Mar 2022
29
How payroll and accounting software integration can enhance your business
Are you fed-up of the repetitive and tedious task of uploading all your payroll information into your accounting software?
We get it – not only is it time consuming, but as an employer, it also leaves room for human error – whether it's from duplications of data or inputting the wrong employee details. This leads to more time being lost in identifying and resolving these errors, which in turn can damage your employee morale, as well as the efficiency of your business across the board.
What can be done to resolve this?
Here at BrightPay, we have recently integrated with Surf Accounts, a cloud-based accounting software that helps businesses, whether you’re an employer or an accounting firm, to take charge of your accounts.
Together, BrightPay and Surf Accounts can streamline the entire payroll process for you, eliminating the need to export your payroll information from BrightPay and import it to the accounting software manually. This is all thanks to API, which stands for Application Programming Interface.
What does an API do?
An API simply allows two applications to communicate and work together with one another.
This means that APIs work almost like a middleman, placing information conveniently all in one place, with the ability to send information to other systems.
BrightPay does this with many applications, such as Revenue for example. BrightPay communicates with Revenue to retrieve the latest RPNs to ensure that employees’ correct tax deductions and cut-off points are applied.
This also comes into play when BrightPay automatically creates the Payroll Submission Request (PSR) which is ready to be sent directly to Revenue from within BrightPay’s software, once the payroll is finalised. This allows you to save an incredible amount of time, while also ensuring you don’t forget this important payroll step and reducing the possibility of uploading issues.
We use APIs every day without even realising it. APIs are working behind the scenes to make our lives as convenient as possible. For example, Google and Apple use APIs to display weather data in their systems. They don’t run weather stations, but instead simply allow the data from these weather providers to be displayed within their software, simplifying the process for you.
BrightPay integrates with five different accounting software to streamline your payroll process even further. Other examples of APIs in our software are our integration with payment platform Modulr, and pension providers.
Watch this quick three-minute video on a brief overview on BrightPay’s seamless API integration with Surf Accounts.
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How does this help my business?
Payroll and accounting software have always been separate systems, never communicating with one another. Employee salary details have always needed to be entered manually into both software, which is an extremely time-consuming and repetitive task for employers.
With the BrightPay and Surf Accounts integration, your payroll information is now sent from the payroll software straight into the accounting software, eliminating the need for you to manually upload these details.
BrightPay simply produces a payroll journal which can be viewed and downloaded. You can then send this journal into the general ledger in Surf Accounts, directly through BrightPay.
This ensures your payroll information is accurate and correct, preventing errors across the board and improving the efficiency of your business.
Some of the main benefits include:
- Streamlining your entire payroll process from start to finish
- Allowing you to spend more time attending to more productive business matters
- Submitting data in just a few clicks
- Eliminating costly mistakes, saving you hours of time
- Improving the efficiency of your workflow
How does it work?
Simply click into the journal button on the menu bar within BrightPay’s payroll software, and click into Surf Accounts. After that, you choose a date range and BrightPay will retrieve your nominal accounts from Surf.
Next, all that’s left is to choose your nominal ledger mapping (where you want to post your data within the accounting software, adding any necessary variations). The nominal ledger mapping is saved, so you don’t need to redo do it each pay period. The information you submitted is then found in the journals section within Surf Accounts, ready to be processed.
Please view our short guide on how to use Surf Accounts’ API within BrightPay’s software.
Why should I use BrightPay?
Here at BrightPay, we are constantly developing our software to solve problems for payroll processors, whether you’re an employer, an accountant or a payroll bureau. We are an award-winning software, recently winning top payroll product at AccountingWeb’s Software Excellence Awards in 2021.
Our payroll software includes full functionality for PAYE modernisation and is fully Revenue complaint. We provide free phone and email customer support, with over 330,000 businesses using our software across Ireland and the UK, and a 98.8% customer satisfaction rate.
We also provide a range of online resources, including webinars, guides and video tutorials that are completely free for you to access from anywhere, at any time.
“I find BrightPay to be very user friendly and has all the features required to run payroll efficiently for an SME. The updates and customer support are excellent.
