Reviewed by Mark McLaughlin ATII ATT TEP

There is some comfort in familiarity! Even before opening this software, it was reassuring to know that I would be familiar with the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format on which this product is based. And so should most other users, as Excel is an extremely popular and commonly used piece of software.

Summary

I really enjoyed the simplicity of PAYExcel. It is very easy to use. The trial version allowed for the input of 2 employees. It would be interesting to see how PAYExcel could be used for larger employers. Certainly, for the vast majority of smaller employers, this software should be perfectly adequate, and for payroll technology 'luddites' (like me!) it is ideal!

The Contents

The format is an .xls spreadsheet. There are a number of sheets across the bottom of the page. I would recommend that the user reads the 'Quick Tour' and 'Notes' sheets first, as they contain some useful information on the product and the way in which it operates.

Using PAYExcel

Of course, like any payroll software, it is necessary to input a certain amount of information before proceeding. There is a 'records' section for this data, which is straightforward for entering basic information (e.g. name, national insurance number, tax code etc). On another sheet, there is a P45 'checker', which conveniently checks the P45 information of new employees.

I really like the 'input' page. This is where the employee's salary details for the week or month are entered. The reason I like it is because it has the appearance of a payslip, and in fact it can be printed off and used as such. Salary calculations can be performed with the minimum amount of information (normally only the pay date, gross pay and tax code). In addition, there is a helpful facility for 'net to gross' calculations.

When the salary input is finalised (it can be changed as many times as is needed), the information is transferred to the employee's Tax Deduction Working Sheet (or form P11, for those payroll experts among you!). There are separate sheets for tax and national insurance contributions, which can also be printed out.

The total of employees' payroll deductions are transferred to a 'P30BC', or the Inland Revenue Payslip Booklet, which will also be very familiar to many payroll operators. This page shows the amount payable to the Revenue for each tax month, and in total. Some of the fields may need to be manually entered (i.e. those relating to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP)), as the system does not calculate those pay items (or at least not yet).

Payslips can be directly printed out, or alternatively can be sent to a 'Payslips' page which can accommodate up to 4 payslips at a time.

The Verdict

As mentioned in the summary, I would certainly recommend that small businesses have a good look at this software. I commend it to smaller businesses in particular because as mentioned the software does not presently calculate SSP or SMP, although I understand that future versions may do so. It would be interesting to see what 'pay day' would be like for a payroll of (say) 50 employees. As someone who used to operate a payroll of 10 for a local Conservative Club, I honestly wish that I had discovered PAYExcel sooner! Why not download a trial version from PAYExcel's website, and give it a try?

Further information

For further information on PAYExcel software and the cost, visit www.PAYExcel.co.uk.

Read our review on their other products:

- Car Benefit Workbook

- Business Tax Comparison Workbook

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this review are those of the writer only and not necessarily those of TaxationWeb. No responsibility can be accepted by the writer or TaxationWeb for any loss arising from action undertaken or refrained from as a result of this review.

Mark McLaughlin
August 2002

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