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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-11-14
Create a Step-Based Calculation

Create a Step-Based Calculation

Security:
  • Set Up: Calculations - Generic
    domain in the Core Payroll functional area.
  • Set Up: Time Off (Calculations - Generic)
     domain in the Time Off and Leave functional area.
  • To configure access to calculations using segment-based security groups:
    Access Calculation (Segmented)
     domain in the Core Payroll, Implementation, Payroll Interface, and Time Off and Leave functional areas.
See: Steps: Enable Functional Areas and Security Policies.
You can create a step-based calculation to define multiple steps and operations within 1 calculation that return a single, numeric value. Example: You want to provide hourly workers bonuses based on the cost of living in their state.
Step-based calculations aren't supported in multicriteria advanced lookup tables.
Workday produces a numeric value as the result of each step, and then uses that value in the next step. You can define:
  • Conditions to apply to each step.
  • Condition groups to group multiple steps together.
  • The order of the steps.
  1. Access the
    Create Step Based Calculation
     task.
  2. (Optional) Complete these fields to define conditions for an operation:
    Option Description
    Condition Group
    Select the same value for all conditions that you want to group together. When you define a condition group, Workday evaluates all conditions of the same group, in the order listed until a condition is met. Workday then:
    • Executes the operations associated with the condition.
    • Bypasses the remaining rows in the condition group.
    If no conditions within the group are met, Workday skips the step and moves to the next step.
    Condition
    Select the condition that must be met for Workday to execute the operations associated with the step.
    You can specify multiple conditions. For optimized performance, when you use:
    • AND logic, put the least common condition first. This practice enables Workday to move immediately to the next condition or step when the value doesn't meet the condition.
    • OR logic, put the most common condition first. This practice enables Workday to execute the step and immediately move on.
  3. Define the operations to execute in the step:
    Option Description
    Operation
    Select the type of operation. Examples: Add, multiply.
    Type
    Select the type of information you want to provide in the
    Value
     column. Available options in the
    Type
     field vary based on the value you selected in the
    Operation
     field. Example:
    Rounding Definition
     is only available to select in the
    Type
     field if you selected
    Round
     in the
    Operation
     field.
    Select:
    • Calculation
       to specify a calculation.
    • Date Difference
       to specify a start and end date (calculation or date) to calculate the difference between the 2 dates in days, months, or years.
    • Date Extract
       to specify a calculation that extracts either the day, month, or year .
    • Lookup table
       to specify an advanced lookup table, column, and period date indicator.
    • Numeric
       to enter direct numeric constant values.
    • Prior Value
       to use the prior value as the input.
    • Rounding Definition
       to use a rounding definition.