Salary Planner FAQ

FY27 Salary Planner - Resource Guide

⚠️ All dates on this page are TENTATIVE and subject to change. They are provided as a planning guide. Any changes will be communicated to Salary Planner users [via email / on this page]. Check back here for the most current dates.

Audience: College and unit Salary Planner users Plan year: FY27 (increases effective 8/16/2026) Last updated: 06/10/2026

Overview

Salary Planner is the tool colleges and units use to enter and review proposed salary increases for the upcoming fiscal year. This article serves as the central resource for the FY27 Salary Planner cycle, including key deadlines, the Add/Delete processing schedule, webinar information, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Questions? Contact ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu.

• NTFC union members now have their own extract. NTFC (Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition) union members are split out into the separate CF (NTFC) extract, rather than being included with the AC extract. This change comes at the request of Labor and Employee Relations (LER) to provide better documentation of NTFC member increases. All CF (NTFC) entries must include complete comments - every entry will be reviewed to ensure complete comments are included.
• CMER increases are now entered separately from Merit - CF (NTFC) extract only. For entries in the CF (NTFC) extract, each increase type goes in its own Salary Planner bucket:

All other extracts (AC and OR) should continue to enter all increases in the Merit bucket only.

Webinar

• Register for the FY27 Salary Planner Webinar Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 10:30-11:30 AM - Register here (Microsoft Teams)
• Watch last year's (FY26) webinar recording FY26 Salary Planner Webinar Recording (Active Directory login required)

This year's webinar walks through what's new this year, how to work in your scenario, and key deadlines. New users are strongly encouraged to attend or watch the recording.

⚠️ Critical Deadlines - Don't Miss These

* Date pending confirmation by IHR Classification & Compensation.

Full FY27 Timeline

* Date pending confirmation by IHR Classification & Compensation.

NOA Important Dates

Add/Delete Processing Schedule

The Add/Delete process updates Salary Planner extracts to pick up new hires, separations, and organization changes that occurred after the extract was created. Employees and jobs cannot be added to or deleted from Salary Planner directly - inclusion is driven by the Position Budget Profile and Position Budget ORG fields in Banner. Once those fields are correct and the transaction is applied in Banner, the change appears in Salary Planner after the next scheduled run.

Cutoff for inclusion in a run: Add/Delete cycles typically run at 7:00 PM. Changes applied in Banner by the end of the business day are picked up in that evening's run.

Note: College/unit access locks at 8:00 AM on Monday, August 3, 2026. Don't wait for a final Add/Delete run to verify your data - review your extract early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Access & Getting Started

Q: When will I have access to Salary Planner for FY27? A: Final scenarios are created June 18, 2026, and all extracts are unlocked for unit entry on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. A notification email will be sent to Salary Planner users when scenarios are available.

Q: How do I get access to Salary Planner? A: Salary Planner access must be requested through your Unit Security Contact (USC). All access is subject to possible review by your HR Caucus member.

Q: Which scenario should I be working in? A: Work only in the FINAL scenario created for your group. FY27 scenario names follow the format 27 COA 1 XX. Practice and preliminary scenarios were deleted on June 12, 2026.

Q: Where do I log in? A: Salary Planner is accessed through Employee Self-Service (UIUC). After logging in, navigate to My Activities to find Salary Planner.

Q: How do I navigate Salary Planner scenarios? A: Use the Edit Scenario option to view available scenarios, then select the Extract ID to load the scenario. Filter criteria allow viewing by Position Attributes (e.g., Organization, Employee Class) or by Employee Name/UIN. Use the arrow keys to navigate between fields - avoid using the TAB key.

The Salary Program & Eligibility

Q: What is the salary program for FY27? A: The FY27 salary program has not yet been agreed upon. Await further guidance - this article will be updated once the FY27 salary program guidelines are released, and an announcement will be communicated to Salary Planner users.

Q: Can employees hired or promoted after March 1 receive the increase? A: Employees hired or promoted after March 1 are generally not eligible for the standard increase without secondary approval from the Provost's Office. If you wish to provide the increase to these employees, you may enter them in Salary Planner and use the comments section to provide justification. As a courtesy, IHR will enter comments in Salary Planner identifying employees who are ineligible due to receiving an increase after March 1.

Q: How are employees on probation handled? A: Employees currently on probation are generally not eligible for Salary Planner raises. If eligible, they should instead receive an end-of-probation increase, not to exceed the amount determined by the salary program. As a courtesy, IHR will enter comments in Salary Planner identifying employees who are ineligible due to probation.

Q: How are employees in centrally budgeted units (CBUs) handled? A: FY27 guidance for CBU employees has not yet been determined and is pending the release of the salary program guidelines. This article will be updated once guidance is available, and an announcement will be communicated to Salary Planner users.

Q: How are faculty with split appointments between a centrally budgeted unit (CBU) and a tuition college handled? A: If the college makes changes affecting only the non-CBU portion of the appointment (e.g., awarding a CMER on the college side), those changes will be accepted without issue. Changes to the CBU portion of the appointment require approval from the Provost's Office before they can be processed. Communicate any changes affecting CBU appointments to ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu.

