Preparing for your move to BrightPay - Useful Guidance

Moving from one payroll software to another can sometimes be a daunting task, but with preparation this needn't be.

To help with this preparation, we have put together the following guidance to assist you with the migration to BrightPay from a previous payroll software:

Check if BrightPay provides a direct import option from your current software 

BrightPay currently offers direct import options for 12Pay, HMRC Basic Tools, Iris PAYE-Master, KeyTime, Moneysoft, Qtac and Star.

This means a quick and seamless import utility is available to bring across your company and employee details into BrightPay.

Check if your current software allows the exporting of employee information

Where BrightPay doesn't offer a direct import option, BrightPay instead can facilitate the importing of employee information in CSV format. Therefore if your current payroll software allows the export of employee information in CSV format (or to Excel, which can subsequently be converted to CSV format), BrightPay's import utility can be used.

This option can be used, for example, if you are migrating from Iris or Sage for example.

BrightPay also caters for the import of employee information using a Full Payment Submission (FPS) file, should your current software allow you access to this.

This option can be used, for example, if you are migrating from Moneysoft or IRIS.

Should your current payroll software not allow either the export of employee information using CSV or an FPS file, then employee details will need to be set up manually within BrightPay.

Allow yourself enough time

It is important to allow yourself enough time to perform an import before your next payroll run is due for the company. Performing the import well in advance of your next payroll due date will allow you to review and check the employee data you have brought in and also to manually enter in additional employee information, if required.

Allowing yourself enough time is also particularly important if you are required to manually set up your employees (and if applicable their mid-year cumulative pay information), due to your current payroll software not allowing the export of employee data.

Choose a convenient time to migrate to BrightPay

For most companies, the easiest time to migrate to a new payroll software is at the start of a new tax year, as this only requires the importing of employee details. As employees will start the new tax year with zero balances, there is no requirement to import across mid-year cumulative pay information.

If migrating to BrightPay at the start of the tax year isn't viable, then an import of both employee and their mid-year pay information can be performed in BrightPay at any point in the tax year (should your current software allow the export of such information). If migrating to BrightPay mid-year, then it may be more convenient to perform this task after a tax period end, to avoid split P32 records. Make sure to select the option 'Continue Partway in the Tax Year' when setting up your employer details in BrightPay, to facilitate the mid-year import.

Familiarise yourself with BrightPay's terminology

Payroll software providers can often differ slightly on the terminology they use within their software - for example, what is known as 'works number' in BrightPay may be known as 'employee number' in another payroll software. Before performing a CSV import into BrightPay, it is therefore recommended to familiarise yourself with the terminology used in BrightPay and to find its equivalent in your existing software, if different. This will assist at the import stage, when matching columns to the data it represents. Please click here to view a list of the terminology used in BrightPay. 

Still have access to your previous software at time of import into BrightPay

It is advisable to still have access to your previous payroll software when performing your migration to BrightPay - this is in case you need to create a new export file in your previous software (for example, employee data hasn't exported out correctly, mid-year totals are for the wrong period etc.) or you wish to cross-check employee data after import. If your previous software licence has expired and a new export file is needed, you may be left with having to manually set up your employee information.

Run a parallel payroll with your previous software

If you do still have access to your previous software, then a useful exercise is to run both your old payroll system and BrightPay side-by-side for a period of time. This is a good way to determine that everything has been set up correctly in BrightPay and there are no inaccuracies. Where you may see differences in statutory pay amounts or National Insurance contributions being calculated by BrightPay, please see below for methodology used in BrightPay.

Important note: if running parallel pay runs, ensure that only one RTI submission is submitted, from either your old or new system.

Follow BrightPay's dedicated support documentation

BrightPay has dedicated support documentation to assist you with migrating to BrightPay from various payroll software packages. Click here to access the 'Moving to BrightPay from another payroll software' help menu
 

Methodology used in BrightPay

 
Where you see a difference in statutory pay amounts or National Insurance contributions being calculated by BrightPay, when compared to your previous software, the following is to be noted:

Statutory Pay Calculations

BrightPay uses the full statutory week method when calculating & applying statutory pay calculations. 

Weekly Payroll Example:

An employee's Maternity Leave begins on a Wednesday. Therefore the last day of her SMP week will be a Tuesday.

SMP will thus begin in the weekly pay period in which the first Tuesday of the maternity leave falls.

Monthly Payroll Example:

An employee's Maternity Leave begins on a Wednesday. Therefore the last day of her SMP week will be a Tuesday.

SMP will thus begin in the pay period in which the first Tuesday of the maternity leave falls.

BrightPay will then establish how many Tuesdays fall in the monthly pay period and apply the weekly SMP rate to the number of Tuesdays there are.

Therefore, if your previous payroll software used the pro-rata method when calculating and applying statutory pay calculations, you may see a difference in this instance. 


National Insurance Calculations

BrightPay uses the Exact Percentage Method in its calculation of NIC.

There are two ways in which National Insurance contributions can be calculated. Both methods are acceptable by HMRC:

Exact Percentage Method:

The exact percentage method uses the Employee’s gross pay, pounds and pence, when making the National Insurance calculation. Most commercial payroll software uses the Exact Percentage Method as the means for calculating National Insurance contributions.

Table Method:

The table method uses the National Insurance Contribution tables issued by HMRC. The NICs due are worked out using whole pounds only. This often means that employees may pay slightly more or less than if the exact percentage method were used. 

Therefore, if your previous payroll software used the Table Method when calculating National Insurance, you may see a difference in this instance. 

Mid-year Migration - Important Note 

Please note: employees who become directors mid tax year and prior to migrating to BrightPay unfortunately cannot be catered for correctly when choosing the option to ‘Continue Partway in the tax year’.

This is due to the complexity of the NIC calculation involved.

In this instance, users are advised to rebuild their payroll from the beginning of the tax year. Previously submitted FPSs can subsequently be marked as already sent and accepted by HMRC within the RTI utility.