Inova integration

The Inova integration within Aspire unveils a suite of powerful tools designed to elevate efficiency and precision in job costing and payroll management. Tailored exclusively for clients utilizing Inova, these features offer robust control and customization options, empowering system administrators to streamline processes and drive productivity.

This article explores the functionality of Inova features within Aspire, offering practical insights and guidance on how to leverage them effectively. From labor burden true-up functionalities to customizable payroll exports, discover how these tools can transform your accounting workflows.

Requirements 

You will need the below-listed requirements. 

• Must have an Inova Payroll Services account to integrate with Aspire. 
  • You need the IPS Company ID and IPS Short Name provided by Inova to connect Inova to Aspire.

Permissions

• Enable Inova Labor Burden True-Up permission - provides the ability to view and use the Run Inova Labor Burden True-Up function on the Weekly Review screen without a System Admin permission. 
  • You must activate the Calculate Actual Labor Burden from Inova before you can view this permission. 
• {{glossary.System Admin Permission }} -to view and manage Inova connection and export options. 
• {{glossary.View All Time Permission }} or My Reports Permission -to view the Weekly Time Review screen. 
• HR Admin Permission  or View Read Only Payroll Data - to view Inova Pay Records on the Contact screen. 

Configuration

After you have ensured that you can access Inova and the correct permissions are selected under your user role, you will need to: 

1. Activate Inova 
2. Configure Inova Settings 
3. Configure Inova Export Options 

Activate Inova 

Activate Inova by taking these steps: 

1. Go to the Configuration section of the Administration menu.
2. Select the Time Reporting subsection.
3. Choose Enable Inova Payroll Services under the Payroll section. 
4. Enter your IPS Company ID and IPS Company Short Name.
5. Select Enable.
   • All other payroll export formats are disabled once Inova is activated. 
   • If your IPS Company ID and IPS Company Short Name are validated, a confirmation toast will pop up, indicating that the integration is enabled.
   • The Connection failed. Please check Inova Integration Credentials or contact a System Admin error message means that the correct permission has not been assigned to your user role in Aspire or that the Inova credentials you used are incorrect. 

• The Inova logo will appear on the time reporting tab for all Aspire users who can view and manage the Time Reporting screen.
  • Select Learn More to request more information about the service if your company wants to use Inova Payroll Services with Aspire. 
• Your company code and short name will be preserved upon disabling Inova Payroll Services. However, the functionalities to export to Inova, compute labor burden true-up, and display PTO balances will be deactivated.

Configure Inova Connection Settings 

Once you have activated Inova, you can use the following information to configure connection options. 

Follow these steps to get to the Connection section of the Settings screen. 

• Select the Configuration section of the Administration menu.
• Navigate to the Time Reporting subsection.
• Select the Inova Settings and Export Options hypertext once Inova is activated.
• Make any desired changes to Connection, Settings,or Export Options and Save.
  • These options are located on separate tabs.

As a system administrator, follow these steps to manage your Inova integration settings:

1. Navigate to the Connection tab to enter or update your IPS and system-level API credentials and validate the connection between your Inova and Aspire accounts. 
   Note:

   API credentials are required to post payroll files directly from Aspire to Inova.
2. Utilize the Settings tab to change Premium, Time Off, and Labor Burden options: 
   1. Premium:
      • Export Premium Separately - select this checkbox to export premium payments separately from base pay using an identifier for easier accounting. 
      • The Premium Earning Code identifies premium earnings within your payroll. This code distinguishes premium payments from regular wages in the payroll system. Ensure the code matches your accounting setup for seamless integration and reporting.
      • Select Override Premium Earning Code if you need to use a different premium earning code than the default. This is useful for custom scenarios or specific accounting requirements that deviate from the standard setup.
        Note:

