Jun 2022
29
5 reasons to choose Surf Accounts Production
When it comes to creating financial statements to submit to the CRO, you need to ensure they are compliant. If your accounts fail to comply with the requirements, they will be rejected by the CRO. To make sure you meet the requirements whilst working efficiently, you should use an accounts production software which is easy-to-use, saves you time, and can improve the accuracy of your service. Surf Accounts Production is the software which can do all this, and more.
Here are 5 reasons you should choose Surf Accounts Production:
1. Cloud-based
As a cloud accounts production software, Surf can provide you with many benefits, such as the ability to work remotely. As it is cloud based, you can access, edit and share data via the internet, meaning you no longer have to rely on physical servers and hard drives. The cloud is also extremely secure, thanks to its use of encryption, so you can rest assured your data is protected. By using a cloud-based software, you can do all the work you could in the office, from anywhere with an internet connection.
2. Compliance
Surf Accounts Production is the number one software on the market when it comes to compliance. This is due to a number of reasons:
- We have a dedicated compliance team in place, who’s sole responsibility is to ensure that the accounts you create are compliant with all legislation.
- All the formats we provide are FRS 102 Section 1A and FRS 105 compliant, while dual jurisdiction ROI/UK and NI compliant versions are available.
- All compliance updates are done automatically, in the background. This means you don’t have to waste time sitting through system installations or system re-starts.
- Surf Accounts Production has been designed to allow you to edit financial statements 'on the fly,'. Once you've produced the accounts, you can make revisions without ever having to leave the document. To see how our ‘on the fly compliance function works, click here.
3. Tailored entity types
Surf Accounts Production offers 9 entity types for creating financial statements, which is more than any other accounts production software on the market. Our development team are also working on adding to these in the future. In comparison, some accounts production software providers offer a single financial statement template, which then must be manually edited to suit the client’s needs. With Surf, you can reduce the time you spend editing templates as you simply select the client’s entity type upon creation.
The financial statement formats which Surf Accounts Production currently provide are:
- Company
- Schools
- Sole Trader
- Farmer
- Credit Union
- Industrial & Provident Societies
- Club
- LLP
- Partnership
4. E-signing
Surf Accounts Production’s electronic signature feature became the first of its kind in the accounts production software market. Our partnership with HelloSign allows you to request e-signatures for a range of different documents, track the status of the signature, and download the fully signed version to your PC. By allowing clients to sign documents digitally, you can send documents in seconds, complete tasks faster, and reduce costs associated with travel or having documents couriered.
5. Integration with Surf Accounts (and BrightPay)
Surf Accounts Production has direct API integration with our bookkeeping extension, Surf Accounts. This integration allows you to conduct all your year-end and bookkeeping work from the one platform, eliminating the need to switch between your accounts production and bookkeeping software.
Additionally, Surf Accounts has API integration with BrightPay Payroll Software, allowing you to seamlessly upload your payroll journals from BrightPay into the accounting software, which can be accessed by Surf Accounts Production users who also hold a bookkeeping licence.
Ultimately, Surf Accounts Production is packed full of accounts production features which can make creating financial statements a breeze. With time saving features such as automatic compliance, tailored entity types and electronic signatures, you can better allocate your time to improve your productivity. To learn more about Surf Accounts Production, or it’s bookkeeping extension, Surf Accounts, book a free one-to-one demo with one of our product experts below.
Jun 2022
28
BrightPay Customer Update: July 2022
Welcome to BrightPay's July update. Our most important news this month include:
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Living wage to replace minimum wage in Ireland by 2026
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Maximise efficiency and reduce errors when making payments
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The future is Bright: An introduction to Surf Accounts and Surf AP
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5 Benefits AccountancyManager can bring to your business
Free Webinar: The secret to streamlining your payroll and payments process [bureau]
Discover in our upcoming webinar, how to make same-day payments to clients’ employees, when processed before 2 pm, directly from your payroll software. Our integration with payments platform, Modulr, offers faster, easier and more secure payments for your practice.
Free webinar: The importance of accounting systems and payroll systems working together [employers]
Say goodbye to manually entering payroll journal data into your accounting software. In our upcoming webinar, discover how BrightPay’s integration with Surf Accounts allows you to send payroll journals seamlessly to the general ledger in Surf Accounts - it couldn’t be any easier!
Be cyber-safe with BrightPay Connect [bureau]
How often do you back-up your clients’ payroll data? It's vital that you secure your payroll data regularly. In the event of a cyber-attack, you could lose your clients’ sensitive payroll information. Learn how you can keep your data safe with our cloud extension, BrightPay Connect.
How to edit your financial statements as you go [bureau]
Surf Accounts Production has been designed to allow you to edit financial statements 'on the fly,' while keeping you fully confident in your compliance. For more information, book an online demo with a product expert.
How to retain employees in 2022 [employers]
High employee turnover rates have become an issue for employers in 2022. Learn how an online employer portal and an employee app can be used to improve employee retention through autonomy, improved communication, and streamlined HR processes.
Integrate your payroll with Surf Accounts [employers]
BrightPay’s latest integration with Surf Accounts, allows users to send payroll journals directly into their accounting software. This will save you time, reduce errors, and improve your overall productivity. Register for our upcoming webinar on the 12th of July to see the software in action.
Living wage to replace minimum wage in Ireland by 2026
It was announced in June that the National Minimum Wage will be replaced by a living wage in 2026. The minimum wage rate will increase between now and 2026, closing the gap between the minimum and the new living wage.
