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What's New in balanceAAP

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BalanceAAP

Part of the balanceWORKS family of software

If you would like to review recent interface design changes, please see:   Software Transition Crosswalk.

Version 4.0


As part of our efforts to continually improve our products and services, Berkshire performs periodic upgrades to balanceAAP software.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact Berkshire’s Product Support department at: product.support@berkshireassociates.com.
OR from within the software, access Support from the Help icon in the software header to send a message to Berkshire.

Berkshire’s Product Support Team

This plan preparation software has been updated to include new features at the intervals below:

April 2020

  • Via “New” and “Old” Plan Code fields on balanceAAP’s Data Tables, Master plan preparers can now document promotion and transfer pathways between AAPs, as part of developing feeders.

January 2020

  • The Availability > Factor Weights screen has been augmented with a feature to alert the user when internal feeders are not present so they can be reviewed and/or addressed.

December 2019

  • System Alerts have been consolidated to a balanceWORKS landing page, organized by software product, offering a centralized method for users to view and acknowledge system messages.
  • We continue to enhance this product in response to identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

October 2019

  • When editing and saving Narratives > Templates, the option to "Revert to Default" has been supplemented with an option to "Revert to Last Saved Version".

August 2019

  • As the second phase of EEO-1 Report development to support "Component 2" data collection, the file export feature is now available, in accordance with EEOC specifications.

July 2019

  • The first phase of updates to the EEO-1 Report module will support data collection for the form’s new “Component 2” submission. This functionality allows for the reporting of employee demographic counts by pay band for each EEO category. Below are Help links that provide more information:
  • To set precedence for multiple transactions in a day when the File Consistency check or Start Point analysis is run, System Tools > General settings have been augmented with a Personnel Action Order menu, providing the capability to prioritize personnel actions in a default or custom order.
  • We continue to enhance the interface in response to identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

June 2019

  • As part of Apps to Hires, a suite of Applicant data reconciliation tools, duplicate applicants can now be reviewed and resolved.
  • The layout for working with File Consistency issues across an employee's transaction records has been improved so that records with issues can be quickly located, selected, and resolved.
  • The visual look of the Summary chart headers has been improved on the Dashboard.
  • We continue to enhance the newly designed interface in response to identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

May 2019

  • The ADVERSE IMPACT FOR APPLICANTS report can now be run by Requisition Number.
  • A new feature to create Trend Reports has been added to the Reports module. These reports will assist in identifying positive and negative movement in key AAP metrics over time.
  • We continue to enhance the newly designed interface in response to previously identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

April 2019

  • A new option is available in the File Consistency check to include the prior plan. With this setting, the scan can be performed on the Roster to flag inconsistencies between the prior and current year entries.
  • Census Coding now includes tools to:
    • Filter the Census Coding table to readily review and update EEO group classification mismatches.
    • Support the advanced user in filtering for letter-based Census codes and converting these codes to the proper numerical entries.
  • Advanced History features allow you to:
    • Create and store a "History plan," originating from balanceAAP's Start Point analysis, an existing feature that estimates the historical placement goals based on current plan data.
    • Manage created History plans, by assigning one to the current plan and/or deleting prior History plans.
  • We continue to enhance the newly designed interface in response to previously identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

March 2019

  • Plans, the initial landing page, now helps you track audit plans, including the option to show audited and/or unaudited AAPs on the Open Plan tab. Audit plans will be indicated on this tab and the Recent Plans list through highlighting.
  • After the reorganization of External Availability in the prior release, Census Coding tools have been enhanced with the following features:
    • The layout has been redesigned to feature a table format, displaying all relevant Census Coding information — including Census/Job Code matches — PLUS a direct work area for updating these matches.
    • The Census Coding table can be filtered by Job Code, EEO Code, Census Code, revision version, and whether in use.
    • A Census code listing can be expanded to display the SOC (Standard Occupation Code) definition and demographic statistics from the U.S. Census database.
    • The work area now features comprehensive, multi-level Search tools to find Census Codes.
    • Census code assignments can be exported to Excel, via a quick-click button.
  • File Consistency > Batch Ops have been augmented with:
    • Options that consider and help resolve multiple personnel transactions for an employee when they occur on the same day.
    • (For a Master plan) a global operation that updates the Plan code in an employee's personnel action records to match the employee's "Reports to" entry on the Roster Data table.
  • We continue to enhance the newly designed interface in response to previously identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.

February 2019

  • For better ease of use, the software's Availability > External Availability components have been segregated into two distinct work areas, accessible directly from the side navigation menu:
    • Recruitment Areas
    • Census Coding
  • The BEST UTILIZATION RULE report (Availability > Factor Weights) now outputs improved analysis when the "All Plans" option is selected for a Master/sub plan set.
  • We continue to enhance the newly designed interface in response to previously identified customer needs and to enhance performance or perform minor bug fixes.