Before you setup the STP Task Groups, make sure you have completed Steps 1 and 2.
Set up three task groups using the details and screenshots below. They must be setup in the order listed below. For some fields there are just example values since you will need to use values specific to your instance.
NOTE: The STP task group setup documentation is ordered based on the dependent data required, not the order of processing. To set up the Polling Task group, you need to have added the Payroll File Processing task group. Please note that they will run in a different order (File Transfer then Polling Task then Payroll File Processing).
1. SFTP Task Group: SFTP - File Transfer
Description: This task group will run at specified time(s) each day and pull the file(s) from the SFTP site of the vendor (Finch) and move them to the specified folder in the ASP environment.
Create task group with:
Name: SFTP Payroll Finch Transfer
Action type: None
Selected Tasks: FTP file transfer
Tab 2 - Frequency
Tab 3 - Dependency
The task will start based on the time entered in the Specific time field (8 AM shown as the example in the screenshot below). The task will stop running based on the End Time entered on Tab 4 - Parameters
Tab 4 - Parameters
- Polling properties can be set to hours or minutes. The FTP task will start based on the Dependency Tab (3) and stop running at the Polling end time.
- The values shown in the server file path field and the local file path fields are placeholders. These will be different for every user.
- The following are provided by Finch:
- FTP Connection properties
- Server file path
- Local file path: directory where the files will be stored in your system.
- The option to Enable intra-day polling allows the user to establish the frequency the files will be moved. It can be set to hours or minutes. The frequency is a business decision, there is no Finch technical requirement to base the frequency on.
- The Polling end time is the time the polling will stop for the day.
- The start time is established in Tab 3 - Dependency
- Select the Next button to add the Key files
If key files are not required, select the Save button to bypass entry.
2. Task Group: Payroll File Processing
Description: This task group will be called by the polling task. This task group will include the following tasks:
- File move/copy
- Import census payroll file
- Post all Transactions
- Create Reports
Create Task Group with:
Name: Finch - Process Payroll Files
Action Type: Payroll import
Selected Tasks:
- File move/copy
- Import census payroll data via DER
- Post All Plans - All Transactions
- Create Single Report 4
NOTE - The task "Post All Plans" can alternatively be entered as three separate tasks if you have a specific business reason to prefer separate tasks:
- Post Eligibility transaction - All employees
- Post Contributions
- Post Loan Payments
Tab 4 - Parameters
TASK - File move/copy
Data file name - passed to the task via the polling task
File Path: Archive directly
Move/Copy - this must be set to Copy as you do not want to move the file from the DataNew folder.
TASK - Import census payroll data via DER
The first 4 parameters are populated from the payroll file.
- DER name: The Global DER set up to match the vendor's format
- Generate new: Set to User Defined - Yes to import new employees
- Final payroll task group - will recognize the final pay end date for the plan year and run a designated task group.
- DVC Rule Set - not required (recommended)
- Create Transactions - Creates the Contribution and Loan Payment transactions
TASK - Post ALL Plans ALL Transactions
Each task will be set up using the Use request id parameter as User entered default = Yes
The Post All option will eliminate errors in the Job queue where the system attempts to post Loan Payments and there are no loans in the plan.
Using one task or three separate tasks are perfectly acceptable methods.
Regardless, Parameter Name: Use requests id will cause the system to only post of the specific payroll file.
3. SFTP Task Group: Polling Task Group
Description: This task group will run for a period of time (e.g. 7 am – 2 pm) each day to “look” for files in a specified folder. When a file is found, it will automatically queue the Payroll File Processing Task Group and pass the appropriate file name to the tasks as required.
The polling task looks for a file in a designated directory. When a file is found, the task group identified in the parameters is queued automatically.
Create Task Group with:
Name: Polling - Finch
Action type: None
Selected Tasks: Polling Task
Parameters:
Time parameter - the END time
The start time will be up in the Dependency tab.