The Simulation & headcount tab costs the effect of HR assumptions (raises, hires, leavers, promotions) on a fiscal year’s payroll, compares it with its budget and prepares headcount by unit. Saved scenarios are shared, and one of them can become the fiscal year’s planned payroll. This article is intended for payroll, finance and HR teams.
Before you start #
- The “Simulation & headcount” permission opens the tab at the Access level (simulating, viewing scenarios); the Execute level allows creating, editing and deleting scenarios. By default: Execute for the Administrator, HR Manager and Payroll Manager roles; Access for Accounting.
- Applying a scenario to the budget also requires the “Multi-year & funding” permission at the Execute level (by default Administrator, Payroll Manager and Accounting).
- Scenarios are saved on a fiscal year created in Multi-year & funding. Without one, the simulation works but cannot be saved.
The simulation base #
The simulation starts from the contracts current today and those already signed that start before the end of the fiscal year, excluding external contracts and drafts. Each salary is taken as it is today, annualised (13th and 14th included) and prorated over the days of the fiscal year: leavers already entered are therefore deducted. An orange box flags the contracts left out (no salary, no reference hours, hourly with no rate, currency with no exchange rate).
The assumptions #
Choose the Simulated fiscal year (the current year or one of the next two; the next year by default), then set the sliders of the HR assumptions card.
| Assumption | Effect on payroll |
|---|---|
| Step increases outside the scale | Contracts assigned to a step move to the next step of the pay scale; the percentage applies to the others |
| Merit increase | Percentage applied to gross payroll |
| Indexation / inflation | Percentage applied to gross payroll |
| Hires | Number of FTE multiplied by the average cost per FTE, prorated from the average hiring month |
| Unknown leavers | FTE removed, prorated from the average leaving month (contract ends already entered are counted automatically) |
| Promotions | Number of promotions multiplied by the annual cost of a promotion |
| Change in average activity rate | In percentage points |
| New positions | FTE entered per unit in the headcount table, counted as hires |
The “Average hiring month”, the “Average leaving month” (July by default) and the “Annual cost of a promotion” are set in the same card. Reset returns to neutral assumptions.
The impact #
The calculation runs again as soon as the slider stops; nothing is written. Four indicators: the fiscal year’s projection and its gap to the budget, Known contracts base (charges included), Projected FTE at 31 December and Average cost per FTE (annual gross, excluding charges, used for hires and leavers). The From base to projection breakdown details each effect, then charges and the projection. The budget compared is the sum of unit budgets if there are any, otherwise the fiscal year’s planned payroll.
Scenarios #
- Click Save current assumptions and enter a Scenario name: the scenario is shared across the workspace. Clicking a scenario reloads its assumptions; after a change, Save to “…” updates it.
- The star icon makes a scenario the reference, which then carries the “reference” badge. Reporting uses this scenario for the next fiscal year’s projection.
- The icons on each scenario let you rename it, duplicate it to another existing fiscal year or delete it.
- The Projection horizon runs from 1 to 5 years: each year has its own assumptions or carries over those of the previous year, and the Multi-year projection table gives base, projection, budget, gap and FTE per fiscal year.
Applying a scenario to the budget #
Apply makes the scenario’s projection the fiscal year’s planned payroll (Multi-year tab) and makes it the reference scenario; over several years, the following existing fiscal years are written too. The button does not appear when the planned payroll already comes from unit budgets.
If the “Scenario applied to the planned payroll” Workflows approval workflow is active, the button becomes Request approval: the scenario carries the “awaiting approval” badge and nothing is written before a second officer decides. Only one request at a time is possible per fiscal year, and a scenario awaiting approval cannot be deleted.
Headcount #
The Headcount planning card gives, per unit: FTE, Headcount, average activity rate, positions To create (FTE) (an entry that becomes an assumption of the scenario), Vacancies and Retirements 24 m.
- Vacancies are active single-holder positions that no current contract fills; the column only appears if the unit axis is the department.
- Retirements count the people who, within 24 months from today, reach the retirement age of their contract’s country (65 in Switzerland and 64 in France by default, adjustable in the module settings).
Charges #
The Modelled employer charges card shows the rate applied. It is the sum of the employer contributions detailed in the module settings (Simulation section); failing that, the monitoring charge rate; failing that, no charges. If the charge source is “Actual rates by category”, the rate used is the average of the actual rates observed. No rate is made up.
Good to know #
- Assumptions are only kept in a saved scenario.
- A person with no date of birth is not counted in retirements within 24 months.
- A scenario can only be duplicated to a fiscal year that exists.
