| What do you provide?
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We provide an online system that calculates the deductions from each wage payment, giving you a printable payslip at the click of a button. Our system also calculate the tax, NIC and student loan payments that should be made to HM Revenue and Customs, and lets you send electronic returns to HMRC. We provide expert help by telephone and email, should you have any difficulty with the system, or in case you simply want check that you have entered the information correctly. |
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| How long does it take?
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| Depending on the number of employees, it can take as little as 5 minutes to calculate your first payroll. This can be done at any time of the day or night because the service is 100% automated. |
| How "free" is the free trial?
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| You can start the free trial immediately with no obligation. You do not need to provide credit card or other billing details and are under no obligation to continue at the end of the trial. We do ask that you supply a valid email address and you will need the tax and payment details for your employees. |
| Is the trial version the full version?
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| The trial version is fully functional (apart from year end submission) for 1 month, if you wish to continue using the service after that period simply arrange payment and the service will continue. |
| Why should I use an online payroll service?
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| Payroll software typically needs to be updated twice or more each year. With our online payroll system you never have to worry about these updates, or whether your computer is new enough to support the upgrades. You can use the site from different computers at different locations and there are no installation or set up costs. Our secure, off-site back up is run at least once every 24 hours, meaning you never have to worry about safety of your data. |
| What does Secure Login mean?
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With the normal Login option, information is passed between your computer and our server without encryption. Secure Login uses 128 bit encryption and a digital certificate to protect the data between your computer and ours. This makes it far harder for a determined third party to read the information in transit. |
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| Can you provide some assurances about online security for personal details logged on your server?
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| Details about our network can be found by clicking on the 'About Us' option. |
| Where is your server located ?
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| All customer information is kept securely on computer systems located within a UK datacentre, in compliance with the Data Protection Act. |
| How much does it cost after the trial ends?
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If you have up to 5 employees, the cost is £5.75 per month. For larger employers, there is an additional charge of £1 per extra employee per month. (All prices are excluding VAT) |
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| How come you are so cheap?
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| Our service is fully automated, reducing the need for costly human intervention. |
| I need weekly payslips - will this increase the cost?
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| Our monthly fee is the same whether the employees are paid weekly, fortnightly, four weekly or monthly |
| How do I pay you?
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| We accept SOLO, VISA DEBIT (Delta), ELECTRON, MAESTRO, MASTERCARD, VISA as well as cheques and bank transfers. Payment can be monthly, quarterly or annually. Please make your payment using the My Account section of our website. Unfortunately we cannot accept payment over the phone. |
| Why does your credit card page have the Sage logo on it?
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Our service is not connected with Sage and does not use Sage software. We are an independent, family owned company. We have been using a payment processing company called ProtX for several years. Sage then bought ProtX and changed their name to Sage Pay. When you pay us by credit card, the name "Sage Pay" now appears alongside our own name on the payment page. |
| How are the charges worked out if I have more than 5 employees?
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To ensure we can count the extra employees correctly, we charge for them a month in arrears. So if you have 7 employees, you would pay the normal £5.75 monthly fee in the first month and then a month later you would see a charge of £2 for the extra employees you had in the first month. An employee who has left is not counted once their leaving date has passed. |
| If I add more than 5 employees to the system, do I continue paying for them all, even if some of them leave my employment?
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No. The fees for additional employees are based on the number of staff that were employed during a one month period. If you had 10 employees during the first period but only 9 during the second period, the fees would reduce accordingly. If one employee leaves and another joins the following day, typically both would be counted as having been employed during that period. |
| Can you send me invoices ?
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| All of the billing and invoicing is done directly by the system. When you log in, you can read and print your invoice by going to the 'My Account' section. |
| Do your charges include VAT?
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No. VAT will be added at the standard rate. If you are a VAT registered business, you should be able to reclaim this in the normal way. |
| What software do I need to install, or minimum requirements?
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The service is accessed via a web browser, so you do not need to install any special software on your computer.
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| Can I use an Apple Mac or Linux computer to access the site?
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| Yes - as long as that computer is connected to the Internet and running one of the supported browsers. |
| How do I view the documents you link to on the HMRC website ?
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The HMRC supply their documents in PDF format. These can be read using Adobe Acrobat. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat |
| Are you accredited by HMRC?
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| Yes, our software is accredited by HM Revenue & Customs as meeting the HMRC Payroll Standard and the relevant sections of the HMRC Quality Standard. It incorporates an online filing capability by Internet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Which specific tax features do you support?
