May 2013

16

Issue of NINO numbers on hold

In response to some National Insurance number Verification Requests (NVRs) and Full Payment Submissions (FPS) with missing or incorrect National Insurance numbers, HM Revenue & Customs has issued a number of National Insurance numbers without the final letter (A, B, C or D) of the number.

The issue of National Insurance numbers is currently on hold whilst HMRC investigate this.

Update by HMRC in June 2013:-

"Last month we temporarily suspended the issue of National Insurance numbers while we investigated why some were being sent out without the final letter (A, B, C or D) of the number. This has been resolved and we are issuing National Insurance numbers again."

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Read more at www.hmrc.gov.uk >

Posted byPaul ByrneinPayroll SoftwareRTI


May 2013

7

2012-13 P35 deadline is fast approaching

Your 2012-13 Employer Annual Return is due by 19 May 2013. Send it as soon as possible to avoid a late filing penalty.

Click here for further details.

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byPaul ByrneinPAYEPayroll Software


Apr 2013

22

HMRC clarifies RTI NI number issues

HMRC has been forced to issue a clarification about national insurance number verification requests after being contacted by worried employers trying to meet the Real Time Information (RTI) requirements.

The employers have been receiving rejections in response to their requests. This, says HMRC, is correct. They are being rejected because the employers are sending their requests in before they have made their first full payment submission (FPS).

“You cannot send a national insurance number verification request (NVR) until you have started to send PAYE information in real time,” HMRC advises. “Wait two weeks after sending your first FPS before sending an NVR.”

It points employers to its guidance, Making Sure You Use the Correct National Insurance Number

HMRC also says that it has been receiving phone calls from employees trying to find out what their NI number is after being told by their employer that they must have one for when the employer submits the RTI returns.

Although HMRC does want employers to provide correct NI numbers in their PAYE submissions, it stresses that there will be occasions when an NI number is not available. For example, the employee will not have been allocated one if they are under 16 years old.

Again, it points employers towards the NI guidance to make it clear that they should leave the NI number field blank and not be tempted to fill it in with a dummy or incorrect number.

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byAnn TigheinPAYEPayrollPayroll SoftwarePRSIReal time informationRTIWages


Apr 2013

17

Minimum Wage to be Increased by the Government

The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise by 5p to £5.03, and by 4p to £3.72 for 16 and 17-year-olds.

Ministers said they had rejected a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission that the rate for apprentices should be frozen, announcing a 3p an increase to £2.68 an hour.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the Government when setting the national minimum wage every year. It balances wages of low paid workers against employment prospects if the rate was set too high.

"We are accepting its recommendations for the adult and youth rate increases, which I am confident strikes this balance. However, there is worrying evidence that a significant number of employers are not paying apprentices the relevant minimum wage rate.

"Apprenticeships are at the heart of our goal to support a stronger economy, and so it is important to continue to make them attractive to young people.

"Therefore, I am not taking forward the LPC's recommendation to freeze the apprenticeship rate due to non-compliance, but instead am raising it in line with the youth rates. We are working on a series of tough new measures to ensure we tackle non-compliance issues across the board."

Tim Thomas of the manufacturers' organisation the EEF, commented: "Today's announcement strikes a delicate balance between the need for an element of pay progression and the limitations employers face in accommodating pay rises.

"The modest increase in the apprenticeship rate is unlikely to negatively affect apprenticeship recruitment and of much greater importance is the raising of apprenticeships standards, better information and advice to students and ensuring that apprenticeships are truly employer-led and employer-driven."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Boosting the incomes of the low paid goes straight into the economy and wage-led growth must be part of the recovery so we would have liked to have seen minimum wage rates go up further today, even if the Government has rightly rejected calls for a freeze.

"But we are pleased that ministers have increased the apprenticeship rate. This sends a positive signal about the importance of apprentices.

"We will continue to press ministers for more action to ensure the minimum wage is properly enforced - particularly for apprentices where there is considerable evidence that many miss out. It is time to get tough with wage-cheat employers who break this law.

"We will continue to urge the many employers who can afford it to implement a full living wage for their staff."

The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise by 5p to £5.03, and by 4p to £3.72 for 16 and 17-year-olds.

Ministers said they had rejected a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission that the rate for apprentices should be frozen, announcing a 3p an increase to £2.68 an hour.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the Government when setting the national minimum wage every year. It balances wages of low paid workers against employment prospects if the rate was set too high.

