How to Delete Payroll Results in SAP: PU01

By : Kaelyn Flynn Kaelyn Flynn
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⚡ Smart Summary

Deleting Payroll Results in SAP with transaction PU01 removes the latest payroll result for one employee, provided it has not been posted to Finance. This resource explains what PU01 does, when to use it, the precautions, and the procedure.

  • 🗑️ Transaction PU01: PU01 deletes the latest payroll result for a single employee.
  • 🚫 Not Posted Only: A result can be deleted only if it has not been posted to the General Ledger.
  • 🎯 One at a Time: PU01 works on one personnel number and removes just the last result.
  • 📦 Bulk Deletion: Report RPUDEL20 deletes payroll results for many employees at once.
  • ⚠️ Correction Step: Deletion is used to undo mistaken runs, such as an accidental off-cycle payment.
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Delete Payroll Results in SAP with PU01

You may come across scenarios which require you to delete Payroll results. For example, you have accidentally run an off-cycle payment for an employee. The following procedure will delete the latest payroll result for an employee from the SAP system, provided payroll has not been posted to the GL account yet.

What is PU01 in SAP Payroll?

PU01 is the SAP transaction used to delete the most recent payroll result for a single employee. When payroll runs, SAP writes the results into the payroll cluster; PU01 removes the latest of those result records so the period can be recalculated or corrected.

It is a targeted tool: PU01 works on one personnel number at a time and only deletes the last payroll result, not the entire history. This makes it useful for undoing a single mistaken run—such as an accidental off-cycle payment—without disturbing earlier, correct results.

An important limitation is that PU01 can only delete a result if that payroll has not yet been posted to the General Ledger. Once payroll is posted to Finance, the result is locked and must be corrected through reversal and rerun instead. For deleting results in bulk, SAP provides the report RPUDEL20.

When Should You Delete Payroll Results?

Deleting payroll results is not a routine task—it is a correction step used only when a run should not have happened or was based on wrong data. Because it removes calculated pay, it should be done carefully and only in clear situations.

Common reasons to delete a payroll result include:

  • An off-cycle payment was run for the wrong employee or with the wrong amount.
  • A test or duplicate live run created an unwanted result that must be cleared.
  • Incorrect master or time data was used, and the run needs to be redone from scratch.
  • A result must be removed so the employee can be reprocessed in a later correction run.

In each case, the result must still be unposted to Finance. If it is already posted, you reverse the posting first. Deleting the wrong result can affect an employee’s pay, so most teams restrict PU01 access to experienced payroll administrators.

Precautions Before Deleting Payroll Results

Because deletion cannot be undone with a simple click, take a few precautions before you run PU01:

  • Confirm the posting status: Ensure the payroll result has not been posted to the General Ledger; posted results cannot be deleted this way.
  • Verify the personnel number: Double-check you are working on the correct employee, since PU01 acts on the last result for that number.
  • Check the control record: The payroll area may need to be in the correct status before the result can be removed or reprocessed.
  • Record what you delete: Note the period and result you are removing so it can be recreated by rerunning payroll.
  • Restrict access: Limit PU01 to trained administrators to prevent accidental data loss.

Following these precautions ensures deletion is a safe, reversible-by-rerun step rather than a source of new payroll errors.

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Delete Payroll Results in SAP

Step 1) In the SAP command prompt, enter transaction PU01.

Step 2) Enter the Employee Personnel Number. Click Execute.

Delete Payroll Results in SAP

Step 3) Highlight the payroll results. Click Execute.

Delete Payroll Results Selection in SAP

Step 4) You will get a confirmation message that the last payroll results were successfully deleted.

You can also use the program RPUDEL20 to delete multiple payroll results of many employees at the same time.

FAQs

PU01 deletes the last payroll result for one employee interactively. RPUDEL20 is a report that deletes payroll results for many employees at once, often in the background. Use PU01 for a single fix and RPUDEL20 for bulk cleanup.

No. Once a payroll result is posted to the General Ledger, PU01 cannot delete it. You must first reverse the finance posting, then correct or delete the result and rerun payroll for the affected period.

The payroll area should be in Released for Payroll status when you want to delete a result for the current period through PU01. If it is in Exit Payroll, release the area again via PA03 before deletion so the system allows the change.

After you delete a payroll result, the employee no longer has a result for that run. The period can then be recalculated by running payroll again with corrected data, which creates a fresh, accurate result.

RPUDEL20 is the SAP report that deletes payroll results in bulk. You provide a personnel-number range and period, and it removes the matching results, provided they are not yet posted. It is normally scheduled as a background job for cleanup.

Deleting itself does not trigger a retro run, but the next live payroll will pick up the missing period and recalculate. If earlier periods are also affected by data changes, SAP performs retroactive accounting automatically from the earliest changed date.

AI can warn when a deletion targets a posted result, the wrong employee, or a period with dependencies. These checks reduce mistakes, but the administrator still decides and performs the deletion inside SAP.

AI and Copilot assistants can review recent runs and highlight likely candidates for deletion, such as duplicate or accidental off-cycle results. They offer suggestions, but each result must be verified as unposted and correct to remove before using PU01.

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