Understanding SAP HR Basics: How Do Infotypes and Personnel Actions Work Together?

1. What are infotypes?

Infotype is a logical grouping of related fields of employee information. For example, Employee addresses (Permanent, Temporary, Home, Emergency, etc.) form one Infotype.

2. What are personnel actions? What is the transaction for executing personnel actions?

Any activity carried out on an employee (personnel) such as hiring, promotion, change of pay, termination, etc., is called a Personnel Action. In SAP, each action is performed as a combination of edits to several individual infotypes. The transaction for executing Personnel Actions is PA40.

3. What are the important infotypes for a hiring action? The following infotypes are part of the hiring action and will be edited in the same sequence when the hiring action is performed:
1. 0000 - Actions (to capture employee movement info in the organization)
2. 0001 - Organizational Assignment (to capture employee positioning in the organization)
3. 0002 - Personal Data
4. 0006 - Address
5. 0007 - Planned Working Time (Store planned working hours for the employee.)
6. 0008 - Basic Salary
7. 0009 - Bank Details
8. 0014 - Recurring Payment
9. 0015 - Additional payment
10. 0016 - Contract Elements
11. 2006 - Absence Quotas

4. What is IMG? What is its importance? What are the functions you can execute using IMG? IMG is short for "Implementation Guide". It is used for customizing SAP R/3. The SAP Implementation guide lists all the required steps for configuration, customization, and implementation of various SAP modules like HR, FI, CO, MM, SD, etc., in a simple to understand tree structure. This can be accessed by the transaction "SPRO".

5. What is customizing? What does customizing support? Customizing means modifying the functionality of the system provided by SAP to meet the needs of the company implementing it.

6. How do you create a Project IMG? What are project views? On SAP Easy Access Menu, Go to Tools -> Customizing -> IMG -> Project Administration. Click on 'Create' and give necessary details.

7. What are the IMG attributes?

8. What is an enterprise structure? The enterprise structure is the backbone of HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. The Enterprise Structure is a structure depicting the organization's units, i.e., personnel areas, personnel subareas, employees. In the Enterprise structure, we define company, company code, personnel area, personnel subarea.

9. What is a personnel structure? The Enterprise Structure and Personnel structure are used exclusively in system rules for the processing of payroll, time benefits, and changing organization structure.

10. What is the highest level of the enterprise structure? Company Code
|Personnel Area
|Personnel Sub Area

11. What is company code? Is it defined in HR? If not where is it defined? The company code is defined in financial management of the enterprise structure. It is a 4-character alphanumeric code to be defined to be unique and identifiable.

12. What are personnel areas and their functions? "A personnel area is an organizational entity representing an area within an enterprise defined by specific aspects of personnel administration, time management, and payroll."

13. What are personnel subareas and their functions? Personnel subareas are subdivisions of personnel areas. The strategies for designing personnel subareas are to represent a categorization of the position units in the organization. It also helps to define the type of employees or persons to be hired.

14. How is an employee in the HR Master data linked to a company to which he belongs? An employee is assigned to a Pers area and Pers Sub area. These are assigned to a Company code and country grouping.

15. Can a personnel area be assigned to many company codes? A pers area / pers sub area combination can be assigned to one company and one country grouping. Thus, a pers area may be linked to one or more company codes. The country code determines the currency for the employee. The company code determines the organizational structure that the employee belongs to. It provides the links to FI/CO and for functions/processes like payroll posting, costing. When you assign a person to a pers area/sub area, you also need to assign to a position in an Org unit. To do this, the MP000100 goes to the FI module to check if FI is implemented.

16. What are the indicators defined by personnel subareas?

17. How do you categorize the employee groups?

Employee groups are just ways of categorizing employees such as 'Active', 'Retired', 'Intern', 'Inactive', 'Temporary', etc., however a company may define it.

18. What are employee subgroups and what are the indicators set up using employee subgroups?

Employee subgroups are used to break down the Employee Groups; for example, someone who is in the 'Active' group could be considered several different types of employees within the organization. The subgroups can be defined how a company sees fit, be it different types of 'Hourly' and 'Salary' groups or defined by administrative position or task.