"We are accepting its recommendations for the adult and youth rate increases, which I am confident strikes this balance. However, there is worrying evidence that a significant number of employers are not paying apprentices the relevant minimum wage rate.

"Apprenticeships are at the heart of our goal to support a stronger economy, and so it is important to continue to make them attractive to young people.

"Therefore, I am not taking forward the LPC's recommendation to freeze the apprenticeship rate due to non-compliance, but instead am raising it in line with the youth rates. We are working on a series of tough new measures to ensure we tackle non-compliance issues across the board."

Tim Thomas of the manufacturers' organisation the EEF, commented: "Today's announcement strikes a delicate balance between the need for an element of pay progression and the limitations employers face in accommodating pay rises.

"The modest increase in the apprenticeship rate is unlikely to negatively affect apprenticeship recruitment and of much greater importance is the raising of apprenticeships standards, better information and advice to students and ensuring that apprenticeships are truly employer-led and employer-driven."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Boosting the incomes of the low paid goes straight into the economy and wage-led growth must be part of the recovery so we would have liked to have seen minimum wage rates go up further today, even if the Government has rightly rejected calls for a freeze.

"But we are pleased that ministers have increased the apprenticeship rate. This sends a positive signal about the importance of apprentices.

"We will continue to press ministers for more action to ensure the minimum wage is properly enforced - particularly for apprentices where there is considerable evidence that many miss out. It is time to get tough with wage-cheat employers who break this law.

"We will continue to urge the many employers who can afford it to implement a full living wage for their staff."

The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise by 5p to £5.03, and by 4p to £3.72 for 16 and 17-year-olds.

Ministers said they had rejected a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission that the rate for apprentices should be frozen, announcing a 3p an increase to £2.68 an hour.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the Government when setting the national minimum wage every year. It balances wages of low paid workers against employment prospects if the rate was set too high.

"We are accepting its recommendations for the adult and youth rate increases, which I am confident strikes this balance. However, there is worrying evidence that a significant number of employers are not paying apprentices the relevant minimum wage rate.

"Apprenticeships are at the heart of our goal to support a stronger economy, and so it is important to continue to make them attractive to young people.

"Therefore, I am not taking forward the LPC's recommendation to freeze the apprenticeship rate due to non-compliance, but instead am raising it in line with the youth rates. We are working on a series of tough new measures to ensure we tackle non-compliance issues across the board."

Tim Thomas of the manufacturers' organisation the EEF, commented: "Today's announcement strikes a delicate balance between the need for an element of pay progression and the limitations employers face in accommodating pay rises.

"The modest increase in the apprenticeship rate is unlikely to negatively affect apprenticeship recruitment and of much greater importance is the raising of apprenticeships standards, better information and advice to students and ensuring that apprenticeships are truly employer-led and employer-driven."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Boosting the incomes of the low paid goes straight into the economy and wage-led growth must be part of the recovery so we would have liked to have seen minimum wage rates go up further today, even if the Government has rightly rejected calls for a freeze.

"But we are pleased that ministers have increased the apprenticeship rate. This sends a positive signal about the importance of apprentices.

"We will continue to press ministers for more action to ensure the minimum wage is properly enforced - particularly for apprentices where there is considerable evidence that many miss out. It is time to get tough with wage-cheat employers who break this law.

"We will continue to urge the many employers who can afford it to implement a full living wage for their staff."

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byCaroline MaloneinEmployee ContractsEmployment ContractPAYEPayrollPayroll SoftwareWages


Apr 2013

4

RTI: STARTER PROCESS AMENDED

HMRC has amended its guidance on the starter process to help increase accuracy for individuals with a P45 and more than one job. In such cases, instead of selecting statement C and operating code BR, the employer should select statement B and operate the tax code on the P45 – unless the tax code on the P45 is BR, 0T or D prefix – in which case statement C would still apply.

Individuals without a P45 or with an old P45 will continue to complete the starter declaration to confirm their employment situation. The full guidance on the starter process will be updated and available from 6 April 2013 here.

Please be aware the guidance linked above will not be updated to reflect this change until 6 April 2013. HMRC acknowledges that the starter process guidance has gone through several iterations and for 2013-14 says it will accept if an employer’s payroll does not follow this new process.

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Read more at www.hmrc.gov.uk >

Posted byAnn TigheinHMRCPAYEPayrollPayroll SoftwarePRSIRTISMEWages


Apr 2013

3

What's New in BrightPay 2013/14?

We released BrightPay 13/14 (version 13.0) on 19th March, 2013. It has since been downloaded nearly 2000 times, and we've received some great feedback. Big thanks to all our customers!

