Oracle Cloud Payroll: Creating Element Entries with Costing Using HDL

Introduction

Most Oracle Cloud Payroll implementations use HCM Data Loader (HDL) extensively to create and maintain element entries. Common use cases include:

Bonus payments
One-time earnings
Allowances
Deduction entries
Retro adjustments
Conversion data
Payroll parallel run data

However, one requirement that often surprises implementation teams is:

How do we create an element entry and simultaneously override its costing information using HDL?

Many payroll teams initially assume this requires a separate costing process, manual maintenance, or payroll costing override after the element entry is created.

Fortunately, Oracle Cloud HCM Data Loader provides support for creating element entries together with costing information using the ElementEntryWithCosting business object.

This is particularly useful for bonus payments, project-based earnings, special allocations, payroll adjustments, and conversion activities where the payroll cost must be charged to a specific cost center or accounting segment.

Business Requirement

Consider a common scenario. An employee receives a one-time bonus payment of $100.

Normally, the employee's payroll costs are charged to their home department:

However, for this bonus payment, Finance wants the expense charged to a different cost center:

Instead of creating the element entry first and then manually overriding costing, both the element entry and costing override can be loaded together through HDL.

HDL Business Object

For this requirement, Oracle provides the following HDL business object:

ElementEntryWithCosting

This business object allows you to load the following in a single HDL file:

Element entry
Input values
Costing segment overrides

Sample HDL

The following example creates a Bonus Pay element entry and overrides Costing Segment 2.

METADATA|ElementEntryWithCosting|AssignmentNumber|ElementName|EntryType|CreateEntrySequence|EffectiveStartDate|EffectiveEndDate|InputValueName1|ScreenEntryValue1|Segment2
MERGE|ElementEntryWithCosting|E10|Bonus Pay|E|1|2026/06/10|4712/12/31|Amount|100|020000

Understanding the HDL

AssignmentNumber

E10

Identifies the employee assignment that will receive the element entry.

ElementName

Bonus Pay

Identifies the payroll element being created.

EntryType

Indicates a standard element entry.

CreateEntrySequence

Used when multiple entries may exist for the same element.

Effective Dates

2026/06/10
4712/12/31

Defines the effective period of the element entry.

Input Value

InputValueName1 = Amount
ScreenEntryValue1 = 100

Creates the element entry with an Amount input value of $100.

Costing Override

Segment2 = 020000

Overrides Costing Segment 2 for this specific element entry.

This allows payroll costs generated by this element to be charged to a different accounting segment than the employee's default costing.

Result After HDL Load

After the HDL load, the following element entry is created:

Assignment: E10
Element: Bonus Pay
Amount: 100

The costing override is also created:

Segment2 = 020000

During payroll processing, the resulting payroll costs will use the overridden costing segment for this specific element entry.

Typical Use Cases

Bonus Allocations

Charge annual, spot, or special bonuses to a specific project, department, or cost center.

Project-Based Earnings

Allocate payroll costs to customer-funded projects or special business initiatives.

Grant Accounting

Override costing for grant-funded employees or grant-funded payments.

Payroll Adjustments

Direct payroll adjustment costs to a specific accounting combination.

Payroll Conversion Activities

Load historical element entries with corresponding costing distributions during implementation or parallel payroll validation.

Important Feature: Rollback HDL Load

One very useful feature when using ElementEntryWithCosting HDL is the ability to roll back the HDL load if something goes wrong.

This is especially helpful because you do not need to prepare a separate delete HDL file manually.

For example, if the element entry or costing segment was loaded incorrectly, you can use the HDL rollback option to reverse the HDL load, correct the source file, and reload the data.

This simplifies testing and production support because:

Incorrect HDL loads can be reversed more easily
No separate delete file is required
Testing multiple scenarios becomes faster
Payroll teams can recover from load errors more efficiently
Auditability is preserved through the HDL process

This is very useful during:

Payroll conversion
Bonus load testing
Costing override testing
One-time payment loads
Parallel payroll validation

Practical Recommendation

When loading element entries with costing, always keep track of the HDL batch name and import process ID. This makes it easier to identify and roll back the correct HDL load if needed.

Important Considerations

Costing Flexfield Structure

The available HDL costing segments depend on your costing key flexfield configuration.

Examples may include:

Segment1
Segment2
Segment3
Segment4
Segment5

or additional segments depending on your chart of accounts.

Costing Validation

The segment values provided through HDL must exist as valid values in the chart of accounts.

Invalid values will cause HDL validation failures.

Testing

Always validate the following before moving the process into production:

HDL load success
Element entry creation
Costing override creation
Payroll run results
Payroll costing results
Transfer to General Ledger

Why This Matters

Many payroll implementations require occasional costing overrides but continue to rely on manual updates after element creation.

Using ElementEntryWithCosting allows organizations to automate both the payroll transaction and its costing treatment in a single HDL load.

This reduces manual effort, improves auditability, and creates a cleaner operational process for payroll and finance teams.

For payroll conversion projects, bonus interfaces, project-based compensation, and financial allocations, this capability can significantly simplify the solution design.

Final Thoughts

Oracle HDL provides several payroll-specific business objects that are often overlooked because most examples focus only on creating basic element entries.

The ElementEntryWithCosting business object is one of those hidden gems.

If your requirement involves creating payroll element entries and directing the resulting payroll costs to a specific accounting segment, consider using this object instead of relying on manual costing updates after the fact.

A small HDL enhancement can eliminate significant operational effort and provide a cleaner, more controlled payroll process.

Oracle EBS and Cloud HCM and Payroll

Friday, 12 June 2026