19. Employee groups are two characters, and employee subgroups are represented by two characters in the IMG. Do you support this statement? Employee group is one character, i.e., 1 active, Employee subgroup is a division of employee group with two characteristics, i.e., 02 - salaried employee....

No, Employee Groups are single alphanumeric characters, while Subgroups are two characters.

20. In the HR Master data, where are planned working times for an employee seen?

In transaction 'PA30', Planned working time (infotype 0007) can be found under the contract data tab.

21. Do I need to give country assignment to personnel subareas in customizing? If true, support the statement, and if not, what's true?

False. See the answer to Q 15 above.

22. What are the various objects in an organizational plan? How does any company use an organizational plan?

An organizational plan is a hierarchical overview of the organization and is comprised of Org Units (O), Positions (S), Jobs (C), Persons (P), Cost Centers (K), Tasks, and Users.

23. Describe the following:

Tasks - a specific function or activity that can belong to another

Job - Description of activity performed by the employee

Position - occupied by an employee in the company, it is company-specific

Organizational unit - describes various units of the company; it depends on tasks and functions

Cost Center - a cost center can be related to organizational unit and position.

24. Which of the above objects belong to HR?

All of them are utilized in HR.

25. How do you integrate OM and PA? If integration is active, what happens when a position is entered in IT 0000? What else does the system default? Can these values be changed? What is this called?

26. Are cost center assignments hierarchical? Where do you assign these in OM?

27. What are attributes of objects? Is a vacancy a common attribute for all objects?

28. What are the other additional organizational assignments?

29. Name the three administrators? How do you default these in IT0001?

30. What is the organizational key? How many bytes/characters does it constitute? How can it be defined? What is it mainly used for?

31. What are employee attributes and how are they classified?

32. What are features? What is the transaction for features?

Features are objects in the system that determine a specific value by querying different enterprise personnel or data structure fields. The value is known as a "return code" or "result". This value is used to determine default values and to control certain system processes. Features enhance system flexibility. Transaction: PE03. Example: Feature ABKRS provides a default value for the payroll area. This is based on the data found in an employee's Org Assignment.

33. What are the features to default and in which info type?

- Work Schedule Rule: SCHKZ
- Pay Scale Data: LGMST
- Administrator groups: PINCH

34. Number Range Intervals:

- NUMAP is the feature to identify the Applicant Number Ranges
- NUMKR is the feature to identify Infotype 0000 (Actions) while hiring an employee

35. What is ABKRS? Feature for default payroll areas.

ABKRS: Default Value for Payroll Area Task: This feature enables you to obtain the default value for the payroll area. Use: Infotype 0001, Organizational Assignment Procedure: The return value of the feature is a payroll area from table T549A, Payroll Areas. This can be overwritten and is reassigned and displayed in a warning message when changes are made to the organizational assignment.

36. What are the two ways of maintaining features? Transaction Code PE03

37. What is the infotype to store personal data for an employee?

Answer: 0002

38. Where are the default values for working hours per period taken from in IT 0008?

39. Why is employee subgroup grouping for PCR significant for payroll?

40. What does a collective agreement provision determine? How do you depict different payments in the system?

41. What does employee subgroup grouping for CAP allow you to assign?

42. What is payscale type and payscale area?

Payscale type - industry eg: Metal/Chemical Industry Payscale Area - Geographic Region

43. You assign payscale types and areas to:

- Company code
- Payroll area
- Employee subgroup
- Personnel subarea

44. What are wage types? How are wage types broadly classified?

Wage types are classified as:
- Model Wage types start with M
- Customed wage types start with a number
- Technical Wage types always start with a slash /

45. How do you set up wage types?

PU30 - copy wage type from model wage type T511 - Wage type characteristics

46. What are slash wage types?

Technical wage types

47. Why are wage type groups used? Give some examples of wage type groups.

48. What is transaction PU95?

49. Where in the IMG do I ensure that the wage types are associated with the enterprise and personnel structure?

50. Where are all wage types stored?

Are all wage types permissible for all info types? If yes or no, please provide a supporting statement.