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| Do you support the Construction Industry Scheme?
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| Whilst the system is not able to calculate CIS payments or deductions you can enter the figures on the tax payment page by clicking on add special item. Choose either 'CIS deduction suffered' or 'CIS deduction from subcontractors', type in the amount and then click 'Add'. The system will take this into account when calculating your tax payments. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How do I use a salary sacrifice scheme, such as childcare vouchers?
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These schemes work by reducing the employee's salary and giving vouchers or another benefit instead. Since the tax and NI is worked out on the reduced salary, there is less tax and NI to pay. There are two ways you can enter this in the system: 1) Reduce the gross salary by the amount of the vouchers. or 2) When running the pay run, enter the figure as a negative amount in the other pay box. Both of these methods will result in the correct calculation of net pay, but will appear slightly differently on the payslip. With either of these methods, you can also add an explanation to the payslip by entering it in the "Pay Advice" box during the pay run. |
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| What do I do when the tax rates and limits change?
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Absolutely nothing. We will reconfigure the system with the new rates and limits. We will inform you if there are any changes that require your attention. |
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| What do your finished payslips look like?
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| To see an example of our payslips, why not sign up for a free trial? You can have one printed in minutes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Which method do you use for tax and NIC calculation?
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There are two HMRC approved methods of calculating PAYE income tax: The manual method and the computerised method. The amount of tax due can differ by up to 2p between the two methods. We use the computerised method. There are two HMRC approved methods of calculating National Insurance Contributions: The table method and the exact percentage method. We use the exact percentage method. The majority of computerised payroll systems use the same methods as us and therefore should produce identical figures for tax and National Insurance Contributions. |
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| How do I pay HM Revenue and Customs ?
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| Our system will work out how much you need to pay. Details on how to make payments can be found in the yellow HMRC payslip booklet or from their website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/howtopay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can I pay my employees through your site ?
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No. Our system will work out how much to pay, you must take care of the payments yourself. |
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| How do I enter Sick Days?
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If you are operating Statutory Sick Pay and your employee is sick, choose the employee from the OPTIONS menu on the left and then click on the Statutory Pay tab. You can enter any periods of sickness using the Sick Periods table at the bottom of the page. When you are finished, you can pay your employees using the Pay Employee option. The system will automatically prompt you for any extra information needed to work out Sick Pay. Click for our Statutory Sick Pay Guide. |
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| How do I enter details of previous sick periods?
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If you have just started entering Sick Periods via The Payroll Site, there may be some earlier period of sickness that the system doesn't know about - i.e. it does not appear on the Statutory Pay page. Sick periods are linked if they are separated by 8 weeks or less. Linking sick periods affects the calculation of Statutory Sick Pay. The first time you enter a sick period for an employee, you should consider whether it is linked to an earlier sick period. If it is, you should enter the earlier period as well. Then, when you are paying your employees, the system will prompt you for some extra information needed to correctly calculate SSP. Click for our Statutory Sick Pay Guide. |
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| What is a Qualifying Day for Statutory Sick Pay?
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An Employee's Qualifying Days are normally defined to be the days of the week that he or she usually works for you. Bank Holidays do not affect the pattern of Qualifying Days. It is possible to choose an alternative set of Qualifying Days, by agreement with your workforce. More information about Qualifying Days can be found in HM Revenue and Customs Help Book E14 "What to do if your employee is sick": www.hmrc.gov.uk/helpsheets/e14.pdf Click for our Statutory Sick Pay Guide. |
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| How do I export pay run figures to my accounting system?
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Enter a pay run on The Payroll Site as normal. After you have clicked Confirm payments, click on the Export button. Within the configuration page, you have three main options: CSV The figures can be exported as a CSV file which can be loaded into a spreadsheet and imported into some accounting systems. Xero CSV Xero is an online accounting system. If you have an account with Xero, you can transfer your payroll figures into Xero using a CSV file, to save you from retyping them. For more information, please see the separate question in our FAQ list. KashFlow API KashFlow is an online accounting system. If you have an account with KashFlow, you can send your payroll figures direct to their system, to save you from retyping them. For more information, please see the separate question in our FAQ list. |
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| How do I export my pay run figures to KashFlow?
