Creating Payroll XML Files

Overview

Every Payroll XML file must comply with the specifications in the appropriate Schema file. The fundamental schema is PRL-GML20170101pxs.xsd. This schema supercedes the previous schema PRL-GML20110324pxs.xsd.

Important Note

The AASHTOWare Project™ Payroll XML Resource Kit focuses on building an XML file that complies with the specifications in the schema. That is necessary in order for an agency to be able to use the XML file at all. However, there are usually going to be other requirements, in addition to full compliance with the schema, that a Payroll XML file must meet in order for an agency to use it.

There are two aspects of payroll data that are not validated by the schema: encoding schemes such as work types that vary from owner agency to owner agency, and the business rules that define the required wages and fringe benefits that a contractor employee should receive. These aspects must be validated by the owner agency. Contractors must use the encoding schemes each owner agency requires.

For example, the schema may require a code to be filled in, and simply require that code to be any string. But a particular agency may have certain values that the code can use, such as specific codes for ethnicity or kinds of work performed. Users will have to be sure to only use codes specified by the agency, even though other codes will validate against the schema.

We will give an in-depth example of creating valid Payroll XML files from given sample data. The example will take a fairly simple case represented by a traditional US Department of Labor WH-347 form and build a valid Payroll XML file from it. This example will spend a lot of time explaining the meaning of the rules in the schema.

Example with Form WH-347