Sep 2022
29
Customer Update: October 2022
Welcome to BrightPay's October update. Our most important news this month includes:
-
Six-month “lifeline” for businesses struggling with energy bills announced
-
Give clients more responsibility over their payroll
-
AM’s Tasks become full-blown Workflow
How payroll can propel your practice beyond the competition
In next week's webinar, our experts will explore how you can work faster and smarter, while making a profit. Don’t undervalue your service offering to clients. Expand your services even further to stand out from the competition.
Protect your payroll: Top 5 security tips
Almost everything online is accessible at our fingertips, so just how safe is your clients’ data? In our latest guide, we explore five key payroll security tips that you can start offering your clients, before it's too late.
Mini budget reveals big changes for payroll
While a lot of what was announced in last week's mini-budget had been expected, many were surprised to see so many changes that will have a direct impact on payroll.
In this article, we’ve listed the changes that will most affect payroll processors and what steps, if any, you need to take to implement these changes.
Time and money saving features for your practice
Why are some accountants not profiting from payroll? In our upcoming webinar, we discuss how using cloud technology and automation can help save you time and money by eliminating time-consuming tasks.
Make HMRC payments painless
Missed out? Watch back our webinar and learn how your business can remove the pain from HMRC payments. Our integration with Modulr lets you pay HMRC, subcontractors and employees in just 90 seconds, directly through your payroll software.
Sep 2022
28
Mini budget reveals big changes for payroll
On the 18th of October 2022, there was an announced reversal of some of the measures previously outlined in September's mini-budget.
The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has made changes to the mini-budget, ahead of the medium-term fiscal plan at the end of October. Hunt will be reversing almost all of the tax cuts, that the previous chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced in September. Hunt stated that stability is the objective and that this new approach will cost taxpayers much less than originally planned.
Whether you’re an accountant, payroll bureau, business owner or payroll professional, you’re probably wondering what effect this will have on how you run payroll.
Below, we’ve listed the changes which will most affect payroll processors and what steps, if any, you need to take to implement these changes.
1. Income tax stays the same
The reduction of the basic rate of income tax by 1% will be scrapped ‘indefinitely’, and so will remain at 20%.
What do I need to do?
No action from payroll processors is required.
2. Health & Social Care Levy scrapped
- The planned abolishment of the Health and Social Care Levy will go ahead as planned. From 6th November 2022, the temporary increase to National Insurance (NI) contributions will end and the rates which were applicable in the 2021/22 tax year will apply once again.
- The 1.25% Health and Social Care Levy will no longer come into force next year.
- Those who pay National Insurance on an annual basis will pay a blended rate of NI for the 2022/23 tax year to take into accountant the changes in NI rates throughout the year.
The blended rates are as follows:
| National Insurance Class | Main rate | Additional rate |
| Directors | 12.73% | 2.73% |
| Class 1A and 1B | 14.53% | N/A |
| Class 4 | 9.73% | 2.73% |
What do I need to do?
The new rates will mean that payroll software providers will need to update their software from November 6th to account for these changes.
3. IR35 rules to remain the same
It was previously announced that rules regarding off-payroll working would return to what they were pre-2017, however this is now no longer the case. The reform, which would have cost £2bn a year, has now been cancelled and IR35 rules will remain the same.
What do I need to do?
No action from payroll processors is required.
4. Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill is a new bill which will end all EU retained laws by 31st December 2023 to make way for new regulations, tailor-made for the UK.
What do I need to do?
This bill could potentially have massive implications for UK employment law, so it is one to watch in the coming year.
Further changes to the mini-budget
Hunt introduced other changes to the mini-budget, which included:
- The universal help on energy prices will only apply for six months, until April 2023 (instead of the two years that it was originally intended for)
- There will be no rise in corporation tax
- The basic rate of income tax will remain at 20%
- No cuts on dividend tax rates
- New VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors will no longer be going ahead
- There will be no freeze on alcohol duty rates
Related articles:
Sep 2022
16
3 signs your payroll process is outdated
Staying on top of the latest digital business trends isn’t just difficult, it can be quite costly too. From banking apps, to Making Tax Digital – digital processes are becoming the mainstream. The payroll industry is no different and how well you keep up with the rapidly changing industry can often depend on the payroll software you use.
