PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting [Paperback]

Adam T. Bromwich (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130216127 | ISBN-13: 978-0130216120 | Publication Date: September 19, 1999 | Edition: 1

Thousands of companies are investing millions of dollars in PeopleSoft systems -- and a crucial factor in the success of these systems is careful database and report design. Now, for the first time, PriceWaterhouseCoopers consultant Adam Bromwich presents comprehensive, authoritative guidance on the successful design of PeopleSoft HRMS databases, tables, and reports for maximum value and effectiveness. Bromwich begins with a detailed overview of how the PeopleSoft database is organized, functionally and technically. Review the database's key tables, and the tools PeopleSoft provides for finding the table you need. Throughout the book, Bromwich focuses on the most efficient approach to retrieving PeopleSoft data: using SQL to access the database directly, rather than going through menus and panels. You'll review table design and reporting in HR, Payroll, and Benefits; and master the Structured Query Reports (SQR) language, PeopleSoft's most powerful reporting tool. You'll learn proven methods for designing both primary and secondary data tables for maximum performance, simplicity, and ease of data retrieval. Bromwich also demonstrates how to avoid common pitfalls in PeopleSoft table design -- including costly errors specific to multinational organizations. For all PeopleSoft developers and power users who will be creating databases and data tables to be accessed through PeopleSoft.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Adam Bromwich's objective in PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting is to synchronize the perspectives of technical people (PeopleSoft designers and administrators) and functional people (managers who use PeopleSoft). If technicians know what managers need and managers know what technicians can do, more productive enterprises will result. Bromwich succeeds admirably, explaining the human resources, payroll, and benefits aspects of the PeopleSoft HRMS database. Taking a table-by-table approach to the information PeopleSoft stores, the book explains each field in many of the most useful tables and details unusual formatting where it's an issue. He also explains how various pieces of data relate to one another and how best to access them. In one sense, this is a guided tour of a great big relational database.

What's neat about Bromwich's style is his frequent inclusion of workaday tricks and shortcuts for getting things done quickly and easily. These aren't the contrived "hints and tips" that characterize so many software books. Rather, they're practical procedures that the author has learned on the job as a consultant. He's also quick to clarify confusing aspects of PeopleSoft's interface, explaining, for example, that a pay run ID is not the same as a user run ID or a run control ID. He's also careful to explain how PeopleSoft has changed through its revisions, documenting how what used to be a straightforward record of U.S. Social Security numbers is now a more complex facility for handling many countries' citizen-identification systems. --David Wall

Topics covered: The structure and contents of three major PeopleSoft databases: human resources, payroll, and benefits. Detailed attention goes to dates, control tables, personal information tables, department trees, payroll runs, tax issues, and query design with the SQR language.

From the Inside Flap

Preface

All too often individuals are not aware of what is going on at the other end of an implementation. Programmers do not understand the reasons behind requirements, and human resources professionals (the users) do not understand the limitations of the application. When PeopleSoft users and programmers understand each other's concerns, a better product results every time. This book bridges this gap. The material in the chapters that follow answers questions related to specific human resources issues, and then goes on to explain how to implement real solutions. The philosophy is simple — technical and functional individuals should be exposed to as much of the other's viewpoint as possible. You cannot separate the two without generating greater confusion.

As a result, this book is organized by function: human resources, payroll, and benefits. Within each function the structure, features and pitfalls of the PeopleSoft database are explained in detail.

There are many items that are not covered in depth. The online application, where users enter transactions and process data, is better left to PeopleSoft's documentation and online PeopleBooks literature. The PeopleTools, which assist in one-time tasks such as modifying a panel or uploading converted data, are also well-documented elsewhere.

Why are these items not covered in this book? Because they have little to do with the issues that truly make or break an implementation. The PeopleSoft online application and tools are important skills, but they do not reveal the underlying data structure — if anything, they conceal it. And this creates misunderstandings between those who interact every day with the online application, and those who report on the data directly.

This book also does not provide detailed explanations of standard reporting languages. You will note, however, that examples of reporting code are often shown to clarify an important issue or provide a solution. These examples assume a basic knowledge of how a relational database is organized. A rudimentary understanding of Structured Query Language (SQL) is also useful, even if it is limited to the basic meanings of the SELECT/FROM/WHERE terminology.

Knowledge of basic Structured Query Reporting (SQR) language, a language provided with PeopleSoft, is only necessary for the final chapter, Chapter 26. This final chapter demonstrates some advanced SQR techniques and also details many of the advantages and pitfalls of using SQR.

In sum, this book contains a great deal of information, much of it garnered from experience. It does not contain everything — to do so would occupy volumes and volumes. Instead, this book is a detailed guide to the PeopleSoft database, concentrating only on the areas you will encounter the most. It explains how the underlying database relates to the core PeopleSoft functions, such as payroll calculation and benefits administration. It explains each table and field, and how they relate to one another. This book is not simply a reference tool — it is a critical guide to how PeopleSoft works behind the scenes.

To help you derive benefits from this book long after you've purchased and read it, go to the Prentice Hall PTR ERP Series Companion Website. This website is designed to keep you up-to-date with the latest tools, techniques, information, and data on Enterprise Resource Planning technologies. You'll find this Companion Website to be a great information kiosk, one that you may go back to again and again and again. So go to: phptr/erp

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 1 edition (September 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130216127
• ISBN-13: 978-0130216120
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #780,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear guide to HR and IT, with examples, December 2, 1999

By 

Jim Porter (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting (Paperback)

This book gave us an inside view to PeopleSoft's benefits and faults. It was straightforward and helped everyone on our team, from managers to DBAs. We bought one for everyone on our IT team, and our functional staff as well.

The book is organized well, and contains detailed information about all of the HR functions, including many things that are not mentioned in the manuals. It is best used as a reference tool-- I can quickly look up a complex concept and have it explained clearly with examples.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reference Book, February 18, 2002

By 

SRIKANTH REDDY GADDAM (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting (Paperback)

I have been working with Peoplesoft product since last five years,I have seen may books in the market but this is the only book I have seen which has very usefull information which helps the begenners a lot to understand main tables and also gives overview of HRMS functionality.

I strongly recommend this book for Begenners and is useful as a reference book for any one.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Covers the main tables very well and accurate, December 23, 2001

By 

Richard E Heffernan (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: PeopleSoft HRMS Reporting (Paperback)

This was a good book for me because I work with PeopleSoft HR7.5 converting to 8.0, I'm resonsible for the interfaces to payroll and extract data from the PeopleSoft tables for various vendors. This book covers all the important tables and has very good SQL samples. This book does not cover the online or PeopleTools but did very good job covering batch/reporting.