Working with business matrices

Business matrices let HR business partners and compensation administrators build and maintain the structured business rules that compensation decisions depend on directly in the Data Management module. This makes it possible to manage merit grids, bonus grids, promotion guidelines, and eligibility criteria in the platform without technical configuration or a specialist's help.

Understanding business matrices

A business matrix is a table of business values that a formula can look up. You can think of it as a rulebook, maintained by the people who own the business decisions and consulted by the calculations that need them. Each matrix has input columns, which are matched against worker data, and output columns, which return the applicable result. Each input can draw either on existing platform values or on values defined manually for that matrix, and matching supports exact values, ranges, and effective-dated rules for more complex compensation scenarios.

Examples of business matrices include a merit grid that returns an increase percentage by country and performance rating, a bonus grid, promotion guidelines, or a set of eligibility criteria.

A business matrix works together with a calculated field. The matrix holds the business values, namely, the percentages and thresholds that a compensation team decides on. The calculated field holds the logic that looks them up through a LOOKUP formula and returns the matching value for each worker, or nothing if no match is found. Because the two are separate, you can revise the values without changing a formula and reuse the same matrix across multiple calculations instead of building it repeatedly.

A business matrix also differs from a custom entity. Custom entities offer a general, more technical way to store additional customer data. Business matrices are built specifically for business rules and reference tables, with a guided interface, spreadsheet import, and a straightforward draft-to-published process.

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For details about calculated fields and custom entities in PaySuite, see our Working with calculated fields and Working with custom entities articles.

Overview

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The Business Matrices page is available under Workbench > Data Management > Business Matrices. Access to Workbench depends on your role. You need the Compensation Admin, Global Compensation Admin, Compensation Advisory, HRBP, Data Foundation Admin, or Support professional role to create, edit, and publish business matrices. The Compensation Manager, Configuration, and Read-only roles can view business matrices but not edit them.

Business matrix lifecycle

Each business matrix has a status that controls what you can do with it:

• Draft: The matrix is under configuration. You can define its input and output columns and enter or import its values. Validation surfaces any issues before the matrix moves out of Draft.

• Active: The matrix is published and can be referenced from calculated fields. Its column structure is locked to protect anything relying on it, though its values can still be maintained.

Creating a business matrix

To create a business matrix, proceed as follows

1. On the Business Matrices page, select Create business matrix. The Create matrix drawer opens.

2. Enter a Name for the matrix. The name is required and must be unique: no two business matrices can have the same name.

3. Optionally, enter a Description that explains what the matrix is for.

4. Select Create.

The new matrix appears in the list with the Draft status. To start building it, select icon at the far left side of the table and click Open creator workspace.

The Matrix builder site opens. This is the creator workspace where you define the matrix structure.

Defining the columns

A matrix needs at least one input column and one output column:

• Input columns contain the values matched against worker data, such as country or performance rating.

• Output columns contain the result returned when a match is found, such as the increase percentage.

To add columns, select Add input column or Add output column and choose how many columns to add. A matrix can have up to 20 columns. Each new column must be configured before you can save the matrix:

1. Select the column header and click + icon to open Configure column.

2. Enter a Name for the column. Each column name must be unique within the matrix and can contain only letters, digits, spaces, and common punctuation signs.

3. Select a Data type:

   • Text

   • Number

   • Date

   • True/False

   • Predefined list: Restricts the column to the values of an existing enum, such as a standard enum or a custom enum. Use this option when an input column needs to match values already defined in the platform, for example, country codes.

4. Set the column options:

   • Range: Matches a band of values instead of an exact value. Each cell holds the start of a range, and the range ends where the next row's value starts. This option is available only for input columns with the Number data type. A range column is always required.

   • Required: Every row must have a value in this column. Output columns are always required.

5. Select Save.

You can edit, reorder, insert, clear, or delete columns from the column's context menu. If you change the data type of a column that already has values, those values are removed when you save.

To make the matrix time-dependent, turn on Include effective date toggle. This adds an Effective date column, so each row can apply from a start date to an end date.

Entering the values

Once the columns are configured, you can add the values in one of two ways:

• Enter values directly: Select Add row and type the values into the grid. A matrix can have up to 3,000 rows.

• Import from a file: Select Import from file button. To get a file with the correct headers, select Download XLSX template. Then upload an XLSX or XLSM file of up to 20 MB, with no more than 3,000 rows and 50 columns. The headers in the first row are matched to the matrix columns by name, and macros are ignored. If the workbook contains more than one sheet with data, select the sheet to import. A summary then shows which columns were mapped and which were not.

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An import replaces all existing data in the business matrix, and this cannot be undone. Columns must be configured before you import a file. If there are unsaved changes, you are asked to save the configuration first.

Validating and publishing the matrix

When you save or publish, the matrix is validated. Any issues, such as empty required cells, invalid numbers or dates, or a range whose minimum value is greater than its maximum value, are listed with the row and column where they occur. Fix them before you continue.

• To keep working later, select Save & exit. The matrix stays in Draft.

• When the matrix is complete, select Publish. The matrix becomes Active and can be referenced from a calculated field. From this point on, its column structure is locked, but you can still update its values.