When your business becomes more digitalised, this can have a ripple effect on your entire company – from boosting employee satisfaction to increasing the competency and efficiency of your payroll workflow. But how do you know if your business’ payroll process is outdated, and if so, how can you update it? Let’s look at the top 3 signs your payroll process is outdated, with some easy-to-use tools you can start using today to modernise your business.
Having paper-based payslips
Do you still send employees’ paper-based payslips? Whether you send them by post or leave them in the break room for employees, these can both pose security risks. For example, if you leave payslips around the office floor, or even somewhere such as underneath a till, there’s a good chance that someone in the company could pick up the wrong payslip; exposing a staff member’s personal data to unauthorised persons.
Another way you can distribute payslips is by email. However, this can post security risks, as people might forget their password, or their payslips might get sent to the wrong email, exposing sensitive data to unauthorised users.
Luckily, these days there are much more secure and cost-effective alternatives for distributing your employees’ payslips. One way is by having staff use an employee app that syncs with your payroll software. This streamlines your payroll process by letting your payroll software distribute payslips automatically, at a time of your choosing. Employees can then view, print and download their payslips from anywhere, at any time, from their employee app on their iOS or android device. This streamlines your payroll process by letting your payroll software distribute payslips for you.
BrightPay’s cloud extension, BrightPay Connect, can offer employees access to their own employee app, where they can access payslips from anywhere at any time. As well as a payslip hub, an employee app can come with many other innovative features, such as an annual leave tool and a HR document hub.
Payments take days to land in employees’ bank accounts
If wages take days to land in employees’ bank accounts, it can leave you feeling on edge until you know they’ve been paid. Not only that, but if an error occurs and an employee is underpaid, for example, it could leave them waiting for up to a week to be paid what they are owed. Not to mention the manual workload that’s involved in creating bank files and rectifying such errors, each pay period.
Thankfully, there are faster, easier and more reliable methods of paying employees – some can even allow employees to be paid in as little as 90 seconds. An example of this would be using BrightPay’s integration with Modulr, a direct payments platform that lets you pay employees, HMRC and subcontractors in under 90 seconds, through your payroll software. This saves you time by removing the need to export bank files,and offers your business a more flexible solution to pay employees.
Manually backing up your payroll data
Manually backing up your payroll data to your PC, a third-party cloud server or an external hard drive isn’t just time-consuming, it can also pose security risks. For example, if your PC got hacked, or your external hard drive wasn’t ejected properly, you could potentially lose your data backups or employees’ payroll information could be leaked to unauthorised users. On top of that, manually backing up your payroll data each pay period takes time and it can be easy to forget to do it.
That’s why having your payroll data automatically backed up for you can save you time, while providing your business with a more digitalised and up-to-date solution. This ensures that your payroll data is backed up securely and remotely in the cloud, which increases your GDPR compliance and improves the overall security of your business. Allowing technology to do this tedious work for you in the background means you can attend to other important matters of your business.
A great example of this can be seen in BrightPay’s cloud extension, BrightPay Connect, which backs up your payroll data automatically to the cloud every 15 minutes, and once again when you exit the software. These backups are stored chronologically on the secure Microsoft Azure platform.
BrightPay is one of the UK’s leading providers of payroll software for SMEs. Interested in learning more about their cloud extension, BrightPay Connect? Book a free online 15-minute demo today. To stay up to date with all the latest payroll news and legislative updates, sign up to our weekly newsletter here.
Sep 2022
8
6 features your payroll software should have
Running payroll can be a headache, depending on what payroll software provider you use. Nobody wants to be using outdated, clunky software that isn’t updated regularly, or one that is not compliant with the latest payroll legislation. On top of that, using outdated software can take up a lot of time that could be spent on developing your business instead.
It’s time to choose a payroll software that not only processes payroll quicker, but that automates many other payroll tasks for you, such as paying employees, and submitting payroll information to HMRC. This means less evenings spent in the office processing payroll, and more free time to focus on customers or exciting plans for the company you’ve been putting on hold.
Here are the top six features that payroll software providers should be offering your business in 2022.
