SAP HCM Interview Questions and Answers

Q1: What is SAP HCM?

Ans:SAP HCM is an on-premises system that services HR functions such as compliance, payroll, personnel files and benefits administration. In December 2011, SAP announced its acquisition of Success Factors, signaling SAP's commitment to the cloud while maintaining its commitment to its HCM products.

Q2: What are the modules in SAP HCM?

Ans:HCM is part of the Functional modules. SAP HCM manages all functions from hiring an employee to its final termination in organization. It consist various sub components such as Personnel Management, Organizational Management (OM), Time Management and Payroll.

Q3: List The Various Components Of The Enterprise Structure In Systems, Applications, And Products (SAP) In Human Capital Management (HCM)?

Ans: The components of the enterprise structure in SAP HCM are given as follows:

1. Client
2. Company code
3. Personnel area
4. Personnel subarea

Q4What Is Client In The SAP System?

Ans: In the SAP R/3 (R stands for Real-time) system, a client is an organization and a legal entity. A client is positioned at the highest level among all the organizational units. It contains the master data of various business processes, such as customers, products, and vendors. A three-digit number is used to represent clients in the SAP R/3 system.

Q5: What Is Company Code?

Ans: A company code is a unique four-character alphanumeric code that represents a legally independent enterprise.

Q6: What Is Personnel Area?

Ans: A personnel area is a subunit of company code. It is identified as an organizational unit representing an area in an enterprise, which is organized according to personnel administration, time management, and payroll accounting criteria. It is represented as a four-character alphanumeric code. For example, the personnel area code for a corporation is CORP.

Q7: What Are Personnel Subareas?

Ans: A personnel subarea is a part of personnel area, which can be subdivided according to the geographical location or the strategic line of business. It is represented as a four-character alphanumeric code. For example, if the branches or locations of an organization are defined as personnel area, then its departments, such as HR and ADMIN, are the personnel subareas of the organization.

Q8: What Is SAP HCM Workflow?

Ans:The SAP HCM Workflow automates business processes and assigns tasks to appropriate person at the right time.

Q9: What Do You Mean By Infotypes In SAP HCM?

Ans: Infotypes are referred to as system-controlled characteristics of employees. Information related to employee is stored in the form of Infotypes,

which are represented by a four-digit numeric code given as follows:

1. 0000 for actions
2. 0001 for organizational assignment
3. 0002 for personal data
4. 0003 for payroll status

Q10: What Are Features In SAP HCM?

Ans: Features are decision trees customized in the Implementation Guide (IMG) screen in SAP HCM that are made up of technical fields whose values are defaulted in the easy access.

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Q11: How Do You Hire A New Employee?

Ans: A new employee is hired with the PA40 transaction code. After that, all the Infotypes are maintained for the employee by using the PA30 transaction code.

Q12: What are the three administrators?

The three administrators are :

1. Personnel Administrator
2. Payroll Administrator
3. Time Administrator

Q13: How does any company use an organizational plan?

Ans: The company organization structure and reporting structure is represented through the organization plan. The active plan version is the current plan version and the other plan versions are considered as various planning Stages. Used for manpower planning. Normally plan version”01″ is always made the active plan version.

Q14: What is an evaluation path?

Ans: An evaluation path describes a chain of relationships that exists between individual organizational objects in the organizational plan.

You can maintain evaluation paths on img -> Personnel Management ->Organization Management-> Basic Settings-> Maintain Evaluation Paths .

Q15: What is the difference between a job and a position?

Ans: Job is not concrete, it is is generic.(Eg: Manager, Assistant Manager, Consultant). Positions are related to persons .Position is concrete and specific which are occupied by Persons. (Eg: Manager – Finance , Consultant – SAP HR).

Q16: What are Dynamic Actions? Give few examples?

Ans: Dynamic actions when triggered by the system. They are result of some personnel action. If changes are made (personnel action) to the personnel data of an info type, then has an effect on the data of a second info type, the system automatically displays the info type. One of the main purposes of the dynamic action (of the system) is to have a consistent and coherent data. These actions are started automatically by the system, unlike the Personnel actions which you start by yourself. The best example is when an action is carried out like hiring; it needs to populate a set of info types. In the initial entry of details in info type 0000 is personnel action. Then the system automatically displays next info types- which are result of dynamic action.

Q17: What is the difference between Indian and US Payroll?

Ans: Does each of them have their own ITs and the taxation differs? Yes, since the Benefits which are more important in US. In US unemployment tax will come. Garnishments will come, Residence taxation, Work tax and others.

