Payroll Fundamentals
Core concepts
Workday Payroll is built on pay groups, pay periods (period schedules), and pay runs. Earnings and deductions are defined as pay components and attached to plans (benefit plans, deduction plans, earning plans). Calculation happens when a payroll run processes; settlement produces payments. Payroll input (one-time payments, adjustments) and time tracking results feed the run. Off-cycle runs handle corrections. Taxes are handled through tax authorities and tax elections on the worker. Payroll accounting maps results to ledger accounts.
Traps
- Confusing pay group (who is processed together) with pay period schedule (the calendar).
- Assuming deductions are calculated at the same time as earnings - order and calculation sequence matter.
- Missing that retroactive changes generate adjustments in a later run, not a rewrite of a closed run.
- Conflating gross pay (earnings) with net pay (after deductions and taxes).
Rule of thumb
Trace a dollar: earning → pay component → calculation → deduction/tax → net → payment → accounting. If a question names a stage, the answer is usually the object that owns that stage.
Worked example
An employee receives a retroactive raise effective two months ago. The closed pay runs are not recalculated; instead, the difference is calculated and paid as a retro adjustment in the next open run. So the question "which run reflects the raise?" answers: the next run that includes the retro calculation, not the historical runs.