| |
Payroll Standard and Accreditation
|
Payroll Accreditation
Four new payroll systems have been added to the list of Inland Revenue accredited systems:
- Kalamazoo PAYEFLOW, from Kalamazoo Security Print Ltd
- Qtac Payroll Manager Pro version 4.5, from Qtac Solutions Ltd
- Qtac Payroll Manager version 4.5, from Qtac Solutions Ltd
- Payroll Manager Pro version 4.5, from Vizual Business Tools plc
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm
...back to 23 April 2004
|
|
|
Payroll Standard and test data
Version 6 of the Inland Revenue's Payroll Standard has been published. It is intended to help employers identify suitable payroll software and provide a benchmark against which payroll system developers can have their systems tested in order to obtain Inland Revenue accreditation.
In addition, the Inland Revenue has published new payroll test data for the 2004/05 tax year, covering tax and NICs, SMP, SAP and SPP. Although designed to help payroll system developers check the accuracy of their systems, the tests are also useful as payroll training material.
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm
www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/payroll.htm
...back to 9 April 2004
|
|
|
Test Data
The pack of additional test data has been reissued by the Inland Revenue and now includes the following tests for payroll functions that are not included in the Payroll Standard:
- Aggregation of Earnings 2003/2004
- National Insurance Calculations Tests 2004/2005*
- Director's National Insurance Calculations Tests 2004/2005*
- General Validation Tests 2004/2005*
- Statutory Sick Pay 2004/2005*
- Statutory Maternity Pay 2004/2005*
- Calculation of Statutory Paternity Pay (for new born children) 2004/2005*
- Calculation of Statutory Paternity Pay (for adoption) 2004/2005
- Calculation of Statutory Adoption Pay 2004/2005
Those tests marked with * will become part of the accreditation testing routines from April 2004.
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm
...back to 20 February 2004
|
|
|
Payroll Standard
The Inland Revenue's Payroll Standard defines the requirements for payroll software to obtain accreditation under the Payroll Standard Accreditation Scheme. Version 5.1 of the Payroll Standard has been published. It provides updated links to the source of the current technical requirements.
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/payroll_standard_5.pdf
...back to 6 February 2004
|
|
|
Test Data
The pack of additional test data that was reported in the newsletter of 23 January has been reissued by the Inland Revenue and now includes the following tests for payroll functions that are not included in the Payroll Standard:
- calculation of Statutory Paternity Pay (for adoption)
- calculation of Statutory Adoption Pay
- aggregation of Earnings 2003/2004
- National Insurance calculations tests 2004/05
- Directors National Insurance tests 2004/05
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm
...back to 30 January 2004
|
|
|
Test Data
Additional test data has been issued by the Inland Revenue to support payroll functions that are not covered by the current version of the Payroll Standard. They cover
- calculation of Statutory Paternity Pay (for adoption)
- calculation of Statutory Adoption Pay
- aggregation of Earnings 2003/2004
The test data is intended as a resource to assist payroll software developers who either already include these areas of functionality within their packages or are planning to extend their packages to include this functionality. The test data will be updated to take into account changes in the Payroll Standard and legislation.
Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm
...back to 23 January 2004
|
|
|
Internet-enabled software and forms
The page on the Inland Revenue's website that lists the software products capable of submitting forms and returns electronically has been updated. As well as identifying the 15 or so forms that may be sent to the Inland Revenue over the Internet, the page lists over 25 software suppliers whose systems are all able to submit P14 and P35 returns and, in some cases, send many other forms and receive various reminders and notices. All of the products listed have been successfully tested by the Inland Revenue. The lists also identify those suppliers whose software has Payroll Standard Accreditation.
(Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/efiling/paye/paye_software_forms.htm )
...back to 16 January 2004
|
|
|
Payroll Standard Accreditation Scheme
Three new suppliers have been added to the list of payroll developers whose systems have been accredited by the Inland Revenue as complying with the current Payroll Standards. The latest additions are systems from Pegasus, Union System Holdings and TAS Books. There are now 24 systems from 21 different suppliers on the list.
(Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm )
...back to 26 December 2003
|
|
|
Accredited payroll systems
Four new names have appeared on the list of payroll suppliers whose systems have achieved accreditation under the Inland Revenue's Payroll Standard Accreditation Scheme. There are now 21 different accredited systems from 18 different suppliers.
(Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm )
...back to 17 October 2003
| |
|
Payroll Standards
The Inland Revenue maintains a set of payroll standards that must be met by any payroll software supplier seeking formal accreditation, or renewing their existing accreditation. A new version, version 5, of the Standards has been published. The new document, in general, tidies up the previous document and provides new references to the source of updated technical specifications. The changes to SSP, SPP and SAP that were introduced from 6 April 2003 have been incorporated in the main text.
The new requirement that must be met by all accredited software from 6 April 2004 is that the system can produce an end-of-year file in the format define by the Quality Standard for the electronic filing of P14 and P35 year-end returns. All large employers, i.e. those with 250 or more employees, must file their year-end returns electronically and in an acceptable format at the end of the 2004/05 tax year.
Note that formal accreditation by the Inland Revenue under the Payroll Standards Accreditation Scheme is optional, currently held by 18 software systems from 15 different suppliers. This does not mean that payroll systems without accreditation do not meet the Standards; they should be expected to do so.
The k-PAYE payroll software from KCS is the latest system to complete the accreditation process, although the Inland Revenue's listing has not yet been updated.
(Sources: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/payroll_standard_5.pdf
www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm )
...back to 26 September 2003
| |
|
Payroll Test Data
For employers wishing to test the accuracy of their payroll system or to give staff practice in performing gross to net calculations, the Revenue's test data is a useful tool. It is provided particularly to help payroll software developers check that their systems give accurate results, but it has other practical uses within the payroll department.
The latest four volumes of test data include the effect of the changes to the income tax thresholds from 15 June. They may be downloaded from the Revenue's e-business site.
(Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm)
...back to 23 May 2003
| |
|
Accredited payroll systems
Computerised payroll systems receive formal Revenue accreditation if they meet the Payroll Standards as defined by the Revenue and are capable of making electronic transmissions using either EDI or FBI.
Two new systems have been added to the accredited list, namely the bureau version of Sage's payroll and a new payroll system from Snowdrop Systems.
(Source: www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm)
...back to 21 March 2003
| |
|
Payroll Accreditation
The list of payroll systems that have been accredited by the Revenue as meeting the payroll standards has been updated. There are now fourteen systems listed, produced by twelve different software developers. See www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm .
Since the scheme was introduced in 2001, the Revenue has charged suppliers £;1,000 to go through the accreditation process. The Carter Review of payroll services recommended that this annual fee be scrapped and the Revenue has confirmed that no charge has been made for applications since 17 April this year.
.
Payroll Briefing 4 - 18 July 2002
| |
Test data
Two volumes of tests and expected results are maintained by the Revenue, principally for the benefit of software developers, so that they can ensure that their systems give correct results. The test data has been updated to reflect the tax and NICs rates for 2002/03 and may be viewed at and downloaded from www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm
The "lifecycle tests", where repetitive situations are tested over a 12-month or 52-week period, provide useful training material to help new and experienced payroll staff test their ability to perform payroll calculations manually, including the calculation of NICs using both the table and exact methods.
Payroll Briefing 1 - 11 June 2002
| |
SSP software specification
The Revenue has published its long-awaited technical specification to enable payroll software suppliers to develop a new SSP calculation and payment module or to ensure that an existing module operates in the way that the Revenue expects. The specification is expected to be a precursor of the inclusion of SSP requirements in the Payroll Standards and an eventual requirement for all payroll systems to provide the functionality in order to obtain or retain Revenue accreditation. At present, a payroll system only needs to be able to record SSP payments in order to obtain accreditation.
