Salary Accounting Process

The PS module models the monthly salary accounting process between a company (client) and its payroll service provider (e.g. a tax consultancy using BMD NTCS): from recording fixed and variable salary components, through workflow-based approval, to the export to the payroll system and the distribution of payslips into the digital personnel file.

Role model and basic configuration

Three master-data levels must be set up before accountings are possible:

• Provider (ps_editProvider): the payroll service provider. A provider is itself a Webdesk client; each client can be assigned to only one provider (validated).
• Payroll systems (ps_editSystem): the provider's concrete systems. Supported types: BMD NTCS, BMD 5.x, Sage DPW, SAP, LOGA, RZL, DATEV. Per system, up to five connector links are configured (export of fixed components, export of variable components, person master data 1+2, absence export) plus the wage-type assignment with a system-specific export code.
• Client configuration (tab "Payroll services" in client administration): the company number (clientPayRollId – the key for all BMD exports), the assigned payroll system, the day of month for money transfer, the optional check by the client's HR admin, and the client's ranked wage-type tables. Caution: switching the payroll system removes wage-type assignments no longer contained in the new system.

The roles involved in the approval process (the provider's consultant and manager, optionally the client's HR admin) are configured during client setup and referenced in the process definition.

Wage types

A wage type (ps_editWageType) describes a salary component. There are three usage types, chosen at creation:

• Fixed salary component: monthly recurring payment. Optionally linked to a salary code from HR-Expert plus a JavaScript expression determining for which persons the link applies. Through this link, salary changes from the accounting can be written back into the HR-Expert salary history (see system steps).
• Variable salary component: one-off or monthly varying payments (overtime, bonuses, ...). Subtype amount, hourly rate or quantity. Default, minimum and maximum value can each be defined as a number, script or time account (TA account). With TA-account backing, the time account processing mode with source and target account controls whether account values are corrected or transferred from source to target after the accounting (e.g. overtime payout: pre-filled from the account at the previous month's ultimo, then booked back).
• Absence: links an absence reason with a recording mode (full day, intraday or days and hours – not changeable after creation). Absences are recorded or taken over as intervals per person and period.

Cross-cutting aspects of all wage types:

• Valuation: manual (value is entered) or calculated – a JavaScript expression in which the manual wage types are available as variables wt<Code> and the person as person.
• Client assignment with ranking (determines display order in the accounting form) – historicized to the day.
• Export code resolution: the export code stored in the payroll system takes precedence; if missing, the wage type's general export code applies.

The accounting run

An accounting (ps_editSalaryAccounting / overview ps_showSalaryAccounting) is created per client, optionally per group, with an accounting date and period. Validation covers period length, overlap with existing accountings of the same client/group, and that the selection contains valid persons.

On creation, the system generates a person statement per valid person, with positions for all assigned fixed and variable wage types. Each statement receives a change marker relative to the previous month (changed fixed components, recorded variable values, or comments) – the basis for difference lists and highlighting in the form.

Lifecycle through the workflow

The accounting has no status of its own – its lifecycle is the linked workflow process. On first save, a process instance of the (customer-specific) process definition is started; deleting the accounting terminates the process and vice versa. Typical flow: data entry → generate difference list → processing by the consultant → approval by the manager (optionally review by the client's HR admin) → write-back of results → payslip distribution.

The process definition controls, per activity, which tabs of the form are editable or read-only (extended attributes StateSalaryPositionsTab, StateAbsenceEntryTab, StateRawFilesTab, StateEmployeeFilesTab, StateCorporateFilesTab, StateGeneratedFilesTab) and which additional functions are offered (CSV exports, upload of positions, link to the change list).

File tabs

Besides positions and absences, the form maintains four document areas attached to the accounting via entity links: raw files (e.g. master-data exports), employee files (collective PDFs, with split function), corporate files (evaluations for the company) and generated files (result of the PDF split); export CSVs are additionally stored in an export history. The payslip distribution from these tabs into the personnel file is described in the chapter Digital Personnel File.

System steps in the workflow

The approval process can use the following supplied system steps (workflow applications):

• Generate difference list: exports the person master data via the payroll system's connector links (fallback: links with the default names PSExportMAStammdaten-Part1/2) and attaches the result to the accounting. Fails with a clear error message if the client has no PS configuration or no payroll system.
• CSV exports: fixed components, variable components and absences via the respective connector links; number format and encoding of the files are controlled by the PS options.
• Write salary changes back to HR-Expert: transfers changed fixed components (manually valued wage types with a salary code) into the person's salary history – including historicization for amount 0.
• Process time accounts: performs the TA-account corrections or transfers (source → target) configured on variable wage types, at the start of the period.
• Distribute payslips: copies the generated individual documents into the employees' personnel file folders and marks the accounting as "deployed to employee repository".

In addition, the module ships two standalone process definitions for the social security registration and deregistration of employees (ELDA notifications by the provider), including mail notification to the consultancy.

Permissions

• Visibility of accountings: the overview only shows accountings of clients or groups for which the user has a view permission on the action ps_showSalaryAccounting.
• Admin roles: two role names are configurable via the PS options (default "Webdesk Administrator" each) – holders of the update role may edit regardless of the workflow state and always see the CSV export buttons; holders of the delete role may delete accountings.
• Document downloads: documents attached to accountings pass a dedicated authorization resolver: access is allowed with a client or group view permission on the overview action, otherwise for participants of the associated workflow process – otherwise it is denied.

PS options

adminRoleUpdate / adminRoleDelete	Webdesk Administrator	role names for the admin rights above
fixedWageTypesExportConnectorLink / variableWageTypesExportConnectorLink / absenceEntriesExportConnectorLink	(empty)	fallback connector links for the CSV exports when none are configured on the payroll system
personCompletenessCheckScript	(empty)	JavaScript for checking person data completeness (context: person, missingFields)
csvFileLocale / csvFileEncoding	de / iso-8859-1	number format and encoding of the export CSVs
createSalarySlipFolderPerYear / folderPerYearPattern	false / Lohnzettel $year	per-year subfolder during payslip distribution (see Digital Personnel File)

Operations and troubleshooting

• "No connectorLink could be found ..." during export: neither the payroll system nor the PS options have the matching connector link configured – check the client's system configuration.
• BMD code mappings (country, marital status, labor contract, pay group, ...) are shipped as CSV files inside the module and cached in memory – a restart is required after changes.
• Prerequisites: the PS module additionally requires the BIRT reporting engine on the license side; the HR-Expert write-back requires the HR module, the time-account processing the TA module.
• No jobs of its own: all batch-like processing runs as system steps inside the workflow – there are no PS jobs in job management.
• Unintended drafts: opening the process details from the form can create empty accounting drafts (known behavior, being worked on). Such drafts can be removed by the configured delete-admin role.
• Deleting persons removes their person statements from all accountings (logged to the deletion log).

Related pages: Payroll Services Module (overview), Digital Personnel File (payslip distribution in detail).