Payroll Archive - HCM SSC GmbH

With a technical change that may seem insignificant at first glance, ERiC Release 44 could become a problem for companies that use SAP for payroll processing—unless they take action in time.

What is ERiC?

ERiC stands for “ELSTER Rich Client” and is a software library developed by the German tax administration and made available free of charge to all software vendors. It is integrated into both commercial and public tax and payroll accounting programs—anywhere tax data is transmitted digitally to the tax authorities.
Here’s exactly what ERiC does: It checks the tax data for plausibility, compresses and encrypts it, and securely transmits it to the tax authority’s receiving servers. If the transmission is successful, ERiC can also generate a PDF confirmation.

The scale of this is remarkable: Over 100 million tax returns are filed via ERiC each year. The legal requirements for the library’s further development are correspondingly high—which explains why every release is carefully prepared.

What’s new in the latest ERiC Release 44?

Starting with ERiC Release 44, only Version 32 is permitted for retrieving data from the income tax statement (LStB) and the ELStAM. Version 31, which was used previously, is therefore no longer supported. This means that anyone who installs the update to ERiC Release 44 without first implementing the necessary SAP customizations risks error messages and disruptions in ELSTER communication.

Why is this release even coming out?

ERiC Release 44 is intentionally designed as a preparatory release only. It lays the technical foundation for ERiC Release 45, which will introduce the business changes for the 2026/2027 year-end. For the first time, SAP has consistently separated technical and business changes—a wise decision to ease the burden on the already time-sensitive year-end transition. The downside: This now creates an additional step that must not be overlooked.

What exactly needs to be done?

SAP is expected to provide the necessary adjustments, which must be imported into the system. These adjustments ensure that the system automatically uses the correct pickup version based on the ERiC version in use.
Important: These adjustments should be implemented before updating to ERiC Release 44. This is already possible—even if ERiC Release 43 is currently in use.

SAP plans to release ERiC Release 44 between mid-June and July 2026.

Our Conclusion

Anyone involved in SAP payroll processing—and who therefore relies on ELSTER functionality—should keep an eye on this release. It’s not a major update—but it’s one that could lead to unpleasant surprises if you’re not prepared.

Contact us

Are you unsure whether your system is affected, or would you like to entrust the implementation to professionals? Contact us—we have in-depth knowledge of SAP HCM and can guide you through exactly these kinds of customizations.

SOKA-BAU Reports in SAP HCM: Why a Clean System Configuration will be more important than ever in 2026

Since July 1, 2025, new contribution rates apply in the construction industry’s social fund procedure – and this is not the only change that construction companies should address in their SAP HCM configuration.
The total contribution is composed of the portion for the ULAK (Vacation and Wage Compensation Fund of the Construction Industry), which secures the vacation entitlement of all construction workers across the industry, the contribution for the ZVK (Supplementary Pension Fund of the Construction Sector), which functions as the occupational pension scheme for the industry, as well as a portion for vocational training in the trade sector.

For companies in the West, the total contribution currently amounts to 20.4% of the gross payroll – divided into 14.5% for the ULAK, 2.1% for vocational training, and 3.8% for the ZVK.

All three components fall under the umbrella of SOKA-BAU – the Social Fund for the Construction Industry – and must be reported and paid correctly on a monthly basis. For SAP HCM systems that process construction payroll, this means: Anyone who has not actively updated these rates has been calculating with outdated values for months. The consequence is incorrect SOKA-BAU reports – and, in the worst case, additional claims that only come to light during an audit.

What has changed with the new VTV – and what this means technically

The VTV – the collective agreement on the social security fund procedure in the construction industry – regulates who is liable to pay contributions, how contributions are calculated, and what reporting obligations apply. In addition to adjustments to contribution rates, the revised VTV contains other relevant changes: Apprentices will now be required to report their granted leave on an ongoing basis – no longer just during their final year of training. Furthermore, printed certificates will be gradually replaced by digital submissions via the SOKA-BAU portal.

