Audit-proof people processes at the UNIQA Group

The UNIQA Group's People division creates around 5,500 payslips with SAP HCM for the Group companies in Austria. Before the Centric tools were introduced, the payrolls were checked manually using the dual control principle, supplemented by random plausibility checks. The People employees at head office and in the companies kept individual Excel lists to document the check routines and changes.

Internal control system instead of Excel lists, closely integrated into SAP HCM

The UNIQA Group's task was to introduce an internal control system that would guarantee a complete audit and seamless, transparent documentation of the audit processes. The responsible people expert Barbara Binder had already had good experiences with Centric's audit & compliance tools at her previous employer and cites them as key advantages:

The easy adaptability of Centric's solutions was also important to the insurance group. As the UNIQA Group unites different companies under one roof, many historically grown special regulations, such as individual remuneration entitlements of the companies, must be taken into account in the control system. In addition to a wide range of data and information fields from SAP HCM, payroll accounting also includes information from SAP SuccessFactors, which must also be incorporated into the controls.

Adaptability as an advantage of SAP checking tools

The people experts therefore see a significant advantage in the fact that they can define their own individual check rules in the Centric control system, including master data checks in SAP HCM and SAP SuccessFactors.

The UNIQA Group has also designed its own individual control system by combining the modules from the Centric Audit & Compliance Tools series. The PLK_AT and PLX tools are used as the core system for payroll auditing in Austria. In addition, there is the Master Data Audit Program MADAP for the master data check, the revision tool for outgoing payments REV and LGA for the processing and quality assurance of wage types.

System logs the audit process

The payroll audit is managed centrally from Vienna. Up to 25 People employees throughout Austria are involved in this process. Interim settlements and the corresponding check runs take place on a weekly basis. The People employees then receive their notes for processing in the PLX user interface. Whereas the decentralized checking process used to be almost unmanageable, the People AT management in Vienna now has an up-to-date overview of the status of the notification processing at all times. The entire checking and processing procedure is documented in the system for auditing purposes. Barbara Binder reports:

“Instead of laboriously searching through Excel lists, we can now see in the Centric control system at the click of a button who has carried out which processing steps and when.”

To customize the internal control system for the company, the central People team first reviewed the checking rules supplied in PLK and deactivated those that were not required. Today, the People experts map individual checking rules, such as the “family bonus plus” tax deduction, primarily in the MADAP master data checking tool.

Security through automation of the remuneration check in SAP

During the checks, MADAP uncovers possible inconsistencies in master data and infotypes within HCM or between HCM and SuccessFactors, thus ensuring harmonized data and structures. Josef Mayer, Team Leader Payroll at the UNIQA Group, states:

“The control logics of the smart Centric tools have enabled us to significantly increase the quality of our payroll and master data.”

Barbara Binder confirms the increased efficiency and quality through automation. She highlights the system-controlled dual control principle for higher payments as particularly helpful. The clerks also give positive feedback because they have a secure feeling at the closing date. They report that the automated check reveals inconsistencies and risks that they would never have thought of before. With only fifteen minutes more checking and processing time per week than before, people employees now have maximum security.

Reliable Centric support

The next project the people experts mentioned was data reconciliation between SAP HCM and SuccessFactors to further harmonize master data. The central People team is now well familiarized with the software and can carry out adjustments and expansion steps largely independently. The People team has had good experiences with Centric support and has always received a quick response from competent contacts.