Q18: How can we evaluate wage types indirectly ?

Ans: You must define the characteristics of the wage-type to be evaluated indirectly. To do this, go to the IMG under Payroll *: Reimbursements, Allowances and Perks ® Maintain Wage Type Characteristics.

In this activity, if the wage type has to be Indirectly Evaluated, you must first assign INVAL in the Indirect eval.module field.

Then, you must assign the Module variant(A,B,C,D) for the wage type.Now when you populate the Basic Pay infotype (0008), the configured wage types will get defaulted, and those wage types configured for INVAL will also have their amounts defaulted.

Q19: What ways are there to perform pay scale reassignment ?

Ans: You can reassign pay scale to any position through position maintenance (PO13). Go to change planned compensation and reassign the pay scale to the desired position.

Simple and extended pay increases

Simple Standard Pay Increase

Go to reporting. In the Program field enter report RPU51000.

The selection screen for the report is displayed.

In the Pay Scale Group, Pay Scale Level and Wage Type fields, enter the employees who should receive a standard pay increase. Enter the date from which the Customizing settings should be changed. In the Increase and Rounding sections, enter the necessary data, for example, an increasing amount or an increase percentage rate.

The amount of the indirectly valuated wage types is adjusted according to the data in the Customizing settings. No new infotype records have been created in the Basic Pay infotype (0008).

Extended Standard Pay Increase

In the Program field enter report RPITRF00.In the Selection section, enter the selection criteria you want to use to effect an extended standard pay increase.

Choose Batch Input.

If you do not select Batch Input, the pay scale reclassification will only be simulated. A results log is displayed, that you can evaluate as required.If necessary, enter the pay scale structure for which you want to affect a standard pay increase.

Process the batch input session.

The payments for the selected employees have been adjusted in accordance with the data specified in Customizing. New infotype records have been created in the Basic Pay infotype (0008).

Q20: What is the employee subgroup grouping for primary wage types used for?

Ans: You can use these groupings to specify which wage types may be entered for which employee subgroups.

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Q21: Through which T-Code you are able to create a remuneration statement?

Ans: PC00_Mxx_CEDT (xx – denotes the molga for a country)

Q22: How can you define default wage types for the Basic Pay Infotype?

Ans: The system can suggest a default wage type for basic pay (IT0008), to do this appropriate wage type must be included in a wage type model. Here you define the default wage types and the sequence how they should appear in the infotype Basic Pay and whether you can overwrite the defaulted wage type or not.
Personnel Management -> Personnel Administration -> Payroll data -> Basic Pay -> Wage Type ->

Revise Default Wage Types

After setting wage type model, LGMST feature needs to be defined. Feature LGMST has two return values: firstly, the maximum number of wage types that can be entered in the Basic Pay infotype (IT0008), and secondly, the wage type model the system is to use, which was defined above.

To access feature LGMST use following SPRO path or transaction PE03.
SPRO: Personnel Management -> Personnel Administration -> Payroll data -> Basic Pay -> Wage Type -> Enterprise Structure for Wage Type Model

Q22: In which feature, default wage type is defined for Basic Pay Infotype?

Ans: LGMST

Q23:How does the system know when to trigger retroactive accounting for a particular employee?

Ans: Retroactive accounting recognition consists of four steps:

1. If you edit an infotype that is relevant to retroactive accounting, the system enters the start date of the changed infotype record in the following fields of infotype 0003 Payroll Status:
2. Earliest MD change (earliest master data change since last payroll run)
3. MD chng.bonus (earliest payroll-relevant master data change (bonus)). This field is only displayed for specific country groupings, it is not displayed for all personnel numbers.
4. During the next regular payroll run or correction run (off-cycle payroll type B), the system determines whether the date in the Earliest MD change and (if applicable) MD chng.bonus fields comes before the date in the Accounted to field.
5. If this is the case, the system performs retroactive accounting. It starts with the payroll period in which the date entered in the Earliest MD change and MD chng.bonus fields occurs. The system recalculates all payroll periods that lie between the date in the Earliest MD change and MD chng.bonus fields and the date in the Accounted to field.
6. The system deletes the date in the Earliest MD change and MD chng.bonus fields

Q24: What activities are possible when the payroll control record is set to “Released for Payroll”?

Ans: If you choose the function Release Payroll from the menu, you are prevented from changing infotype data records if such changes affect the past or present. This lock applies to the personnel numbers included in the payroll area concerned. Changes that affect the future are still permitted. You must execute this function in the menu before starting the payroll. If the status of the payroll control record was previously Exit Payroll, the Release Payroll function also has the effect of increasing the period in the payroll control record by 1.

