Volume 9 Issue 3 - March 2026
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New Payroll Item Template View
You may have noticed an additional option in the Payroll Item menu. This exciting new member is called Payroll Item Template. Now all payroll items templates can be found here - in its own space!
When accessing the Payroll Item Templates option, you should see any templates you’ve already created and have been using. It’s here you will now be able to create any new payroll items to be used going forward!
Simply go to Core>Payroll Items, select Payroll Item Template, and create away! Keep in mind, you can still access and create your payroll item templates when creating a payroll item for an employee.
Happy payroll item template creating!!
Recent IPDP Enhancements
Since the release of the Individual Professional Development Plan (IPDP) software in July 2025, the application has received regular updates. The updates have covered bug fixes, improvements, and new features based on user feedback. This article will cover some of the enhancements over the last several months.
The IPDP User manual is regularly updated and is your go-to resource for understanding the features and functionality available within the application. The appendix provides essential supplementary information to assist both ITCs and districts with the conversion process. Additionally, the appendix includes User Procedures which define the processes a user can perform in the software based on their role.
Activity Enhancements
There were a variety of updates to allow more flexibility to Activities. Activities can now be reverted to a status prior to approval by District Managers, Admin, or Committee member level users. This maintains the approval trail but also gives an option for activities to receive modifications and then be resubmitted or approved. From the District Activities page, when viewing an activity with the 
Activities can now be cancelled any time prior to approval. This allows users to cancel activities they don’t intend to submit and sort them to the bottom of their grid view without having to go through the process of submitting activities to have them denied. Cancelled activities cannot be modified or resubmitted for approval later.
As of the 2026.6.0 Release, the edit option 
Lastly, to keep track of all the Activities and their variety of status and information, there is now an Export Grid Items button 
Plan Enhancements
The Plan enhancements focused on making dates more visible on the grid and expanding access to Archive plans. Previously, only individual users could archive their own plan. We received requests to allow Committee Members and District Managers to be able to also Archive plans. This access may be helpful for corrections or clean up at the district without requiring action by each individual user. Along with expanding the access to archive plans, we’ve added a new option for all users to Unarchive plans. This helps provide an “undo” option that can be used in certain situations where an archived plan may need to be changed back to active.
When using the Archive option, the plan and all associated activities must be Approved, Denied, or Cancelled status. If this is not the case, the Archive option will not be available for that plan. The Unarchive option can only be used when there are no other active plans.
A variety of Date fields have been made available to view on the Plan grids. The following fields can be found by adding more columns to the Plan grid using the 
Applicable Certifications: Lists the Certifications that are selected on the Plan
Certification Expirations: Lists the Expiration Dates for the selected Professional Certifications on the plan. If there are multiple licenses on the plan, the expiration dates will line up horizontally to the plan each date applies to.
Effective Date: This is an optional field to enter a district determined effective date for the plan. This field can only be modified by users with access to the District Plan View. When a Plan includes an effective date, only activities with a start date after the effective date can be approved.
Submitted Date: Displays the date the Plan was submitted for Approval. This date is tracked on the Approval Trail details.
Approved Date: Displays the date the Plan was Approved. This date is tracked on the Approval Trail details.
NOTE: For records imported from the Legacy IPDP application, the Submitted and Approved dates were not initially brought over. The importer was then modified to include these dates for districts that converted later in 2025. Follow up Import steps are available to populate blank dates for those that converted from the legacy software.
Lastly, to keep track of all the Plan dates and details, there is now an Export Grid Items button
Configuration Enhancements
For District Managers, there are now some additional configuration options available. The Activity pages can now be toggled off for districts that don’t wish to track Activities in the IPDP software. This can be found in the IPDP Functionality Configuration. When unchecked, the Activity view, activity information on the Home page, and Total CEUs on Plans will not be displayed. Take caution with toggling this option! If this configuration is saved with Activities unchecked, any outstanding activities will be Denied upon saving.
Plan Reminder Emails can now be customized! Under the Plan Reminder Email Configuration there are now options to customize the Subject and Body of emails sent to users that haven’t yet created their Plan, have created their Plan but not yet submitted it for approval, or have a plan that was Returned for Modification. The messages for each of these scenarios can be customized separately. These emails will be sent when prompted by Committee Member or District Manager level users from the Users Without Approved Plan page.
Developer notes for all IPDP releases can be found here. Support Release Recaps can be found here.
Useful links:
Enhanced Search in Document Storage
Document Storage in USAS and USPS includes an Elasticsearch-powered search feature, making it faster and easier to locate documents. You can quickly search by keywords and retrieve relevant results without manually browsing folders. This feature is available to users with standard access or higher in USxS. Recorded links demonstrating how to use the search option in Document Storage are available here: USPS & USAS
New Pay Accounts Mass Change Option
This recently added option allows you to mass change an existing pay account to another pay account. This feature includes the following options:
A Preview option and an Actual option.
The ability to include archived employees and positions.
The ability to include inactive accounts.
The ability to include specific miscellaneous accounts.
The ability to include maximum amount in effect accounts.
Once the Actual option is run and the the pay account(s) are updated, the changes can be viewed by going to Core>Payroll Accounts and Employee Dashboard>Payroll Accounts. A copy of the report is also saved to the Document Storage (or File Archive if Document Storage hasn’t been implemented yet) and can be viewed in the Payroll Archive>YYYY - Payroll Accounts Mass Change folder.
Click here for more information.
Attendance/Absence Import Enhancement:
The Attendance/Absence Import option now allows a pay account to be included in your load file for OT (Overtime) and BOT (Blended Overtime) pay types (this already existed for Miscellaneous pay types) and loaded accordingly. If a pay account is included in the load file, when the file is loaded and the Post to Payroll Payments - Future and/or Payroll Payments - Current is selected, the pay account from the load file will be populated on these entries.
This enhancement provides increased flexibility and helps ensure that overtime-related costs are accurately allocated to the appropriate expenditure account(s).
Changing Payroll Banks
Is your district transitioning to a new payroll bank? If so, SSDT has provided general instructions and important considerations under our USPS Useful Procedures to help guide you through the process. NOTE: Please reach out to your ITC as well in case they may have custom instructions already available for you.
USAS Account Change Import
A new feature allows you to create multiple Account Change requests in one step for Revenue or Expenditure accounts by importing a CSV file.
All rules that apply to creating an Account Change manually also apply to imported Account Change Requests.
By using the provided Account Change template found here, requests can be imported directly from the Account Change grid using the Import button.
If the account the change is moving To does not currently exist, USAS will automatically create the new account during the import process.
EMISFFE End of Life
As shared in recent EMIS Newsflashes, the EMISFFE application will be retired effective April 15, 2026. For further information on the application’s end of life, please refer to the March 12th EMIS Newsflash.