How do I implement tax and NI changes in April/May?
We will send out a CD with a set of step-by-step, to lead you
through the operation. This will arrive in good time for you to
make the changes.
How do I deal with holiday pay over tax year end?
- Run the payroll for the current week
- Enter the holiday. Change Period Advance by 1, 2 or as
required
- Click on preview and the following question will be asked: "Do
you intend running a week 53, 54 or 56 this year?" Answer 'Yes' to
this ONLY if you need to run an extra period for EVERYBODY,
otherwise, click No
- Run week 1, 2 etc. with zero pay for the employee
concerned
- NI will be spread over weeks 53, 54 etc. - as weeks 1, 2 have
been run with zero pay, the tax allowance will be regained when the
employee starts work again
Where can I buy P14/60 forms?
For a limited period we can supply 3 part and 4 part laser and
continuous P14/60 forms in various quantities. The 4 part forms are
unique to us and contain an extra employer's copy of the P60.
We ensure timely delivery and a form design guaranteed* to fit
our software.
In addition to 3 part forms, we can also supply 1-part P60 forms
for those of you
who are filing by Internet. Please ring 0844 815 5676 for
prices.
*Laser forms are only guaranteed with
HP-compatible laser printers.
Why have I not got a P60 for some of my employees?
They are probably leavers. You should only give a P60 to a
person who was in your employment on the 5th April. It is not your
responsibility to produce a P60 for anyone who left before that
date.
Which P14/60 forms should I be using?
EARNIE uses portrait P14/60 forms. We do not produce the
landscape versions.
I am paying people in Week 1. Why is the system saying nobody
found to pay?
The year end restart has not been done or has not been
completed. Refer to your update instructions.
Can I print multiple copies of the P14/60s?
Yes. This is possible as long as Year End Restart has not been
performed.
Can you give me some clarification of X NI rate on P14s?
If someone is earning below the LEL, the correct category letter
is X: this denotes
no liability. When earnings hit the LEL, even though there is no
liability for NICs, category letter A (or whatever) should be used,
column 1a completed and the rest zero filled.
Importantly, the P14 should be submitted. This is because
earnings at the LEL count towards benefit entitlement.
How do the P14s/P60s print out?
We recommend the 3 or 4 part laser portrait forms. The P14/P60s
print out consecutively, with screen prompts to tell you when to
enter each form.
You need to put all the top copies into the printer first, then
the second copies when prompted and finally the P60s. If you have
chosen the 4 part forms with an extra employer's copy of the P60
this will print out last.
I am doing my year end return online. How do I print out my
employees P60s?
You can issue plain paper P60s. Go to Reports, Library
Selection, Miscellaneous and select the Plain Paper Laser P60s.
You can then print these from Print Year-end forms in the Year
End Menu. If you would prefer to print them on pre-printed forms
call Support for advice. Remember, leavers do not get P60s so the
system will not print them for anyone who has received a P45.
Do we order portrait or landscape P14 forms?
The year end P14 forms need to be portrait. We recommend you
order the 3-part Laser forms.
Can I submit P14s by Internet and P35 on paper?
Yes, but you will lose your incentive if you are entitled to
one. Both should be completed online if you want to retain the
incentive.
How do I submit Construction Industry Scheme P35?
You will need to send a Whole submission for your P14s. On the
Revenue Details tab you can enter Deductions made from
subcontractors and CIS Deductions suffered.
However, EARNIE handles CIS and this is a module that can be
purchased as an "add on" to the payroll package.
Key benefits for using EARNIE for CIS:
- Sub-contractors are kept in a separate company to PAYE
employees. This ensures no mistakes can be made when importing to
HMRC.
- EARNIE stores the UTR (Unique Tax Reference) for each of the
company statuses of 'Sole Trader', 'Partnership', 'Limited
Companies' and 'Trusts'
- At the click of a button EARNIE will contact HMRC's Gateway and
verify that tax status for any of the sub-contractors on the
system.
