Using BEE is the fast way to enter batches of elements on a regular basis, or when compensation levels or policies change. For example, in each payroll period you can use BEE to:
Record timecard data needed for regular pay processing, such as hours worked, location or shift worked, absences, and costing or labor distribution data
Enter special nonrecurring earnings or deductions to be processed in the period
Enter one-time changes to recurring earnings or deductions
From time to time, you might also use BEE for:
Enrollment in PTO Accrual Plans, perhaps for a group of newly hired employees
Changes to salary, bonuses, commissions, and other types of earnings to maintain information about employee compensation
When you enter absences in a batch, BEE creates absence records as well as element entries.
Your system administrator can protect confidential assignments from unauthorized viewing and update by setting the HR: Enable Security for Batch Element Entry profile.
Each batch has a header and as many batch lines as you require; a batch line is one element entry for an assignment. Lines within a batch can have different effective dates. If your upload data exists in spreadsheet format, you can use the BEE Spreadsheet Interface to create your batch and submit it for validation and transfer. Alternatively, you can use one or more of these methods to create your batch:
Enter input values and other data for one element, and run a concurrent process to create identical batch lines for all the assignments in an assignment set.
Create an element set and make entries for each element in the set, one assignment at a time.
Select an element and create or update lines for this element using defaults to speed entry, and changing defaults as necessary when working through the batch.
You can use any of these approaches in combination in a batch.
For example, to give an identical bonus to all full time employees in the Finance Division, you could create an assignment set for these employees and run a concurrent process to enter the bonus for the set. Then, to handle part time employees, you could select the bonus element in the Batch Lines window and create a batch line individually for each part time employee, entering a pro rata bonus amount.
To validate a batch after saving it, you run the BEE validation process from the Batch Header window. This process checks the header and each line of the batch. For example, it checks that each assignment number exists in the database, and that you have specified values for all required input values. It also runs any validation formulas you have defined for the input values.
You can add your own validation procedures to the standard process. For example, you can set up control totals or extra business validation.
Control totals are predefined for checking the number of lines in a batch and for summing pay values and hours. You can create control totals for other numerical element input values by defining a lookup for the lookup type CONTROL_TYPE. If you need other kinds of control totals, you can define lookups for them, but you must also write a validation procedure for checking the batch against the total.
When the batch is ready for transfer to the database, you run the BEE transfer process from the Batch Header window. This process first performs the same checks as the validation process. It transfers the valid element entries from the temporary tables to the Entries table in Oracle HRMS. Invalid lines are marked in error. You can correct these lines and rerun the transfer process to reprocess just these lines.
You can choose whether the transfer process automatically purges the entries from the temporary tables after transfer. You can also run a separate purge process.
You should not attempt to process concurrently batches that contain the same assignments. If an assignment exists in more than one batch that you try to process at the same time, the processes may fail due to assignment interlocks.
After a successful BEE transfer, you can roll back the transfer process if you want to completely remove it. You can choose to roll back the transfer even if some of the entries have been processed.
You roll back the transfer from the Submit Requests window. Oracle Payroll users can also roll back processes from the Payroll Processes window, or individual batch lines from the Assignment Processes window.
The batch status depends on the status of the batch header, all the batch lines, and any control totals specified for the batch. On the Batch Header window, you can see the following status values:
ValidAll of the lines, control totals, and header are valid
Transferred All of the lines, control totals, and header have been transferred.
Transfer Incomplete The header and control totals have been transferred, along with some of the lines.
Unprocessed At least one line, control total, or the header is unprocessed, and no lines have been transferred.
Error The header has not been transferred and at least one line, control total, or the header is in error.
Status Mismatch The combination of statuses in the header, lines, and batch is not consistent. For example, it is inconsistent for the header to have the status error when some of the lines have the status Transferred.
Note: A status mismatch is not possible if you always use the Batch Header and Batch Lines windows to enter and maintain a batch.