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KashFlow is an online accounting system provided by KashFlow Software Ltd. If you have an account with KashFlow, you can send your payroll figures directly to their system, to save you from retyping them. The easiest way to send the your pay run figures to KashFlow is using the KashFlow API. First, you will need to set up your KashFlow account. Within KashFlow, you must enable the API from within "Settings". If you wish to restrict access for better security, you can set up your KashFlow account to only accept API requests from our IP address, which is currently 84.234.18.22. Next, use The Payroll Site to calculate your pay run as normal. When you are finished, click Confirm payments and then click on the Export button. Within the configuration page, select the option for "KashFlow API" and fill in the username, password and nominal codes that you are using within KashFlow. Once these details have been set, the system will remember them for next time. Click the Back button and the system will show you details of the accounting transaction. Click the "Send to KashFlow" button to send the transaction directly to your KashFlow account, where it will appear as a journal entry. Note: If you prefer not to use the KashFlow API, you can transfer the transaction to KashFlow by using the CSV option instead. |
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| How do I export my pay run figures to Xero?
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Xero is an online accounting system provided by Xero Ltd, based in New Zealand. If you have an account with Xero, you can transfer your payroll figures into Xero using a CSV file, to save you from retyping them. The easiest way to send your pay run figures to Xero is via a CSV file that contains an accounts payable invoice. When you have finished calculating your pay run, click Confirm payments and then click on the Export button. Within the configuration page, select the option for "Xero CSV" and fill in the nominal codes that you are using within Xero. Once these details have been set, the system will remember them for next time. Click the Back button and the system will show you details of the accounting transaction. Click the "Download CSV" button to download the CSV file onto your computer. You will then need to log in to your Xero account, go to the Accounts Payable page and click "Import". At this point, Xero give you an explanation of how to download their template and use it to create a CSV file - ignore those instructions, as we have already created the CSV file for you. Click the "Browse" button at the bottom of the page and choose the CSV file that you downloaded from our site, then click Import. Once the file has been imported, you will need to Approve it within Xero. If you prefer the figures to appear as a journal entry, you will need to retype them, as Xero do not allow journal entries to be created automatically. We are currently working with Xero towards a better way of transfering the data. |
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| If I use your service, do I still need my accountant?
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| We do not provide bookkeeping, tax advice or the preparation of VAT returns, company accounts or self assessment tax returns. If you require any of these services then you will need to use a suitably experienced person, such as an accountant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What is an ECON/SCON and where can I find details?
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ECON stands for Employer's Contracting-Out Number. SCON stands for Scheme Contracted-out Number. They are optional 9 character reference numbers. You will have an ECON if the employer has an occupational pension scheme that is contracted out of the State Second Pension. If that scheme is a COMP, you will also have an SCON for each member of the scheme. When the employer started the Contracted-out pension scheme they would have received a copy of the Contracted out certificate from HM Revenue and Customs. The ECON and SCON are shown on the top of this certificate. Most employers do not have an ECON or an SCON and should leave these boxes blank. |
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| What do I do when an employee leaves?
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| When an employee leaves you should enter the leaving date on the employee's tax details page. Once a date is entered you will no longer be charged for that employee and you will be able to view the employee's P45. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| An ex-employee has just rejoined the company. How should I enter them on the payroll site?
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| If an ex-employee rejoins the company then you should treat them as a brand new employee. It does not matter if the gap is 2 weeks or 2 years simply enter their details as you would with any new starter. If they rejoined within the same tax year, they should appear twice on the list of employees. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can I sign up for more than one account?
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| You can sign up for more than one account by using a different email address. If you are an accountant or payroll bureau please contact us about an agent account. It could make administration easier if you manage the payroll of more than one employer. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How do I print an old payslip?
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Choose the employee from the OPTIONS on the left and then click on the Working Sheet tab. This will show you all of the payments you have made to this employee in the current tax year. Find the payment you are interested in and click on the rightmost figure on that line (you may need to use the scroll bar). The payslip should then appear, with an option to print. You can print a payslip from a different tax year by first selecting the tax year and then following the same steps as above. |
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| Can I add overtime and holiday pay on the payslip?
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| Yes - the gross pay details page has a place to enter overtime and "other pay". If you are using the "other pay" option, it is advisable to put a brief explanation in the "Pay Advice" box. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can I put expenses on the payslips?
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| Since expenses are normally paid without being taxed, they should not be entered as normal pay. You can use the 'Pay Advice' box to enter any information you wish to appear on the payslip. It will not effect the figures and will be printed exactly as you type it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can the payslip data be transfered into Excel to make my end of year accounts easier to complete?
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| Yes, simply cut and paste the relevant pages into an Excel worksheet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Can I calculate wages for more than 5 employees?