What are the wage type characteristics that can be defined?

How do you valuate wage types? Where do you configure this in the IMG?

What are module name and module variant?

Explain the significance of TARIF, SUMME, and PRZNT in regards to indirect valuation.

Briefly explain the two different ways to perform a pay increase.

In dynamic pay increase, what are variants A, G, D, E, T, C, and R?

What are the info type attributes?

What are system controls?

What is DYNPRO? What are the main elements of a screen?

To what naming conventions are the info types subject?

Where are the info types relevant to retroactive accounting for payroll and time management defined?

What is the significance of field triggers in retroactive accounting?

What do you need to do in the IMG to specify certain info types for certain countries only?

Where can you store a passport photo of an employee? Where do you configure this in the IMG?

66. What is TCLAS = A and TCLAS = B?

67. Where can you change the attributes of individual screens?

68. What are infotype menus or info menus? Are they user group dependent?

69. What setting do I need to make for an SAP user to see that he has the relevant infotype menus?

70. Where do I assign the IG (infogroup) to the personnel action type? Are infogroups user group dependent?

71. What is IGMOD?

IGMOD is a feature. The SAP description of the feature is:

IGMOD Infogroup Modifier

Object

Feature

Task

Grouping combinations of control features in an event using a modifier.

Use

- Table - Infotype groups - T588D
- Infotype - Events - (I0000)

Procedure

In table T5299, the nameup is, in turn, defined in table T588D in conjunction with the control features: company code, personnel area, employee group, employee subgroup.

The return code of the feature is a modifier which reads table T588A.

72. For a country reassignment action, what setting do I need to do in the IMG?

73. What are additional actions? What are the ways in which I can activate additional actions for an employee? Where are additional actions stored? Can we see the infotype record where additional actions are stored directly?

74. What is the significance of the status indicator in personnel actions?

75. What are MSN20, MSN21, and MSN32 in relation to personnel actions?

76. Where do you define the action reason in the IMG?

77. What is the user group dependency of the action menu?

78. With a leaving action, what is the employment status changed to?

79. What are dynamic actions? What can they trigger?

80. What is PAMA? What is M0001?

81. What are general authorizations?

82. What are structural authorizations?

83. How are authorizations defined? An authorization object can define a maximum of 15 fields that occur in an authorization? True or False?

84. What is an authorization profile? How are users' authorizations determined?

85. What is a role? How is the access to transactions, reports, and web-based applications included in a role defined?

86. Roles can be found under the generic name SAP_HR*? True or False?

87. What is a profile generator?

88. How do you create users?

89. What are the ways of setting up general authorization checks?

90. What are the two types of the double verification principle? Explain with an example.

91. Authorization main switches are stored in Table T74SO, T76SO, or T77SO. To permit extended authorization checks along with master data checks, what settings need to be done?

92. Describe briefly the period of responsibility with reference to a user, giving examples.

93. What are P_ORGIN and P_ORGXX?

94. What are evaluation paths?

95. To implement structural authorizations, do you need to have existing the PA module? True or False?

96. What do C, S, P, and O stand for?

97. What do you mean by the terms:
- Status vector
- Display depth
- Period
- Function Module

98. Describe briefly, giving examples, how the period of responsibility is determined for the general authorization check in a structural authorization check.

99. What are PD profiles and SD profiles? What do they do?

100. What do you mean by planned times? Where are these stored for an employee?

101. What do you mean by actual times? Where are these stored for an employee?

102. What do you mean by deviations? Where are these stored for an employee?

103. What do you mean by negative time and positive time? Where do you use time evaluation?

104. What is RPTQTA00? What does it do? What is RPTIME00?

105. What is time management status 7? What is it used for?

Hello Akhilesh,

I have completed my B.Tech in I.T. and am looking forward to joining an MBA in HR by July 2010 from a reputed institution. Please suggest what additional steps I can take to have an edge over others during campus placements. I am considering additional certification courses or diplomas that I can pursue before or during my MBA in HR program. Kindly provide the names of institutions that offer these certification courses or diplomas so I can begin as soon as possible. Your suggestions are highly appreciated.

