Making mistakes when processing payroll is common, but it doesn't have to be that way. Workday offers comprehensive training to help you avoid common payroll mistakes. Avoid common payroll mistakes with Workday training. In this course, you will learn how to avoid common payroll mistakes in Workday, including properly setting up your company, processing paychecks, and filing taxes.

1. THE COMMON PAYROLL
MISTAKES IN WORKDAY &
HOW TO AVOID THEM?

2. In this blog, you will get to know the common Payroll mistakes in Workday
& how to avoid them.
Introduction
Learn the best practice implementation techniques to effectively plan,
architect, test and deploy payroll from experts to avoid implementation
errors. Implementation of Workday payroll takes about six months to a
year. Workday's flexible and intuitive configuration supports advanced
requirements, such as you can view up-to-date payroll information, and
configurable security improves collaboration and allows business partners
outside of payroll to provide input and view results before payroll is
finalized.
Below is a Workday expert's synopsis of most common Workday payroll
implementation mistakes with solutions
1. Unable to Create Payroll Accounting Adjustments from Effort
Change
When a reviewer or certifier makes a cost-related change to the effort
certification, Workday either:
• Doesn't initiate payroll accounting adjustments.
• Doesn't populate payroll accounting adjustments with the proposed
amounts.
Cause Solution
Workday couldn't persist
payroll worktags in the effort
certification lines because you
didn't configure the effort
certification type to use full
worktags.
1. Access the Mass Cancel Effort
Certification task.
Cancel all effort certifications that belong to
the effort certification type.
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Edit Effort Certification
Type task.
Select the Use Full Worktags check box.

3. Cause Solution
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Run Effort Certification task.
Rerun effort certifications with the same
parameters as before.
Security: Process: Effort
Certification domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
Workday can't match
worktags in the effort
certification to worktags in
payroll costing allocation
because the worktag usages
are different.
1. Access the Mass Cancel Effort
Certification task.
Cancel all the effort certifications that you
want to initiate payroll accounting
adjustments from.
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Maintain Worktag Usage task.
Edit the worktag usage for Effort
Certification Dimension to include all the
worktag types in Payroll Costing Allocation.
Security: Set Up: Enable Worktags domain
in the Common Financial Management and
Worktags functional areas.
1. Access the Run Effort Certification task.
Rerun the effort certification with the same
parameters as before.

4. Cause Solution
Security: Process: Effort
Certification domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
Workday doesn't recognize
the change in effort as a cost-
related change.
1. Access the Mass Cancel Effort
Certification task.
Cancel all the effort certifications that you
want to initiate payroll accounting
adjustments from.
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Maintain Change Reason
Codes for Effort Certification and
Payroll Accounting Adjustment task.
Select the Costed check box for the change
reasons that you want to trigger payroll
accounting adjustments.
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Run Effort Certification task.
Rerun the effort certification with the same
parameters as before.
Security: Process: Effort
Certification domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
You don't have permission to
view the employee and
position worktags on payroll
accounting as the effort
certification administrator.
1. Access the Mass Cancel Effort
Certification task.
Cancel all the effort certifications that you
want to initiate payroll accounting
adjustments from.

5. Cause Solution
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. From the related actions menu of the
Worker Data: Position and Employee
Worktag domain, select Domain > Edit
Security Policy Permissions
Add a row and select:
• A security group that you
belong to as the effort
certification administrator.
• The View check box.
Security: Worker Data: Position and
Employee Worktag domain in the Common
Financial Management and Core Payroll
functional areas.
1. Access the Run Effort Certification task.
Rerun the effort certification with the same
parameters as before.
Security: Process: Effort
Certification domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
The Effort
Certification business process
doesn't initiate payroll
accounting adjustments.
1. Access the Mass Cancel Effort
Certification task.
Cancel all the effort certifications that you
want to initiate payroll accounting
adjustments from.
Security: Set Up: Effort Certification domain
in the Core Payroll functional area.
1. From the related actions menu of the Effort
Certification business process,

6. Cause Solution
select Business Process > Edit
Definition.
Add a last step after the completion step,
and select:
• Action for Type.
• Create Payroll Accounting
Adjustments for Effort
Certification for Specify.
• Payroll
Administrator for Group.
Security: Business Process
Administration domain in the System
functional area.
1. Access the Run Effort Certification task.
Rerun the effort certification with the same
parameters as before.
Security: Process: Effort
Certification domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
2. Unable to Load Payroll History for Terminated Workers
Cause: The terminated worker doesn't have a pay group assigned on the
termination date.
Solution:
1. Assign Workers to Pay Groups.
Enter an Effective Date that's on or before the termination date.
2. Load historical data.

