SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling with CTR

The Key Takeaway

The one rule to remember: In CTR, SuccessFactors cannot cancel absences that were created in S/4HANA. Cancel those absences in S/4HANA first, let the approved timesheet replicate the cancellation to SuccessFactors, and then re-run Termination End Handling. It will then complete successfully.

What Termination End Handling does

When an employee is terminated in Employee Central, the time data that falls after the last day of employment must be cleaned up. SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling (TEH) does this automatically. Saving the termination creates a Time Management Task of type Termination End Handling, which the system processes on its scheduled date.

The task runs through four processing steps. You will see these step names in the Termination End Handling admin alerts:

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling flow showing four processing steps and the CTR difference — **Figure 1.** Standard Termination End Handling flow, with the CTR difference

Processing step	What the system does
PREREQUISITE_CHECK	Checks the termination can be processed, for example that the termination date has not changed since TEH last ran.
RECALCULATION_OPEN	Makes sure no recalculation event for the employee has finished with errors.
EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING	Cancels absences (employee time) that fall after the last day of employment.
TIME_ACCOUNT_PROCESSING	Shortens the validity and bookable period of time accounts to the last day of employment, or deletes accounts that start after it.

Validation Status says “Success”, Pairing Status shows the record as paired correctly, right employee, right time event, right date, however issue exist in the timezone, which is not visible on the screen.

How CTR changes the process

With Consolidated Time Recording (CTR), employees record absences in the S/4HANA Fiori timesheet and the records are replicated to SuccessFactors. SuccessFactors does not own those records, so TEH cannot cancel them. The EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING step stops and raises this alert:

Alert text:
“The termination end handling process can’t cancel the employee time because it was created with consolidated time recording. Please cancel the absence in the S/4HANA system.”

Absences created directly in SuccessFactors are still cancelled by TEH automatically. Only the S/4HANA-originated absences need manual action. The sequence below is the one that works:

CTR Termination End Handling sequence showing S/4HANA absence cancellation before re-running TEH — **Figure 2.** The CTR sequence: cancel in S/4HANA first, then re-run TEH

Example: Employee Termination with CTR

Sample Employee (Employee ID: 12345678) resigns with a last date of employment of 22 September 2026. Before the termination is saved, the employee has these absences

Absence	Dates	Created in	Expected TEH outcome
Annual Leave	21–22 Sep 2026	S/4HANA (CTR)	Unchanged (on or before last day)
Annual Leave	23–25 Sep 2026	S/4HANA (CTR)	Cancel manually in S/4HANA
Jury Duty	5–8 Oct 2026	SuccessFactors	Cancelled automatically by TEH

Step-by-Step: Complete Termination End Handling

Step 1 of 9: Review the employee’s absences and time accounts (SF).

Go to People Profile › Administer Time and open the Absences tab. Note every absence after the planned last day of employment and where it came from.

SAP SuccessFactors employee absences before termination showing SF-created and S/4HANA-created absences — **Figure 3.** Absences before termination. Green: SF-created Jury Duty (TEH will cancel it). Red: S/4HANA-created Annual Leave (must be cancelled in S/4HANA).

Open the Time Accounts tab. The Account Validity and Bookable Period are the fields TEH cuts back to the last day of employment.

SAP SuccessFactors Time Accounts showing Account Validity and Bookable Period before termination — **Figure 4.** Time Accounts tab: Account Validity and Bookable Period

On the Annual Leave account, check the postings. A Created By value of the S/4HANA CTR technical user (TECHNICAL_USER_ECTIME_S4HANA_CTR…) shows the leave booking was replicated from S/4HANA.

SAP SuccessFactors Annual Leave postings replicated from S/4HANA through CTR — **Figure 5.** *Annual Leave 2026 postings: leave bookings replicated from S/4HANA*

Step 2 of 9: Terminate the employee (SF).

Open Terminate Employment, enter the Last Date of Employment (22 Sep 2026 in this example), the termination reason and the mandatory fields, then Save. This creates the Termination End Handling task.

SAP SuccessFactors Terminate Employment showing last date of employment — **Figure 6.** *Terminate Employment: last date of employment 22 Sep 2026*

Step 3 of 9: Check the Termination End Handling task (SF).

Go to Admin Center › Manage Data, search for Time Management Task and select the employee’s task. Because S/4HANA absences exist after the last day, the status is Completed with errors. This is expected in CTR.

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling task showing Completed with errors — **Figure 7.** *Time Management Task of type Termination End Handling: Completed with errors*

Step 4 of 9: Read the Termination End Handling alert (SF).

Go to Admin Center › Admin Alerts and select the admin alert type Termination End Handling Alert under Time Management.

SAP SuccessFactors Admin Alerts showing the Termination End Handling Alert — **Figure 8.** *Admin Alerts: select Termination End Handling Alert*

Filter for the employee. There is one alert per S/4HANA absence, at processing step EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING. The Employee Time External Code starts with CTR_, which confirms the record came from S/4HANA.