Note: this process is dependent on the Provost's Office guidance for CBUs, which has not yet been released. It may not apply if IHR is not required to enter increases on behalf of CBUs.

Q: Is there a limit on increase percentages? A: Increases over 7% are reviewed centrally and require Provost approval.

Entering Increases

Q: What is the effective date for FY27 increases? A: August 16, 2026. Increases entered in Salary Planner are uploaded to Banner with an 8/16/2026 effective date. This year, the effective date is the same for both the OR and AC / CF (NTFC) extracts.

Q: How are increases calculated? A: Increases are calculated on the Base salary, not the Proposed salary. For example, if an FTE change increases the Proposed salary, merit increases still apply only to the Base salary.

Q: Where do I enter each type of increase (Merit, Equity, Compression, Market, Retention)? A: It depends on your extract:

• CF (NTFC) extract: New for FY27, CMER increases are entered separately from Merit. Enter Merit increases in the Merit bucket and all other increase types (Equity, Compression, Market, Retention) in the Other bucket.
• AC and OR extracts: Enter all increases - including the across-the-board increase and any CMER amounts - in the Merit bucket only.

Q: Are comments required on CF (NTFC) entries? A: Yes. Per a Labor and Employee Relations (LER) request for better documentation of NTFC member increases, every CF (NTFC) entry must include complete comments. All CF (NTFC) entries will be reviewed to confirm complete comments are included, and units will be contacted if comments are missing or incomplete.

A complete comment describes the amounts given and splits out each increase by type. This is especially important for amounts entered in the Other bucket, since the comment is what identifies whether the increase is Equity, Compression, Market, or Retention.

Example comments:

AY27 increase includes $4,107 (4%) CMER and $3,080 (3%) SF merit.

AY27 increase includes $4,000 promotion bonus to Clinical Professor.

Q: Are there any cautions when entering data in Salary Planner? A: Do NOT use the Mass Apply feature after making individual changes - Mass Apply will discard those individual changes.

Extract Contents (Add/Delete)

Q: An employee is missing from my extract (new hire, transfer in). When will they appear? A: Employees and jobs cannot be added directly in Salary Planner. Inclusion is driven by the Position Budget Profile and Position Budget ORG fields in Banner - changes to those fields trigger the Add/Delete process, which runs every Monday and Thursday beginning 7/6, then daily from 7/27 through college lockout. Once the underlying job record is applied in Banner, the employee will appear after the next scheduled run. See the Add/Delete Processing Schedule above.

Note that an employee will not be brought into the extract if either of the following applies:

• Effective date after 8/16/2026 - employees whose records have an effective date after 8/16/2026 are not picked up by the Add/Delete process.
• No eligible Budget Profile (BPRO) code - extracts are driven by Budget Profile codes. If an employee's job record does not have an eligible BPRO code, they will not be brought into the extract. Use the Budget Profile Report to verify codes.

If an employee meets both criteria and still does not appear after the next Add/Delete run, contact ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu.

Q: Which Budget Profile (BPRO) codes are included in each extract? A: The OR extract includes all Budget Profile codes. The AC and CF (NTFC) extracts include only codes R, B, N, and T.

Q: An employee who left is still showing in my extract. What do I do? A: Once the separation is applied in Banner, the next Add/Delete run will remove them. If they still appear after a run, contact ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu.

Q: Why was an employee on a visa not included, and how can they be added? A: An employee will not be included in Salary Planner if their visa and job end date expire before the upload effective date (8/16/2026) - the system excludes jobs ending before that date. To include the employee, update the visa status and extend the Job End Date in HR Front End (HRFE) before the Salary Planner upload. Once updated, the job will be added through the next scheduled Add/Delete run.

Titles, FTE & Other Job Changes

Q: What types of changes can be made in Salary Planner besides salary adjustments? A: In addition to salary adjustments, the following changes can be made:

• Job Detail Changes - AC scenarios only; for OR scenarios, submit an HRFE transaction
• FTE Changes - AC scenarios only; the FTE change form must be submitted as an HRFE Admin transaction

Forms are available on the Illinois Human Resources (IHR) website under Unit Forms.

Q: Can I change an employee's title or FTE in Salary Planner? A: Yes - but there is a specific procedure for entering title and FTE changes correctly. If not entered properly, the change can appear as a large salary increase or decrease that doesn't reflect reality. Please review the FY26 webinar recording (Active Directory login required) for a walkthrough before making these changes.

Also keep in mind the related deadlines for staff appointment changes submitted to IHR: CS changes by 7/16/2026 and AP changes by 7/30/2026 (dates pending confirmation by IHR Classification & Compensation).

Q: How do I process an FTE change? A: Enter the new FTE in the Proposed Changed column. Move amounts from the Merit Increase fields to the FTE Change fields and delete the Merit Increase amounts. Calculate the new Hours per Pay as: Proposed FTE × 173.33 = Proposed Hours per Pay.