7. See Steps: Load Payroll History by Batch.
3. (Optional) Enter or Correct Payroll History for a Worker.
3. Workday doesn't calculate federal, state, territory, or local taxes
for employees.
Cause: Federal, state, or local tax information isn't either:
• Set up for the company.
• In effect on the period end date.
Solution:
Security: Set Up: Payroll - Company Specific (Taxes) - USA domain in USA
Payroll functional area.
1. Access these tax reporting tasks:
• Edit Company State and Local US Payroll Tax Reporting.
• Edit Company Federal US Tax Reporting.
2. Verify that the Start Date covers the pay period end date. The period end
date controls which taxes to calculate. The payment date controls the rates to
apply.
Note: Indiana bases county taxes on the employee's county at the start of
the year. For Indiana county taxes, set the Start Date to the first day in the
calendar year.
If tax information has changed, preserve tax history by adding new tax
information with a new Start Date.
1. Recalculate payroll.
4. Workday incorrectly calculates state tax for employees.
Cause: The employee is subject to reciprocity rules.
Solution:
Security: Worker Data: Payroll (Company Specific) - USA domain in USA
Payroll functional area.

8. Security: Set Up: Payroll (Taxes View) domain in the Core Payroll
functional area.
1. Access the Worker US Tax Elections report.
2. Check for reciprocity by verifying:
• The Work State and Home State are different.
• There are elections for more than 1 state on the State tab or
the Tax Allocations tab.
• The Tax Allocations tab displays whether the worker's
company is configured for ongoing work jurisdiction
allocations.
3. Review the reciprocity rules using the View Payroll Multistate Withholding
Rules report for each state.
Cause: Payroll input overrode the tax calculation.
Solution: Security: Reports: Results for Worker (Pay Calculation) -
USA domain in USA Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Pay Calculation Results for Worker report.
2. View the worker's pay results.
3. Review the Payroll Input tab for a payroll input representing a tax override.
The tab only displays if the worker has payroll input for the period.
4. (Optional) Edit or delete the payroll input.
5. Workday doesn't withhold State Unemployment Insurance
(SUI) for an employee who changed work states.
Cause: The employee had SUI wages in another state. The employee’s
new state recognizes the wages paid in the prior state when determining
the year-to-date wage limit.
However, SUI wages start over if a worker transfers to Minnesota or
Louisiana.
Solution: Security: Reports: Pay Calculation Results for Worker (Tax
Filing/W-2s) - USA in USA Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Tax Filing Quarterly Data for Workers report.
2. Review the report to confirm that Workday withheld SUI for other states.

9. 6. Workday incorrectly calculates State Unemployment
Insurance (SUI) for an employee who changed work states.
Cause: The state you’re moving the SUI wages to comes alphabetically
before the previous state. The new state has a lower wage limit.
Example: The employee moved from Iowa to Arizona. The payroll
administrator needs to report the SUI (ER) subject wages for Iowa,
5,885.95 USD, to Arizona. The payroll administrator creates a manual
payment to move SUI wages out of Iowa and into Arizona. The SUI wage
limit in Iowa is 28,000 USD. The SUI wage limit in Arizona is 7,000 USD.
Workday Payroll processes alphabetically. Workday will process Arizona
first, resulting in an inaccurate transaction because Arizona will reach the
limit before Workday processes the full amount.
Solution: Security: Process: Off Cycle (Manual Payment) domain in Core
Payroll functional area. To prevent this inaccuracy, process in 2 separate
transactions.
1. Back out the previous state wages and taxes and complete the payroll result.
Example: Iowa wages.
2. Create a separate manual transaction using the Run Manual Payment for
Worker task to add the new state wages. Example: Arizona wages.
7. Unexpected federal tax withholding from employee's
supplemental pay when using a nonregular run category.
Cause: You're calculating supplemental tax with a Flat Rate method and
the employee has no prior results.
If you didn't withhold regular taxes for the employee during the current or
preceding year, Workday doesn't withhold federal tax at the flat rate from a
supplemental payment.
Solution:
Security: Set Up: Payroll - Company Specific (Taxes) - USA domain in USA
Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Edit Company Federal US Tax Reporting task.