- Material and Labour costs can be split between different
jobs.*
- Calculates VAT for VAT registered sub-contractors
- Prints Invoices and Remittance Advices
- Provides electronic monthly tax returns to HMRC
- Provides a journal file which can be imported into IRIS
Accounts Office and other accounts packages
- Can link sub-contractor companies to PAYE company for reporting
at the PAYE Year End
- Withhold part of the payment until future pay periods
- Caters for the CITB Training Levy
* Requires the costing module to be purchased.
Contact us or call 0855 815 5676 for more
information.
Can I run my year end for one company when I am still running
payrolls for another?
Yes, each company is completely independent so there is no
problem running the year end and changing the tax year at different
times for each. One thing to remember, if you choose to do this:
any reports you re-select for the next tax year will update for all
companies.
Where can I find the copy of my company I took during the year
end restart?
It is stored in a folder called Last Year, this is a sub folder
in your main EARNIE folder. To restore this copy, first make sure
you have a back-up of your current position. Then log into Admin,
go to File, Companies and Restore last Year's Copy.
How can I tell if the CD has installed correctly?
Once you have installed the CD you can check the update has been
successful under Help/About EARNIE. The version number in here
should read 1.17.10. The version number is also available on the
title bar. (1.16.10 is the April release for 2008/2009 tax
year.)
Do I need to do anything once the year end CD is
installed?
To make sure you are fully prepared for the steps you need to
take at year end, we recommend you print off and read your year end
guide at this point.
You do not need to do anything further until you are ready to
start your year end procedures. Remember, you can process each
company's year end individually, so you don't have to wait until
all your payrolls are complete for the year.
Where can I find my EARNIE payroll year end guide?
When you run the CD a menu will appear on screen. To print the
guide choose
'Print Year End Guide'. If you don't have access to the CD but the
update has been installed, the year end guide can also be printed
from the Year End Menu by selecting Year End Guide.
When can I start making submissions for the 2009 / 2010 tax
year?
The HMRC website will be available now for 09/10 submissions.
Therefore once you have received and installed your year end update
you will be able to submit online. This should ease the peak on the
6th April.
My year end reports don't match what I have paid to HMRC.
What do I do?
If your reports match each other but don't balance with your
payments to HMRC you need to do the following:
- Re-print and process the month end report for each month
- Check the new reports against the originals
- You may find a month that doesn't match because the payroll has
been re-run and altered in some way for an employee
In this case you just need to adjust your final payment to HMRC
for the 2009/10 tax year to match the submission.
My CD has arrived. When should I install it?
You should install your CD as soon as it arrives. You do not
have to wait until you have finished all of your payrolls for the
year. We recommend an immediate install for the following
reasons:
- Any potential problems with installation can be resolved before
the busy period starts.
- If there is a fault with the CD you have plenty of time to
arrange a replacement.
- You can prepare earlier for your year end procedures by
printing off and reading through your year end guide.
Where can I find instructions to install the CD?
When you first run the CD a menu screen will appear. Printing
the Installation Guide is one of the menu options. You should print
these instructions and follow them carefully.
These instructions will appear in .pdf format so you will need
Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print them. To install Adobe
Acrobat Reader simply select 'Install Acrobat Reader' from the main
menu.
I have found a problem with the Statutory Payments totals at
year end. What do I do?
If you have found a problem with SSP, SMP, SAP or SPP you may
just need to update the statutory payments table. These figures can
be incorrect if you do not clear the Month End Summary every month.
However, these discrepancies are normally easy to trace and to
fix.
Select Company from the Menu bar then Alter Company Details. On
the Tax tab card there is a Statutory Payments button.
Here you can see a month-by-month breakdown of your statutory
payments. If the figures are incorrect you can manually amend
them.
There is no SSP/SMP/SAP/SPP reclaimed amount showing on the P30
Summary but I know there should be some there. What is wrong?
SSP, SMP, SAP and SPP Reclaimed is a figure that is created when
the Month End Summary is run. For other reports to pick up these
figures, the Month End processing must be done and figures cleared
down. If month end processing is not done, the figure is not held
in the system.
