you create calculation cards as needed for each employee.

Calculation Components and Component Groups

When viewing a card through the Calculation Cards task, the Calculation Card Overview section shows a hierarchy of calculation components within component groups.

For example, on the Involuntary Deductions card, child support, education loan, and alimony are calculation components in the Involuntary Deduction component group.

Each component relates to an element, such as an income tax deduction. Adding a calculation component to the card creates an entry for the related element.

A calculation component could have one or more references that define its context, such as the employee's place of residence or tax filing status.

Click a row in the Calculation Components table to see its component details. Use the Component Details section to enter additional values used to calculate the component.

Here's a list of the types of cards, including a brief description of the calculation components and groups used with each.

This card	Uses these calculation components, groups, and details
Absences	Absence Entitlement Element: Details These are the enterable calculation values on Calculation Cards tab. Entitlement Rate Entitlement Factor Entitlement Unit
Employee Earnings Distributions	Regional: Includes withholding info and overrides for state, city, and regional taxes
Tax Withholding	Federal: Includes withholding info and overrides for federal taxes For example, if an employee qualifies for a special reduced tax rate, enter the rate as an enterable value on their tax card. Regional: Includes withholding info and overrides for state, city, and regional taxes
Retiree Withholding Certificate	Federal: Includes withholding info and overrides for federal taxes For example, if a retiree qualifies for a special reduced tax rate, enter the rate as an enterable value on their personal calculation card. Regional: Includes withholding info and overrides for state, city, and regional taxes
Involuntary Deductions	Each component relates to an element, such as an income tax deduction. Adding a calculation component to the card creates an entry for the related element. The components shown on the card vary depending on which calculation components are added. Here are some of the components you might see. Child support Education loan Alimony
Reporting Information	Federal: Includes withholding info and overrides for federal taxes Regional: Includes withholding info and overrides for state, city, and regional taxes
Retiree Reporting Information	Federal: Includes withholding info and overrides for federal taxes Regional: Includes withholding info and overrides for state, city, and regional taxes
Time	Earnings (Time card) Element: Details Time Unit is the enterable calculation value on Calculation Cards tab

Click a row in the Calculation Components table to see component details. Use Component Details to enter additional values used to calculate the component.

Enterable Calculation Values

When you select a calculation component, you might see the Enterable Calculation Values on the Calculation Card tab. Here you can enter specific rates or other values for the person, which could override default values held on a calculation value definition.

For example, if an employee qualifies for a special reduced tax rate, you enter the rate as an enterable value on their tax card.

You can't override values loaded from another application, but you can add values, such as adding additional contributions to a pension deduction.

Tax Reporting Unit Associations on the Tax Card

You assign one or more TRUs to the components on the Tax Withholding card.

Click Associations in Calculation Card Overview to associate a TRU with the card. Associations determine:

Which rates and rules held at tax reporting unit level apply to the calculation of the components
How the calculations are aggregated for tax reporting

What you can enter here varies by state.

By default, the card associates all components with the same TRU.
You can associate individual components with different TRUs.
If a person has multiple assignments, you can associate specific assignments with calculation components.
Some payroll actions automatically establish TRU associations.

This includes actions like adding assignments, hiring, and employee transfers.
- If you select a TRU during the process, it creates the association if one doesn't exist.
- If you don't select a TRU, and a single TRU association exists on the card, the process uses that association.
- If you don't select a TRU, and multiple TRU associations exist, the process doesn't establish any association for the assignment.
- If you don't provide any payroll info at all, the process doesn't create the TRU association.