Student Financials Calculations

Overview

There are many calculation options available in Workday. Understanding the purpose of each and when and how to use them is integral to successfully configuring student financials. In this chapter, you will explore the most important and commonly used calculations in Workday.

Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

Identify and define types of student-related calculations.

Explain the purpose of each calculation.

Identify the data value types each calculation returns.

Create a calculation.

Calculation Engine Overview

Workday uses calculations to provide the ability to define complex business rules for particular processes. Workday originally developed the Calculation Engine for Workday Payroll as a flexible framework to create and maintain payroll algorithms (calculate earnings, deductions, etc.). The Calculation Engine is a robust and high performing utility. Workday has adopted it for other products for similar use, including Workday Student.

Workday Student delivers a range of Workday-owned calculations. These calculations help keep your Student product compliant with federal regulations. You can also create calculations for your specific institutional needs. Workday Student uses calculations in the following areas:

Student Financial Aid	Student Financials
Cost Item Assignment/Amount	Charge Item Assignment/Amount
Pell Cost Amount	Waiver Amount
Award Item Eligibility/Amount	Fee Group Assignment
Disbursement Eligibility	Course Fee Amount
Packaging Strategy Assignment	Sponsor Contract Disbursement Eligibility

Types of Calculations

Calculations perform specific operations, such as arithmetic, aggregate, value comparison, or data retrieval. The return data values can be a number, date, true or false statement, or other value.

The calculation engine within Workday provides options to define the following types of calculations:

Boolean

Numeric

Date

You can create simple calculations within each calculation type. You can also nest calculations within each other by selecting an existing calculation as an operand of another.

Boolean Calculations

Boolean calculations return a true or false value. You can use the following Boolean calculations to define student charges, award items, and eligibility:

Instance set comparison calculation

Logic calculation

Value comparison calculation

You can nest Boolean calculations in:

Conditional calculations

Logic calculations

Instance Set Comparison Calculations

The instance set comparison calculation compares a single-instance or multi-instance field with a value or values. Operators permitted include:

In the selection list

Not in the selection list

Is empty

Is not empty

Exact match with the selection list

Not exact match with the selection list

Subset of the selection list

Superset of the selection list

The screenshot below is an instance set comparison calculation that identifies students with a primary program of study in science or engineering.

View Instance Set Comparison Calculation for POS in Science and Engineering (SFPR) in Student Financials on the Calculation tab.

Value Comparison Calculation

The value comparison calculation compares numeric, Boolean, or date values. Operators permitted include:

Equal to

Not equal to

Greater than

Greater than or equal to

Less than

Less than or equal to

Value comparison calculations allow you to define relationships between other calculations and student values, such as GPA or test scores.

In the screenshot below, the calculation determines whether a student's age is greater than or equal to sixty.

View Value Comparison Calculation for Senior Citizen on the Calculation tab.

Logic Calculation

The logic calculation defines AND or OR logic to return a true/false value. To get to the result, it uses a combination of the following calculations:

Instance Set Comparison

Value Comparison

Instance Value

Logic Calculations

Operators permitted include:

AND

OR

Note
: You cannot combine AND and OR logic in the same Logic Calculation.

In the screenshot below, the calculation determines whether a student has a citizenship status that is not blank, is an international student, and is in their first academic period. If a student meets all three criteria, the calculation will return a value of True.

View Logic Calculation for an International Student and First Academic Period with the Calculation tab selected.

Numeric Calculations

Numeric calculations return a numeric value. This calculation type includes the following:

Aggregate Calculation

Arithmetic Calculation

Constant Value Calculation

Date Difference Calculation

Date Extract Calculation

Lookup Calculation

Aggregate Calculation

The aggregate calculation returns the sum, average, minimum, or maximum of two or more values. The operand is typically the value being aggregated. The Instances for Operand Calculation field is the value aggregated when the operand is non-numeric (e.g., a logic calculation).

Arithmetic Calculations often include an aggregate calculation as a component.

Create Aggregate Calculation task for Student Income Earned from Work

The calculation in the example returns the maximum of two values: 0 or the student's income earned from work multiplied by .0765.