Do not worry as you are able to manually enter the figures in
the Statutory Payments table. Go to the Company menu and choose
Alter Company Details. On the Tax tab there is a button marked
Statutory Payments. Click on the button and you will see a table
with a month by month breakdown of SSP/SMP/SAP/SPP Total, Reclaimed
and Compensation. If the Reclaimed amount is not here, enter it
manually against the correct month.
My year end reports don't balance. Help!
This is usually caused by employees’ YTD figures not matching
the total of their This Period (TP) figures. This could be
with the Tax, NI or Statutory figures. This discrepancy needs
to be located and corrected before your submission can be made.
A quick way of doing this is by running the Integrity Checker
utility. To run this go to ‘Reports’ ‘Year to date Summaries’ and
select the ‘Year-to-date Summary’. You will see the utility
on the main print/preview screen. If you can’t make sure you
have the latest version installed and have reselected the report
from the library. This report will highlight any problem
employees.
If I perform P14 only submission, how can I enter a “Part ID”
so that HMRC can identify it correctly?
HMRC identify your submissions primarily through your Gateway
ID, tax district and reference numbers which are included in the
data you submit.
If you are submitting the P14s for a particular tax reference in
parts, each part needs to be uniquely identified. To enter the
unique identify or “Part ID” go to ‘Company’ ‘Alter Company
Details’ ‘Tax tab’. The Unique ID will be used as the Part ID for
the submission.
For more information on sending your return in parts
please visit the HMRC website.
I am doing my year end return on mag-media/online filing. How
do I print out my employees’ P60s?
You can issue plain paper P60s. Go to 'Reports' 'Library
Selection' 'Miscellaneous' and select the Plain Paper P60s. You can
then print these from Year-end forms in the Reports Menu.
If you would prefer to print them on pre-printed forms, we
supply our own Data mailer and Z-fold reports. If you would
like to use these forms please contact us or call 0855 815 5676.
HMRC’s various reports are also available in the miscellaneous
library. Remember, leavers do not get P60s so the system will not
print them for anyone who has received a P45.
Does EARNIE produce a paper copy of the information sent
on
Magnetic Media?
Yes. When the disk has been created you can print a summary
report which gives Company Totals on the end of year CD.
The totals are for:
- Employee's plus Employer's NI
- Tax Deducted
- Number of Tax and NI records
- Total of SSP recovered
- NIC Holiday claimed
- Total of SMP recovered
- NIC compensation on SMP
- Total NIC Rebate due
- Total Student Loan deductions
- Total Payable
What changes are you implementing for the coming year end?
At the beginning of March you will receive an update for year
end with a comprehensive list of instructions. This update will
detail all changes made to EARNIE.
The update will affect National Insurance bands, Income Tax and
any Statutory Payments as instructed by HMRC. The changes will
depend on which EARNIE solution you use but they will be explained
fully in the update instructions.
I have printed my P14s but there are no amounts showing in the
TOTAL FOR YEAR fields for some employees?
These employees will be leavers. HMRC has confirmed for us that
nothing should appear in these fields if the employee is no longer
working for the company.
Will I be able to do my year end return electronically on
EARNIE?
Yes. Instructions to do so will be included with the year end
update in February.
Can I make a Company Copy?
Yes you can. The copy option is found in EARNIE Admin.
Select FILE followed by COMPANIES then COPY. You choose which
company you wish to copy and enter a New Company Name. You then
have 3 Copy Options:
1. Company Details Only
2. Exact Copy
3. For Receivership
Company Details Only
This creates a copy of the chosen company details only. No
employee details are copied to the new company. See your manual for
more details.
Exact Copy
This copies everything held for the company including employee
details and leaver information. It can be used at year end to make
a mirror image of your company before closing it down.
For Receivership
This option creates a new company and copies across all of the
employees as though they were new starters to the company. The
existing Taxable Gross YTD and Tax Paid YTD are set as the
employees P45 figures in the new company. When choosing this option
you are asked for further information, such as setting a new Date
Started in the employees details and whether you want to copy
leavers. See your manual for more details on these options before
you embark on a receivership copy.
