First decide which amount looks wrong: the position’s planned budget or the cost calculated from employee pay. Open that area’s result and check its date and inputs. If information is missing, the amount is unknown; it should not be treated as zero.

Before you begin

Reviewing a result requires the View labor budgets or View actual compensation permission for the affected departments. Corrections require the matching management permission. Assignment and employee corrections need the Manage employees permission; annual hours need the Manage position setup permission. Viewing an issue does not always let you correct it.

Check dates and progress

Confirm the page and comparison report use the same date, departments, and filters. Rates, pay entries, assignments, schedules, and adjustments can change on different dates. Rates and pay use effective dates only; the latest date applies, and the most recently saved entry wins when dates match. Assignment and applied-adjustment end dates are the first excluded days.

Check the day before and the day of a suspected change. If results are updating, wait for completion before judging the correction. Completed reports keep their original results; run a new report after a correction.

What you see What to do
Preparing results or Updating Follow the existing calculation. An earlier displayed amount may not include your latest change.
Up to date, with a setup warning or blank amount Read the missing-information reason. A finished calculation cannot supply an unknown rate, pay amount, or other required value.
Needs attention or Calculation failed Contact Support with the page link, effective date, and message. Re-entering pay or rates does not repair a failed calculation.
A completed report differs from today’s page Check the report’s date, filters, and preparation time, then run a new report if you need the corrected information.

On a position’s compensation calculation, the total covers all included assignments, while contributor details show only pay sources you can access. Check additional pages and your access before treating the visible rows as the whole total.

Resolve missing budget information

Open Issues and choose Budget, Record setup, or Adjustments. Open an issue to review its affected records and dates, then follow the correction action.

Issue Correction
Budgeted compensation missing Add an applicable position or job-classification budget rate.
Annual hours missing Add annual hours per FTE for the affected dates when an hourly rate needs conversion.
Position setup missing Complete the approved position department, FTE, or position status.
Adjustment setup incomplete Complete the applicable rule’s required setup.
Conflicting adjustments Review overlapping applied adjustments and the rule’s Allow duplicates choice.

A position rate takes precedence over a job-classification rate. Review both before adding one. A future rate does not cover an earlier gap.

A missing job-classification rate can affect several positions. On the issue’s Fix issue page, choose Job classification default to supply a shared rate, or This position for an individual exception. Changing the shared rate requires Manage labor budgets for All departments. It may affect other positions using that job classification, including positions outside the issue’s visible list.

Check an unexpected budget amount

Confirm approved position FTE, the selected rate, hourly or annual basis, annual hours for hourly rates, and applicable adjustments. Active assignments explain the staffed and vacancy portions.

For example, a $90,000 position rate overrides an $80,000 job-classification rate. These are alternatives, not amounts to add. See Manage budget rates for rate selection and dates.

Resolve missing employee pay information

Open Issues and choose Actual compensation, Record setup, or Adjustments. Check the employee, assignment, position, and dates before following the correction action.

Issue Correction
Employee pay missing Add applicable assignment-specific or employee-level pay. Review which source should supply the assignment.
Annual hours missing Add annual hours per FTE when an hourly pay rate needs conversion.
Employee setup incomplete Complete the employee’s availability or status for the affected dates.
Adjustment setup incomplete Complete the applicable adjustment rule’s required setup.
Conflicting adjustments Review overlapping applied adjustments and the rule’s Allow duplicates choice.

An employee may have several assignments and pay periods. Correct the intended one. If a connected HR system manages pay for that date, correct it in that system. You cannot replace that pay through a form in FTE Tree. A vacancy and missing employee pay are different conditions.

Check an unexpected compensation amount

An assignment-specific pay entry takes precedence over employee-level pay for that assignment only. Confirm the pay type, active assignment FTE, employee status and availability, annual hours for hourly pay, and schedule used by any adjustment.

Pay type Starting annual cost
Hourly rate Hourly amount × annual hours per FTE × assignment FTE
Annual salary (scaled by FTE) Annual amount × assignment FTE
Contracted annual pay (not scaled by FTE) Recorded assignment total, without multiplying by FTE again

For a half-time assignment, or 0.5 FTE, a $60,000 full-time salary costs $30,000 a year. A contracted yearly total of $30,000 stays $30,000 because it already covers that assignment. If any active assignment lacks required information, the position’s compensation remains unavailable rather than presenting only some assignments as a complete total.

See Manage employee pay for pay selection and Adjustment calculations for worked examples.

Check adjustment selection and order

Check when the adjustment applies, which positions or assignments receive it, and any schedule requirement. Then check whether another adjustment replaces or stops it and whether the same rule was applied more than once. A premium can change the calculated cost without changing the pay entry.

Rules determine calculation order. In labor budget, overlap priority selects among matching uses of the same rule when duplicates are disallowed; it does not change calculation order. Actual compensation has no overlap priority. End, remove, replace, or suppress an unintended duplicate explicitly.

Correct the record responsible for the difference: position or employee setup, assignments, budget rates, pay, or adjustments. Do not enter a placeholder to make a total look right.

Confirm the issue is resolved

Saving a correction starts verification. Awaiting verification remains until a complete check confirms the result. Partial corrections leave remaining affected records open; another missing prerequisite or failed calculation can prevent confirmation.

Review later postpones attention without supplying missing information. There is no manual financial completion status. A verified correction can resolve the issue before its review date.

Return to the same record and date to check the result. Wait for calculations to finish after correcting official information. Completed reports retain their original information. See Review and resolve issues for history and recurrence.

Get more help

If complete, correct information still produces an unexpected result, contact support with the area, record number, date, displayed status, expected result, and checks you made. Include the name and completion time of a comparison report. Share protected pay only through an approved restricted channel.

Optional practice: find why the benefits total is wrong

For exercises that change records, use a separate practice organization and complete the preparation below.

Practice steps and checks

For the introductory example, Avery should have $72,000 yearly compensation.

  1. Check the position and January 1, 2027 date.
  2. Check Avery’s 1.0 assignment and $60,000 annual salary.
  3. Check that the 20% Benefits estimate rule is applied in compensation.
  4. Work out $60,000 + ($60,000 × 20%) = $72,000.
  5. Compare each step with the page.

If the result is only $60,000, check whether the rule was created but never applied here. If the estimate uses the budget’s $70,000, check that you are reading the compensation page and Avery’s pay.

Correct the actual missing or wrong entry, then wait for the updated result before running another report.