The specification itself is only likely to be useful to system developers. However, it does give a good idea of the functionality that the Revenue thinks an SSP module should have. In addition to calculating the SSP due for a PIW and keeping the necessary records, the system should:
• carry forward entitlement or otherwise from previous linked PIWs
• apply the 8-week and 52-week dates shown on linking letters and exclude an employee from payment as appropriate
• allow exclusion reasons to be recorded, e.g. trade dispute, legal custody
• determine the paydays that fall within the 'relevant period' and calculate the average earnings for employees paid weekly or in
multiples of a week, monthly or in multiples of a month, irregularly, or where there is not a full relevant period
• allow adjustments to be made to average earnings where payments were included in a PAYE Settlement Agreement and would
otherwise have incurred a liability to Class 1 NICs during the relevant period
• calculate SSP cumulatively (i.e. by deducting SSP to the previous pay period from SSP due so far in the PIW), although other methods
may be used as long as they give the same results
• calculate the amount of SSP, if any, that may be recovered under the Percentage Threshold scheme
• prompt users to issue form SSP1 when appropriate, unless the system produces a substitute SSP1, (but there is no requirement for
the system to produce SSP1 or SSP1(L) forms).
The specification does not make any mention of recording the nature of the illness causing each PIW. Although employers should make a decision on the genuineness of any illness reported, the information does not need to be recorded in order to determine entitlement to SSP or to calculate the amount to be paid. In any case, information about an employee's health is treated by the Data Protection Act 1998 as "sensitive" and it is unlikely that employers will be able to identify the necessary 'condition' to justify holding the information without prior written consent from employees.
The specification may be downloaded from www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/ebu_paye_ts.htm. The equivalent specification for SMP is still under development. - Payroll Briefing 211 - 25 October 2001
| |
Payroll standard accreditation scheme
The number of computerised payroll systems that have received formal Revenue accreditation has now increased to five. The suppliers are Selven Group, Rutherford Webb, Frontier Software, Paladin Solutions and Leaf Internet. Contact information for these suppliers is available on the Revenue's website, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/acclist.htm. A further 16 suppliers have registered under the scheme, 9 of which are currently undergoing formal evaluation. - Payroll Briefing 207 - 28 August 2001
| |
New test data for 2000/01
To assist payroll system developers to check the accuracy of their tax and NICs calculations for the 2000/01 tax year, the Revenue has published new test data on its web site, at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ebu/testdata.htm. It takes into consideration the changes in tax bandwidths from week 7 and month 2.
As well as helping developers, the test data is invaluable for payroll departments. It provides ready-made tests for the system updates recently received from the developers and is an excellent resource for staff training. Readers with employees in contracted-out employment may wish to try out the following NICs example taken from the test data, using the exact method, not the NICs Tables. In any event, this example is a critical test that all employers should use on their updated system. The answer is given below.
Table letter D, employee's earnings in the week are £;87.08
Employee's contribution rate is 8.4%, employer's rate is 8.9%
Employee's rebate rate is 1.6%, employer's rate is 3%
The earnings split into: £;72 up to the LEL, £;15 up to the ET, 8p above the ET
Calculate: (1) employee's Class 1 NICs, (2) employer's Class 1 NICs, (3) employee's rebate, (4) employer's rebate
Answer to test data example
(1) employee's Class 1 NICs: 1p (i.e. 8.4% of 8p, rounded up)
(2) employer's Class 1 NICs: 1p (i.e. 8.9% of 8p, rounded up)
(3) employee's rebate: 1p (1.6% of £;15 = 24p, but Class 1 NICs may not be reduced below nil)
(4) employer's rebate: 68p (3% of £;15 = 45p, but employer also keeps the 23p not rebated to the employee)
This is a change to the way such an example would have been recorded during 2000/01. The P14 for 2001/02 shows the employee's rebate for the year as a single figure. As the employee does not actually receive the 24p rebate, the employee's rebate must be recorded as 1p, not 24p. - Payroll Briefing 200 - 27 April 2001
| |
|
|
|
For Payroll and Human Resource Professionals