Can you advise me how to reconcile my NI discrepancies?
Select each employee listed and click on their To-date Tab.
Check the historic figures by clicking on the history button
located to the right of each field.
You will then need to decide which figures are correct, the
totals of the TP figures or YTD? You can then amend them by going
to the 'Employee Menu' 'Overrule Figures' 'NI Adjustment', select
the employee and say YES to the warning. Click on the Summary
button, enter the correct figures and click OK.
Please note: If
the figures in here are already correct you will just need to click
OK.
*Tip - If the Integrity Checker highlights employees but their
totals balance there may be a problem with the Earnings Threshold
amounts. You can check and amend these again in the NI Summary
screen as above.
Can you advise me how to reconcile my tax discrepancies?
The Integrity Checker utility (available in the print/preview
sceen when you print the Year-to-date summary) should highlight any
employees with tax discrepancies.
If it doesn’t you will need to re-print your Payroll Summary for
each period and match this against the Y-t-d Summary (by company
totals), increasing the periods
for each until you find the totals don’t match.
Once the problem period is found you will need to print the
reports by employee to pin down the particular employee with the
discrepancy.
When you find the employee with the issue you must decide which
figures are correct, the totals of the TP or the YTDs. To
correct go to the ‘Employee Menu’ ‘Overrule Figures’ ‘Alter-to-date
Totals’, select the Employee and click OK. Go to
the To-date Tab and amend the Tax figures. (If you don’t have the
Alter-to-date Totals option you may need to tick this under the
Menus Tab in Company Options.)
Please note: If
the figures in here are correct then you will need to contact your
support centre for advice.
Can you give me any advice on reconciliation?
Print off the following reports:
- P35 Summary
- Year-to-date Summaries
- P30 Summary*
* This report is updated each time you run Month end Processing.
If you have not been processing each period you can process again
Based on Tax Calendar to allow you to use this report. If you have
not been running the payroll for the full year on EARNIE you will
only be able to use this report in conjunction with the totals from
the previous system.
Please note:
All these reports are available in the Summaries or Multi-period
Library selection.
Compare the total figures on all of these reports. If they all
agree with each other and with the payments you have made to HMRC
you are ready to submit.
Do I need to run a week 53 / 54 / 56 this year?
- If you run a weekly payroll with a pay date of 5th April it
should be a week 53
- If you run a 2-weekly payroll with a pay date of 5th April it
should be a week 54
- If you run a 4-weekly payroll with a pay date of 5th April it
should be a week 56
6th April falling on Good
Friday
This year, for the first time since PAYE began, the 6th April
falls on Good Friday. As this is a Bank Holiday it presents a
problem - when should you pay your employees if you have a pay-day
of the 6th April? If your normal payroll date falls on the 6th
April you may be planning to bring the pay-day forward one day and
pay on the 5th April.
The following information has been taken from guidelines issued
by HMRC:
This will also apply when Good Friday next falls on 6 April in
2012.
This guidance does not replace or alter the existing guidance in
booklet CWG2 about regular paydays falling in week 53 of the tax
year.
Operation of PAYE & Class 1 NIC when the regular date for
payment is a non-banking day
When a regular pay day falls on a non-banking day (Saturday,
Sunday or Bank Holiday) and because of this the payment is made on
the last working day before the regular pay day, the payment may be
treated for PAYE and Class 1 NIC purposes as having been made on
the regular payment day.
For example:
- Pay due on Bank Holiday Friday 6th April 2007 or Bank Holiday
Monday 9th April 2007 (tax year 2007-08) but paid on Thursday 5th
April 2007 (tax year 2006.07) may be treated for PAYE/NIC purposes
as being paid on 6 April and 9 April respectively.
- Pay due on Sunday 6 April 2008 (tax year 2008/09) but paid on
Friday 4 April (tax year 2007-08) may be treated for PAYE and NIC
purposes as being paid on 6 April.
Will the CD change anything as soon as I install it?
No. The legislative changes for the new tax year will not come
into effect until you have run a year end restart.