        Inova sets the default code as "OTPrem." If you choose to override the Premium Earning Code, it must match an existing code in Inova for Aspire to verify it.
      • Navigate to Administration -> Application -> Lists -> Pay Code Search List -> Pay Code -> Pay Code Details Screen to edit the Pay Code Export Options for the Override Premium Earning Code you selected. 
      • Once generated, the payroll export will include premium values separate from regular/base values. For more information on the export workflow, see the Weekly Time Review screen section below.
   2. Time Off:
      1. Make PTO Balances Visible allows for easy access to view the available PTO hours for an employee on their contact record. 
      2. Utilize the Internal PTO Service menu to assign PTO to a specific service for your employees. 
   3. Labor Burden:
      1. Select Calculate Actual Labor Burden to calculate the actual labor burden. Once chosen, the work ticket costs for selected employees on the Weekly Time Review screen who are also in the Inova system will be updated.

Finally, configure your Inova payroll export using the Export Options tab. For more information, see the Configure Inova Export Options section.

Use Labor Burden True-Up in Inova

Ensure accurate employee cost tracking by updating work tickets with actual labor burden costs using the Inova labor burden true-up feature. Running an Inova labor burden true-up allows you to update work tickets with actual labor burden costs so that you can more appropriately account for the overall cost of an employee. 

As a system administrator, you need to go to the Inova Settings screen to select the Calculate Actual Labor Burden option by taking the following steps:

1. Select Configuration from the Administration menu.
2. Choose the Time Reporting subsection.
3. Select the Inova Settings and Export Options hypertext.
4. Choose the Settings tab.
5. Select Calculate Actual Labor Burden from Inova.
   1. Once selected, you can view and select the permission, allowing users to run burden true-ups from the Bulk Action menu on the Weekly Time Review screen.
   2. All of the burden cost options will be selected by default. However, you can uncheck options you don’t want to include. 
      1. Unchecking all three burden cost options will automatically disable the Calculate Actual Labor Burden from Inova, preventing inadvertent updates to the labor cost as a percentage of the burden.
6. Save.

Screen capture of the System Administration Configuration screen for Time Reporting with highlighted areas related to Inova Settings.

Configure Inova Export Options 

Customize your Inova payroll export to control how information is displayed and eliminate the need for reformatting CSV files. The export options allow you to customize your weekly time review Inova payroll export by selecting the optional cost center data source(s) you wish to include. You can combine up to three cost centers in one column on your CSV file. 

1. By default, each Cost Center holds a specific data source and is displayed in a separate column in your exported CSV file. 
2. To merge cost centers, select the Combine up to 3 cost centers into one column separated by delimiter option and specify the export column you want the combined cost centers to display on your CSV file. Once assigned, the selected cost center export column(s) will appear grayed out on the left side.
   1. The chosen delimiter determines which character will represent the separation between cost centers within one column. 
      

Your configured settings will persist even if you deactivate Inova Payroll Services, ensuring they reappear as configured when you reactivate.

Weekly Time Review Screen

Once you have configured your Inova integration settings, go to the Inova bulk actions menu on the weekly time review screen to run an Inova burden true-up, export payroll CSV files, post payroll directly to Inova, and monitor the payroll sync process. You can also access Inova Settings from this screen.

Access Weekly Time Review 

Access the Weekly Time Review screen by taking these steps: 

1. Go to the Main Menu.
2. Select Scheduling. 
3. Select Weekly Time Review from the page header. 

Keep in mind

• The Inova integration must be activated, and you must have the View All Time and My Reports permissions activated under your user role to access the Inova bulk action on the Weekly Time Review screen. 