I recommended BrightPay to another SMB that I work for and they switched from another market provider in 2016 with ease and are very satisfied with BrightPay now.”
- Lorraine Walters , Acara Energy Ltd
Where can I find more information?
We recently hosted a live webinar covering a more in-depth analysis on how BrightPay’s integration with Surf Accounts works.
The webinar includes the following:
- The Importance of Automation
- What Payroll Journal Integration is
- How BrightPay’s Integration with Surf Accounts can help you
- The Benefits of Integrated Payroll & Accounting Systems
- Other API Integrations in BrightPay
Watch a recording of the webinar here.
Our cloud extension
Here at BrightPay we also have a cloud extension, BrightPay Connect, that allows both you and your employees to access payslips and HR information through a secure online self-service portal.
BrightPay Connect also backups up payroll data to the cloud every 15 minutes, to a fully secure remote location. This means that there’s always a backup available and ready to download, should a crisis arise.
Other BrightPay Connect features include:
- Annual leave management
- GDPR compliance
- Company calendar
- Interactive employee app
- Document sharing with emeployees
- The ability for employees to update their personal information
If you’re interested in BrightPay Connect, sign up for a free 15-minute demo to see how BrightPay Connect can work for your business.
Related articles:
- Seamless integration at your fingertips
- “It’s just so easy to use” – What customers have to say
- 7 reasons why you should process payroll in-house
Dec 2015
1
Week 53: Irish Payroll
Are you due a week 53?
Employers are only due a week 53 if there are 53 pay dates in the tax year. This situation will arise for employers in 2015 where their pay date falls on a Thursday. This is due to the fact that their first pay date fell on Thursday 1st January and their last pay date falls on Thursday 31st December. Employers with any other pay date will not be due a week 53. The same principle applies for employers who run fortnightly payroll (they are only due a week 54 if there are 27 pay periods in the tax year).
Week 53 PAYE Deductions
Employers should apply employee’s tax credits and standard rate cut off points on a week 1 basis. This means employees will get the benefit of more than one year’s tax credits and cut off points. Where an employee is on an emergency basis then an emergency basis should continue to apply.
Week 53 USC Deduction
Employers should apply USC standard cut offs on a week 1 basis. This is a change from last year where there were no additional thresholds granted. If an employee is on an emergency basis then an emergency basis should continue to apply for week 53. If an employee is exempt from USC they will continue to be exempt in week 53.
Week 53 PRSI Deduction
There is no change to the way PRSI is calculated.
Dec 2014
17
Week 53 - Irish Payroll
Are you due a week 53?
Employers are only due a week 53 if there are 53 pay dates in the calendar year. This situation will arise for employers in 2014 where their pay date falls on a Wednesday. This is due to the fact that their first pay date fell on Wednesday 1st January and their last pay date falls on Wednesday 31st December. Employers with any other pay date will not be due a week 53. The same principle applies for employers who run fortnightly payroll (they are only due a week 27 if there are 27 pay periods in the calendar year).
Week 53 PAYE Deductions
Employers should apply employee’s tax credits and standard rate cut off points on a week 1 basis. This means employees will get the benefit of more than one year’s tax credits and cut off points. Where an employee is on an emergency basis then an emergency basis should continue to apply.
Week 53 USC Deduction
Where your employees operate on a cumulative basis continue to operate on a cumulative basis for week 53. For the purposes of USC there is no additional thresholds granted. If the employee has used all their USC cut offs in week 52 they will pay USC at the higher rate in week 53. Where your payroll operates on a week 1/month 1 basis employees will pay USC at the top rate. If an employee is on an emergency basis then an emergency basis should continue to apply for week 53. If an employee is exempt from USC they will continue to be exempt in week 53.
There is no change to the way PRSI is calculated.
Jul 2013
4
Maternity benefit tax could cost women up to €3,000
Mothers and pregnant women face losses of up to nearly €3,000 a year as part of the tax on maternity benefit which came into force on July 1st.
Women’s representatives said the measure was a mean-spirited move by the Government.
The tax will contribute €15m to the exchequer in 2013, and €40m per full year from then on.
But the National Women’s Council yesterday expressed concern that many women were not aware when the reductions in benefit would take affect.