Arithmetic Calculation

The arithmetic calculation adds, subtracts, divides, or multiplies two (and only two) numeric calculations. You can use any calculation returning a numeric value, including another arithmetic calculation, as an operand.

The following calculations often use an arithmetic calculation as a component:

Aggregate Calculation

Conditional Calculation

Lookup Table Calculation

This calculation below returns the student's income earned from work reported on the ISIR multiplied by 0.0765. Notice that this calculation also has rounding, so the system will round the result to the nearest 1.

Arithmetic Calculation for Student Income Earned from Work with the Calculation tab selected.

Constant Value Calculation

The constant value calculation returns the number assigned to it. The numbers can be positive, negative, or decimal.

Note
: Workday delivers many commonly used integer and decimal values.

View Constant Value Calculation for 0.0765 with the Calculation tab selected.

In the example above, the constant value calculation returns the number 0.0765. The Name field in the

Create/Edit/View Constant Value Calculation

task is commonly the actual numeric value the constant value calculation returns.

Date Difference Calculation

The date difference calculation returns the number of days, months, or years (the interval) between two dates. This calculation performs a simple subtraction between the two periods defined. For example, you can use a date difference calculation to determine a student's age by subtracting a student's date of birth from today's date.

Date Extract Calculation

The date extract calculation allows you to pull out the year, month, or day from a date. This calculation is useful when you need to determine the exact day or month of an event. For example, when returning the starting year as a numeric for the Financial Aid Award Year. For the 2025-2026 award year, the system returns the number 2025.

An example of a date extract calculation would be Financial Aid Award Year Starting Year. You can build a calculation that returns the starting year as a numeric (e.g. 2025-2026 would return 2025).

View Date Extract Calculation (Workday Owned) for Financial Aid Award Year Starting Year with the Calculation tab selected.

Date Calculations

Date calculations return date values. This calculation type includes the following:

Build Date Calculation

Constant Date Calculation

Date Increment/Decrement Calculation

Build Date Calculation

The build date calculation allows you to create dates as of specific points in time. The calculation combines year, month, and day from other dates (using date extract calculation) or constant value calculation. Workday delivers several build date calculations primarily used in calculating the Student Aid Index (SAI) in financial aid.

Constant Date Calculation

The constant date calculation allows you to create dates as of specific points in time, defining the year, month, and day. You use this calculation for scheduling logic and grandfathering eligibility.

The Constant Date Calculation in the example above identifies "January 1, 1900" as the point in time.

Date Increment/Decrement Calculation

The date increment/decrement calculation allows you to start with a date and then add or subtract years, months, or days from that date.

Here is an example of a date increment/decrement calculation:

Create Date Increment/Decrement Calculation with an Anticipated Start Date +30.

The date increment/decrement calculation in the example above adds 30 days to the student's anticipated start date.

Other Calculations

In addition to Boolean, numeric, and date calculations, there are other calculation types that return various values, such as numbers, dates, or Boolean results. The other calculation types are:

Conditional Calculation

Instance Value Calculation

Lookup Calculation

Conditional Calculation

The conditional calculation uses rows to which you associate conditions (one or more IF statements) and a result value. The system returns the result for the first row of criteria that is "true." If no criteria are met, the system returns a default value. The value returned will be another calculation, typically a numeric constant value, or a date.

View Conditional Calculation task for Books & Supplies Calculation

The conditional calculation calculates costs for books and supplies. If the student has a program of study in Arts, it returns one result. If the student's program of study is in Science & Engineering, it returns another. If both statements are false, the calculation returns the default value of 600.

Workday uses conditional calculations as part of a lookup table. These are helpful for situations like charging different fee amounts for different class standings within each college. This process follows three steps:

Create a lookup table
. The left column determines the type of table. For example, use an Advanced Lookup Table - Report Field Search Criteria to create row for each college.

Create one lookup calculation per column
. For example, you might create a lookup calculation named Lab Fee - Freshman that when used, directs Workday to the Freshman column of your lookup table.

