Before changing a record to fix a report total, check that both results use the same dates, departments, filters, and kind of amount. An annual cost on one day is different from a cost for a whole month. The steps below help you find the first meaningful difference.

Before you begin

You need the named viewing permission for every department included in the report, such as View positions, View labor budgets, View plans, or View actual compensation. Downloading a report also requires the export permissions for every kind of information included.

Compare the report purpose

Do not compare position control FTE with a financial amount, labor budget with actual compensation, or a workforce plan with approved information as if they are the same measure.

Write down what each total represents:

  • approved position capacity;
  • active assigned FTE;
  • labor budget capacity, assigned impact, or vacancy impact;
  • protected actual compensation;
  • one workforce plan alternative; or
  • a difference between workforce plans.

Two totals with the same currency or FTE format can still answer different questions.

Example: labor budget versus actual compensation

A full-time position has a $70,000 yearly budget rate. Its full-time employee earns a $60,000 salary. Both have a 20% benefits estimate.

The budget report shows $70,000 + $14,000 = $84,000. The compensation report shows $60,000 + $12,000 = $72,000. Both are correct: the first uses the planned position rate, and the second uses the employee’s salary.

Compare dates and filters

Confirm report name, effective date or period, departments, job codes, workforce plan, and any other filters. Run both reports again with matching choices when needed.

Use a side-by-side checklist:

Choice Report A Report B
Report name and purpose
Effective date or planning period
Departments
Position, job code, or other filters
Approved information or selected workforce plan results
Workforce plan and comparison date
Completion time

For a single workforce plan, compare Approved with Proposed. In a two-plan report, First plan and Second plan both show proposed results. Check the column labels and read Change as the second amount minus the first. Do not add the compared results as if they were separate parts of one total.

Check access and setup

Confirm that you can view every included department and the report’s protected information. Review Needs budget setup, Position Report Readiness, staffing issues, and any message shown on the completed report.

Two people may be allowed to see different records. Compare their roles and departments before deciding that one report has left out a row by mistake.

An unavailable value is not zero. Correct missing setup, wait for updated results to complete, and run a new report.

Check when each report was prepared

Completed reports keep their original results. If relevant information changed later, run a new report rather than comparing a current page with an old file.

Example: completed before a correction

A report completed at 9:00 a.m. A budget rate was corrected at 10:00 a.m. The 9:00 report remains unchanged. Run a new report after the updated labor budget result is ready.

Check one row before comparing the total

  1. Choose one position that contributes to the difference.
  2. Confirm its approved FTE on the report date.
  3. Confirm active assignment FTE.
  4. Review the rate, compensation record, adjustments, or proposed changes in the workforce plan used by that report.
  5. Work out the amount from those entries and compare it with the report.
  6. Repeat with one row that matches and one that differs.

Checking one position makes it easier to see whether the reports used different records, dates, entries, or types of cost.

Run a clean comparison

After correcting the relevant position, employee, budget, compensation, or workforce plan information:

  1. wait until updating finishes;
  2. run both reports with matching choices;
  3. confirm both complete successfully;
  4. compare the same rows and totals; and
  5. keep the report names and completion times so you can find the comparison again.

Get more help

Contact Support when the same report, dates, filters, access, and underlying information still produce an unexplained difference. Include both report names, preparation times, and the specific row or total.

Also include the organization, effective date or planning period, filters, expected result, and the underlying record you checked. Do not send protected compensation or access files through an unapproved channel.

Optional practice: check what each amount means

Use prepared practice records for this exercise. Follow its setup instructions before making changes.

  1. Open Patient Services Coordinator for January 1, 2027, before the pay-review workforce plan is applied.
  2. Run its financial reports for the same date and department.
  3. Check $84,000 yearly budget and $72,000 yearly compensation.
  4. Read the calculation detail: budget starts with $70,000, pay starts with $60,000, and each has its own 20% benefits amount.
  5. Subtract compensation from budget: $84,000 − $72,000 = $12,000.

Those different totals are expected. One describes the money planned for the position; the other uses Avery’s entered pay.

After the salary increase is applied, run a new report. Compensation becomes $75,600 and the remaining budget is $8,400. The older completed report still shows $72,000 because it captured the information before the change. Compare the report’s run time as well as its selected date.

For a workforce plan covering less than a year, also check the period. A yearly amount and the cost of a few months answer different questions. Workforce plan results explains how shorter periods are calculated.