This morning, we released our first maintenance release, version 13.1. This is an important update which contains several minor new features, improvements and bug fixes. When you launch BrightPay, it will check for and offer to download this update automatically. Alternatively, click Check for Updates in the Help menu. To download the upgrade manually, click here.

 

So, as the title of this blog posts asks ... What's New?

 

Real Time Information

First and foremost, the most obvious new feature in BrightPay 2013/14 is full, HMRC recognised support for RTI. We believe that we have the best RTI implementation on the market. We've already covered RTI support in previous blog entries (e.g. here, here and here), so won't go into the same detail now. But here are a few tips which you may not have already picked up:

  • The number of pending RTI submissions is always visible, showing in an orange box in the main RTI tab.
  • Until RTI submissions are sent, they are automatically updated with any changes you make to employer, employee or payment details.
  • You can send multiple RTI submissions at once, and continue to use the rest of BrightPay while submissions are sending.
  • You can view the Gateway Logs for each RTI submission to see the exact back and forth messaging between BrightPay and HMRC during the submission process.
  • If the worst happens during the sending of an RTI submission (e.g. power failure), BrightPay will gracefully cancel the submission and allow you to restart the process when you are back up and running.
  • You can edit the default RTI submission timeout in File > Preferences.
  • If you have sent an RTI submission to HMRC outside of BrightPay, you can mark it as being already sent in BrightPay (having done so, you can also unmark it as being already sent).

 

Refined User Interface Design

Since the beginning, of all the work that has gone into creating BrightPay, the most by far has been in the design of the user interface (UI). BrightPay 2013/14 is our best yet. We refined how it looks and feels, making managing your payroll an even better, easier experience. Some of the highlights:

  • Less is more. A major part of BrightPay's design over the years has been to show only what's relevant on screen, without the unnecessary visual clutter that plagues so many software applications. In BrightPay 2013/14, we took it even further, optimising the screen real estate and refining the layout of commonly used features.
  • Edge-to-edge design with more breathing space. We removed unnecessary lines and borders while slightly increasing some of the space between on-screen controls. Overall, it makes BrightPay cleaner and clearer.
  • More 'flat' design. A big trend in UI design is the use of 'flat' design, without visual effects such as gradients, drop shadows and bevels. We have have evolved the design of BrightPay in line with this concept, keeping it modern, fresh and simple.

 

New Payroll Features

The addition of RTI has over-shadowed some of the other new features and improvements in BrightPay 2013/14. But that doesn't make them any less important. The majority of these are in response to customer feedback and requests, so remember, if there's something that you would like to see in BrightPay, don't hesitate to get in touch.

  • Named hourly and daily rates. You can now add a named hourly or daily rate and make it available for use by all employees, or save it just for one employee. There is no limit on the number of rates that can be added, and each can be specifically marked as an overtime rate. There are various ways in which one might use this feature, and so we've put it in various places in BrightPay:
    • Manage global named rates (i.e. those available for use by all employees) in Employer > Hourly/Daily Rates
    • Manage an employee's named rates in Edit Employee > Payment tab.
    • Choose or add a new global, employee, or one-off named rate directly in payroll in the new hourly/daily payment rate selection.
  • Edit addition and deduction types. You can now edit BrightPay's built-in list of addition and deduction types, as well as add your own.
  • Live calculation as you type. In BrightPay 2013/14, payslip totals now re-calculate as you type. In fact, throughout BrightPay, all text input fields will now update and validate as you type. It's a subtle, but big improvement.
  • The payslip totals calculation preview now shows only the relevant totals. For example, it won't show Statutory Payment amounts or Student Loan deductions unless there are any. Similarly, things like the separation of taxable and NIC-able additions and deductions are only shown if applicable.
  • A new Cost to Employer field shows the total employer liability for each employee.
  • New starter and leaver processes. With RTI, the P45, P45 Part 3 and P46 are no longer relevant. Starter and leaver details are now reported in real time along with other employee and payment information. With this in mind, the starter and leaver processes for BrightPay 2013/14 have been re-thought. For example, before RTI, when an employee was to leave, you would make their final payments, and then afterwards prepare the P45 with the leaver details. Now, you must enter the leaver details before making the final payment, so that the relevant FPS submission is complete and correct. To aid this, BrightPay now lets you confirm starter and leaver details as you finalise payslips. If you enter starter/leaver details in advance, BrightPay will pick them up in the relevant pay period. You can still print a P45 (or export a digital copy).
  • An employee's department(s) and payment method/details are now tracked and recorded on a period-by-period basis.
  • Two new options have been added to printing, emailing and exporting payslips:
    • Ability to show employee's address
    • Ability to show employee's number of annual leave days remaining
  • Several enhancements have been made to the Pay Employees feature:
    • Ability to indicate the available monetary denominations for the cash requirement.
    • Ability to edit employee bank details directly within this feature.
    • Ability to use smart tags in naming the bank payments file name.
    • New Bank of Scotland bank payments file format.
  • The annual leave year start date can now be customised for each employee, so that BrightPay will now correctly calculate annual leave days remaining for annual leave schedules which do not align with the tax year (e.g. January to December).
  • Support for the Regional Employer National Insurance Contributions Holiday for New Businesses scheme.
  • Ability to manually set any Attachment Order as being a priority order, with correct handling.
  • 'Holiday Funds' have been renamed to the more appropriate 'Savings Schemes'.