Inova Bulk Actions Menu

1. Export - export payroll data for selected employees. 
2. Export All Employees - export payroll data for all employees.
   • You'll need to adjust the information being pulled from Inova by going to the Export Options tab in the Inova Settings.
   • The default configuration for Inova exports includes:
     1. Employee ID - unique identifier associated with each employee profile.
     2. Employee Name -full name of the employee.
     3. Start Date - initiation time of the work ticket.
     4. End Date - conclusion time of the work ticket.
     5. E/D/T - burden costs (earnings, deductions, and taxes). This is a static field that will always display E(earnings). 
     6. Pay Statement Type - static field that will always display Regular.
     7. E/D/T Code - specific payment code for earnings, deductions, and taxes. 
        Note:

        If you selected Export Premium Separately in your Inova Settings, the Export will also contain distinct rows detailing the employee information and the Premium pay code in this cell.
     8. E base Rate -hourly base rate for earnings. 
3. Sync Payroll -send payroll files directly from Aspire to Inova, eliminating the need for manual export and import. From the Sync Payroll modal, select the payroll period and batch, and click Submit to sync payroll.
   Note:

   The sync process can take several minutes. Once started, the process will run in the background until finished. You can check the status in Payroll Sync History.
4. Payroll Sync History -view information related to payroll syncs, including the sync status and potential errors. Select the warning icon next to an error to view the report.
5.  Inova Settings - quickly access the Inova Settings. 
6. Run Labor Burden True-Up - generate an Inova Burden True-Up. You must have the Labor Burden True-Up permission activated under your user role. 

Run Labor Burden True-Up 

Running a labor burden true-up will calculate the actual burden costs based on the information pulled from Inova and then use the information to update work ticket actual labor costs within selected pay periods. 

Take these steps to run a labor burden true up: 

1. Ensure the desired week date, branches, and pay schedules are selected. 
2. Select the employee(s) you want to true up.
3. Choose Run Inova Burden True Up from the Inova bulk actions menu. 
   1. This option will be grayed out if you still need to select employees.
   2. Once selected, you will see a Pre-Validating message appear to inform you that your Inova credentials are being refreshed. 
      
4. Select the pay periods you want to include in the burden true-up.  
   1. Choose the check box in the Payroll Period header row to select all pay periods from the last 90 days. 
   2. A yellow alert icon will appear next to the chosen payroll dates that fall partially or wholly within a closed month in Aspire, along with a message at the bottom of the dialog box letting you know that if you select payroll periods in a closed month, your actions will be logged, labor costs will be adjusted and earned revue will NOT be recalculated. 
   3. You must uncheck the chosen tickets within a closed month if you do not want to include them in the true-up. Otherwise, the option to Submit the process will not be selectable. 
   4.  You can select finalized pay periods from the past 90 days. 
5. Select Submit.
   1. Wait a few minutes for the Inova Burden True-Up to complete. Once completed, a time stamp will appear emboldened, listing the date timestamp of the last run within the Run Inova Burden True-Up dialog and on the Contact detail screen for an employee who has been trued-up. 

• You can only perform a true-up for employee contact types that are both in the Inova and Aspire systems. You will see the number of eligible employees above the payroll period selector. To activate the Run Inova True-Up option, you must select employees. Once initiated, the process will run in the background.

• Upon initiation of a true-up, the following data is synchronized and stored:
  • Aspire User ID of the contact who initiated the true-up.
  • Date timestamp marking the completion of the true-up.
  • Employee Unique ID sourced from Inova.
  • Payroll Period reflects the choices made within the true-up modal.
  • The gross pay for each employee per pay period, as provided by Inova. 
  • The Cost fields that were included in the calculation:
    • Payroll Tax obtained from Inova.
    • Workers comp - obtained from Inova.
    • Benefits/Deductions - obtained from Inova.

• If you try to initiate a true-up while the previous run is still in progress, you'll receive a notification indicating that another process can't be initiated. You must wait for the ongoing process to finish before starting a new one. 
• Upon completing the Burden True Up, an email notification will inform you that you can run another report.
  

Keep in mind 

• The pay periods listed in the run burden true-up modal are the Finalized pay periods pulled from Inova.
  
• If an administrator changes the labor costs selected under Inova Settings, the change will be applied when a new burden true-up is run.
  