10. 2. Confirm that the Supplemental Tax Method - Regular
Check and Supplemental Tax Method - Separate Check is Flat Rate.
3. Access the Pay Calculation Results for Worker report.
4. Confirm that you didn't withhold regular taxes from payments made in the
current or previous tax year.
8. Workday didn't take additional federal withholding for an
employee.
Cause: The payment missing the additional federal withholding is a
subsequent payment in a pay period. Workday took the additional
withholding amount from the employee's first payment of the period.
Solution: Security: Reports: Results for Worker (Pay Calculation) -
USA secured to the USA Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Pay Calculation Results for Worker report.
2. Look for more than 1 result for the period, such as both on-cycle and off-cycle
results.
Workday takes the additional withholding amount from the employee's first
payment of the period, whether it’s on-cycle or off-cycle.
1. (Optional) Withhold an additional amount from a subsequent on-demand
additional payment in a regular run.
Select the Take Additional Tax Withholding Amountscheck box when
you create the on-demand payment.
9. Earning or deduction calculation is wrong (or zero) for 1
employee.
Cause: Employee has met an earning or deduction limit. When this
happens, the pay component resolves to zero and Workday ignores any
other limits defined for it.
Solution:
1. Access the View Earning or View Deduction report.
On the Effective Dated tab, review the Limits section. Determine if
multiple limits exist, and how Workday calculates each limit. (The section
displays only when a limit exists.)

11. Review the Value and Based On fields. Determine whether the limit is
based on the current pay component or another pay component.
Security: Set Up: Payroll (Calculations - Payroll Specific) domain in the
Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the Pay Calculation Results for Worker report.
Click the magnifier icon for the most recent Payroll Result.
Compare the pay component cumulative amount (year-to-date or other) to
the limits. If the limit is based on something other than the current pay
component, verify the other values.
Security: Reports: Results for Worker (Pay Calculation) - USA domain in
the USA Payroll functional area.
1. If the limit is incorrect, correct it.
Cause: You haven't entered payroll input required for hours, units, or other
values.
Solution:
1. Access the View Earning or View Deduction report.
On the Effective Dated tab, review the Calculation field and Related
Calculations fields to confirm that the calculation requires payroll input.
Security: Set Up: Payroll (Calculations - Payroll Specific) domain in the
Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the View Payroll Input by Worker(s) task.
See if the worker had payroll input for the period.
Security: Worker Data: Payroll (Payroll Input) in the Core Payroll functional
area.
1. Add Payroll Input for Workers.
10. Earning or deduction calculation is wrong (or zero) for a
subset of employees.

12. Cause: Pay component has a limit that's defined incorrectly.
Solution:
Security: Set Up: Payroll (Calculations - Payroll Specific) domain in the
Core Payroll functional area.
1. Access the View Earning or View Deduction report.
2. In the Limits section, review the Value and Based On fields.
3. Select Deduction > Edit or Earning > Edit from the related actions menu of
the pay component.
4. Correct the limit.
Conclusion:
Strategically implement Workday Payroll proactively to limit and avoid
some of the most common payroll errors. You can build an efficient payroll
procedure, deliver paychecks to your personnel and run payroll perfectly in
Workday. Getting payroll proper is a remarkable way to exceed worker
expectancies and construct their trust in the employer. ERP Cloud
Training offers Workday Payroll Training by an expert trainer. Click here to
view course details
Source Link: https://www.erpcloudtraining.com/blog/payroll-mistakes-
in-workday