PAYE Modernisation: What it is and how has it changed payroll processes?

PAYE modernisation came into full effect from January 2019. With this new system, employers are required to report employee pay and deductions to Revenue as their employees are paid.

The aim, ultimately, is to make things simpler. By operating in real-time, Revenue can ensure that the correct tax deduction is being made at the right time for every employee. In turn, employees have online access to payroll information that has been submitted to Revenue by their employer in real-time.

Arguably the most taxing aspect of PAYE modernisation, if you’ll pardon the pun, is that it places substantial responsibilities onto businesses and payroll providers. It's their responsibility to ensure that the correct business processes and practices are in place.

Revenue expects you to get it right, but the change is undoubtedly a significant administrative burden on small employers who process their payroll manually. If you don’t have compliant software, the relevant information must be tracked manually and sent to Revenue through Revenue Online System (ROS).

If that sounds like a headache, it’s because it is. But it doesn’t need to be the case. With the right payroll software in place, the submission of payroll data can be seamless while also introducing many real-time reporting benefits to businesses and employees.

BrightPay has worked closely and will continue to work closely with Revenue to keep our payroll software compliant. BrightPay easily caters for the needs of PAYE Modernisation, removing any heavy lifting on your part.

Change - especially legislative change - comes with its challenges. For businesses that have worked manually (and happily so) for a long time, PAYE modernisation can easily be interpreted as throwing a spanner in the works.

But PAYE modernisation is a chance to make a big leap forward. Revenue integrated payroll software can simplify the payroll process and drastically reduce the administrative cost. Submitting payroll information in real-time eliminates the need for P30s, P35s, P45s, P46s and P60s which further reduces administrative processing.

The benefits are there to be grasped, all you need is the right payroll solution in place. BrightPay won Payroll Software of the Year 2018 and 2019 and enjoys a 99% customer satisfaction rating. There’s no better partner to make the most of PAYE modernisation.

Book a demo today to discover how BrightPay’s award-winning software can improve your payroll reporting processes.

BrightPay Customer Update: June 2020

Welcome to BrightPay's June update. Our most important news this month include:

• Returning Staff to Work

• Temporary COVID-19 Wage Subsidy Scheme - Operational Phase

• How to download the Revenue Instruction from ROS

• Free Webinar: Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates & Return to Work Safely Policies

Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates

The government has announced the first steps to ease the coronavirus restrictions with a roadmap in place for lockdown measures to be slowly lifted. Understand how to adapt your payroll processes to accommodate for the schemes and subsequent updates.

Free Webinar: Register Now

Return to Work Safely Protocol 

Rehiring Employees After Layoff - The Payroll Implications

Posted byKaren BennettinCustomer Update

Rehiring Employees After Layoff - The Payroll Implications

Thousands of shops, businesses and construction sites have reopened as part of the first phase of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. In terms of bringing staff back to work, employers should put in place a number of measures, as set out in The Government’s ‘Return to Work Safely Protocol’.

Many businesses are now able to re-engage their staff that had previously been placed on layoff. If an employee was laid off and their employment ceased as a result of COVID-19, and the employer now wishes to place this employee back on the payroll, the employee will qualify for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme if their DEASP claim is ceased. However, employees must have had a pay date in February and have been included in submissions between 1 February 2020 and 30 March 2020 under the same PPS number to qualify.

Rehired Employees & TWSS Files

During the operational phase of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, Revenue are providing all employers with details of the maximum subsidy and maximum top-up for all their employees. This Revenue instruction is in the form of a TWSS file, which was made available to employers on ROS from 4 May 2020.

Where an employee was rehired after 1 May 2020, they were not included in the initial TWSS file, and so J9 submissions for employees rehired after 1 May were processed but rejected for refunding.

From 18 May, the TWSS file now includes rehired employees that were included in an RPN between 2 May 2020 and 17 May 2020, provided the employee was on the employer's payroll on 29 February 2020 with the same PPS number.

From 21 May, Revenue will refresh the TWSS files daily to include rehired employees that have been notified to Revenue and to update the date on the file to reflect when it was refreshed. To be included in this refresh, employers must ensure that the rehired employees are on the payroll and an RPN has been received the day before the employer calculates and submits the first payroll payment to Revenue for the rehired employees. Revenue are currently developing a notification process that will inform employers when a refreshed TWSS file is available to download.