This list covers all the important updates. There are many more minor ones, as well as 'under the hood' performance and reliability improvements.

And we're not done yet! We'll continue to bring you new features during the course of the 2013/14 tax year. Keep an eye on this blog for details.

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byRoss WebsterinNew FeaturesPayroll SoftwareRTISoftware Upgrade


Mar 2013

19

BrightPay 13/14 is Now Available

We are delighted to announce that BrightPay 13/14 has obtained full HMRC recognition for RTI submissions and is now available to download.

 

Preparing for RTI

From 6th April, all payments to employees must be reported to HMRC using RTI. Although we have worked hard to make your RTI experience with BrightPay as painless as possible, there are a few things you need to do before your first 13/14 payroll run to ensure that it all runs smoothly.

  1. Make sure that all employees are included in your payroll before you send your first RTI submission.

    • If you run payroll for both weekly and monthly employees, your first weekly FPS submission will include the employment details for the monthly staff, even if they have not yet been paid.
    • If you have imported from BrightPay 12/13 and an employee joins in 12/13 after the import, make sure you add this employee to your 13/14 payroll.
    • Unlike previous years, you must include all employees, including nannies and domestic staff, casual employees, part-time staff, students working in their vacation and those below the Lower Earnings Limit.
  2. Make sure you know your Accounts Office Reference as HMRC requires this to be included in RTI submissions. If you have your yellow Employer Payment Booklet issued by HMRC, the Accounts Office Reference will be on the front cover in the top right hand corner. Here is a useful link on the HMRC website to help you find your Accounts Office Reference.
  3. In so far as possible, try to ensure that the information you have entered in BrightPay for each of your employees is accurate. To help with this, we have created a Request Form that you can have your employees complete and return to you.

 

RTI Examples

It is important that you understand how BrightPay handles Full Payment Submissions (FPS) and in particular your first FPS which acts as an alignment submission. This understanding is best served by a couple of examples.

Example 1

You process your first week's payroll before the start of the 13/14 tax year, just to have it ready to go. You will notice after finalising the first week in BrightPay that an FPS has been automatically prepared for you and is awaiting submission. If your first payday is Thursday 11th April, then the FPS must be submitted on or before 11th April. (HMRC will not accept an RTI submission prior to 6th April).

One of the really nice things about BrightPay is that until an RTI submission is sent, it will be automatically updated with any changes you make to employer, employee or payment details. Let's say you only add your monthly paid employees in BrightPay after already finalising your first week. In this case, the pending first FPS will be automatically updated to include the details for the monthly employees. Similarly, if you discover that the NINO for one of your employees is incorrect, you can simply correct the employee record and the pending FPS will be automatically updated with the correct NINO. You do not have to process the payroll again or prepare the FPS again for these changes to be made.

Example 2

You process your first week's payroll before the start of the 13/14 tax year, just to have it ready to go. An FPS is automatically prepared and is awaiting submission. You then notice that you forgot to include overtime and so you re-open the payslips for all or some of your employees and finalise them again. In this case, the pending FPS will be automatically updated with the adjustments that you made.

The same automatic updating applies to other RTI submission types as well (EAS, NVR and EPS). Once they are created and until they are sent, any changes you make to employer or employee information will be automatically applied.

 

Reporting and Paying HMRC in Real Time: Getting it Right

HMRC have published a useful one page leaflet entitled "Reporting and paying HMRC in real time: getting it right". Download it here.


Any Questions?

We will be delighted to help you with any questions you may have. You can call us on 0845 3004304.