Create a conditional calculation
. Each column will have its own row in the conditional calculation. For example, if a student has a class standing of freshman, Workday should use the lookup calculation you created, Lab Fee - Freshman.

Instance Value Calculation

The instance value calculation returns numeric values, currency, Boolean, and date attributes. Workday delivers instance value calculations that return values based on report fields, such as Period Start Date and Period End Date. Customer-owned instance value calculations return values based on custom fields.

Note
: You cannot use a custom field in calculations. However, you can assign a custom field to an instance value calculation, and then use the instance value calculation in another calculation.

The example below returns the cumulative number of units a student has earned up to the current period.

View Instance Value Calculation (Workday Owned) task for Cumulative Units: Earned

Lookup Calculation

A lookup calculation returns a numeric value based on criteria the system matches. The system can base the criteria on a report field or a numeric range. For example, returning the correct tuition based on a table that stores tuition by academic level and residency status.

Lookup calculations require a lookup table. Although you can create lookup calculations with basic lookup tables, Workday strongly recommends that you use advanced lookup tables. Advanced lookup tables can handle high volumes. In addition, they provide one place to update data for easy maintenance.

Advanced lookup tables allow you to:

Create up to 10 columns. You can then use each column for a different calculation.

Assign an effective date for search and return values.

Define search criteria based on:

Instance or text report fields.

Numeric calculations.

When you access the

Create Lookup Table

task, you can select from the following options:

Option	Description
Advanced Lookup Table - Report Field Search Criteria	Returns values based on the results of a single-instance or multi-instance report field.
Advanced Lookup Table - Numeric Calculation Search Criteria	Returns values based on the results of numeric calculations.
Advanced Lookup Table - No Search Criteria (default value only)	Returns default values.
Advanced Lookup Table - Text Report Field Search Criteria	Returns data based on the results of a text report field.

The lookup calculation below uses a lookup table to determine undergraduate tuition based on residency status.

View Lookup Calculation for Tuition Flat Rate for Undergraduate with the Calculation tab selected.

Student Financials Period Record Instance with the Table Data tab selected.

In this example, the lookup calculation uses a student's residency to determine tuition.

Calculations for Eligibility

Workday Student categorizes calculations in two ways: to determine eligibility or to determine an amount. Workday uses Eligibility Calculations to determine eligibility for several items throughout Workday Student. The Eligibility Calculations are looking for a true or false result, also known as a Boolean result.

Use Eligibility Calculations when you need to determine whether a student is eligible for:

Student award items

Cost of attendance items

Charge items

Waiver items

You can also find Eligibility Calculations in the If column of a variety of maintain tasks in Workday Student, including:

Maintain Student Cost Item Assignments

Maintain Student Charge Item Assignments

Maintain Student Packaging Strategy Assignments

Additional Detail: Calculations for Student

It is easy for you to create calculations with the calculation engine once you understand what each calculation type is and how Workday constructs each one. There are a number of calculation types in Workday that you can use as building blocks for creating your calculations. However, the four most common calculation types used for student calculations are:

Instance set comparison calculations

Value comparison calculations

Conditional calculations

Lookup table calculations

Tip
: You can additionally use Workday-delivered instant value calculations (IVCs) to create calculations that use custom report fields (CRFs) to generate custom reports with Workday Report Writer.

Workday recommends that you use the following best practices when configuring calculations for Workday Student:

Mind map your calculations before creating them within your tenant. Before you begin configuring your calculations, mind map the formula that you need to configure.

Determine the best method for constructing your calculation business logic. Start by identifying the business definitions and rules that are associated with your calculation. In a top-down approach, you create your final calculation first and then create nested calculations within your final calculation.

Develop consistent naming conventions for your calculations that are obvious and intuitive. The naming convention you use for your calculations should enable you and your team members to easily identify the purpose of each calculation that you create.

Use comments to note the purpose of your calculations. When you initially create and configure a calculation, you should document the purpose of a calculation within the comments section. Using comments helps you identify the calculations you need to modify and update on an ongoing basis. Entering a comment in the Comment field is a useful way to document:

Why you created a calculation.

