beqom PaySuite 28.1 - Feature release notes

This article details the latest improvements introduced in version 28.1 of the beqom PaySuite application, their benefits for our end-users, and their principles of use.

Compensation Management

Budget definition in compensation round configuration

So far, budget rules for a compensation round have been scattered across individual compensation inputs, with no single place that tied a budget's calculation, aggregation, and recalculation together.

With this release, we have introduced the Budget definition feature in a new Budget step under Workbench > Compensation Management > Compensation Rounds. Each budget has its own set of rules for how it is calculated, an aggregation function, such as a sum, an average, or a count, and a recalculation setting that refreshes amounts or freezes them each time the round is published. A Fixed amount per manager option turns a budget into a stored, per-manager pool, based on the organization's reporting structure, rather than a total that shifts with a group of workers currently being viewed. Widgets and validations can be created directly from a Budget definition, pre-filled from its configuration. Each also has its own tab alongside Planner add-ons in the Team planner view step. This way, it is possible to surface the same budget in several places in Planner > Compensation without setting it up twice.

Because a fixed per-manager budget keeps its stored amount even with a Planner view filtered, while an ordinary budget still reflects whatever population is currently visible, the figure a manager or HRBP sees can always be trusted. A budget can also be validated automatically when someone enters a value, either blocking the entry if it exceeds the budget or simply flagging it as a warning. This gives compensation teams a safeguard that can be either strict or flexible, depending on their needs. In addition, the advanced calculation formula editor incorporates Budget definitions, so more complex formulas can reference a budget directly.

Existing per-input budgets and the legacy budget widget carry over automatically into the new model, after which budgets are configured only through Budget definitions. Create and edit access remains limited to Compensation Admins and Global Compensation Admins.

Budget step in the round configuration wizard

Planner budget widgets showing spend against each definition

Demo

Planner enhancements

Consistent expand and collapse icons

In Planner > Compensation, a single diagonal-arrow icon used to represent several different actions: resizing an object, collapsing a side panel, folding a band in place, and expanding the grid to full screen.

Each action now has its own icon. The Population panel uses a side-panel icon that stays the same whether the panel is open or collapsed. The Workflow strip and the panel with budget widgets include an arrow that points up when expanded and down when collapsed. The grid's full-screen control in the toolbar displays corner brackets, the standard symbol for that action. The original diagonal arrows remain only on the budget widget card.

Consequently, Compensation Managers and HRBPs can recognize what a control does before selecting it. Only the icon has changed. Its size, color, position, clickable area, tooltip, and accessibility label, along with every underlying behavior, animation, and saved setting, are exactly the same.

Side panel, arrow, and maximize icons

Centered column group headers

Under Planner > Compensation, column groups in the Comp review grid now make it obvious where one group ends and the next begins. Previously, a group's label was placed above only its first column, so a group spanning several columns gave little sense of its actual width. As a result, matching a value to the correct group required a second look.

Currently, group labels are centered across all of their columns rather than pinned to the first one. They reposition immediately when a column in the group is resized, shown, hidden, or reordered, without a page reload. A label that proves too long to fit is shortened with an ellipsis, remains centered, and shows the full group name on hover; a group containing only one column centers its label over that column. This is a visual change only, with no effect on compensation data, calculations, column configuration, or grid behavior. It is visible automatically to the HRBP, Compensation Manager, and Compensation Advisory roles, with no additional setup necessary.

Bonus Deferral column groups with centered headers

Search by External ID

Names are not always reliable to search by, since duplicate names, name variations across languages, and changes such as a married name can all lead to the wrong result. By contrast, a worker's External ID, assigned by the source system, stays constant and unique.

In version 28.1 of the application, the Population panel and worker grid search in the Comp review tab of Planner > Compensation accept a worker's External ID as well as their name, using the same search box already in place. A search begins once three characters have been entered, and it matches against the complete stored identifier regardless of capitalization. A worker found by External ID is displayed as "Worker Name (External ID)", and a Population panel node matched the same way is shown in the same format.

This enhancement allows Compensation Admins, Compensation Managers, and HRBPs to search directly using the available identifier, rather than first translating it into a name through another system. It also avoids the confusion of searching among workers with duplicate or similar names. An External ID belonging to a worker outside a reviewer's visible population returns no results, the same outcome as an identifier that does not exist, so the expanded search does not expose workers beyond a role's permissions.

New Population panel and grid search boxes

Demo

Pay Transparency

Default multi-level sorting for the communication round record list

Under Planner > Documents, communication round records with no document attached have so far had no defined sort order, and appeared in whatever sequence they were created, which could vary between one viewing and the next.

With this release, the record list applies a default order based on three criteria: first Status, then Generation date, and finally Document recipient, so records appear in a consistent and meaningful sequence even before a document exists. Every column can be sorted manually by clicking its header. The default ordering shows no sort arrows on any column, since it reflects more than one criterion at once; an arrow becomes available only after a column has been selected for sorting.

This capability gives HRBPs and Communication Managers a consistent starting order instead of a list that reshuffles unpredictably each time it loads. At the same time, it preserves the flexibility to sort by any column when a different view is needed.

Communication round records with a new default sort order

Data Foundation

Business matrices for business-owned compensation rules

Compensation decisions often depend on structured business rules, merit increases that vary by country and performance rating, bonus grids, promotion guidelines, eligibility criteria, and other organization-specific logic. Building that logic has entailed technical configuration or a specialist's help.

Business Matrices, a new page within Workbench > Data Management, gives HRBPs and Compensation Administrators a guided way to build, maintain, and manage this kind of rule directly in the platform, without needing that technical layer. A matrix is created with Input columns to match against worker data, with each input drawing either on existing platform values or on values defined manually for that matrix. In turn, Output columns return a result, supporting exact matches, ranges, and effective-dated rules for more complex compensation scenarios. Data can be entered directly or imported from an XLSX or XLSM file, and validation surfaces issues before a matrix moves out of Draft. Once published as Active, a matrix's column structure is locked to protect anything relying on it, though its values can still be maintained.

A published business matrix can then be referenced from a LOOKUP formula in a calculated field. During a compensation round, that field can find the right value for each worker, for example, matching a merit grid against a worker's country and performance rating and returning the applicable increase or nothing if no match is found. This separates the actual business values, namely, the percentages and thresholds a compensation team decides on, from the calculation logic that looks them up. Therefore, users can revise these values without changing a formula and reuse the same matrix across multiple calculations instead of building it repeatedly.

The Compensation Admin, Global Compensation Admin, Compensation Advisory, HRBP, Data Foundation Admin, and Support roles have full access to Business Matrices, including publishing. The Compensation Manager, Configuration, and Read-only roles can view but not edit.

Importantly, business matrices serve a different purpose than custom entities: custom entities offer a general, more technical way to store additional customer data, while business matrices are built specifically for business rules and reference tables, with a guided interface, spreadsheet import, and a straightforward draft-to-published process.

Merit Matrix input and output column setup