Payroll Simulation – Understand Payroll Wage Types
Use this procedure to understand wage type (WT) valuation meanings when reviewing the payroll results table or payroll simulation.
There are many reports that can be used to view an employee’s payroll wage type detail. The most common reports that focus on specific wage type processing for one employee are Display Payroll Results (PC_PAYRESULT) and Payroll Simulation (PC00_M10_CALC_SIMU).
- Display Payroll Results (PC_PAYRESULT) will allow processors to view the payroll results that were created the last time payroll was stored (as well as prior periods). This transaction will not include any changes that have been made since the payroll store was executed.
- Payroll Simulation (PC00_M10_CALC_SIMU) will allow processors to view a simulated up to date payroll for employees who have had master data changes that may result in a pay change or to ensure correct processing.
Refer to those report procedures for more information on running the reports. Then, continue with this procedure to understand the wage types displayed in your report results.
This procedure describes key details about wage types found in payroll results and payroll simulations. It does not cover every single wage type. If you have questions not answered in this procedure, contact the OFM Helpdesk at HereToHelp@ofm.wa.gov.
When reviewing wage types processing, EE indicates employee shares and ER indicates employer shares. A slash at the beginning of a wage type means it’s a technical wage type.
Hourly employees must have submitted time for the selected pay period for this report to have accurate results.
Review /1XX wage types.
- WT/101 is the total gross earnings for the employee for the pay period.
- WT/110 is the total deductions for the period, except taxes.
- Other/1XX wage types are accumulators that may or may not be used for the employee (EE) cost. For example, WT/195 is the retirement base used to calculate retirement earnings for plans except those ending in 1 (PERS2, PER3, etc.). WT/196 is the retirement base used to calculate retirement earnings ending in 1 (PERS1, TRS1, etc.).
Review /2XX wage types.
- /2XX wage types represent accumulated hours.
Review /3XX wage types.
- /3XX wage types represent total taxable gross earnings before any pre-tax deductions or taxable limits are deducted.
Review /4XX wage types.
- /4XX wage types represent the employee and employer share of taxes.
Review /5XX wage types.
- WT/559 represents payment disbursed.
- WT/560 represents amount to be paid/net pay. This wage type will not show on the payroll simulation once payroll has exited/closed.
- WT/5U0 and WT/5U1 represent the total EE and ER taxes.
- WT/5UT represents the total worked hours used for medical aid tax calculations.
Tips:Wage Type /5XX Overpayment Wage Types
- WT/551 will be generated for each retroactive period to identify the change in pay. This EE wage type is accounted as an addition to the employee’s pay when the amount is negative and a subtraction from their pay when the amount is positive. If /553 is present, it will match the /551 amount. WT/553 can be ignored in an overpayment situation as it is not always triggered, but when it is, it will mirror the /551.
- All WT/551 entries will be summed up to /552 in the last period of the retro calculation. The key to analyzing any retro is to understand the WT/551 entries as they occur through each period when an employee has retroactivity.
- WT/552 is accounted as an addition to the EE’s pay when the amount is a positive and a subtraction from their pay when the amount is negative (opposite of /551).
- If the employee has a retro resulting in a difference/claim in pay, you will see a /551 and/or /552 present. WT/551 will show in the period it ran and /552 coming forward from previous periods.
- WT/561 is a Claim in the period. Claims occur when an employee has been overpaid and there are not enough funds processing to cover any accumulated /551 or /552 amounts. A Claim in a current period will result in an ALAS error and must be offset to allow the employee to process through payroll. See the Overpayment procedure to learn more. Use the payroll simulation to validate that the Claim has been properly offset. If /561 is no longer showing, the employee will no longer have an ALAS error. If an employee still has a /551 or /552 Difference in the period after offsetting a Claim, you must increase your offset to include the full amount of the Claim plus all Differences.
Review /6XX wage types.
- /6XX wage types represent the taxable earnings after pretax deductions but prior to any taxable limits.
Review /7XX wage types.
- /7XX wage types represent taxable wages after pretax deductions and taxable limits. This is the list of final taxable wages.
Review the remaining wage types.
- These wage types are different for each employee and are based on hours worked, leave taken, and deductions processing. Whether the employee is hourly or salaried will also create differences in what appears in the bottom portion of the payroll results table.
- Splits: If the employee has Splits (or pay charges) during the period, you will see the change in pay here under different valuations and the total time in each split.
- Leave of any kind will be found at the bottom portion of the payroll results table. The exact wage types are dependent on what leave type was entered. There may also be different leave wage types, depending on if the employee is hourly or salary. Contact a leave administrator if you are unsure about a leave type listed.
