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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Concept: Calculated Fields and Calculations

Concept: Calculated Fields and Calculations

In Workday you can create calculations using either:
  • Calculated fields.
  • Calculations.
You can't interchange these frameworks.

Calculated Fields

Calculated fields are configurable field definitions that are associated with a business object and that use Workday data. You can use calculated fields to perform arithmetic calculations, create logical and conditional expressions, and transform your data. Calculated fields can be report-specific or tenant-wide and you can use them on:
  • Business processes to control condition steps.
  • Entry validations to evaluate data.
  • Integrations, such as with connectors and Enterprise Interface Builders (EIBs).
  • Notifications sent to all workers and new hires.
  • Reports to create related calculated fields and add them to custom reports.
  • Schedules for recurring processes to determine dynamically when they run.

Calculations

You can create numeric, boolean, and date calculations that work with these Workday features:
  • Absence Management: Accruals and time off plans.
  • Compensation: Compensation plans.
  • Student: Awards, costs, limits, eligibility, and financial aid.
  • Workday Payroll: Pay accumulations and balances, earnings and deductions, and pay component groups.

Recommendations

When creating a calculation, design it based on either:

Requirements for Inputs to Calculations

When you do need to use a calculated field as an input to a calculation:
  • Only use Lookup Value as of Date calculated fields.
  • Base the calculated field on the
    Worker
    business object.
  • Only use calculated fields as inputs to an instance set comparison calculation.
For Payroll or Absence lookup calculations, select the
Data As Of
as either the:
  • Period start date.
  • Period end date.
  • (Payroll only) Subperiod date.
These requirements also apply to any nested calculated fields. Example: You can't create a calculated field based on the
Worker
business object that references a calculated field based on a different business object.
When creating a calculated field for calculations, set the:
  • Category
    to a functional area. Examples:
    Time Off
    ,
    Payroll
    .
  • Authorized Usage
    as
    Calculation Engine (Payroll/Absence)
    .