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| Yes you can but an extra fee may apply. See our Pricing page for details. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What paper do I need to print my payslips on ?
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You can print payslips onto plain A4 paper using an ordinary printer, such as an inkjet or laser printer. You can also
A security mailer is an A4 page with a clear window and an adhesive strip around the edge. After printing the payslip, the mailer is folded in half to create a secure envelope with the address showing through the window. For security mailer stationery that has been tested with our site, you can order blank payslips EVF-U from the Evrite website. When printing onto security mailers, please switch off the Page Scaling option within Adobe, otherwise the address will not align with the window in the mailer. |
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| Why do your calculations for SMP differ from the HMRC calculator?
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| Our system calculates SMP on a weekly basis. When using either the HMRC calculator or the HMRC CD-Rom you have a choice to work it out weekly or monthly. As long as you choose to work it out weekly the figures will match. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Do I need to send the 'working sheet' page or P11 to HM Revenue & Customs?
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HMRC do not require you to send them this form, they only ask you to keep a form P11 or an equivalent, for your records. The Working Sheet page of our system is an equivalent, so you do not need to fill out a separate form P11. Form P11 should not be confused with form P11D, which is used for totally different purpose. |
| Can I claim a rebate from HM Revenue and Customs for filing my year end returns online?
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Yes - If you have fewer than 50 employees: - file online for 2008-09 (return due by 19 May 2009) and get £ 75 |
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| Do you deal with year end P60, P14 and P35 returns?
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We make the year end as simple for you as possible, whilst enabling you to claim the HMRC rebate for electronic filing. You can check and print the information that makes up forms P14 and P35, before it is submitted electronically to the HMRC. Following acceptance by HM Revenue and Customs, you will be able to claim your rebate for electronic filing. Forms P60 can not be delivered electronically, as they must be handed to your employees. |
| What do I need to do at the end of the tax year?
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Our system makes it easy to move on to the new year, submit your year end return electronically and prepare forms P60 for your employees. Click the following link for a step by step guide: End of Year Guide |
| If I don't use the tax payment page, what do I need to do at year end?
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If you don't use our tax payment page, you should keep your own records of payments made to HM Revenue & Customs. At year end, the system will not be able to calculate the amount of tax and NICs that have been paid over to HMRC, so you must enter this figure yourself. To do this, you should finish the tax year, confirm the employees' P14 pages and then enter the figure on the P35 Totals page. More information on these steps can be found in our End of Year Guide. |
| Do I need to send off my last tax payment before I click "finish tax year"?
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The HM Revenue & Customs guidance assumes you calculate your last tax payment and send it off before completing your P35. If you wish to do this, you should save the final tax payment on the Tax Payment page before you click "finish tax year". If you have not yet sent the payment, you can enter the date when you expect to send it. Some of our customers prepare their P35 early, before they would normally send off their tax payment for the period ending 5th April. These customers may find it more convenient not to save the final tax payment, as they can use the P35 Totals page to work out their final payment. |
| I am getting error 1046 when I submit my year end returns, what could be wrong?
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This means 'Authentication Failure. The supplied user credentials failed validation for the requested service.' The possible reasons for this error are:-
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| I have lost my password so I am unable to access my account?
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| Simply click on the 'Lost password ? ' link below the login button on the main page. You will be asked to supply your email address, and instructions will be sent to you by email. |
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| I no longer wish to use the system. How do I cancel?
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| Log in and select the Preferences option. Scroll down to the 'Account Status' section and select the option to Close account from the drop down menu. We would appreciate it if you would take the time to tell us why you are leaving, either by email or using the form provided. |
| How do I enter details onto the system when the box is greyed out ?
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| On many pages you cannot enter details until you have clicked the 'Edit details' button towards the bottom of the screen. |
| Why won't the system allow me to enter a date beyond the 5th April?
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| Your account may still be set to the old tax year. To move it to the new tax year, select the "Finish tax year" option. |
| Why are the period start and end dates incorrect ?
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This can be caused if you don't enter a start date for an employee who started during this tax year or if you are trying to run a single payment without entering all payments from the begining of the tax year. If this is the first out of sync payment you should return to the 'Gross Pay Details' page and check the start and end dates. If you have several payments out of sync then assuming the employee doesn't have any statutory pay the way to correct it is to change the period end dates of the next few payments so that they are shorter than a full period. This will bring the start and end dates into line with reality. As long as the paydates are correct and there are NO STATUTORY PAYMENTS the result will be correct. If the employee does have statutory pay please email us and we will advise on how to correct the situation. |
| Why are the NI figures for my employee coming out as zero?
