Welcome to the SAP Payroll Insights newsletter by Insight Consulting Partners! This newsletter is focused on SAP and Employee Central (EC) Payroll features, news, tips & tricks and general industry information.
Special note to our subscribers: This is a challenging time for SAP and EC Payroll groups all around the world. Responding to new regulations and integrating them into your system and processes can be difficult. If you need help, let us know - we will help where we can and help find others who can do so where we can't.
Notes and Updates from SAP
The 1H 2020 SuccessFactors release is out, and there are a number of payroll-related changes. Use the What's New Viewer to browse through the changes. There are a number of EC Time & Attendance features that are described in a blog from SAP - I particularly like the new feature to synchronize EC time schedules back to EC Payroll. Essentially, an automated synchronization from EC to IT 2003. With this new feature, you won't have to manually configure the same work schedules between EC and ECP. Nice!
If you are having performance issues with Wagetype Reporter check out note 2886550. Seems there is a bug when reporting on WPBP splits.
SAP added the new W-4 fields to the HR Forms Workplace via note 2880738 (thanks!). So if you use HR-Forms/Smartforms for your US payslips, apply this and adapt the fields to your form. They are in MetaStar TAX_ADD_US.
A couple US payroll customers have asked about a recent notice from BSI on the creation of new tax types (200 through 206) to support COVID-19 related tax credits. SAP is evaluating it in a couple upcoming legal changes. Nothing for customers to do with it at this time.
For Canadian payroll there are a number of year-end corrections for the T4, Releve-1 and mag media/XML files. Look for notes in area PY-CA-YE and see what's relevant for you.
In Australia there's a high priority note 2916305 for Single-Touch Payroll (STP) Jobkeeper payments. It describes some new model wagetypes and configuration steps each customer will have to take to integrate them into their payroll calculations and reporting.
In Brazil, SAP issued some COVID-19 compliance notes for Law 13.982/2020 - start with note 2915129 and the related notes listed there. Also in Brazil, note 2909026 corrects a payroll calculation for employees who are older than 99... well, I suppose it could happen!
SAP issued note 2909098 with an example of how to configure US payroll for COVID-19 related payments. It's a good guide, but I advise customers to never hard-code amounts in rules as SAP did in their example. Put the amount in a constant in table T511P and use AMT?I"constant" and AMT=I"constant" (or simpler, skip the decision and just do AMT<I"constant"). Why? T511P handles currencies and it's important to get that right in the payroll calculation. And, you can make date-effective changes to a constant, but doing so in a rule is not straightforward at all. But, you say, Steve - that amount will never change! 'Never' is a big word - always plan for change.
For other COVID-19 related payroll information, check out my blog COVID-19 Resources for SAP & EC Payroll. Also be sure to monitor SAP's blog on COVID-19 Legal Changes Monitoring. Employers in the US can use the American Payroll Association's page that pulls together regulations and resources: COVID-19 Hot Topics. If you have additional resources please visit the blog and leave a comment or email them to me - thanks!
Around The Web
SAP's SAPPHIRE conference is going to be virtual this year, which makes a lot of sense. Hopefully more conferences will shift to delivering content and sharing experiences via remote, digital platforms.
The Global Payroll Management Institute (GPMI) is having a free panel discussion on the challenges of global payroll, April 28. The GPMI has a lot of good content on global payroll; if you work in a company with multiple countries on SAP Payroll or have a global payroll aspect to your job I highly recommend getting involved with GPMI.
The cost of employer-paid leave due to COVID-19 in the US could total $23 billion or more, impacting 5.6 million employees. This doesn't consider the cost of implementing the new policies, or the offsets coming through tax credits and deferrals. All in all, a lot of change and work for payrolls all over the world, at a time when many groups are short-staffed.
SAP Insider posted the results of their payroll research: State of the Market: Payroll and Its Impact on Cloud HR. It's free to download, and worth the time to read. I was able to provide some insight on that research, as well as more in-depth perspective on preparing to implement EC Payroll.
Back at the Insight Consulting Partners site, we have a new podcast for your listening pleasure: The SAP App Center and COVID-19 Topics. And a new blog about Resilient Payroll that I hope you find useful.
Quote of the Moment
When things go wrong, don't go with them -- Elvis Presley
Have a great day!
Steve Bogner
Managing Partner, Insight Consulting Partners
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