Regards,
Sujata

Hello,

I have completed my B.Tech (I.T.) and am looking forward to joining MBA (HR) by July 2010 from some reputed institution. Please suggest what additional steps I should take to have an edge over others during campus placements.

I mean, what additional certification courses or diplomas can I pursue before or during my MBA (HR) program?

Please also mention the names of institutions that provide these certification courses or diplomas so that I can start as early as possible. Please provide your suggestions.

My email id is sujata.dabas.1986@gmail.com.

Regards,
Sujata

Sujata,

You want to get certifications and degrees merely for campus placement. Good. Even before joining, you are well aware of these things. Please concentrate on acquiring knowledge. What certifications and degrees you need depend on your choice. If you do not like SAP, whatever good it is, it is of no use to you. Please choose after assessing your interest.

Hello Akhilesh,

Thanks for your reply! Can you please mention some of the certification courses that can be really beneficial to me knowledge-wise as well as placement-wise.

Hello Akhilesh,

Thanks for the valuable post. I have 2.5+ years of experience in HR, and I am interested in pursuing SAP HR. Could you suggest the best training center in Pune?

Thanks

Hello Akhilesh,

Thank you for your suggestion of ISTD.

I don't have any idea about the following training programmes conducted by ISTD. Please suggest which of the following programs I should go for:

- Training for Trainers
- Finance for Non-Financial Executives
- Project Planning, Monitoring, and Control Systems
- Project Identification, Formulation, Approval, and Appraisal
- Manpower Planning and Career Development
- Organizational Development
- Materials Management
- Technologies and Production Management
- Finance, Marketing, and Personnel Management
- Evaluating and Benchmarking HRD
- ISO-9000, Total Quality Management
- Coping with Change for Working Women
- Selections and Interviewing Skills
- Managerial Leadership & Team Building
- New programs in diverse areas are also taken up as and when such a need arises

Also, I inquired about the SAP HR certification course and learned that I need to have a postgraduate degree to start with the SAP HR certification course.

However, I am very interested in starting the SAP HR certification course before joining my MBA (HR).

Please suggest how I should go about it.

Regards,

Sujata Dabas

My question is for Akhilesh Dubey. Can you please suggest to me? I have completed my correspondence (part-time) MBA in HR. Can I pursue a career as an SAP HR consultant? Kindly provide instructions for the same.

Regards,
Sachin

Hi Akhilesh,

Thank you very much for posting such useful content.

I have been a silent member of this group for a long time. I have a B.Sc. and over 7 years of experience in the HR domain, particularly in performance and compensation management, general HR operations, and initial experience in recruitment. I usually pay close attention to every answer/suggestion posted in this forum.

There is a lot of emphasis on having considerable domain experience to enter the SAP functional field.

I am looking for some expert clarifications from you.

1. I would like to know if 7+ years of experience is enough?

2. How is the quality of experience measured and in what terms?

3. It is a fact that in most cases, taking training from numerous institutes does not help in securing an entry-level job in the SAP functional area. So, how can one break into it? Does training from Genovate or Siemens really help?

4. Not everyone has the opportunity to work as an end-user/power user in a SAP implemented environment. So, does installing it on one's personal computer and practicing in the demo environment with the aid of books/study materials help in securing a breakthrough?

5. What areas are tested in the case of a domain hire?

I would be truly grateful if these things could be clarified for me.

Regards,

Amit Kumar Datta

HI,
55. Explain significance of TARIF , SUMME and PRZNT in regards to indirect
valuation?
TARIF – this method valuates according to the "collective agreement group and level" specifications you enter in the IMG. Wage types with TARIF will use the settings on the wage type and the values held in table T510 to populate the relevant value into the relevant infotype.
There are 4 different module variants for TARIF – A, B, C and D.
PRZNT – this is used where you have a wage type being a constant percentage of another wage type and wish this to be shown on the infotype. The wage type in question and the wage type that the percentage is based upon (base WT), are all held in table T539J.
SUMME – very similar to the 'PRZNT' module except that the value of the wage type to be evaluated indirectly is always the entire basic pay.
thanks & regards
Darsana