How many programs does your organization run to pay your employees? Depending on how many separate systems with which you interface, the list could be quite long. There are programs to drive the payroll, print the checks, create the bank file, post the payroll, send payments to vendors to name a few. With the introduction of SAP release 4.x came a new utility called ‘process models’ which order and organize payroll processing. Visually, the process model is a flow chart of the programs in your payroll process. Process models can be created at least for regular payrolls, off-cycle payrolls, reversals, check replacements and bonus payments. The user initiates a process directly from the process model workbench or through the off-cycle workbench. Once the process is started, containers that carry necessary output from the previous program as selection criteria for the subsequent program. For instance, if running a regular payroll, the output container for the pre-DME program would be the payment run date and payment identification. This would also be the input container for the check-printing program. As the process is running, the user can see the status of each program by how many personnel numbers are processed and how many are incorrect. To prevent subsequent programs from running before the results of the previous program are checked, breakpoints can be sandwiched between the programs. Green lights indicate the process is finished and there were no errors. If a step does end in errors, they can be fixed and the step restarted.