Additional Resource: We have created a template letter that employers can use for employees who are returning from layoff or short-time working.

BrightPay Payroll Software | Thesaurus Payroll Software

Posted byRachel HynesinCoronavirus

Returning staff to work

The Government’s “Return to Work Safely Protocol” sets out a number of measures employers must consider as they reopen their businesses and bring staff back to work safely.

In terms of bringing staff back to work, employers should put in place a number of measures, including:

1. Employees must be issued with a pre-return to work form to be completed at least 3 days prior to their return. In completing the form, employees will self-declare as being fit to return to work. If a worker answers Yes to any of the questions, they are strongly advised to seek medical advise before returning to work. A template questionnaire including all required questions can be downloaded here.

2. Induction training should be provided for all workers. At a minimum it should include:
1. up to-date advice and guidance on public health
2. details on what a worker should do if they develop symptoms of COVID-19
3. information on how the workplace is organised to address the risk from COVID-19
4. an outline of the Covid-19 response plan
5. clarify points of contact from the employer and the workers

6. any other relevant sector specific advice 

3. Following a risk assessment, employers should arrange for the necessary controls to be put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the workplace.

4. Temperature testing should be implemented in line with Public Health advice.

5. Review and revise existing sick leave policies and amend as appropriate and in line with Covid-19 procedures. A revised sick leave policy is now available in Bright Contracts.

The full Return to Work Safely Protocol can be viewed here. 

How to introduce BrightPay Connect to your clients

Introducing a new service to your payroll clients isn’t always as simple as we’d like it to be. Yes, you know that it would be great for their business and maybe they do too, but it’s likely that they’ll still need some convincing to get them over the line and on board. So, here are 3 things to keep in mind when introducing BrightPay Connect as a new payroll process.

What Does Your Client Need

Before you make your case to your clients, you need to be sure that you’re offering them the best service for their business. Every client is different in one way or another, and this means that a one-size-fits-all approach to their payroll just isn’t going to work. It’s also not going to give them confidence in your ability if they think you don’t understand their business, so doing your homework here will really pay off.

In order to get your client on board with your new payroll offering, it’s useful to think about what challenges they’re facing right now regarding payroll, and whether BrightPay Connect is a right fit for them. BrightPay Connect offers a whole range of additional HR benefits, so think about how these extras can save your clients time. Begin your introduction by showing your clients that they’re in safe hands because you fully understand their payroll challenges and you’ve got just the product to help them make their payroll processes even easier than it’s ever been before.

How Can You Provide Added Value

So now that you’ve established how BrightPay Connect can modernise your client’s payroll process, it’s time to pitch the benefits to them. For most clients, this is a simple case of informing them about the HR features they may not have themselves including:

• Client payroll portal
• Payslip library
• Employee payroll app
• Annual leave management
• HR document upload feature 
• Automated payroll reports

You can also present BrightPay Connect as a time saving opportunity by explaining to them that the cloud functionality frees them up to dedicate additional resources to other aspects of the business.

What’s The Bottom Line

Every client, whether big or small, is always trying to find new ways to cut costs, reduce administration and maximize profits (without cutting quality services). And in today’s climate, most businesses don’t have any choice in keeping their costs down as much as possible. So, one of the best ways you can sell your payroll services to your clients is by simply showing them just how cost effective it is.

BrightPay Connect offers highly competitive pricing options where users are billed based on usage. The usage subscription model is based on the number of active employees in the billing month. The more clients you have the lower your cost per employee, which means you can pass the savings along to them. You can also find ways to make it even more tempting to your clients, such as offering them a free trial period, or a special deal if they refer a new client to your bureau. This is totally up to you, but don’t be afraid to be creative with how you cost this service.

Book a demo of BrightPay Connect to see how you can help your clients with a new and improved payroll service offering.

Posted bySarah TyrrellinBrightPay Connect

Thank You!

The Thesaurus Software team have received lots of words of praise and thanks over the past few weeks. Here's a selection of some of the wonderful comments that have been sent in. We would like to thank everyone for their positive feedback, your kind words are very much appreciated and encourage us to keep going during in these challenging times. 

Thank you. Stay Safe.