What the logic of your calculation was.

What award items were associated with your calculation.

Test a calculation thoroughly in a testing tenant before recreating it in your production tenant. Once you have created and configured your calculation, you can test your calculation from the calculation name's Related Actions, then select Calculation > Evaluate.

Every calculation you can create in Workday has an associated view task. If you need to deactivate a calculation within Workday, confirm where you are first using a calculation in your Workday tenant by using a view calculation task.

Do not delete a calculation after you create it. Instead, modify the name of your calculation by relabeling it as "DNU" for Do Not Use.

You can also run the

Calculation Exception Audit

report to locate previously created calculations that you are no longer using in your tenant.

Resource
: To learn more about calculations, consider taking the Student Calculation Engine for Administrators course.

Class Report Fields (CRFs)

Workday defines and delivers data sources. Workday delivers zero, one, or multiple data sources for business objects. The report data source is the view or selection of instances of a given primary business object. For financial aid, the primary data source is the Financial Aid Period Records (FAPR). For student financials, the primary data source is the Student Financials Period Record (SFPR). Each data source has many Class Report Fields (CRFs). Workday has made several CRFs available to the Calculation Engine. CRFs are not calculations, but you can use them in two types of calculations: instance set comparison and advanced lookup table calculations.

You can create a report that lists all available CRFs:

From the Fields data source's, Related Actions select custom report > create. (Use the defaults unless you need to share the report, which requires an Advanced report type.)

Add fields of:

Field

Business object

Description

Add a filter with the following information:

Field Name	Entry Value
Field	Authorized Usage
Operator	any in the selection list
Comparison Value	Calculation Engine (Payroll/Absence)

Run the report.

Calculation Testing

Once you finish creating a calculation in Workday, you can test your calculation to make sure it works correctly before deploying your calculation in your production tenant. You can test custom defined and Workday-delivered calculations. Doing so ensures that your calculation works correctly before you use the calculation in financial aid and student financials processing.

To test your calculation, use the Evaluate Student Calculation function:

Search for and select a calculation that you want to test by running the appropriate view task for your calculation.

Important
: Search for and select the View Conditional Calculation
report to view an existing custom or Workday-delivered conditional calculation.

Select the calculation's Related Actions
and select Calculation > Evaluate Student Calculation
.

Select a student, student institutional financial account, and academic period to test your calculation with.

Evaluate Student Calculation for Undergraduate Student (SFPR).

Note
: The required fields that Workday displays for the Evaluate Student Evaluation function vary depending on the type of calculation you are testing.

Once you run your test, Workday displays:

The calculation path with returned values on the left side of the screen.

The result value of student calculation.

Evaluate Student Calculation task results. Tuition for Undergraduate by Residency = 11800

Performance Considerations

There are some performance considerations when building calculations. The complexity of the calculation can impact the process using it. The more calculations involved, the longer it will take the process to run.

To maximize performance when building calculations, Workday recommends the following:

Conditional Calculations: Put the most common conditions first.

Logic Calculations:

For AND logic calculations, put the least common conditions first.

For OR logic, put the most common condition first.

Lookup Tables:

Limit the number of rows for Basic tables.

Advanced tables do not need to limit rows for performance.

Inactivating Calculations

If you need to delete a calculation, check what the calculation is referencing and used in first. The best practice is to label it as "Do not use," and change the category to common so it does not populate in future searches.

Other Design Considerations

Here are some additional factors to consider when designing and deploying calculations:

Before building a calculation in the system, agree upon a final design. This design should include which kinds of calculations you will use to accomplish each part of the business requirements.

Design and build the calculations from the top down or from the bottom up:

Top down: Create the final calculation first and then create its component calculations from within that calculation.

Bottom up: Create the component calculations first and then combine into the final calculation.

Always test your calculations.

Find orphaned calculations using the

Calculation Exception Audit

report.

Consider future maintenance. How much effort will it take to adjust rates or eligibilities when rules or rates change?