Payroll Balance Definitions for the US

What are balances?

Payroll balances show the accumulation of one of these values over time.

Monetary value
Time element, such as hours or days worked
Any other numeric value

Whenever you run a payroll process, such as Calculate Payroll or Calculate Gross Earnings, it updates these values.

Most balances you require are predefined, and additional balances are automatically created when you define elements. You can edit these balance definitions or create additional definitions for calculations or reporting.

You manage balance definitions through the Balances task.

What is the balance model?

A defined balance value is the value for an individual on a particular date for a specific balance type. Each balance holds a value for an individual at one of the two levels of the employment model.

Payroll relationship
Assignment

A dimension enables you to view a balance value based on a combination of criteria. The balance dimension determines the date, such as year to date. Balance dimensions can also use contexts, which are entities that require values for a particular balance value.

For example, the "Regular Earnings Core Relationship Tax Unit Area1 Year to Date" defined balance is an association of:

Regular Earnings balance
"Payroll Relationship Tax Unit Area1 Year to Date" balance dimension.

This dimension has these contexts.
- Payroll Relationship (PAYROLL_RELATIONSHIP_ID)
- Tax Unit (TAX_UNIT_ID)
- State (AREA1)

A balance feed is an association between a balance type and an element input value.

For example, an employee's salary run result feeds all Regular Earnings defined balances if:

The salary pay value feeds the Regular Earnings balance.
The contexts associated with the run results match the contexts used by the defined balance.

What are a balance's components?

Use the Balances task to set these components.

Balance component	What it does
Balance name	Actual name of the balance, such as Gross Earnings. You can't have the same name for more than one balance.
Reporting name	A reporting name is the balance name that reports and payslips display. Multiple balances can share the same reporting name. For example, if you needed to define separate balances in your organization, but you want to report them as the same, you can assign them the same reporting name.
Balance category	When you define a balance, you associate it to one of the predefined categories. Balance categories group balances to facilitate setting group attributes. For further info, see Balance Categories for the US in the Help Center.
Balance feeds	Element input values that make up a balance. Balance feeds can either add to or subtract from a balance. For further info, see Balance Feeds for the US in the Help Center.
Balance dimensions	Defines the balance's unique characteristics. They consist of: Time period, such as the Period-To-Date or Year-To-Date dimensions Employment level, such as the assignment or payroll relationship Context, which is required for specific balances only, such as tax reporting unit (TRU), element, or payroll For example, the REGULAR_ASG_TU_YTD balance is a Regular Earnings balance type with these context values associated in its balance dimension. Assignment TRU Use them as a means of restricting the run results included in a balance value. Contexts are predefined. For further info, see Balance Contexts for the US in the Help Center. Note: The View Balances task refers to these context values as References. For example, the predefined Regular balance is the accumulation of all standard earnings processed in a payroll run. Balance dimensions are predefined, and their names are a concatenation of its three components. For example, "Assignment Tax Unit Year to Date" indicates the balance value is for a given employee's assignment within a TRU, for the Year-to-Date time period. For further info, see Balance Dimensions in the Help Center.
Units of measure	When you create a balance, the predefined units of measure available for selection are: Day Hour (with different combinations of minutes and seconds) Integer Money Number Match the unit of measure of the balance with the unit of measure of the element input values that feed it.
Base balances	You can specify a base balance when there is a dependent relationship between balances for processing and reporting. For example, Loan Repayment could be the base balance for a Loan Repayment Arrears balance.
Defined balance	Combination of the balance type and the balance dimension, such as REGULAR_ASG_TU_YTD. Whenever a balance value is obtained, it's from a defined balance.
Balance groups	Balance groups represent a collection of balance definitions, which you can use to retrieve balance values for reports, archives, and balance views. For further info, see Balance Group Usages for the US in the Help Center.

What are the generated balances and database items?

The element template creates a primary feed to a new balance when you create:

An earnings element in a legislative data group (LDG) that uses the Payroll Interface license type
Any element in an LDG that uses the Payroll license type

You select the type of configuration through the Features by Country or Territory flow.

For this license type	The Elements flow does this
Payroll	When you create an element, the element template creates the element and associated objects, such as input values, formulas, and balances.
Payroll Interface	When you create regular and supplemental earnings elements, the element template creates the element and associated objects, such as input values, formulas, and balances. For all other elements, the template generates no other associated objects.
Human Resources or None	The element template doesn't generate associated objects like formulas, or balances.

The element template also creates a database item for each balance dimension. You can use the database items in your formulas or HCM extracts to use the value of a balance.

What are remuneration balances?

One balance in each LDG is predefined as the remuneration balance. This balance generates payments for employees.

For example, the remuneration balance might be Net Pay. The Net Pay calculated balance is the sum of standard earnings and supplemental earnings minus all the deductions calculated for the run.