1. HMRC functionality
Using a HMRC compliant payroll software is the most important feature to look out for when choosing a payroll software provider. Staying compliant with the latest legislation should be at the forefront of your decision-making process. From automatically generating FPSs to submitting RTI forms, there are many automated features out there that are available to businesses that can streamline their duties to HMRC. This allows your business to both save time and reduce the workload involved in running payroll.
2. Integration with Accounting Software
Manually re-entering figures from your payroll software into your accounting software can be a tedious part of your payroll workflow. Not only that but inputting the wrong figures or entering the same data twice can lead to errors, which can be time-consuming to rectify. Using a payroll software that’s integrated with your accounting software can transform this process into a simple and seamless task, by transferring the data from your payroll journals directly into the general ledger within your accounting package. This can greatly reduce the time you spend on payroll, each pay period.
3. Distribute payments from within the software
Running payroll and paying employees used to be entirely separate processes. Between creating bank files, ensuring all the pay information is correct, and ensuring that payments will land in employees’ accounts on time; paying employees can take up a significant amount of time each pay period. Thankfully, choosing a payroll software provider that’s integrated with a direct payment platform can now offer you the ability to pay employees from directly within the payroll software.
An example of this can be seen when using an integrated payment platform which uses the Faster Payments service, where you can pay employees in as little as 90 seconds from within the payroll software. This integration can also provide you with more flexibility in your business by letting you schedule payments in advance. This offers you peace of mind around your payments by allowing you to make any necessary last-minute changes to your payments, before they’re distributed.
4. Auto enrolment and pension integration
While auto enrolment has made saving for retirement easier for employees, it has made payroll a more time-consuming process for employers. Whether you’re assessing employees’ eligibility, enrolling them into a pension scheme or sending out enrolment letters to employees, this can be incredibly time-consuming as a busy employer.
Thankfully, with the right payroll software in place, these tasks can now be more automated from within your payroll software. The Pensions Regulator has encouraged businesses to use a software that can help you comply with these auto-enrolment duties. For an even smoother experience, we also recommend choosing a payroll software provider that is integrated with leading pension scheme providers, streamlining this process even further for you.
5. Generate payroll reports
Producing payroll reports is an important tool for many businesses, as it can be used for financial forecasting. Having a payroll software that can generates reports which can include a variety of metrics is key when it comes to analysing your business’ finances. Whether you’re looking for reports across multiple pay periods, department totals, or amounts you’ve paid to HMRC, it’s important to choose a payroll software that can accommodate this, rather than spending hours creating reports in excel from scratch.
6. Multi-user access
Whether you have multiple people in your business working on payroll, or some payroll processors working remotely, having a payroll software that allows multiple users to work in the payroll software at the same time is a must-have feature for 2022. This aligns with the growing popularity in hybrid working models and assures that no matter where your payroll processors are, they can easily access the payroll software from anywhere, at any time.
Which software do we recommend?
While there are many software providers out there, BrightPay Payroll Software provides all these features we’ve mentioned above and more, such as:
- Integration with leading accounting software, pension scheme providers and direct payment platforms, such as Modulr.
- Free migration support
- Installation on up to 10 different devices
- Excellent customer phone and email support, at no extra charge
BrightPay is one of the UK’s leading providers of payroll software for businesses, with a 5-star rating on Trustpilot and a 99.1% customer satisfaction rate.
Our 60-day free trial offers full functionality and is contract-free, so you can use our software to the fullest, without making any commitments. Interested in learning more about BrightPay? Book a free 15-minute demo online today, to see the software in action.
Get a software that offers more than just payroll…
To automate your business even further, BrightPay’s cloud extension, BrightPay Connect, provides a host of HR and payroll solutions that can revolutionise your business internally, including:
Online hub where you can upload confidential and important HR documents
- Employee app where employees can access a chronological history of their payslips that automatically sync from the payroll software
- Employer dashboard where you can view all of your employees’ payroll information at a glance
- Annual leave management tool where you can easily approve and reject leave requests and view all of your company’s leave in a user-friendly calendar format
Click here to see a one-minute video on BrightPay Connect, or book a free online demo of our cloud-extension today, to take your business to the next level.
