SAP SuccessFactors is where human resources (HR) magic happens in the world of SAP. When it comes to payroll, users can turn to the Employee Central Payroll solution to carry out necessary tasks.

An Employee Central Payroll system is in the cloud; however, other supporting systems may be on-premise or cloud-based. These systems process the data that comes in and goes out of them in an orchestrated rhythm. The data is generated through a series of key business processes that are tightly linked with the employee lifecycle. They involve several stakeholders who execute these processes, either generating or consuming this data.

Payroll Data Components

Any payroll system is reliant on data—and SAP’s solution is no different. There are five types of data that can be processed by Employee Central Payroll.

Personal data is data about the employee. This includes information about where the employee lives, what their full name is, and how many hours they’re supposed to work each week. Additional information includes the type of contract they have—whether it’s hourly or salaried, the location they work, and the name of the person who supervises or manages them. This data is vital for calculating and reporting on employee pay and is typically stored in an HR system. For Employee Central Payroll to work, that HR system must be Employee Central.

Compensation data is all about the contracted rate of pay—the hourly rate for employees paid by the hour, or a monthly/annual salary for salaried employees paid a contracted amount regardless of how many hours worked. Compensation may also include certain incomes that are not periodic. For Employee Central Payroll to work, your compensation planning system doesn’t have to be SAP SuccessFactors. However, the final rates of pay and bonus amounts must be available in Employee Central or in Employee Central Payroll.

Things like taxes and garnishments are regulatory constraints that are placed on employers. This regulatory data is important in order for each employee to derive the appropriate tax deductions so they can derive the net pay accurately. Most of this regulatory data is entered directly into the payroll system since this type of data is not really relevant for HR processes. However, some features in Employee Central, called mashups, allow for the entry of this data directly into the payroll system from the Employee Central user interface.

Time data is essential for hourly employees to be paid accurately since their compensation is dependent on the number of hours they work. Time data is typically handled through a system such as WorkForce Software or Kronos. Complex rules are associated with the evaluation of time data, like overtime work or paid leave. These rules are generally located in the time system and the evaluated results are sent across to the payroll system through an interface. The Employee Central Payroll system then uses this time data to work out what the pay should be by applying the rate of pay.

Finally, finance data is required to keep the accounting of payments correct in the company’s financial books. This data can be company codes, cost centers, profit centers, vendor codes, or general ledger codes. If the finance system is an SAP system (like SAP ERP Financials or SAP S/4HANA Finance), direct interfaces are available that provide the necessary financial master data to the payroll system and refresh this data periodically to keep it current.

About the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll Book

Payroll is a vital part of any company and when you’re working with a new solution, integration and configuration processes can be complex. We published SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll to help SAP users execute their payroll tasks!

You’ll first be presented with an introduction and overview of payroll with SAP SuccessFactors. This chapter presents different components of the solution, key terminology, and a general understanding of how Employee Central Payroll is configured.

The book covers configuration details for payroll elements, Employee Central, and Employee Central Payroll. You’ll come away with a high-level understanding of how Employee Central Payroll integrates with related solutions for time management, benefits, and the HR information system. You’ll dive deeper into the integration process and perform point-to-point integration with step-by-step instructions.

Explore the key features of the Payroll Control Center before learning about its configuration. Following that are details on setting up pay statements, and single sign-on and logout.

Become familiar with all of the available tools and how to use them to audit and report system operations. Then learn how to troubleshoot issues that can be difficult to fix.

Use the last chapter to understand the steps you must take to implement Employee Central Payroll. The book recommends strategies for performing a successful implementation. Finally, testing and conversion considerations are discussed.

About the Author

Deepankar Maitra has been leading payroll projects for more than 25 years for global businesses in industries such as media and communications, oil and gas, defense, and manufacturing. Currently at Deloitte, he is responsible for architecting and implementing payroll solutions for several Fortune 500 companies, having delivered payroll for over 2,000,000 employees in 50 states. Known for his solutioning skills and dependable experience in HR and payroll transformation projects, Deepankar has published articles and presented at conferences on topics that enhance the value customers receive from their SAP investment.

Stacy Wilkins is a global SAP SuccessFactors project manager with more than 20 years of experience with SAP and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll. She has been involved with implementations and support, and has been a payroll manager at a global entertainment company.

This content was originally posted on the SAP PRESS Blog and is used with permission of SAP PRESS. All rights reserved.