Its policy advisor Ann Irwin explained: “It’s a very mean-spirited move in a lot of ways. Even the commission on taxation has said that maternity benefit should remain outside the tax net. It’s there for mothers to nurture children when outside the workforce.
“The benefit payments are an important acknowledgment for mothers of the cost of having a baby in Ireland.”
Opposition parties have branded the new tax measure as “anti-family” and it could see working mothers pay up to €2,700. Mothers will pay different rates depending on their top-up payments from their employer as well as assessments on their means.
The tax could see benefits reduced by up to €103 a week, the council said.
The Department of Social Protection paid out €309m in maternity benefit payments in 2011.
Mothers get between €217.80 and €260 a week in payments for 26 weeks.
The council said women who got employer top-up payments would be worst affected but that it remained unknown how many would be affected by the levy.
But ministers have insisted women overall will not be worse off. Some had been receiving high payments while on maternity leave, ministers have also said.
However, Ms Irwin said many women remained in the dark about the tax. “The first they may know about it while on leave is when their next pay package comes in.”
Bright Contracts – Employment Contracts and Handbooks
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Jun 2013
1
Taxation of Maternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit & Health & Safety Benefit
From 1st July 2013 Maternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit & Health & Safety Benefit payable by the Department of Social Protection will be taxable in full. These payments will be taxable but will not be subject to USC or PRSI.
The Revenue Commissioners have confirmed that employees in receipt of Maternity Benefit, Adoptive Benefit or Health & Safety Benefit will have their tax credit and standard rate cut-off point reduced to reflect the benefit they have received. As the benefit will be taxed by Revenue and not at source the recipients will continue to receive the same payment from the Department of Social Protection.
Employers will be advised of the adjusted tax credits and standard rate cut-off points on the tax credit certificates (P2C’s). As the benefit will be taxed by reducing the employee’s tax credits and standard rate cut-off point, employers are NOT to include figures for the benefit on Revenue forms i.e. P45, P60 or P35L.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Apr 2013
25
What you as an employer need to know about LPT (Local Property Tax)
An employee may opt with Revenue for their LPT liability to be collected by deduction from their salary/wages.
Revenue will communicate to you how much you should deduct from employees in the P2C file (details of tax credits and cut off points) which will be sent to your ROS inbox in June 2013. The LPT field is a new field within the P2C file and BrightPay will detect it automatically once imported into the software. Paper tax credit certificates will also contain this new LPT field and BrightPay will have a new field for inputting the LPT amount manually.
LPT deductions commence for pay dates from 1st July 2013 and, in accordance with Revenue guidelines, BrightPay will deduct the LPT amount evenly over the remainder of the 2013 year. Where, in any pay period, there is insufficient pay to enable deduction of LPT, the balance remaining will be spread evenly over the remaining pay periods.
The LPT deduction, the amount deducted to date and the balance of LPT still to be deducted will be shown on payslips.
The amount you pay to the Collector General by way of a P30 (monthly or quarterly) will include the LPT amount that you have collected. P45s and P60s will also include a new LPT field.
We will be releasing an upgrade in June to handle all of the above.
As with all other statutory deductions, you will be obliged to deduct LPT in accordance with the P2C instruction from Revenue. If an employee has an issue, they must contact Revenue directly. You, as employer, have no discretion in the matter! Revenue can pursue you as employer for any amounts you fail to deduct, charge interest on late payment and fine you for non-compliance.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll Software
Feb 2013
5
Employment Permits Bill
Legislation aimed at protecting undocumented migrant workers is being progressed as a priority by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
The proposed legislation will address, amongst other matters, an important legal issue identified in a recent High Court decision. In August 2012, the High Court overturned a Rights Commissioner's award of over €91,000 in favour of a foreign national employed as a restaurant worker.
The Court found that the employee’s contract of employment was substantively illegal in the absence of the appropriate employment permit and that he was therefore not entitled to the award.
The proposed legislation will protect migrant workers whose employment in Ireland is unlawful by reason of not having a work permit. The Department recently confirmed that it is expected that the Bill will be published in the first quarter of this year.
Bright Contracts – Employment contracts and handbooks.
BrightPay – Payroll Software