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byPaul ByrneinHMRCPAYEPayroll SoftwarePRSIRTIWages


Mar 2013

5

RTI - a one minute overview

BrightPay obtains HMRC Recognition for 2013/14 - see HMRC listing

The following video shows just how easy RTI is when using BrightPay.

 

Watch our BrightPay introductory video

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byPaul ByrneinHMRCPayroll SoftwareRTI


Feb 2013

27

Correction re Contracted Hours Worked

In a previous article we stated the following in relation to the new contracted hours worked field on the FPS:

"For employees who are paid using an hourly rate only, BrightPay will select the correct option automatically."

This is incorrect. This is the contracted hours that an employee will be expected to work in a week, not the hours actually worked in a week. So for all employees, you will need to choose the appropriate option (BrightPay, by default, will use (c) 30 hours or more per week).

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byPaul ByrneinPayroll SoftwareRTI


Feb 2013

6

RTI – Frequently Asked Questions

The 2013/14 tax year is almost here, and with it, Real Time Information (RTI). From 6th April 2013, employers will report their payroll information to HMRC in real time, on or before every payday.

BrightPay 2013/14, with full RTI support, will be available soon. Over the past few months, we have been asked several questions about RTI, and how it will work in BrightPay. Below are some of the common questions and answers.

 

Top Points to Remember

  • All employees need to be included in BrightPay before your first RTI submission is sent, even if they are not paid on the first payday.
  • To avoid major headaches later on, ensure that all your employee information (name, address, gender, NINO, DOB, etc.), as well as your employer PAYE reference and Accounts Office reference, are correct.
  • Each time you finalise payslips in BrightPay, an FPS will be automatically prepared.
  • It's OK if you make mistakes in an FPS or EPS submission - they can be rectified.
  • You no longer have send a P45, P45 Part 3, or P46 for starters and leavers. You just need to ensure you enter correct start/leave dates before their first/final paydays.
  • You no longer have to send a P35 or P14 at year end. They are replaced by the final FPS and final EPS.
  • There will be no additional charge for RTI functionality in BrightPay.

When will BrightPay 2013/14 with full RTI functionality be available?

BrightPay 2013/14 will be released on Tuesday, 19th March, 2013.

 

When can I start sending RTI submissions?

On or after 6th April 2013. HMRC will not accept any RTI submissions sent before 6th April. This will not stop you from processing your payroll using BrightPay. If you process payroll before 6th April, BrightPay will prepare and save any required RTI submissions. From 6th April, you will be then able to send them.

 

What will my first RTI submission be?

Your first RTI submission will be due on or before your first payday in the 2013/14 tax year.

If you have 250 employees or more, your first submission must be an Employee Alignment Submission (EAS), which simply contains the details of all your employees, allowing HMRC to align their records with yours. BrightPay will detect if you have 250 or more employees, and guide you through submitting an EAS.

If you have less than 250 employees, you do not need to send an EAS (although you still can if you choose to). Instead, HMRC will align their records with yours when you send your first Full Payment Submission (FPS). An FPS is sent on or before each payday, and informs HMRC about the payments and deductions for each employee. BrightPay automatically prepares an FPS each time you finalise one or more payslips. If you did not send an EAS, BrightPay will include all the necessary alignment details in your first FPS, which includes a listing of all your employees, whether they were paid in the first pay period or not.

So, before you send your first RTI submission (be it an EAS or first FPS), it is very important that you first ensure all individuals in your employment are included in BrightPay. This includes temporary and casual workers, as well as employees paid below the LEL (Lower Earnings Limit) who, though they may have no deductions, now need to be accounted for through the payroll.

 

What information will be sent to HMRC on each payday?

Each time you pay your employees, you will send a Full Payment Submission (FPS) to HMRC. BrightPay will prepare an FPS each time you finalise one or more payslips.

An FPS contains:

  • employer registration details (PAYE reference, Accounts Office reference, etc.)
  • personal identifiable details for each employee (name, address, NINO, date of birth, gender, etc.)
  • employment details for each employee (directorship, starter information, leaver information, etc.)
  • year to date figures for each employee (tax, NICs, Student Loan deductions, pension contributions, statutory pay, etc.)
  • figures for the relevant period for each employee (payment date, gross pay, an estimation of hours worked, indication of unpaid absence or strike, etc.)

If no employees are paid on a particular payday, an FPS is not required. Instead, BrightPay will notify HMRC of this in your next Employer Payment Summary (EPS) submission (which is otherwise used to notify HMRC of reductions you are entitled to make to the totals already submitted on FPS submissions e.g. statutory parenting pay).

