Automating Employee Vacation Reminders in SAP SuccessFactors

[SoDo]

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Add a Custom Field to the Time Account Object

In Configure Object Definitions, add a decimal-type custom field called, for example, “Remaining Balance”, to your Time Account object. This field will store the calculated remaining balance for each time account.

1. Create an Interim Account Update Rule and attach it to the Time Account Type

The following Business Rule calculates the Time Account balance and saves it to the newly created “Remaining Balance” field:

In Time Account Type, assign this rule as the Interim Account Update Rule. This ensures the remaining balance is stored in the time account’s custom field at specific intervals, making it accessible for downstream processes.

1. Create a Time Off Calendar

To run the rule on a regular basis and keep the account balance updated, set up a Time Account Change Calendar (for example, to run on the 1st and 15th of each month). Adjust the frequency according to your organization’s requirements.

1. Create a Custom MDF to store the Remaining Balance

Create a custom MDF object to store the balance in a location accessible to Document Generation. Make sure to set Effective Dating as Basic and API Visibility as Editable.

Add two fields:

• cust_user (User data type) – mark as the Business Key Field and set it under Security as the RBP Subject User Field.
• cust_remainingBalanceVAC (Decimal type) to store the balance.

Don’t forget to set up the appropriate permissions (RBP) for this MDF object.

1. Build an Integration Center Report

Create an SF-to-SF Integration Center report with the following details:

• Starting entity: Time Account
• Target entity: Your custom MDF object (the one you created in step 4)
• Operation: Upsert Multiple

Map the fields as follows:

• User → cust_user
• Last Modified On → Effective Start Date
• External Code → externalCode
• Remaining Balance → VAC_Balance

To target only current Time Accounts (not past years or other account types), set the filter criteria accordingly. Schedule this Integration Center job to run as often as needed (e.g., daily at 00:05).

1. Create a Document Template

Configure a Document Generation template in Manage Document Templates (category: “Document Generation”) to notify employees via email about their remaining vacation days and any upcoming expiration. Use the token for cust_remainingBalanceVAC from the custom MDF object you created.

How It Works

1. The custom field on the Time Account, combined with the Interim Account Update Rule, regularly calculate and store the current account balance.
2. The custom MDF object and the Integration Center report ensure this balance is copied daily into a single, easily accessible place—ideal for Document Generation.
3. When it’s time to send reminders, HR can generate documents in bulk or individually with just a few clicks, informing employees of their remaining vacation days and upcoming expiration dates.

Testing

1. Trigger an Interim Account Update via your Time Off Calendar run. Check that the remaining balance is correctly calculated and stored in the Time Account’s custom field.
   
   
   
2. Run the Integration Center (IC) report and verify that a corresponding MDF record is created or updated with the correct balance.                                                                                                                                                           
3. Generate a document for a test user and confirm the correct balance is displayed. 

Final Thoughts

Despite the somewhat complex configuration, the day-to-day handling of this setup is straightforward. Most processes run automatically, leaving HR only a few clicks away from meeting legal requirements and keeping employees informed about their vacation balance and possible expiration.

Have questions or need more details? Feel free to leave a comment!

Greetings from Germany
Sofia

SAP SuccessFactors Time Tracking 

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Disclaimers

This is a custom solution that leverages Integration Center (IC) and a custom MDF object. Please conduct thorough testing and exercise due diligence before deploying it in a production environment.

All data here is fictitious, any correspondence with real data is pure coincidence.

This blog is exclusively about the creation of the custom reminder. For more in-depth information on creating and configuring the here mentioned concepts (Integration Center, Document Generation etc.) please refer to additional SAP resources or official documentation. E.g. Document Generation - A complete Guide Including Troubleshoot,SuccessFactors to SuccessFactors integration - Integration Center

[PetraRana]

@SoDo, thank you for an interesting blog. Can you please confirm my understand that by forms in your blog you are referring to SuccessFactors Time Forms? Or is there another way for HR administrator to generate the reminder to employees? Thank you

[SoDo]

Hi @PetraRana, thanks for your feedback! Are you referring to the Document Generation part? I have created a Document Template (and group) with the category "Document Generation" so that an HR administrator can notify all employees at the same time via Mass Document Generation. It was important for my client to be able to send the reminder via E-Mail and have a read access log, instead of only having the document available in SF to download.

[PetraRana]

@SoDo , thank you for your quick response. So you are referring not referring to SuccessFactors Time Forms as a tool to generate the documents but Mass Document Generation (which I am not familiar with). Thank you.

[SoDo]

@PetraRana exactly. Here are some good sources, if you want to get into Mass Document Generation: Document Generation - A complete Guide Including Troubleshoot, Document Generation: Mass Document Generation. However, if you do not need to send reminder via E-Mail you could also just use Time Forms 🙂