SAP PAYROLL BASICS - PART 2: CENTRAL FUNCTIONS IN THE

PAYROLL SCHEMA
Overview
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Previously we presented an overview of the foundation of payroll processing - the basic structure of schemas, rules, function and
operations. Now let's take a look at the major functions in the payroll schema.

Common Functions
Functions can have up to four parameters, and usually the SAP documentation does a good job telling you what each parameter
does. Documentation for functions and operations can be found via transactions PDSY or PE04.
COPY This is the same as 'include' in ABAP and other programming languages. COPY just inserts the schema contained in
parameter 1 when payroll is executed. Good programming style and good schema configuration style are basically the same put commonly used logic in an 'include' so that it can be used in several places and to improve readability.
BLOCK As of release 4.0 the schema log is organized in a collapsible tree structure. BLOCK BEG starts a node and BLOCK
END ends the node. Everything between BEG and END is contained within the node. BLOCK BEG/END can be nested several
levels deep. Again, place the BLOCK BEG/END functions appropriately to make the log easy to read.
IF/ELSE/ENDIF There are two ways to specify the true/false condition for an IF function. SAP has several built-in conditions that
you can use in parameter 2 (IF NAMC in schema U000). You can also specify a custom rule in parameter 1, and in the rule
perform whatever logic you want. In the rule you use operation SCOND to set the true/false switch for the IF function.
Pxxxx The payroll driver & schema read and process data from many infotypes. The common way of doing this is with infotypespecific functions - named as 'P' and the four-digit infotype number. So, P0014 reads and processes data from infotype 14,
P0168 processes life insurance plans from infotype 168 and P2010 reads in additional payments from infotype 2010. Many of
these functions, but not all, allow you to futher refine the processing with a payroll rule. Schema UAP0, for example, shows that
P0014 is processed futher by rule U011. Function P0168 is one of those that does not use a rule (in some older releases it does)
- you specify options in parameter 1 instead (see schema UBE1). Some infotypes are used in payroll, but do not have a Pxxx
function. Examples include infotypes 207, 208, 209 and 210 which are all read and processed in the main tax function USTAX.
Infotypes 0, 1, 7, and 8 are processed by function WPBP.
PIT PIT is an acronym for Process Input Table, and is one of the most used and most powerful functions in payroll. When
wagetypes are read into payroll by the Pxxx functions, they are stored in an internal table called IT - Input Table. PIT loops
through that table and applies logic contained in rules. So for each wagetype in the IT, it will apply the logic from a rule. The goal
of PIT is to move wagetypes out of the IT and into the RT - Results Table. Most often, the rules called by PIT will change some
attributes of the wagetype and then transfer it from the IT to the RT. The wagetype can also be left in the IT and even moved to
other tables. We'll cover those possibilities when we reiew how operations work. A good example of PIT is in schema UAL0 - PIT
X023. When the payroll driver gets to this point in the schema, PIT will look at each wagetype in the IT, and rule X023 tells it to
do certain things depending on the wagetype's value in processing class 20. Values 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 and B will move the wagetype to
the RT, while values 1, 7, and 8 leave it in the IT. Value 2 has no operation, essentially eliminating the wagetype from the IT.
PRT PRT is short for Process Results Table. Although most wagetype processing happens via PIT, there are several occasions
where you want to process the wagetypes that have already been transferred to the Results Table (RT). PRT work much the
same as PIT, looping through the RT and applying logic from a rule. In schema UTX0, PRT is used to process tax wagetypes
that are already in the RT. Function UTX0 (US tax function) returns its wagetypes directly to the RT, so any processing on tax

wagetypes has to be done with a PRT function.

ACTIO The ACTIO function processes a payroll rule, but it does not loop through a wagetype table. Instead it can loop over the
different workplace/basic pay records and process the rule for each one. For example, suppose the employee had two infotype 1
records for the current pay period. ACTIO would have two records to loop through. Schema UTX0 again has a good example of
ACTIO using rule UWH1 to calculate the number of working hours in the pay period.
Our final article on the basic of SAP Payroll presents some commonly used payroll operations.

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