• You don't need to select all labor costs to run a true-up for an employee. You must select at least one. 
• When you run a labor burden true-up to and then create or update a pay rate for work tickets contained within a pay period included in the true-up, that new pay rate will replace the previous one when another true-up is run. 
• When you run a labor burden true-up that includes work tickets not completed in an open month, the actual labor costs AND earned revenue will be updated. 
• When you run a labor burden true-up that includes work tickets within a closed month, the actual labor cost is updated, and your action is logged, but the earned revenue will NOT be updated. 

Contact Screen  

You can navigate to the contact screen for an employee to view their available PTO hours, Time Off Accruals, and Inova Pay Records. 

Overview of Inova Pay Records

You can access the transferred information from Inova for a specific contact by going to the Inova Pay Records section on the Contact screen if you have the HR or System Admin permission provisioned to your user role. 

• Here are the fields you will find in this section:
  • True-Up Date: Information pulled from the Aspire system.
  • Unique Contact ID: Information pulled from Inova.
  • Payroll Period: Information displayed in the Weekly Time Review section of the scheduling board.
  • Gross Pay: Total pay before deductions.
  • Payroll Tax: Value pulled from Inova.
  • Workers Comp: Value pulled from Inova.
  • Deductions: Value Pulled from Inova.
  • Actual Burden: Percentage calculated by Aspire. It is the sum of quantities (Payroll Tax, Workers Comp, Benefits) divided by Gross pay per pay period. Rounded to two decimal places.
  • Actual Hourly Cost: Value calculated by Aspire. 
  • Last burden true-up timestamp: The last run timestamp of the most recent labor burden true-up completion from Inova. 

• Any cost values omitted from the actual labor burden will be displayed as Not Included on the contact's Inova Pay Record.

PTO 

View available Paid Time Off (PTO) hours for a specific employee, extracted from Inova, in a read-only field on the Payroll section of the Contact screen.

• To view this option, activate the Make PTO Balances Visible on Contact Page option in the Inova Settings. 
  •  This is the only payroll information you can view if you do not have the HR Admin or View Read-Only Payroll Data permission assigned to your user role.  
•  If PTO hours are not accessible for the contact, an error message will appear below the field. 
  • If the PTO hours are not available, one of the following error messages can be displayed:
    • Valid ExternalContactReference is required to view PTO data - The contact's identification details in Aspire do not match any employee account in Inova, or if there isn’t a PTO balance in Inova for the contact 
    • Inova Integration needs to be enabled to view PTO data - The Inova integration feature is currently deactivated.
    • Insufficient permissions to view PTO data - The user role lacks the necessary account provisions to access this information.
    • Data failed to load; try again later - The data could not be synchronized from Inova to Aspire.

Time Off Accruals 

View available Paid Time Off (PTO) hours for a specific employee, extracted from Inova, in a read-only field on the Payroll section of the Contact screen.

• Access the Contact screen to view and manage Time Off Accruals.
• When an hourly employee makes a time off request, a Pending Request notification will populate on the manager’s contact details screen.
• Use the MANAGE IN INOVA button to request, approve, or cancel time off.
  Note:

  Time Off Accruals are viewable only for contact types present in both Inova and Aspire systems. HR Admins can view this section for all Employee Contacts.

Frequently Asked Questions

• As an existing user of Inova and Aspire, will any of these changes impact me? 
  • As an existing Inova user, the changes will not impact you. However, you can request to integrate Inova with Aspire directly. In which case, reach out to your Inova representative for assistance. 
• As an existing Inova user opting to enable Inova services with Aspire, will I need to prepare for any changes to my payroll? 
  • Inova will configure the Inova integration to ensure the process is executed properly. Reach out to Inova for more information. 
•  Can I access the Calculate Actual Labor Burden From Inova or Make PTO Balances Visible on Contact Page options without enabling Inova services in Aspire? 
  • You must enable Inova services to access these options. Reach out to Inova for assistance.