Q: How are title changes processed for different employee types? A: - Tenure and tenure-track faculty promotions: IHR enters all title changes for primary and associated jobs based on Board of Trustees approvals (via the Provost's Office Promotion & Tenure process). IHR updates titles only - units must enter the accompanying salary increases. - Civil Service (CS) title changes: Must be processed via an HRFE transaction by the unit/college. - Other title changes (Academic Professionals, Specialized Faculty, budgeted Admin titles): Units/colleges have two options: (a) make the title change directly in Salary Planner and upload supporting documentation via an ADM (Admin) HRFE transaction, or (b) process the title change entirely through an HRFE transaction, which will appear in Salary Planner after the next Add/Delete cycle. Processing title changes via HRFE early in the Salary Planner cycle is often preferred for clarity and accuracy.

Q: Are title changes for specialized faculty promotions automatically updated by IHR? A: No. The IHR Salary Planner team enters title changes only for tenure and tenure-track faculty in the Provost's Office P&T approval process. Units/colleges may enter specialized faculty title changes directly in Salary Planner. Supporting documentation must be submitted via an HRFE Admin transaction, and comments must be added in Salary Planner detailing the increases applicable to the title change (e.g., Lecturer to Senior Lecturer).

Q: Should all faculty promotion increases effective 8/16 be included in Salary Planner? A: Yes. IHR enters the title changes related to tenure and tenure-track faculty promotions only, but colleges and units are responsible for entering the salary increases that accompany those P&T updates - including any amounts beyond the standard amounts provided by the Provost's Office. Promotional increases should be entered in the Merit Increase field and are separate from across-the-board increases.

Q: How do pending HRFE transactions affect Salary Planner? A: Pending HRFE transactions can impact the Base salary. Notify ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu if pending transactions affect your data. FOAPAL updates should be made on the Job FOAPAL, not the Position FOAPAL.

Deadlines & Lockout

Q: When is my final deadline to complete entries? A: Salary Planner is locked to all college edits at 8:00 AM on Monday, August 3, 2026. Plan to have all entries complete and verified by end of day Friday, July 31, 2026. Note that your college may set an earlier internal deadline than the HR lockout - check with your college HR office.

Q: What happens after lockout? A: Salary Planner closes to unit edits. Any changes after the lockout must be sent to ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu. Central HR completes review and reporting, and data is uploaded to Banner in late August: AC / CF (NTFC) extracts on 8/24 and the OR extract on 8/27, both with an effective date of 8/16/2026.

Q: I still have appointment changes pending after lockout. Is there any path for them? A: Changes submitted to IHR can still be reflected in the uploads if they meet the extract deadlines: 8/21/2026 for the AC / CF (NTFC) extract and 8/25/2026 for the OR extract. After those dates, corrections are made directly in Banner.

Q: I missed the lockout or need to correct something after upload. What are my options? A: At that stage, corrections to Salary Planner-uploaded data are made directly in Banner or via an HR Front End (HRFE) transaction - not in Salary Planner. Corrections must be completed by 5:00 PM Friday, August 28, 2026 for biweekly (BW) payrolls (prior to the 8/30 BW calc) and 5:00 PM Monday, September 7, 2026 for monthly (MN) payrolls (prior to the 9/7 MN calc). Contact ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu as soon as possible.

Reports & Verification

Q: How can I verify my entries are correct before lockout? A: From the List By Employee screen in Salary Planner, you can download your data to Excel using Download Job Data or Download Job & Distribution. Use the Summary Totals button for totals by organization without individual job details. Additional reports are available via the System HR Reporting Portal, including the Budget Profile report and Salary Planner FOAP Does Not Equal 100.

Q: How can I export a list of all employees in my college, including comments? A: 1. Go to Edit Scenario and select By Position Attributes. 2. Click Summary Totals, then select List By Employee. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the page. 4. Click Download Job & Distribution to export to Excel.

The export includes employee details and any comments entered in Salary Planner, such as notes on probation status or eligibility.

Q: What is the Graybook and how does Salary Planner relate to it? A: The Graybook is the published listing of academic salaries. The final Graybook run is at 10:00 AM on August 24, 2026, generated from Salary Planner data - which is why AC / CF (NTFC) changes must be submitted to IHR by 8/21/2026.

Notices of Appointment (NOAs)

Q: When will NOAs be released? A: NOAs are released on September 19, 2026. Final monthly NOAs for AY 25-26 run on 8/21/2026; daily/manual NOAs resume 8/24/2026 (paused on the OR upload date, 8/27/2026).

Help

Q: Who do I contact with questions? A: Email ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu.

Q: Where can I find training? A: Register for the FY27 webinar or watch the FY26 webinar recording (Active Directory login required).

Related Links

• Salary Planner login: Employee Self-Service (UIUC)
• FY27 webinar registration
• FY26 webinar recording (AD login required)
• Contact: ihr-salaryplanner@illinois.edu