Frequently asked questions about Human Resources in Microsoft Forecaster 7.0

Q1: An employee appears in red in the Human Resource Master window or in the Human Resource Input window. Why does this occur?

A1: An employee listing that is in red indicates that employee record has an issue that you must correct. Click the employee listing, and then examine the lower-left corner of the Forecaster window to view a message that states the issue.

Q2: When I open an input set, the "Human Resources" tab does not appear. Why does this occur?

A2: The Human Resources tab may not be available in an input set for any of the following reasons:

• The Human Resources tab is not selected on the Input Set definition screen.
• The user opened the input set by having the All Segments option selected. This view displays no other modules, such as Human Resources, Capital, and Revenue.
• The input set is set up by having a segment other than Account in the rows. To resolve this problem, create an input set that displays the account segment in the rows. To do this, follow these steps:
  
  1. On the Setup menu, point to Budget, and then click Input Sets.
  2. In the Input Set window, select the input set, and then click the Options tab.
  3. In the Visible Tabs section, click the Human Resources option, and then click OK to close the Input Set window.
  4. On the Data menu, click Input to open the input set.
  5. In the Rows Are list, click Account.

Q3: On the "Human Resources" tab, I update the "Bonus %" column and the "Bonus Period(s)" column, and then I save the data. When I check the bonus account on the "Multi Row" tab, the account is not updated. Why does this occur?

A3: This can occur if the Spread Evenly option is not selected in the Bonus Periods dialog box. To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Click the HR Input tab, and then click the employee record that has a Bonus Period defined.
2. Double-click the Bonus Period.
   
   Note The Bonus Periods dialog box will open.
3. Click the Spread Evenly option.
4. Click OK. Then, click the Save icon.

Q4: When I view the new input sets for a new year, I cannot see the user-defined "Benefit" columns. Why does this occur?

A4: You must set up the user-defined benefits in the Screen Layouts window for the new input sets. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Setup menu, point to Budgets, and then click Screen Layouts.
2. In the Input Set list, click the input set.
3. In the Screen list, click Human Resources Input Tab.
4. Set up the user-defined benefits. The user-defined benefits appear in the Field Name column together with a name that begins with USER.

Q5: Why are the promotion salary grade options blank in the "Promotion Properties" dialog box?

A5: The promotion salary grade options are blank if the employee's current salary grade is an hourly salary grade. These options are also blank if there are no other hourly salary grades available to use together with the promotion. Microsoft Forecaster 7.0 does not let a user promote an employee from an hourly salary grade to a non-hourly salary grade.

Q6: When I try to delete an employee from an input set, why do I receive the following error message?

A6: There are locked periods that are defined in the input set. To resolve this error message, follow these steps:

1. On the Setup menu, point to Budgets, and then click Input Sets.
2. Select the input set from the Name list.
3. In the Configuration section, you will see a list of the periods that are in the column set. If any periods have a check mark in the Locked column, you must click to clear the check marks.

Q7: How do I create user-defined lists for benefits in the Human Resources module of Microsoft Forecaster 7.0?

A7: You can define up to 10 user-defined lists for benefits in the Human Resources module. After you define the list, you can add items to the list. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the Setup menu, point to Budget, and then click Screen Layouts.
2. On the Screen Layout Editor tab, click the input set in the Input Set list.
3. In the Screen list, click Human Resources Input Tab.
4. Locate the following rows:
   User1 through User10
5. Click the Custom Name column. Then, type the name that you want to use.
   
   Note The custom name is what users will see in the following locations:
   • In the Benefits Setup window
   • On the Human Resources Input tab in the Input window
6. An ellipsis button appears after you type a custom name, and after you press the TAB key.
7. Click the ellipsis button to open a new window.
8. In the new window, enter an ID and a label for the items that you want to appear in the list.

Q8: When I use the Copy Plan Wizard to copy Human Resources setup information, the user-defined benefits that are set up in the Screen Layouts window are not copied to the destination Input Set. What should I do?

A8: The selection list for each user-defined benefit must be set up manually in the new destination Input Set. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Setup, point to Budgets, and then click Screen Layouts.
2. Set up the user-defined benefits.