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There are four possible reasons for this: 1) The NIC table letter is set to C or X 2) The employee pay in that period does not exceed the Earnings Threshold. 3) If the employee is a company director, the NI is calculated over a longer period - typically a year. This often leads to zero NI in the first few periods of the year and then higher NI figures later in the year. Full details are given in the HMRC Help Book CA44 (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nitables/2006/ca44.pdf) 4) If the employee has a contracted out pension and is paid slightly more than the Earnings Threshold. The Earnings Threshold for 2009/2010 is - £110 per week or - £476 per month or - £5,715 per year |
| Why do I have two payslips with the same week/month number?
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The week or month number is determined from the pay date. If you pay your employees on the same day of each week, the week number will be different every week. If, for example, you pay them on Saturday one week and Friday the next week, these may have the same week number. With monthly paid employees, each tax month starts on the 6th. If, for example, you pay someone on the 6th April and then on the 5th May, these payslips will both be in month 1. The week/month number can affect tax but not national insurance. If you have two payslips with the same month number, you will normally find that the second payslip has a higher than usual tax deduction. |
| What should I do when the Tax Payments page shows I have 0.00 to pay?
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If there is nothing to pay, you must still notify HMRC. You can make a nil return on their website or you can post them a payslip from your yellow booklet. Once you have done this, you should click "Save as Today" on the Tax Payments page. If the tax payments screen shows you have 0.00 to pay, this can mean that nothing is owed, or it can mean that HMRC owe money to you. In the later case, you can request the money by contacting HMRC. Alternatively, you can ignore it and the amount will be carried forward, reducing the amount you have to pay next month. |
| I have confirmed a pay run that was wrong - can I delete it?
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If you haven't yet paid the tax and NIC for that period to HM Revenue and Customs, then you can delete the payments for an employee like this: 1) Click on the name of the employee on the left hand side of the screen 2) Click on the "Working Sheet" tab at the top 3) Click on the "Delete Last Payment" button at the bottom of the page If you have already paid the tax and NIC to HM Revenue and Customs, then altering the pay run may lead to an incorrect amount of tax being paid. For this reason, the "Delete Last Payment" button does not appear if the tax for the period has already been paid. |
| Can I delete a Tax Payment?
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Yes. A tax payment is saved by entering a "Date Paid" and clicking "Save". This indicates that you have paid the tax and NIC to HM Revenue and Customs. If there is no "Date Paid", then the tax payment has not been saved and therefore need not be deleted. The most recently saved tax payment can be deleted at any time by clicking the "delete" link. |
| How do I stop the the web address appearing on all my print-outs?
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If you print a page from our website, your web browser may automatically print the web address on the edge of the page. If you use Internet Explorer or Firefox, you can override this option using the Page Setup option (on the File menu). If you use Safari, once you have chosen the print option, select 'Safari' from the options and untick the box labelled 'Print webpage information in headers and footers'. |
| Why am I not receiving any emails from you?
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Firstly, check that the email address you log in with is actually your correct address. If you are not sure, please double check as important emails are sent to your email address. If we have the correct address, the problem is most likely caused by a junk mail filter. Junk emails, or spam, are a common problem on the Internet and there is no foolproof way of determining which emails are of genuine interest and which are spam. If your email program has a bulk email folder, please look there for our email. Otherwise, please check your filter settings. If you would like us to resend your account validation email, please choose the option on our Preferences page. |
| The HMRC helpline told me to use a tax code of NI but your system won't accept it?
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| NI is not a tax code. If you have been advised to use the code NI for student employees, then you should use NT instead. At the end of the tax year you should change the Tax Code box on the P14 to be blank. |
| How do I contact HM Revenue & Customs ?
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Details of your tax office can be found on most HMRC correspondence. The following numbers may also be helpful. HM Revenue & Customs New Employer Helpline: 0845-607-0143 HM Revenue & Customs Employer Helpline: 0845-714-3143 HM Revenue & Customs Online Services Helpdesk: 0845-605-5999 HM Revenue & Customs Orderline: 0845-764-6646 |
| Can I save a payslip to disk, or email it to my employee?
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Yes. When you see a button for viewing as PDF, you can use your right mouse button to save the payslip as a file. (Note: This method may not be available to some Mac users). You can also click the button with your usual mouse button and then choose the options from the File menu at the top of the screen. |