Both points have a direct technical implication in SAP HCM. The new ongoing leave notification requirement for trainees necessitates a review of the existing payroll logic and the maintenance of infotypes for trainees. Those who have only represented this in the apprenticeship year so far have had a structural gap in the system since July 2025 – without SAP automatically issuing a warning.

The transition to digital certificates seems organizational, but it is also a signal: the SOKA-BAU process is becoming more data-driven. Companies that still operate with manual corrections and maintenance outside of SAP are increasingly coming under pressure.

Construction wages outside of SAP HCM – an underestimated risk

Many construction companies already have SAP in productive use – typically in FI/CO or in logistics. Payroll configuration for construction wages, on the other hand, is often handled separately: through external service providers, standard software, or an SAP HCM installation that has not been actively maintained for years.

This creates a characteristic risk profile: the system structure exists, but the construction wage–specific configuration levels are outdated, incomplete, or were never fully set up. New tariff changes, such as the VTV adjustments in July 2025, are then not systematically integrated into the system, but at best manually compensated – with all the potential sources of error that entails.

Check in advance: Which infotypes must be reviewed before the SOKA-BAU reporting run?
Here is the checklist:

Typical FI Posting Errors with Seasonal Employees – Three Patterns That Keep Reoccurring

The construction industry relies on seasonal work. Short, recurring employment relationships are not an exception, but the standard model. This is precisely what makes seasonal workers the largest source of errors in the SOKA-BAU process – both on the HR side and in financial accounting (FI).

1Recalculation without another reporting run.

If a seasonal worker is subsequently recorded correctly in the system, SAP triggers a retroactive payroll calculation. However, the corrected gross wage values are only correctly included in the SOKA-BAU report if the respective period is still open and the export run is explicitly initiated again. In practice, this step is regularly omitted.

2. Differences between booked and reported contribution.

Liabilities to SOKA-BAU are recorded through payroll accounting in financial accounting. In the case of mid-year entries, exits, and status changes, discrepancies arise between the amount posted in SAP and the value actually reported to SOKA-BAU – often caused by infotype gaps that distort the assessment basis. These differences cannot be identified before the reporting run without coordination between HR and FI.

3. Missing or outdated symbol account assignment.

If SOKA-BAU-specific wage types are not correctly mapped to general ledger accounts, contributions end up in the wrong accounts. In the HR area, this often goes unnoticed for months – in financial accounting, it becomes immediately apparent during the next account reconciliation or audit.

What the current VTV changes specifically mean for your SAP configuration

The contribution rate changes as of July 1, 2025, and the new reporting obligations for trainees have been in effect for months – but SAP has not adopted them automatically. Therefore, anyone who has not actively adjusted the configuration since then is still calculating with outdated values today.

Specifically, this means:
The new contribution rates for ULAK, ZVK, and the winter employment levy must already be maintained in the relevant wage types and calculation rules. Table T511K for levy-related calculation figures must contain the values valid for 2026 – not those of the previous year. The payroll logic for apprentices must reflect the ongoing vacation reporting requirement, not just the reporting in the apprentice year. Furthermore, the FI-side posting logic must be aligned with the changed rates to ensure that no hidden discrepancies have accumulated since July 2025.

Those who review these points now can correct errors before they come to light during an audit. Those who wait increase the need for corrections with each additional billing month.

What you should take with you

The combination of new contribution rates, changed reporting obligations, and an often historically developed SAP configuration makes the SOKA-BAU procedure 2026 a genuine litmus test for the quality of construction payroll accounting.

Anyone who maps construction wages in SAP HCM needs to understand what has changed in the VTV and have the system expertise to implement these changes at the correct points in the customizing. Only when both work together in a continuous process are SOKA-BAU reports sustainably correct – and thus also audit-proof.

Do you have questions about the current SOKA-BAU configuration in your SAP HCM system? Or would you like to verify whether your construction payroll for 2026 is correctly set up? Please contact us.