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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-08-22
Create Payroll Accounting Adjustments

Create Payroll Accounting Adjustments

  • Review setup considerations for payroll accounting adjustments.
  • Verify that payroll is complete for the employee's pay group and that the journal lines are in posted status.
  • Create a change reason on the
    Maintain Change Reason Codes for Effort Certification and Payroll Accounting Adjustment
    task.
  • Set up payroll accounting adjustments.
You can make net zero adjustments to payroll accounting for cost allocations for 1 or more pay periods. You can also make adjustments to distribution percentages and correct cost center changes.
  1. Access the
    Create Payroll Accounting Adjustments
     task.
  2. Select
    Employee
    ,
    Pay Group
    ,
    Company
    , and
    Change Reason
    .
    If you have a simple adjustment with only 1 pay period and no distribution splits, click
    OK
     and go to step 4.
  3. If you have complex adjustments with multiple pay periods or distribution splits in 1 pay period, you can simplify entering the adjustments by completing the
    Optional Parameters
    .
    1. Enter 1 or more
      Pay Periods
       and select
      On-cycle
       or
      Off -cycle
      Payroll Result Type
      .
      When you select the
      Enable Payroll Result Type to Default to On-Cycle and Off-Cycle
       check box on the
      Accounting Adjustments
       tab of the
      Maintain Payroll Accounting Options
       task, Workday enables both
      On Cycle
       and
      Off Cycle
       as the default payroll result type.
      If the pay period you want to select is unavailable, check that payroll is complete for the employee or pay group and that the journal lines are in posted status.
    2. To adjust distribution percents and have Workday calculate the
      Debit Amount
       and
      Hours
      , consider:
      Field
      Description
      Position
      Add a row for each position and pay component combination to adjust.
      Pay Component(s)
      Earnings and employer-paid expenses.
      Costing Company
      Enter a costing company to make accounting adjustments for a specified position and pay component. You can enter a costing company only when you enable intercompany accounting.
      Worktags
      Workday enters the default worktags from the worker's current organization assignments, such as
      Cost Center
      ,
      Location
      , and
      Region
      .
      If you configured related worktags, Workday adds them here.
      Distribution Percent
      Enter a percent for each position and pay component combination if less than 100%. The total must equal 100%.
    When you click
    OK
    , Workday:
    • Displays an adjustment section for each pay period that you entered.
    • Calculates and displays the
      Debit Amount
       and
      Hours
       based on the distribution splits you entered.
  4. Click
    Add
    to enter adjustment details:
    • For a simple adjustment, select
      Payroll Result
      ,
      Position(s)
      ,
      Pay Component(s)
      , and
      Change Reason
      .
    • For complex adjustments, enter additional pay period and position combinations. If they have distribution splits, you must calculate the
      Debit Amount
       for each position and pay component combination that you add.
  5. Select
    Refresh Journal Lines
    .
  6. Review the
    Current Journal Lines
     and the
    Proposed Adjustments
     grid. If you entered multiple pay periods, scroll down to see each of the adjustment sections that Workday created. You can enter or revise the proposed adjustments.
  7. (Optional) Select
    Combine Identical Adjustments
     to aggregate identical rows with Budget Date, Position, Pay Component, and Worktag Overrides in the
    Proposed Adjustments
     grid.
  8. From the
    Summary Totals
     section, select the relevant
    Pay Components
    ,
    Worktags
    , or a combination of
    Pay Components
     and
    Worktags
     based on the proposed adjustments.
    You can select only 1 worktag per dimension. Example: You can select only 1 Cost Center, 1 Fund, or 1 Location.
  9. Click
    Update Amounts
     to verify the distribution percentage of the adjustment you're changing.
    Based on the pay components and worktags you select, Workday calculates:
    • Current Total Amount as sum of amounts from current journal lines.
    • Proposed Total Amount as sum of amounts from proposed journal lines.
    • Difference as current total amount - proposed total amount.
    • Percent of Proposed as total selected proposed amount/ total proposed amount.
  10. (Optional) Add one or more
    Attachments
     for each pay period.
  • The adjustments create a new journal line with:
    • A reversal entry of the original journal lines.
    • A replacement entry with the updated costing allocation.
    Actual pay for the worker doesn't change. You can readjust adjusted journal lines.
  • Workday creates reversal fringe benefit journals to reverse the original fringe journals, recalculates fringe, and creates new fringe benefit journals.
  • Your business process might take you through additional steps based on the change reason.
  • The payroll result displays all adjustment-related journals (including adjustment fringe benefits) on the
    Other Accounting
     tab.
  • Worker history displays the Payroll Accounting Adjustment events.
  • When the period end date is in a closed ledger period, Workday:
    • Posts the adjustment journals in the next open period.
    • Sets the accounting date to the first day of this period.
  • Workday calculates the hours on the adjusted journal line based on the percentage distribution of earnings.
For pay periods with payroll accounting adjustments for workers, you must rescind the adjustment before running these tasks:
  • Cancel Pay Complete
  • Reversal Pay Calculation
To rescind an adjustment, select
Business Process
Rescind
 from the related actions menu of a completed payroll accounting adjustment event. If multiple adjustments exist for a worker, you must rescind them individually in reverse order for every subsequent payroll result that contains an adjustment. Rescinded journal lines then become available for adjustment again.