 

Is there any new information in the FPS that I haven't had to send to HMRC before?

There are a few new pieces of information that were not previously included in P45, P46, P35 or P14 submissions:

  • An estimation of hours worked. Either (a) Up to 15.99 hours per week (b) 16-29.99 hours per week or (c) 30 hours or more per week. For employees who are paid using an hourly rate only, BrightPay will select the correct option automatically. For employees paid a set amount each week or month, you will need to choose the appropriate option (BrightPay, by default, will use (c) 30 hours or more per week)
  • An indication that the employee is on an irregular payment pattern. For example, this would apply to casual or seasonal employees (where the employment contract continues) or where the employee will not be paid for at least a further three months but is still in your employment (e.g.parenting/sabbatical leave). Setting this indicator will ensure that HMRC does not assume an employee has left your employment.

 

What if the information I send in an FPS is incorrect?

You've just sent an FPS, only to realise that you forgot to include overtime! This, and other accidents which affect the amounts reported on an FPS, could happen to you, and will most certainly happen to many other employers.

HMRC are aware of this possibility, and are flexible in how you handle it. You can re-send the FPS with correct figures, or you can continue anyway, and in the next FPS the year to date figures will be reconciled. BrightPay will cater for either approach.

If, after 19th April 2014, you realise that the information on your final FPS was incorrect, BrightPay will let you submit an Earlier Year Update (EYU) submission to make the adjustments as required.

 

Do I still need to send a P45 for an employee who is leaving (and a P45 Part 3 or P46 for a new start)?

No. BrightPay will automatically include starter and leaver details in relevant FPS submissions. With RTI, HMRC will already have the details of an employee's previous employment, and so there is now much less information about an employee's previous employment that you need to record in BrightPay.

But there is an important change to the process of recording an employee's start or leave date in BrightPay. Before RTI, a P45 Part 3 or P46 could be sent to HMRC up to 30 days after the employee started. Similarly, a P45 could be sent up to 30 days after an employee left. It was common (and perfectly acceptable) that an employer would notify HMRC only after making a first or final payment. But with RTI, you need to ensure that the start/leave date is set before sending the first or final FPS. To help ensure that you do this, BrightPay now allows you to confirm starter/leaver details when finalising payslips.

You will, however, still be required to provide a P45 copy to your employee when they leave, for their own records. BrightPay will still allow you to print this (or export it to PDF) as before.

 

What about the end of the tax year? Is a P35/P14 required?

The P35 and P14 are no longer applicable. Your final FPS (and/or EPS) will contain the end of year declarations that were previously included on the P35, as well as the final payment figures for each employee that were previously included on P14 forms.

 

How did the RTI pilot in 2012/13 go? Were there any lessons learnt by HMRC and/or employers?

For the most part, it went well, and was a very worthwhile exercise. Lots of issues were ironed out on both sides, ensuring that RTI in 2013/14 is as smooth as possible for the rest of us!

To help ensure you have the correct details for each of your employees before the 2013/14 tax year begins, we have created a Request Form that you can have your employees complete and return to you.

Download Request Form >

One of the main lessons learnt by employers was that information for each employee (name, address, date of birth, NINO, gender) should be accurate and up to date from the very start of the tax year. If it's not, or if you change employee information mid-year, HMRC may not be able to align their records with yours, creating big headaches for you and your affected employee(s).

To help resolve this problem in 12/13, HMRC introduced a Payroll ID for each employee, which they suggested should be the employee's Works Number. But Works Numbers can change. And so some difficulties were faced when HMRC incorrectly inferred a change in Works Number to be a new employment. In 13/14, BrightPay, along with many other software providers, will leave the Works Number alone, and automatically assign a unique Payroll ID for each employment.

 

Will there be an additional charge for RTI functionality in BrightPay 2013/14?

No.

With RTI, payroll is changing, but our simple pricing model and free support is not. Rest assured that once you have purchased a 2013/14 BrightPay licence, that's it.

 

Does BrightPay 2013/14 have HMRC Software Recognition?

BrightPay received full recognition in 2012/13, and we are in the process of being tested for 2013/14 recognition. HMRC have advised us that there may be delays in processing applications for 2013/14 recognition. Keep an eye on our website for updates.

 

If you have any more questions, please call or email us. We are confident that RTI will be easy with BrightPay 13/14

Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll & Auto Enrolment Software.

Posted byRoss WebsterinHMRCRTI