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling alerts for an employee at EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING — **Figure 9.** Alerts for the employee at step EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING

SAP SuccessFactors alert instructing cancellation of the absence in S/4HANA — **Figure 10.** *Alert message: cancel the absence in the S/4HANA system*

Step 5 of 9: Remove the hours in the S/4HANA timesheet (S4).

The employee, their manager or an administrator logs in to the Fiori timesheet in S/4HANA, opens the week of the termination and clicks Edit. Set the hours to 0 for every absence day after the last day of employment (23, 24 and 25 September here) and submit.

SAP S/4HANA Fiori timesheet with hours removed after the employee termination date — **Figure 11.** S/4HANA Fiori timesheet: hours removed from 23–25 September; 21–22 September kept

Step 6 of 9: Confirm “Cancellation Pending” in SuccessFactors (SF).

The change replicates to SuccessFactors and the absences show Cancellation Pending until the timesheet is approved in S/4HANA.

SAP SuccessFactors absences showing Cancellation Pending after S/4HANA timesheet update — **Figure 12.** *Absences for 23–25 September in Cancellation Pending; Jury Duty already Cancelled*

Step 7 of 9: Approve the timesheet in S/4HANA (S4).

Once the timesheet is approved in S/4HANA, the absences replicate as Cancelled in SuccessFactors. Absences on or before the last day stay Approved.

SAP SuccessFactors absences after the termination date showing Cancelled status — **Figure 13.** *All absences after the last day of employment are now Cancelled*

Step 8 of 9: Re-run the Termination End Handling task (SF).

Go back to Admin Center › Manage Data and open the same Time Management Task. Choose Take Action › Make Correction and set:

Status = To be processed
Execute Task on Save = Yes

Then click Save.

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling task set to To be processed with execution on save enabled — **Figure 14.** Manage Data: Status “To be processed” and Execute Task on Save “Yes”

Step 9 of 9: Confirm successful completion (SF).

Refresh the task. The status is now Completed successfully. Acknowledge the old Termination End Handling alerts for the employee in Admin Alerts.

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling task showing Completed successfully — **Figure 15.** Termination End Handling: Completed successfully

Common alert messages

Alert message (shortened)	Step	What to do
Can’t cancel the employee time because it was created with consolidated time recording	EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING	Zero the hours in the S/4HANA Fiori timesheet, approve, confirm Cancelled in SF, then re-run the task (Steps 5–8).
Can’t cancel the employee time because of a pending workflow	EMPLOYEE_TIME_PROCESSING	Complete or cancel the pending absence workflow, then re-run the task.
Recalculation event … finished with errors	RECALCULATION_OPEN	Clear the recalculation alert, restart the recalculation, then re-run the task
Can’t shorten the bookable period / can’t delete the time account: postings other than accrual or recalculation exist	TIME_ACCOUNT_PROCESSING	Clean up the manual postings after the termination date on the time account, then re-run the task.
Termination date changed to a past/future date after TEH already ran	PREREQUISITE_CHECK	TEH will not run again. Update the time accounts and absences manually, then acknowledge the alert.

Checklist for CTR terminations

List all absences after the last day of employment and note which are S/4HANA-created (Created By = CTR technical user, or external code starting with CTR_).
Save the termination in Employee Central.
Check the Termination End Handling task and the admin alerts.
Zero the hours for those absences in the S/4HANA Fiori timesheet and get the timesheet approved.
Confirm the absences show Cancelled in SuccessFactors.
Re-run the task (Status = To be processed, Execute Task on Save = Yes).
Confirm Completed successfully and acknowledge the old alerts.

Tip: do it in the right order.
If S/4HANA absences are cancelled before the termination is saved, there is nothing for TEH to block on, so it should complete successfully the first time without a re-run.

Need help with SAP SuccessFactors Time Management or CTR?

Making the right architectural decision is critical.

CloudSculpts brings hands-on experience from implementing CTR for global Telecommunications organisation spanning 100+ countries. This gives our team practical insight into designing Termination End Handling (TEH) and deploying CTR within complex, global SAP S/4HANA and SuccessFactors landscapes.

Our SAP SuccessFactors Time Management experts can help you:

Troubleshoot Termination End Handling (TEH) issues
Understand how TEH interacts with CTR and S/4HANA
Resolve complex termination and time-recording scenarios
Review SuccessFactors–CTR–S/4HANA integration and configuration
Optimise existing Time Management and CTR implementations

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About the Author:

Reni Jain

SAP SuccessFactors EC Consultant of CloudSculpts

Specializing in Employee Central (EC), Time Off, and Time Sheet Management. Focused on SAP configuration, time management processes, and effective HR technology solutions. Working on a similar SAP challenge? Let’s connect!

SAP SuccessFactors Termination End Handling with Consolidated Time Recording (CTR)