Q25: Can a posting run be deleted?

Ans: Yes It can be reversed before the Bank transfer.Once the transfer is done the payments need to be adjusted in the next payments.

Q26: Difference between PCR and CAP?

Ans: Difference between PCR and CAP is mentioned below:

PCR – The Personnel Calculation rule allows how one wage type is to be processed in different ways in payroll accounting.

CAP – CAP is Collective Agreement Provision based on which the different groups of Employees are eligible for different kinds of pay scale structures and benefits and so on. CAP is based on the following components :

1) Pay scale type

2) Pay scale area

3) Employee subgroup grouping for CAP

4) Pay Scale Group and Pay Scale Level

An employee subgroup grouping for collective agreement provisions combines subgroups which are governed by the same valid collective agreement provisions. A provision is a specific labor law regulation within the collective agreement.

Q27:Naming convention for wage types?

Ans: The following naming conventions are used for wage types:
/0** – valuation bases
/1** – cumulation of gross amount
/2** – averages
/3** – country-specific, usually for social insurance
/4** – country-specific, usually for tax
/5** – legal net
/7** – wage/salary plus ER shares
/8** –  factoring
/84* – cost accounting
/A** – outgoing wage types in retroactive accounting period
/Z** – incoming wage types from the previous period

Q28: Do you know in OM -> copy plan version?

Ans: To copy plan version use the Tcode: RE_RHCOPL00.

This report is only for copying objects from one plan version to another plan version to keep updated structures Always only one plan version would be active which is current. This report does not help to copy any master data.

Q29: Can a posting run be deleted?

Ans: Yes, It can be reversed before the Bank transfer. Once the transfer is done the payments need to be adjusted in the next payments.

Q30: What activities are possible when the payroll control record is set to “Released for Payroll “?

Ans: When you set the status to Released for payroll you cant make any change to master data. It’s actually released for payroll.

Q31: Is it possible to branch directly from the payroll log to master data and time data maintenance?

Ans: Yes, you can go in separate sessions.

Payroll Results

Q32: How do you post the payroll results to FICO?

Ans: I created one symbolic account and assigned the same to Salaries GL Account and then completed the other configuration steps needed to complete the procedure.
However, when I tried to run the simulation for posting to FICO, I got the message “Document is not generated”.

If you have selected “Output Log” at the beginning of your configuration procedure, it will tell you at the bottom part what went wrong.

Deduction Wage Type

Q33: We have a deduction wage type displayed in the window of our pay slip that shows a negative value.This causes problems and we have tried several measures to correct this including conversion rule 16 for our wage type in the same window but so far, without any success. How can we correct or delete the negative sign?

Ans: You can review OSS Note 406977.
This is a collective note of issues with RPCEDTx0 with examples of problems and solutions.

Payroll Simulation

Q34: How do I correct the payroll simulation entry and check the correctness of our master data? What if one hundred employees get rejected due to error 167-process health plans? What does the following error mean: “No entry for plan DENT/cost variant. FMDN/key////x00000000000000” ?

Ans: You should check for the cost element associated and the validity of cost rule for this plan. To do this, check your configuration under Benefits>Plans>Health Plans>Define cost variant and define cost rules.

Q35: Is it possible to configure a single payroll to pay an individual in multiple currencies?

Ans: No. The system can be configured to pay in multiple currencies but not to pay an individual in multiple currencies.

IT0015

Q36: I need to capture a reason in the “additional payment” IT0015. The reason code is “save” in this infotype. I tried to capture for reason an Example to ADDWT 9999 if Reason ADDWT9998. How can I check the reason in IT0015 for accuracy?

Ans: You can try using this to start with: ‘TABLE P0015 > VARGB PREAS’

Then, use the variable key to define the different reasons.

Q37: Which characteristics does a day with day type 1 have?

Ans: Its OFF and Paid

Q38: How does the system know when to trigger retroactive accounting for a particular employee?

Ans: You have to mention the retro active accounting date in IT 0003 in the relevant field. Otherwise it will take the earlier hiring date.

Q39: Is it possible to branch directly from the payroll log to maser data and time data maintenance?

Ans: Yes you can go in separate sessions.

Q40: What is success factor in SAP HCM?

Ans: SAP's SuccessFactors HCM suite includes core HR modules such as payroll, global employee benefits, time off and record keeping; talent management modules such as employee performance management, compensation management, succession management, learning, recruiting, onboarding, workforce planning, and workforce analytics.