Blog

employment law updates

Changes to Payroll from April 2013 — are you prepared?

Wednesday 12th December 2012

Payroll, as you know it, is changing and, as employers, you will be expected to submit PAYE information online to HMRC on a monthly basis, alongside the monthly payroll run. This will replace the requirement to complete an annual return of PAYE tax and National Insurance contributions. Therefore, this will have a large impact on you as an employer and your payroll software or provider, and it is important that you find out the provisions which will be in place to manage this transition. The HMRC (http://www.hmrc.gov.uk) have outlined key steps which employers and payroll providers should take to prepare for this change. Below we have set out the key actions for you as employers and how we can support you to manage this. Key Steps 1. The first step is to update or acquire new payroll software or use a payroll provider. o Obtain payroll software (if you don't have already) o Update your payroll software (in order to have the required functionality to submit in real time) o Your preferred option may be to use a payroll provider to do the reporting for you. If so, please contact us and we can help you find one! 2. Secondly, you must ensure employee data is complete and correct – for existing employees and new starts. o It is important to ensure all employee details are full, correct and up-to-date, especially details like name, date of birth and National Insurance number. o We support employers' everyday in collecting employee information; whether it be for new starts or changes to employee details etc. Therefore, to avoid the hassle, time and effort in completing this exercise – let us manage this for you! 3. Finally, you must be pro-active – there will be a need to manage & record employee events and issues as they happen. o It will now be more important than ever to manage and record situations with employees as they happen, as you will now be required to submit this information to the HMRC on a monthly basis. Examples include information on your new starts and leavers, payment of SSP or a period of unpaid leave to report on. o Therefore, how about an audit of your internal processes to ensure these issues are currently reported accurately to your payroll? Furthermore, allow us to manage these processes for you and become the main point of contact for absences and changes to pay required. In summary, you not only need to ensure you have the correct payroll and IT systems in place to manage the transition to an HMRC monthly reporting system, but also you need to consider the implications on your HR systems, for example how your new starts and leavers information is managed and processed? Therefore, please give us a call to discuss your requirements further and how we can work with you to give you peace of mind... You can attend our seminar on this topic on 6th February 2013 - save the date!

Author

Heather Bell

Category

Employment Law Updates