Jun 2022
17
Living wage to replace minimum wage in Ireland by 2026
It was announced this week that a new living wage, to replace the current minimum wage, is to be phased in for Irish workers, starting in 2023. A living wage is an hourly rate of pay calculated to be the minimum amount that a worker needs to earn to cover the basic cost of living.
The memo which Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar has brought to Cabinet proposes that the living wage is to be set at 60% of the median wage in a given year. Based on this percentage, if the living wage rate were introduced today, it would be set at €12.17 per hour.
Minimum wage in Ireland
The National Minimum Wage was first introduced in Ireland in April 2000 and was also roughly 60% of the median wage at the time. The minimum wage has increased by around 47% since it was first introduced, but it has not kept up with the average earnings or the cost of living.
Since 1st January 2022, the National Minimum Wage is €10.50 per hour for those aged 20 and over.
Rates for other workers are as follows:
| Age group | Minimum hourly rate of pay | % of minimum wage |
| Aged 19 | €9.45 | 90% |
| Aged 18 | €8.40 | 80% |
| Aged under 18 | €7.35 | 70% |
What does the living wage mean for employers?
The national minimum wage will remain in place until the living wage rate is fully phased in, in 2026. The minimum wage rate will increase between now and 2026, closing the gap between the minimum and the living wage. However, the full living wage may be introduced faster or slower than the proposed time frame, depending on prevailing economic circumstances. The Tánaiste has said that the reason the living wage is being introduced gradually is because if it is brought in too quickly businesses could close, or employees could see their hours cut. Leo Varadkar will consult with various interested parties, including employer and worker representative groups, unions and the public on the draft plan.
The living wage is just one of the improvements to workers' rights to be introduced over the coming years. Other changes we are set to see for employees is the introduction of statutory sick pay and automatic enrolment onto pension schemes.
Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date on legislation changes, webinar events, special offers and other payroll related news.
Related articles:
- Statutory Sick Pay – Preparing for 2022
- Preparing for Auto Enrolment: Everything you need to know
- Auto enrolment for accountants: Lessons learned from the UK
Jun 2022
2
Maximise efficiency and reduce errors when making payments
Automating your workflow in 2022 is the key to a successful business. The process of manually entering data is long gone, as automating tasks allows you to save time and reduce the number of repetitive tasks you manage.
BrightPay Payroll Software is now integrated with payment platform, Modulr, to provide a faster, easier and more reliable way to pay employees. The integration has created a more seamless way of paying your employees, saving you time for other tasks.
The importance of automating your payroll
Traditionally, employee payments are a time-consuming task that can cause major headaches for employers, when not done correctly. It can turn into an arduous process, especially when errors are made. As well as the time delays, when employees haven't been paid correctly or on time, it can damage employee morale. Errors that can occur when paying employees include:
- Double entry or incorrect input of figures
- Duplication of figures
- Forgetting to add overtime, statutory leave pay etc.
At BrightPay, we want to make our customers' payroll journey as easy as possible. BrightPay’s integration with payment platform, Modulr, has taken away the manual data entry workload associated with making payments to employees, and eliminates the need to create bank files.
What is Modulr?
Modulr is a payment platform integrated into your payroll software and is a faster, easier and more reliable way to pay employees. Modulr offers a safe and reliable way of paying your employees as it has built in multi-factor authentication, meaning you must confirm your identity through an app on your mobile.
The integration allows employees to be paid on the same day when payments have been authorised on a business day before 2pm. This helps reduce payment errors as it gives you the opportunity to make any last-minute changes to the payroll, such as adding overtime pay.
How to pay employees using Modulr
- Once you’ve finalised your employees' payslips through BrightPay, simply click the “Pay” tab and on the drop-down menu click the “Modulr” button.
- On the next screen, simply click “continue”.
- When asked, enter your Modulr username and password and click “Sign in to Modulr”. If you do not have a Modulr account set up, you can simply sign up here.
- Once you’re signed into Modulr, you will be asked to authenticate your account using authentication app, Authy. For this to be successful, you will need to have the Authy app installed on your mobile device.
- Once prompted, follow the instructions on your screen.
- When you are signed into the Authy app, a match attempt will be made to your Modulr account using your employer registration number entered into your BrightPay employer file. Once both accounts have synchronized, your customer name will be displayed. If you’ve been given more than one customer name, simply click the one that is most applicable to you.
- If your employee's payment method has been set to credit transfer, it will be displayed for review and will be asked to put in the following details:
- Pay from account – select the account you wish to make payment from
- Payment date – choose your payment date
- Payee – review the list of payees, and de-select any who are not included in this pay period
- IBAN – Make sure the correct bank details are logged
- Reference – enter a reference if you wish
- Amount – this reflects the payment amount for each of your employees
- When ready, click “continue”.
- A summary of your payment request will be displayed on screen for review. When ready to submit your payment request, simply click “Send to Modulr”. One last request will be sent to your mobile device via the Authy authentication app.
- Once successful, confirmation of your payment request will be displayed via Modulr for final approval.
Although there are several steps to get your Modulr account set up and activated, once set up, it is an efficient way to pay your employees. As mentioned, employees can be paid on the same day, when payments have been processed on a business day before 2 pm. Otherwise, they will be paid on the next business day. Thanks to the integration, you can maximise efficiency while allowing you to process your employees payments with ease. Book a free demo of BrightPay today to learn more.
Related articles:
- 5 benefits AccountancyManager can bring to your business
- The future is Bright: An introduction to Surf Accounts and Surf Accounts Production
- BrightPay Customer Update: June 2022
